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Tannhäuser (opera)
''Tannhäuser'' (; full title , "Tannhäuser and the Minnesängers' Contest at Wartburg") is an 1845 opera in three acts, with music and text by Richard Wagner ( WWV 70 in the catalogue of the composer's works). It is based on two German legends: Tannhäuser, the mythologized medieval German Minnesänger and poet, and the tale of the Wartburg Song Contest. The story centres on the struggle between sacred and profane love, as well as redemption through love, a theme running through most of Wagner's work. The opera remains a staple of major opera house repertoire in the 21st century. Composition history Sources The libretto of ''Tannhäuser'' combines mythological elements characteristic of German ''Romantische Oper'' (Romantic opera) and the medieval setting typical of many French Grand Operas. Wagner brings these two together by constructing a plot involving the 14th-century '' Minnesänger'' and the myth of Venus and her subterranean realm of Venusberg. Both the histori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Opera
Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and Orchestra, orchestras. The original productions consisted of spectacular design and stage effects with plots normally based on or around dramatic historic events. The term is particularly applied (sometimes specifically used in its French-language equivalent grand opéra, ) to certain productions of the Paris Opéra from the late 1820s to around 1860; 'grand opéra' has sometimes been used to denote the Paris Opéra itself. The term 'grand opera' is also used in a broader application in respect of contemporary or later works of similar monumental proportions from France, Germany, Italy, and other countries. It may also be used colloquially in an imprecise sense to refer to 'serious opera without spoken dialogue'. Origins Paris at the turn of the 19th century drew in many composers, both French and foreign, especially those of opera. Several Italians working durin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Works For The Stage By Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner's works for the stage, representing more than 50 years of creative life, comprise his 13 completed operas and a similar number of failed or abandoned projects. His first effort, begun when he was 13, was a prose drama, '' Leubald'', but thereafter all his works were conceived as some form of musical drama. It has been suggested that Wagner's wish to add incidental music to ''Leubald'', in the manner of Beethoven's treatment of Goethe's drama '' Egmont'', may have been the initial stimulus that directed him to musical composition. Wagner's musical education began in 1828, and a year later he was producing his earliest compositions, writing words and music, since lost, for his first opera attempt, '' Die Laune des Verliebten''. During the subsequent decade he began several more opera projects, none of which was successful although two were completed and one was staged professionally. His first commercial success came in 1842 with ''Rienzi'', by which time he had compl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Serapion Brethren
The Serapion Brethren (''Die Serapionsbrüder'') is the name of a literary and social circle, formed in Berlin in 1818 by the German romantic writer E. T. A. Hoffmann and several of his friends. The Serapion Brethren also is the title of a four-volume collection of Hoffmann's novellas and fairytales that appeared in 1819, 1820, and 1821. The literary circle Seraphin Brethren In 1814, Hoffmann returned to Berlin from Dresden and Leipzig, where he had been working as an orchestra conductor and opera director, to return to work as a Prussian civil servant. In that year, he and a group of friends formed an association for the purpose of reading from and discussing works of literature (primarily their own). The group first met on October 12, which happened to be the feast day of Saint Seraphin of Montegranaro. The friends therefore decided to refer to their group as an “order” and to give it the name The Seraphin Brethren 'Die Seraphinenbrüder'' After about two years of gathe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Overture
Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") is a music instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overtures which were independent, self-existing, instrumental, programmatic works that foreshadowed genres such as the symphonic poem. These were "at first undoubtedly intended to be played at the head of a programme". The idea of an instrumental opening to opera existed during the 17th century. Peri's '' Euridice'' opens with a brief instrumental ritornello, and Monteverdi's '' L'Orfeo'' (1607) opens with a toccata, in this case a fanfare for muted trumpets. More important was the prologue, consisting of sung dialogue between allegorical characters which introduced the overarching themes of the stories depicted. French overture As a musical form, the French overture first appears in the court ballet and operatic overtures of Jean-Baptist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teplitz
Teplice (, until 1948 Teplice-Šanov; , ''Teplitz-Schönau'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 51,000 inhabitants. It is the most populous Czech spa town, followed by Karlovy Vary. The historic city centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Administrative division Teplice consists of seven municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Teplice (19,441) *Hudcov (651) *Nová Ves (1,315) *Prosetice (3,359) *Řetenice (4,016) *Sobědruhy (1,144) *Trnovany (18,502) Etymology ''Teplice'' is an Old Czech word meaning 'warm (hot) water'. Geography Teplice is located about west of Ústí nad Labem and northwest of Prague. The northern part of the municipal territory lies in the Most Basin and the southern part lies in the Central Bohemian Uplands. The highest point is the hill Doubravská hora at above sea level. There are several small fishponds in the territory of Teplice. History ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Libretto
A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as the Mass (liturgy), Mass, requiem and sacred cantata, or the story line of a ballet. The Italian language, Italian word (, ) is the diminutive of the word ''wiktionary:libro#Italian, libro'' ("book"). Sometimes other-language cognates, equivalents are used for libretti in that language, ''livret'' for French works, ''Textbuch'' for German and ''libreto'' for Spanish. A libretto is distinct from a synopsis or scenario of the plot, in that the libretto contains all the words and stage directions, while a synopsis summarizes the plot. Some ballet historians also use the word ''libretto'' to refer to the 15- to 40-page books which were on sale to 19th century ballet audiences in Paris and contained ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjectivity, imagination, and appreciation of nature in society and culture in response to the Age of Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. Romanticists rejected the social conventions of the time in favour of a moral outlook known as individualism. They argued that passion (emotion), passion and intuition were crucial to understanding the world, and that beauty is more than merely an classicism, affair of form, but rather something that evokes a strong emotional response. With this philosophical foundation, the Romanticists elevated several key themes to which they were deeply committed: a Reverence (emotion), reverence for nature and the supernatural, nostalgia, an idealization of the past as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christian Theodor Ludwig Lucas
Christian Theodor Ludwig Lucas, also known as Ludwig Lucas or C. T. L. Lucas (born 1796 in Petrikau, South Prussia – d. 1854 in Schrimm, Posen Province), was a German writer and pedagogue. Life Lucas enrolled to study, first Protestant Theology and then law at the University of Königsberg in 1816. In March 1818, he represented the Königsberger Landsmannschaft (fraternity) on the ''Allgemeinen Deutschen Burschenschaft'' (ADB) in Jena. On behalf of Theodor von Schön, Oberpräsident (Governor) of West Prussia he organised the libraries and archives of the monasteries, following the dissolution of 1818–1835. In 1820 he began an academic career. In 1822 he became a teacher at the Altstadt Gymnasium in Königsberg, in 1828 he served on Government School Board as an assistant to Gustav Friedrich Dinter and in 1832 became director of the newly reorganised Kneiphof Gymnasium. By 1835 he was an associate professor of German literature. Succeeding Reinhold Bernhard Jachmann, he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ludwig Bechstein
Ludwig Bechstein (24 November 1801 – 14 May 1860) was a German writer and collector of folk fairy tales. He was born in Weimar, the illegitimate child of Johanna Carolina Dorothea Bechstein and Hubert Dupontreau, a French emigrant who disappeared before the birth of the child; Ludwig thus grew up very poor in his first nine years. His situation improved only when his uncle Johann Matthäus Bechstein, a renowned naturalist and forester living in Meiningen in the country of Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, adopted him in 1810. He was sent to school in Meiningen, and in 1818, started an apprenticeship as a pharmacist. From 1828 to 1831 he studied philosophy and literature in Leipzig and Munich thanks to a stipend granted by Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, Duke Bernhard II of Sachsen-Meiningen, who hired him subsequently as a librarian. This lifetime post provided Bechstein with a continuous income, while leaving him a lot of freedom to pursue his own interests and writing. He lived f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heinrich Von Ofterdingen
Heinrich von Ofterdingen was a Middle High German lyric poet and Minnesinger mentioned in the 13th-century epic of the '' Sängerkrieg'' (minstrel contest) on the Wartburg. The legend was revived by Novalis in his eponymous fragmentary novel written in 1800 and by E. T. A. Hoffmann in his 1818 novella ''Der Kampf der Sänger''. Sources The 24 ''Fürstenlob'' (princely praise) stanzas of the ''Sängerkrieg'' describe Heinrich's challenge to the most famous singers like Walther von der Vogelweide, Reinmar von Zweter and Wolfram von Eschenbach in the presence of the Landgrave of Thuringia. Defeated by cunning he obtains the permission to call in the legendary sorcerer Klingsor von Ungerlant (Hungary) to his relief. Several versions of the ''Sängerkrieg'', partially divergent, were rendered in later '' Liederhandschrift'' manuscripts, among them the ''Codex Manesse''; it was depicted as a historic event already by medieval chroniclers such as Dietrich of Apolda. The younger vulga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franconia
Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franconia in Bavaria, the adjacent, East Franconian, Franconian-speaking South Thuringia, south of the Thuringian Forest—which constitutes the language boundary between Franconian and Thuringian—and the eastern parts of Heilbronn-Franconia in Baden-Württemberg. Those parts of the Vogtland lying in Saxony (largest city: Plauen) are sometimes regarded as Franconian as well, because the Vogtlandian dialects are mostly East Franconian. The inhabitants of Saxon Vogtland, however, mostly do not consider themselves Franconian. On the other hand, the inhabitants of the Hessian dialect, Hessian-speaking parts of Lower Franconia west of the Spessart (largest city: Aschaffenburg) do consider themselves Franconian, although not speaking the dialect. He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Marble Statue
''The Marble Statue'' () is an 1818 novella by the German writer Joseph von Eichendorff. Set around Lucca, it is about a man who struggles to choose between piety, represented by a musician and a beautiful maiden, and a world of art, represented by a statue of Venus. Plot On a summer night, the young man Florio finds himself participating in festivities near the gate to Lucca. He becomes acquainted with the famous musician Fortunato, a beautiful maiden he later learns is named Bianca, and the eloquent cavalier Donati. Donati greets Florio as an old friend and knows many details about his youth, but Florio cannot recall having met Donati before. Florio stays at an inn in Lucca but is unable to sleep and goes for a nightly walk. He finds a marble statue of Venus which seems oddly familiar, reminding him of his youth but also alarming him. Revisiting the statue the next morning, he ends up at an extravagant garden surrounding a palace where he spots a beautiful, singing lady whose ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
