|
Manon Galy
''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was first performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 19 January 1884, with sets designed by Eugène Carpezat (act 1), Auguste Alfred Rubé and Philippe Chaperon (acts 2 and 3), and Jean-Baptiste Lavastre (act 4). Prior to Massenet's work, Halévy (''Manon Lescaut'', ballet, 1830) and Auber ('' Manon Lescaut'', opéra comique, 1856) had used the subject for musical stage works. Massenet also wrote a one-act sequel to ''Manon'', ''Le portrait de Manon'' (1894), involving the Chevalier des Grieux as an older man. ''Manon'' is Massenet's most popular and enduring opera and, having "quickly conquered the world's stages", it has maintained an important place in the repertory since its creation. It is the quintessential example of the charm and vit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther'' (1892). He also composed oratorios, ballets, orchestral works, incidental music, piano pieces, songs and other music. While still a schoolboy, Massenet was admitted to France's principal music college, the Paris Conservatoire. There he studied under Ambroise Thomas, whom he greatly admired. After winning the country's top musical prize, the , in 1863, he composed prolifically in many genres, but quickly became best known for his operas. Between 1867 and his death forty-five years later he wrote more than forty stage works in a wide variety of styles, from opéra-comique to grand-scale depictions of classical myths, romantic comedies, Drame lyrique, lyric dramas, as well as oratorios, cantatas and ballets. Massenet had a g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belle Époque
The Belle Époque () or La Belle Époque () was a period of French and European history that began after the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 and continued until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era of the French Third Republic, it was a period characterised by optimism, enlightenment, romanticism, regional peace, economic prosperity, conservatism, nationalism, colonial expansion, and technological, scientific and cultural innovations. In this era of France's cultural and artistic climate (particularly in Paris of that time), the arts markedly flourished, and numerous masterpieces of literature, music, theatre and visual art gained extensive recognition. The Belle Époque was so named in retrospect, when it began to be considered a continental European " Golden Age" in contrast to the horrors of the Napoleonic Wars and World War I. The Belle Époque was a period in which, according to historian R. R. Palmer, " European civilisation a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amelita Galli-Curci
Amelita Galli-Curci (18 November 1882 – 26 November 1963) was an Italian lyric coloratura soprano. She was one of the most famous operatic singers of the 20th century and a popular recording artist, with her records selling in large numbers. Early life She was born as Amelita Galli into an upper-middle-class Italian family of Spanish heritage in Milan, where she studied piano at the Milan Conservatory, winning a gold medal for piano performance, and at the age of 16 was offered a professorship. She was inspired to sing by her grandmother. Operatic composer Pietro Mascagni also encouraged Galli-Curci's singing ambitions. By her own choice, Galli-Curci's voice was largely self-trained at the beginning of her career. She honed her technique by listening to other sopranos, reading old singing-method books, and doing piano exercises with her voice instead of using a keyboard. During the 1920s and '30s, she was coached by Estelle Liebling in New York City. Career Galli-Curci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucrezia Bori
Lucrezia Bori (24 December 1887 – 14 May 1960) was a Spanish operatic singer, a lyric soprano and a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Opera. Biography Lucrezia Bori was born on 24 December 1887, in Valencia, Spain. Her real name was Lucrecia Borja y González de Riancho. Her father was an officer in the Spanish army. Her family were descended from the influential family of the Italian Renaissance, the House of Borgia and she herself was named after her ancestor, Lucrezia Borgia. Her voice had a unique timbre and transparent quality unlike any present-day singer. She studied in Milan with Vidal and made her debut at the Teatro Adriano in Rome as Micaëla in Bizet's ''Carmen'' on 31 October 1908. In December 1910, she made her debut at La Scala as Carolina in Cimarosa's ''Il matrimonio segreto''; the following year, she sang Octavian in the Italian premiere of ''Der Rosenkavalier'' there. Her career at the Metropolitan Opera began in the summer of 1910 during the Met's firs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fanny Heldy
Fanny Heldy (29 February 1888 – 13 December 1973) was a Belgian lyric soprano opera singer. Life Born Marguerite Virginie Emma Clémentine Deceuninck in Ath (some sources say Liège), Hainaut Province, Belgium, she graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Liège. Heldy made her professional debut as a substitute in the premiere of ''Ivan the Terrible'', by Raoul Gunsbourg (at La Monnaie, 26 November 1910). Between 1914 and 1918 she sang in a number of major roles at Opéra de Monte-Carlo, making her first Paris appearance at the Opéra-Comique in 1917 as Violetta in '' La traviata.'' She portrayed Juliette in Charles Gounod's '' Roméo et Juliette'' at the Paris Opéra in 1920. In 1923, she made the historic (some say first) recording of the Jules Massenet opera '' Manon'', conducted by Henri Büsser, for Pathé Records. In December of that year, she sang the title role in ''Esclarmonde'' by Massenet during the opera's revival at the Paris Opéra. For more than twenty year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sibyl Sanderson
Sibyl Sanderson (December 7, 1864May 16, 1903) was a famous American operatic dramatic coloratura soprano during the Parisian Belle Époque. Biography She was born in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Sibyl's father Silas Sanderson was a California politician and lawyer; after serving as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California, he became a highly paid legal advisor to the Southern Pacific Railroad. After his death in 1886, she and her mother and sisters moved back to Paris and became transplanted socialites. Sanderson proved to be a remarkably gifted singer and began to appear on the stages of the Opéra-Comique, and later Palais Garnier, Opéra, in Paris, most notably in the works of Jules Massenet. She was his favorite soprano and appeared in the premieres of a number of his operas, the roles having been created for her unique talents (her professional debut took place in Paris in the title role in ''Esclarmonde''). She was also a famous interpreter of ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marie Heilbron
Marie Heilbron (or Heilbronn, 5 May 1851 - 31 March 1886) was a Belgian operatic lyric coloratura soprano, particularly associated with the French repertory, creator of Jules Massenet's quintessential French heroine ''Manon''. Born in Antwerp, she studied first in Brussels and later in Paris with famous tenor Gilbert Duprez. She made her Parisian debut at the Théâtre-Italien in 1866, as Marie in ''La fille du régiment''. In 1867, she appeared for the first time at the Opéra-Comique, as Catherine in '' L'étoile du nord''. She was to create there Massenet's ''Manon'' in 1884. She also appeared at the Théâtre des Variétés from 1871 onwards. She took part in the creation of Jacques Offenbach's ''Les braconniers'', and Victor Massé's ''Une nuit de Cléopâtre''. In 1879, she made her debut at the Opéra Garnier, where she sang as Marguerite in ''Faust'', Ophélie in ''Hamlet'', Juliette in '' Roméo et Juliette''. The same year she made her debut at La Scala in Milan, as Vio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rodney Milnes
Rodney Milnes Blumer OBE (26 July 1936 – 5 December 2015) was an English music critic, musicologist, writer, translator and broadcaster, with a particular interest in opera.Rodney Milnes. ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera''. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. He wrote under the professional name of Rodney Milnes. Life and career Milnes was born in Stafford, where his father was a surgeon. He learnt the piano as a child, to the level of playing the early Beethoven sonatas, and later recalled accompanying a fellow Oxford student in ''Winterreise'' at the Holywell Music Room. Wheatcroft, Geoffrey. Rodney Milnes, 1936-2015. ''Opera'', Vol 67 No 2, February 2016, p140-145. Milnes attended Rugby School and studied history at Christ Church, Oxford University. He was a member of the Oxford University Opera Club, taking part in ''The Fair Maid of Perth'' in 1955 (with Dudley Moore among the first violins and David Lloyd-Jones in the chorus),Rodney remembered (letters). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Hague
The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and has been described as the country's ''de facto'' capital since the time of the Dutch Republic, while Amsterdam is the official capital of the Netherlands. The Hague is the core municipality of the COROP, Greater The Hague urban area containing over 800,000 residents, and is also part of the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, which, with a population of approximately 2.6 million, is the largest metropolitan area of the Netherlands. The city is also part of the Randstad region, one of the largest conurbations in Europe. The Hague is the seat of the Cabinet of the Netherlands, Cabinet, the States General of the Netherlands, States General, the Supreme Court of the Neth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The New Grove Dictionary Of Opera
''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes. The dictionary was first published in 1992 by Macmillan Reference, London, and edited by Stanley Sadie. Christina Bashford was the managing editor. While some entries were based on their equivalent entry in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', most were specially commissioned. The work contains contributions from over 1,300 scholars, with 11,000 articles in total, covering over 2,900 composers and 1800 operas. The operas discussed range from the earliest operas in 16th century Italy to the 1992 Philip Glass work '' The Voyage''. The final volume includes four appendices: an index of principal role names in 850 notable operas; an index of incipits of arias and ensembles (first line only, no musical examples); a list of contributors; and illustration acknowledgements. In 1997, the diction ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carmen
''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 3 March 1875, where its breaking of conventions shocked and scandalised its first audiences. Bizet died suddenly after the 33rd performance, unaware that the work would achieve international acclaim within the following ten years. ''Carmen'' has since become one of the most popular and frequently performed operas in the classical canon; the " Habanera" and "Seguidilla" from act 1 and the " Toreador Song" from act 2 are among the best known of all operatic arias. The opera is written in the genre of ''opéra comique'' with musical numbers separated by dialogue. It is set in southern Spain and tells the story of the downfall of Don José, a naïve soldier who is seduced by the wiles of the fiery gypsy Carmen. Jos� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
