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Le Concert Spirituel
Le Concert Spirituel is a French ensemble specialising in works of baroque music, played on period instruments. Founded by Hervé Niquet in 1987, it is named after the 18th-century concert series Concert Spirituel. The group performs internationally, playing mostly rarely performed sacred music and operas, and making recordings. Its focus is on French music played at the court of Versailles. History The ensemble is named after Concert Spirituel, the first private concert society in France, founded in the 18th century and dissolved during the French Revolution. The ensemble was founded by Hervé Niquet in 1987, designed to revive the great works of the French repertoire played at the court of Versailles. Le Concert Spirituel collaborates closely with the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles, with a focus on French composers such as Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Jean-Baptiste Lully, André Campra and Joseph Bodin de Boismortier. Le Concert Spirituel often plays sacred music, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concert Spirituel
The Concert Spirituel ( en, Spiritual Concert) was one of the first public concert series in existence. The concerts began in Paris in 1725 and ended in 1790. Later, concerts or series of concerts of the same name occurred in Paris, Vienna, London and elsewhere. The series was founded to provide entertainment during the Easter fortnight and on religious holidays when the other spectacles (the Paris Opera, Comédie-Française, and Comédie-Italienne) were closed. The programs featured a mixture of sacred choral works and virtuosic instrumental pieces, and for many years took place in a magnificently-decorated ''Salle des Cent Suisses'' (Hall of the Hundred Swiss Guards) in the Tuileries Palace. They started at six o’clock in the evening and were primarily attended by well-to-do bourgeois, the lower aristocracy, and foreign visitors. In 1784 the concerts were moved to the stage area of the ''Salle des Machines'' (an enormous former opera house in the Tuileries), and in 1790, when t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Arthur (opera)
''King Arthur, or The British Worthy'' (Z. 628), is a semi-opera in five acts with music by Henry Purcell and a libretto by John Dryden. It was first performed at the Queen's Theatre, Dorset Garden, London, in late May or early June 1691. The plot is based on the battles between King Arthur's Britons and the Saxons, rather than the legends of Camelot (although Merlin does make an appearance). It is a Restoration spectacular, including such supernatural characters as Cupid and Venus plus references to the Germanic gods of the Saxons, Woden, Thor, and Freya. The tale centres on Arthur's endeavours to recover his fiancée, the blind Cornish Princess Emmeline, who has been abducted by his arch-enemy, the Saxon King Oswald of Kent. ''King Arthur'' is a "dramatick opera" or semi-opera: the principal characters do not sing, except if they are supernatural, pastoral or, in the case of Comus and the popular ''Your hay it is mow'd'', drunk. Secondary characters sing to them, usually as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ministry Of Culture (France)
The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visual, plastic, theatrical, musical, dance, architectural, literary, televisual and cinematographic) on national soil and abroad. Its budget is mainly dedicated to the management of the (six national sites and hundred decentralised storage facilities) and the regional (culture centres). Its main office is in the in the 1st arrondissement of Paris on the . It is headed by the Minister of Culture, a cabinet member. The current officeholder has been since 20 May 2022. History Deriving from the Italian and Burgundian courts of the Renaissance, the notion that the state had a key role to play in the sponsoring of artistic production and that the arts were linked to national prestige was found in France from at least the 16th century on. Du ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Music For The Royal Fireworks
The ''Music for the Royal Fireworks'' ( HWV 351) is a suite in D major for wind instruments composed by George Frideric Handel in 1749 under contract of George II of Great Britain for the fireworks in London's Green Park on 27 April 1749. The music celebrates the end of the War of the Austrian Succession and the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) in 1748. The work was very popular when first performed and following Handel's death. Rehearsal and final production During the preparations Handel and the Duke of Montagu, the Master-General of the Ordnance and the officer responsible for the Royal Fireworks, had an argument about adding violins. The duke made clear to Handel that King George had a preference for only martial instruments (winds and percussion), and hoped there would be "no fiddles". Handel omitted the string instruments against his will. Also against Handel's will, there was a full rehearsal of the music in Vauxhall Gardens and not in Green Park. On ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water Music
The ''Water Music'' is a collection of orchestral movements, often published as three suites, composed by George Frideric Handel. It premiered on 17 July 1717, in response to King George I's request for a concert on the River Thames. Structure The ''Water Music'' opens with a French overture and includes minuets, bourrées, and hornpipes. It is divided into three suites: Suite in F major (HWV 348) # #Overture ( Largo – Allegro) # Adagio e staccato # Allegro – Andante – Allegro da capo # Passepied # Air # Minuet # Bourrée # Hornpipe # Andante # Allegro # Hornpipe Suite in D major (HWV 349) # Overture (Allegro) # Alla Hornpipe # Lentement # Bourree # Minuet Suite in G major (HWV 350) # Sarabande # Rigaudon # Menuet # Gigue There is evidence for the different arrangement found in Chrysander's Gesellschaft edition of Handel's works (in volume 47, published in 1886), where the movements from the "suites" in D and G were mingled and publishe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no government funding. It can seat 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres have appeared on its stage. It is the venue for the BBC Proms concerts, which have been held there every summer since 1941. It is host to more than 390 shows in the main auditorium annually, including classical, rock and pop concerts, ballet, opera, film screenings with live orchestral accompaniment, sports, awards ceremonies, school and community events, and charity performances and banquets. A further 400 events are held each year in the non-auditorium spaces. Over its 151 year history the hall has hosted people from various fields, including meetings by Suffragettes, speeches from Winston Churchi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Proms
The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. The Proms were founded in 1895, and are now organised and broadcast by the BBC. Each season consists of concerts in the Royal Albert Hall, chamber music concerts at Cadogan Hall, additional Proms in the Park events across the UK on the Last Night of the Proms, and associated educational and children's events. The season is a significant event in British culture and in classical music. Czech conductor Jiří Bělohlávek described the Proms as "the world's largest and most democratic musical festival". ''Prom'' is short for '' promenade concert'', a term which originally referred to outdoor concerts in London's pleasure gardens, where the audience was free to stroll around while the orchestra was playing. In the co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sémiramis (Catel)
''Sémiramis'' is an opera by the composer Charles-Simon Catel. It takes the form of a ''tragédie lyrique'' in three acts. The French-language libretto by Philippe Desriaux is based on the 1748 tragedy of the same name by Voltaire, which concerns the legendary Queen Semiramis of Babylon. ''Sémiramis'', Catel's first opera, premiered at the Paris Opéra on 4 May 1802. It enjoyed only limited success and suffered many attacks from critics. The composer had to wait until 1810 before the Paris Opéra gave him another opportunity with a new opera, '' Les bayadères'', which was a triumph. Performance history ''Sémiramis'' enjoyed 24 performances at the Opéra. Several factors played a part in its lacklustre reception. Catel was Professor of Harmony at the newly founded Paris Conservatoire, a position which had already made him enemies. The high standards the Conservatoire imposed led to the dismissal of members of staff who failed to meet them. Some took the opportunity of the premi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Le Carnaval De Venise
''Le carnaval de Venise'' (English: ''The Carnival of Venice'') is a '' comédie-lyrique'' in a prologue and three acts by the French composer André Campra. The libretto is by Jean-François Regnard. It was first performed on 20 January 1699 by the Académie royale de musique in the Salle du Palais-Royal in Paris. Campra dedicated the work to Louis, Grand Dauphin, heir apparent to the French throne, who enjoyed it and had it staged again in February 1711, shortly before his death. In one critic's assessment: "In a magisterial act of conflation, this composer blends the styles of Lully, Lalande, Monteverdi and Cavalli and manages also to foreshadow Handel and Rameau. He dreamt up a multi-hued score, capable of recapturing in Paris both the carnival spirit in general and that of the legendary Venice in particular." It was presented in July 1975 at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, conducted by Michel Plasson. Jorge Lavelli directed and the cast included Christiane Eda-Pierre, Mar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andromaque (opera)
''Andromaque'' is an opera in three acts by the composer André Ernest Modeste Grétry. The French libretto is an adaptation of Jean Racine's play ''Andromaque'' by Louis-Guillaume Pitra (1735-1818). It was first performed on 6 June 1780 by the Académie Royale de Musique ( Paris Opera) in the second Salle du Palais-Royal. It was the only opera Grétry wrote in the form of a ''tragédie lyrique''. Background and performance history Grétry was regarded as the leading composer of '' opéra comique'' of his time and ''Andromaque'' was his only tragic opera for the Académie Royale de Musique. During the 1770s, Christoph Willibald von Gluck had produced a series of famous works for the Académie, including ''Iphigénie en Aulide'', '' Armide'' and '' Iphigénie en Tauride''. The director of the Académie, Anne-Pierre-Jacques de Vismes du Valgay, had in fact initially intended the libretto of ''Iphigénie en Tauride'' for Grétry before handing it to Gluck. Grétry was unhappy with t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sémélé
is an opera by Marin Marais with a libretto by Antoine Houdar de la Motte first performed on 9 April 1709, by the Paris Opera at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal. The opera is in the form of a ''tragédie en musique'' with a prologue and five acts. Master viol player and composer Marin Marais became director of the Paris Opera in 1705 and presented, along with the established works of Jean-Baptiste Lully, two operas of his own during his brief tenure which ended in 1709. His opera ''Alcyone'' (1706) proved a successful stage work and was revived several times during the 18th Century. His final opera ''Sémélé'' (1709) did not fare as well. Opening during The Great Frost, an extraordinarily cold European winter that afflicted France particularly hard with food shortages and violent revolts in the streets of Paris, demand for ''Sémélé'' (and other new works introduced during this period) was modest. Amid the tumult, Marais retired as Director of the Opera to return to writing v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proserpine (Lully)
''Proserpine'' (''Proserpina'') is an opera with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and a libretto by Philippe Quinault first performed at Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 3 February 1680. Roles Synopsis Based on Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'', the plot centers around the abduction of Proserpine by Pluton, with side plots concerning Cérès's love for Jupiter and the love intrigue between Alphée and Aréthuse. Recordings *''Proserpine'', soloists, Le Concert Spirituel, conducted by Hervé Niquet (Glossa, 2 CDs, 2008) *Proserpine, CMD German Opera Company of Berlin, conducted by Gertrude Heinz (CMD Recordings, digital download, 2022) References Further reading *''The New Grove French Baroque Masters'', ed. Graham Sadler (Macmillan, 1986) *''The Viking Opera Guide'', ed. Amanda Holden Amanda Louise Holden (born 16 February 1971) is an English actress, media personality, and singer. Since 2007, she has been a judge on the television talent show competition ''Britain's Got Talent'' on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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