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La Pietra Del Paragone
' (''The Touchstone'') is an opera, or ''melodramma giocoso'', in two acts by Gioachino Rossini, to an original Italian libretto by Luigi Romanelli. Performance history ''La pietra del paragone'' was first performed at La Scala, Milan, on 26 September 1812. It was the composer's first commission from a major opera house and was an instant success, being performed 53 times during its first season.''Kobbe'', p. 654 Napoleon's Viceroy in Milan, Eugène de Beauharnais, was so impressed by the opera that he wrote to the Minister of the Interior, "You will kindly arrange for Maestro Joachin Rossini to be exempted from military service. I cannot take it upon myself to expose to the enemy's fire such a precious existence; my contemporaries would never forgive me. We are perhaps losing a mediocre soldier, but we are surely saving a man of genius for the nation." The first performance of the opera in Rio de Janeiro was in 1826. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melodramma
''Melodramma'' (plural: ''melodrammi'') is a 17th-century Italian term for a text to be set as an opera, or the opera itself. In the 19th century, it was used in a much narrower sense by English writers to discuss developments in the early Italian libretto, e.g., ''Rigoletto'' and ''Un ballo in maschera''. Characteristic are the influence of French bourgeois drama, female instead of male protagonists, and the practice of opening the action with a chorus. It should not be confused with Melodrama (spelt with a single rather than a double m) in the sense either of Victorian stage melodrama (drama of exaggerated intensity) or of spoken declamation accompanied by background music (in Italian, ''melologo'').Budden, Julian: ''Melodramma'' in 'The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teatro Donizetti
The Teatro Donizetti is an opera house in Bergamo, Italy. Built in the 1780s using a design by architect Giovanni Francesco Lucchini, the theatre was originally referred to as either the Teatro Nuovo or Teatro di Fiera. The first opera to be mounted at the theatre, Giuseppe Sarti's '' Medonte, re di Epiro'', was in 1784 while the opera house was still under construction. The official opening of the house, under the name the Teatro Riccardi, did not occur until 24 August 1791 with a production of Pietro Metastasio's '' Didone abbandonata'' set to music by multiple composers, including Ferdinando Bertoni, Giacomo Rampini, Johann Gottlieb Naumann, Giuseppe Gazzaniga, and Giovanni Paisiello. In 1797 the original theatre was destroyed by a fire, possibly by arson. Lucchini was contracted again to design a new structure to replace the old one and the new house opened on 30 June 1800. The structure uses a horseshoe shape with three tiers of boxes and two galleries. In 1897 the name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenor
A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is widely defined to be B2, though some roles include an A2 (two As below middle C). At the highest extreme, some tenors can sing up to the second F above middle C (F5). The tenor voice type is generally divided into the ''leggero'' tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor, and tenor buffo or . History The name "tenor" derives from the Latin word ''wikt:teneo#Latin, tenere'', which means "to hold". As Fallows, Jander, Forbes, Steane, Harris and Waldman note in the "Tenor" article at ''Grove Music Online'': In polyphony between about 1250 and 1500, the [tenor was the] structurally fundamental (or 'holding') voice, vocal or instrumental; by the 15th century it came to signify the male voice that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marietta Marcolini
Marietta Marcolini (born c. 1780 – 26 December 1855) was an Italian operatic contralto. Marcolini was born in Florence. The date of her stage debut is unknown, but she was appearing in Venice in 1800. She subsequently sang in Naples, Livorno, Pisa, Rome and Milan, singing in the premieres of Pietro Carlo Guglielmi's ''La serva bizzarra'' (Naples 1803), Giacomo Tritto's ''Andromaca e Pirro'' (Rome 1807), Giuseppe Nicolini's ''Traiano in Dacia'' (Rome 1807), Carlo Bigatti's ''L'amante prigioniero'' (Milan 1809) and Ercole Paganini's ''Le rivale generose'' (Milan 1809). Rossini wrote five parts for her between 1811 and 1814 which – by their subject matter and technical difficulty – justify Marcolini's contemporary reputation for talent as a comedian and a splendid voice. Rossini roles created *Ernestina in Rossini's ''L'equivoco stravagante'' (Bologna 1811) *Ciro in Rossini's '' Ciro in Babilonia'' ( Ferrara 1812) *Clarice in Rossini's '' La pietra del paragone'' (Milan 181 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Contralto
A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically between the F below middle C (F3 in scientific pitch notation) to the second F above middle C (F5), although, at the extremes, some voices can reach the D below middle C (D3) or the second B above middle C (B5). The contralto voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic contralto. History "Contralto" is primarily meaningful only in reference to classical and operatic singing, as other traditions lack a comparable system of vocal categorization. The term "contralto" is only applied to female singers; men singing in a similar range are called "countertenors". The Italian terms "contralto" and "alto" are not synonymous, "alto" technically denoting a specific vocal range in choral singing without regard to factors ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Filippo Galli (bass)
Filippo Galli (1783 – 3 June 1853, in Paris) was an Italian opera singer who began his career as a tenor in 1801 but went on to become one of the most acclaimed basses of the ''bel canto'' era, with a voice known for its wide range, extreme agility, and expressivity, and a remarkable gift for acting. Early life Born in Rome, Galli was a marginal buffo tenor, appearing in Naples, Bologna, Parma, and Turin, primarily in the works of Nasolini, Generali, and Zingarelli. It is said that following an illness in 1810, his voice changed markedly into that of bass, but this may have been a cover story for his technical transition into the bass repertoire upon the advice of the composer Giovanni Paisiello or singer Luigi Marchesi. Galli's younger brother Vincenzo was also an opera singer noted for his performances in ''basso buffo'' roles. Career as bass His new career took rise in 1812: his meeting with Rossini allowed him to sing ''L'inganno felice'' on 1 August at the Teatro San ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bass (voice Type)
A bass is a type of classical male singing voice and has the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', a bass is typically classified as having a vocal range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C (i.e., E2–E4).; ''The Oxford Dictionary of Music'' gives E2–E4/F4 Its tessitura, or comfortable range, is normally defined by the outermost lines of the bass clef. Categories of bass voices vary according to national style and classification system. Italians favour subdividing basses into the ''basso cantante'' (singing bass), ''basso buffo'' ("funny" bass), or the dramatic ''basso profondo'' (low bass). The American system identifies the bass-baritone, comic bass, lyric bass, and dramatic bass. The German ''Fach'' system offers further distinctions: Spielbass (Bassbuffo), Schwerer Spielbass (Schwerer Bassbuffo), Charakterbass (Bassbariton), and Seriöser Bass. These classification systems can ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alessandro Rolla
Alessandro Rolla (; 23 April 175714 September 1841) was an Italian viola and violin virtuoso, composer, conductor and teacher. His son, Antonio Rolla, was also a violin virtuoso and composer. His fame now rests mainly as "teacher of the great Paganini", yet his role was very important in the development of violin and viola technique. Some of the technical innovations that Paganini later used largely, such as left-hand pizzicato, chromatic ascending and descending scales, the use of very high positions on violin and viola, octave passages, were first introduced by Rolla. Life Rolla was born in Pavia, Italy, in 1757 and after his initial studies he moved to Milan where, from 1770 to 1778, he studied with Giovanni Andrea Fioroni, Maestro di cappella at Milan Cathedral, who was the most important musician in Milan after G. B. Sammartini. Charles Burney, in his musical tour in Italy, refers to Fioroni to acquire information about the Ambrosian Chant. In 1772, he made his first pub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Voice Type
A voice type is a group of voices with similar vocal ranges, capable of singing in a similar tessitura, and with similar vocal transition points ('' passaggi''). Voice classification is most strongly associated with European classical music, though it, and the terms it utilizes, are used in other styles of music as well. A singer will choose a repertoire that suits their voice. Some singers such as Enrico Caruso, Rosa Ponselle, Joan Sutherland, Maria Callas, Jessye Norman, Ewa Podleś, and Plácido Domingo have voices that allow them to sing roles from a wide variety of types; some singers such as Shirley Verrett and Grace Bumbry change type and even voice part over their careers; and some singers such as Leonie Rysanek have voices that lower with age, causing them to cycle through types over their careers. Some roles are hard to classify, having very unusual vocal requirements; Mozart wrote many of his roles for specific singers who often had remarkable voices, and some of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roberto Abbado
Roberto Abbado (born 30 December 1954, Milan) is an Italian opera and symphonic music conducting, conductor. Currently he is Artistic Partner of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. In 2015 he has been appointed music director of Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Valencia, Spain. From 2018 he's Music Director of the Festival Verdi in Parma. Previously he held the position of Chief Conductor of Münchner Rundfunkorchester (Munich Radio Orchestra). Childhood and education Born into a musical family, Mr. Abbado is a son of the pianist and composer Marcello Abbado, for more than twenty years Director of Milan Conservatory, Conservatorio di Musica "Giuseppe Verdi" in Milan. His grandfather was the violinist and teacher Michelangelo Abbado and his uncle the conductor Claudio Abbado. In his teens, Roberto Abbado studied at Conservatorio "G. Rossini" in Pesaro and then piano with Paolo Bordoni and composition with Bruno Bettinelli at Milan Conservatory. He studied conducting with M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Justino Díaz
Justino Díaz (born January 29, 1940) is a Puerto Rican operatic bass-baritone. In 1963, Díaz won an annual contest held at the Metropolitan Opera of New York, becoming the first Puerto Rican to obtain such an honor and as a consequence, made his Metropolitan debut in October 1963 in Verdi's ''Rigoletto'' as Monterone. Early years Díaz was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the capital of the island, but lived and was raised in the town of Cataño. He attended Robinson Elementary School where, at the age of 8, he started to participate in the school's activities as a singer. In his first school play, when he was 10 years old, he sang the song "Old Black Joe", which became his favorite. After finishing his primary education, Díaz attended the University of Puerto Rico High School in Río Piedras. While in high school, he took singing classes and participated in various presentations around the island. Díaz joined the choir of the University of Puerto Rico, under the direction o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Claudio Desderi
Claudio Desdèri (9 April 1943 – 30 June 2018) was an Italian baritone and conductor. Life Born in Alessandria, son of Ettore Desderi, he made his debut in 1969 as Gaudenzio in Rossini's ''Il signor Bruschino'' in Edinburgh. A versatile baritone, he preferred comic roles. He was artistic director of the Pisa Teatro Verdi from 1991 to 1998, of the Turin Teatro Regio from 1999 to 2001 and superintendent of the Palermo Teatro Massimo from 2002 to 2003, the latter of which he brought to economic and cultural revival. In addition to his activities as singer and director of opera companies, from the early 1990s he also worked as a conductor. Desdèri died in Florence at age 75. on online ...
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