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Maometto II
''Maometto II'' (or ') is an 1820 opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Cesare della Valle. Set in the 1470s during a time of war between the Turks and Venetians, the work was commissioned by the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Della Valle based his libretto on his earlier play ''Anna Erizo''. The name of the title character, Maometto II, refers to the real-life Ottoman Sultan and conqueror of Constantinople Mehmed II, who lived from 1432 to 1481. Regarded "in some ways s hismost ambitious opera"Brauner, Patricia and Gossett, Philip, "''Maometto II''" in Holden p. 787 and as "the best of Rossini's Neapolitan operas", ''Maometto II'' failed to find an audience in Naples and, "to help ensure tssuccess in Venice and Paris, he smoothed out the most audacious elements of the score". Venice first saw it on 22 December 1822 and then, translated into French and changed significantly, it was presented as '' Le siège de Corinthe'' in 1826. Until the preparati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gioachino Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards for both comic and serious opera before retiring from large-scale composition while still in his thirties, at the height of his popularity. Born in Pesaro to parents who were both musicians (his father a trumpeter, his mother a singer), Rossini began to compose by the age of 12 and was educated at music school in Bologna. His first opera was performed in Venice in 1810 when he was 18 years old. In 1815 he was engaged to write operas and manage theatres in Naples. In the period 1810–1823 he wrote 34 operas for the Italian stage that were performed in Venice, Milan, Ferrara, Naples and elsewhere; this productivity necessitated an almost formulaic approach for some components (such as overtures) and a certain amount of self-borrowing. Du ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matilde Di Shabran
''Matilde di Shabran'' (full title: ''Matilde di Shabran, o sia Bellezza e Cuor di ferro''; English: ''Matilde of Shabran, or Beauty and Ironheart'') is a '' melodramma giocoso'' (''opera semiseria'') in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Jacopo Ferretti after François-Benoît Hoffman’s libretto for Méhul’s '' Euphrosine'' (1790, Paris) and J. M. Boutet de Monvel's play ''Mathilde''. The opera was first performed in Rome at the Teatro Apollo, 24 February 1821 Tom Kaufman 2007, "Rossini: ''Matilde di Shabran''" ''Opera Today'', 21 March 2007. (On operatoday.com) conducted by the violinist Niccolo Paganini. The premiere was followed by a street brawl "between Rossini's admirers and his detractors."Osborne, Charles 1994, p. 106 Versions Three authentic versions of ''Matilde di Shabran'' exist.Müller, Reto 2002 These are: the Rome version (24 February 1821); the Naples version (11 November 1821), and the Vienna version (7 May 1822). It is unlikely that Rossini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 when he first visited the city. In 1909, he returned as the conductor of the International Opera Company of Montreal, one of the many visiting troupes that frequented the bustling city. Continued visits for the next decade convinced him that a San Francisco company was viable. In 1921, Merola returned to live in the city under the patronage of Mrs. Oliver Stine. During this time, Merola conceived of branching away from the area's reliance on visiting troupes for entertainment that had been common place since the Gold Rush era. By the fall, he was planning his first season, and the very next year, Merola organized a trial season at Stanford University. The first performance occurred in the Stanford Cardinal's football stadium on June 3rd, 1922 w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rossini Festival
The Rossini Opera Festival (ROF) is an international music festival held in August of each year in Pesaro, Italy, the birthplace of the opera composer Gioachino Rossini. Its aim, in addition to studying the musical heritage of the composer, is to revive and perform his works in a unique setting that allows collaboration of scholars, artists, and audience. It is often simply referred to as the Pesaro Festival. Performances are given in the 850-seat theatre built in 1818, the Teatro Rossini and, since 1988, the modified sports arena (Palasport) which holds 1,500, as well as, since 2006, Vitrifrigo Arena, with over 10,000. Since 2000 another venue, the Teatro Sperimentale (Experimental Theatre), has offered the opportunity to present smaller-scale or minor works by contemporaries of Rossini such as Mosca, Generali, and Coccia. The main square of Pesaro, the Piazza del Popolo, also hosts outdoor performances. It will be extensively used during the Festival's 2020 season, which was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills (May 25, 1929July 2, 2007) was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. Although she sang a repertoire from Handel and Mozart to Puccini, Massenet and Verdi, she was especially renowned for her performances in coloratura soprano roles in live opera and recordings. Sills was largely associated with the operas of Donizetti, of which she performed and recorded many roles. Her signature roles include the title role in Donizetti's '' Lucia di Lammermoor'', the title role in Massenet's ''Manon'', Marie in Donizetti's '' La fille du régiment'', the three heroines in Offenbach's '' Les contes d'Hoffmann'', Rosina in Rossini's ''The Barber of Seville'', Violetta in Verdi's ''La traviata'', and most notably Elisabetta in Donizetti's '' Roberto Devereux''. ''The New York Times'' noted, In her prime her technique was exemplary. She could dispatch coloratura roulades and embellishments, capped by radiant high Ds and E-flats, with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager. As of 2018, the company's current music director is Yannick Nézet-Séguin. The Met was founded in 1883 as an alternative to the previously established Academy of Music opera house, and debuted the same year in a new building on 39th and Broadway (now known as the "Old Met"). It moved to the new Lincoln Center location in 1966. The Metropolitan Opera is the largest classical music organization in North America. Until 2019, it presented about 27 different operas each year from late September through May. The operas are presented in a rotating repertory schedule, with up to seven performances of four different works staged each week. Performances a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greek War Of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by the British Empire, Bourbon Restoration in France, Kingdom of France, and the Russian Empire, while the Ottomans were aided by their North African vassals, particularly the eyalet of Egypt Eyalet, Egypt. The war led to the formation of modern Greece. The revolution is Celebration of the Greek Revolution, celebrated by Greeks around the world as Greek Independence Day, independence day on 25 March. Greece, with the exception of the Ionian Islands, came under Ottoman rule in the 15th century, in the decades before and after the fall of Constantinople. During the following centuries, there were sporadic but unsuccessful Ottoman Greece#Uprisings before 1821, Greek uprisings against Ottoman rule. In 1814, a secret organization called Filiki Et ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teatro La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice (, "The Phoenix") is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th century, La Fenice became the site of many famous operatic premieres at which the works of several of the four major bel canto era composers – Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi – were performed. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of three theatres to fire, the first in 1774 after the city's leading house was destroyed and rebuilt but not opened until 1792; the second fire came in 1836, but rebuilding was completed within a year. However, the third fire was the result of arson. It destroyed the house in 1996 leaving only the exterior walls, but it was rebuilt and re-opened in November 2004. In order to celebrate this event the tradition of the Venice New Year's Concert started. His ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Donna Del Lago
''La donna del lago'' (English: ''The Lady of the Lake'') is an opera composed by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola (whose verses are described as "limpid" by one critic) based on the French translationOsborne, Charles 1994, p. 94 of '' The Lady of the Lake'', a narrative poem written in 1810 by Sir Walter Scott, whose work continued to popularize the image of the romantic Scottish Highlands. Scott's basic story has been noted as coming from "the hint of an incident stemming from the frequent custom of James V, the King of Scotland, of walking through the kingdom in disguise". It was the first of the Italian operas to be based on Scott's romantic works,Gossett and Brauner (2001), in Holden (Ed.), p. 785 and marked the beginning of romanticism in Rossini's work. Scott was "deeply influential in the development of Italian romantic opera"Commons 2007, pp. 9 - 12 to the extent that by 1840 (barely 20 years after this opera), there were 25 Italian operas bas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prima Donna
In opera or commedia dell'arte, a prima donna (; Italian for "first lady"; plural: ''prime donne'') is the leading female singer in the company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. ''Prime donne'' often had grand off-stage personalities and were seen as demanding of their colleagues. From its original usage in opera, the term has spread in contemporary usage to refer to anyone behaving in a demanding or temperamental fashion, or having an inflated view of oneself and a self-centered attitude. The prima donna in opera was normally, but not necessarily, a soprano. The corresponding term for the male lead (usually a castrato in the 17th and 18th centuries, later a tenor) is primo uomo.H. Rosenthal, H. and J. Warrack, ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera'', 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, 1979. p. 398. Opera In 19th-century Italy, the leading woman in an opera or commedia dell'arte company was known as the ''prima donna'', literally the "first lady". T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cabaletta
Cabaletta is a two-part musical form particularly favored for arias in 19th century Italian opera in the belcanto era until about the 1860s during which it was one of the era's most important elements. More properly, a cabaletta is a more animated section following the songlike cantabile. It often introduces a complication or intensification of emotion in the plot. Some sources suggest that the word derives from the Italian ''cobola'' (couplet). Another theory suggests that it derives from the Italian ''cavallo'' (horse), a reference to the pulsating rhythm of a galloping horse which forms the accompaniment of many famous cabalettas. The cabaletta was formed as part of an evolution from early 19th century arias containing two contrasting sections at different tempi within a single structure into more elaborate arias with musically distinct movements. The term itself was first defined in 1826 in Pietro Lichtenthal's ''Dizionario''."Cabaletta, s.f. Pensieretto musicale melodico, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Happy Ending
A happy ending is an ending of the plot of a work of fiction in which almost everything turns out for the best for the main protagonists and their sidekicks, while the main villains/antagonists are dead/defeated. In storylines where the protagonists are in physical danger, a happy ending mainly consists of their survival and successful completion of the quest or mission; where there is no physical danger, a happy ending may be lovers consummating their love despite various factors which might have thwarted it. A considerable number of storylines combine both situations. In Steven Spielberg's version of " War of the Worlds", the happy ending consists of three distinct elements: The protagonists all survive the countless perils of their journey; humanity as a whole survives the alien invasion; ''and'' the protagonist father regains the respect of his estranged children. The plot is so constructed that all three are needed for the audience's feeling of satisfaction in the end. A h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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