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Mignon
''Mignon'' is an 1866 ''opéra comique'' (or opera in its second version) in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's 1795-96 novel '' Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre''. The Italian version was translated by Giuseppe Zaffira. The opera is mentioned in James Joyce's " The Dead" ('' Dubliners'') and Willa Cather's '' The Professor's House''. Thomas's goddaughter Mignon Nevada was named after the main character. Performance history The first performance was at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 17 November 1866. The piece proved popular: more than 100 performances took place by the following July, the 1,000th was given there on 13 May 1894, and the 1,500th on 25 May 1919. The opera was also adapted and translated into German for performance in Berlin with Madame Lucca as Mignon. Lucca was well received, but the German critics were unhappy with the opera's alterations to the Goethe original, so Thomas composed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mignon Nevada
Mignon Nevada (14 August 1886 – 25 June 1971) was an English operatic soprano. She was born in Paris, daughter of the American operatic soprano Emma Nevada and her English husband Raymond Palmer. She was named after the title character of the 1866 opera ''Mignon'', written by her godfather, French composer Ambroise Thomas. Her voice was light and agile, and her mother trained her to be a coloratura soprano, although Sir Thomas Beecham thought this was a mistake and she should have been a mezzo-soprano instead.Steane, J. B. (1992). "Nevada, Mignon" in Sadie, 3: 581.Review of Mignon Nevada's recording of "Le Soir"''Gramophone'', June 1938, p. 18 Retrieved 13 August 2010. Career Her debut was in February 1908 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome as Rosina in Rossini's ''Il barbiere di Siviglia''. ''The New York Times'' reported that her mother's friends, Adelina Patti and Mary Garden travelled all the way to Rome just to attend Mignon's debut. Her performances were so well received tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship
''Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship'' ( ger, Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre) is the second novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, published in 1795–96. Plot The eponymous hero undergoes a journey of self-realization. The story centers upon Wilhelm's attempt to escape what he views as the empty life of a bourgeois businessman. After a failed romance with the theater, Wilhelm commits himself to the mysterious Tower Society. Book One (1) The housekeeper Barbara is waiting for her mistress, the actress Mariane, to return from her performance at the theater. When she arrives, Mariane ignores the presents of her suitor, Norberg, who is due to arrive in 14 days. Wilhelm, whom she loves despite his ill-prospects, arrives and they embrace. (2) The next morning Wilhelm argues with his mother about his obsession with the theater. They reminisce about the puppet show that his mother put on twelve years prior at Christmas. On account of the play (David & Goliath) Wilhelm became entranced by t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ambroise Thomas
Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas (; 5 August 1811 – 12 February 1896) was a French composer and teacher, best known for his operas '' Mignon'' (1866) and ''Hamlet'' (1868). Born into a musical family, Thomas was a student at the Conservatoire de Paris, winning France's top music prize, the Prix de Rome. He pursued a career as a composer of operas, completing his first opera, ''La double échelle'', in 1837. He wrote twenty further operas over the next decades, mostly comic, but he also treated more serious subjects, finding considerable success with audiences in France and abroad. Thomas was appointed as a professor at the Conservatoire in 1856, and in 1871 he succeeded Daniel Auber as director. Between then and his death at his home in Paris twenty-five years later, he modernised the Conservatoire's organisation while imposing a rigidly conservative curriculum, hostile to modern music, and attempting to prevent composers such as César Franck and Gabriel Fauré from influencing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marilyn Horne
Marilyn Horne (born January 16, 1934) is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages. She is a recipient of the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors, and has won four Grammy Awards. Early life Marilyn Horne was born in Bradford, Pennsylvania, to Berneice and Bentz Horne. Her parents were both politicians, with her mother serving as city assessor of the Fifth Ward and her father appointed as McKean County assessor. Bentz was also a semi-professional singer and, noticing Marilyn's talent, sought to move the family to a place where she could have access to professional vocal training and more opportunities to perform. Along with her older brother Richard and sister Gloria, the family moved to Long Beach, California when Marilyn was 11. At age 13, Horne became part of the newly formed Roger Wagner Chorale. She is an alumna of Long Beach Poly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne. It was also called the Théâtre-Italien up to about 1793, when it again became most commonly known as the Opéra-Comique. Today the company's official name is Théâtre national de l'Opéra-Comique, and its theatre, with a capacity of around 1,248 seats, sometimes referred to as the Salle Favart (the third on this site), is located at Place Boïeldieu in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, not far from the Palais Garnier, one of the theatres of the Paris Opéra. The musicians and others associated with the Opéra-Comique have made important contributions to operatic history and tradition in France and to French opera. Its current mission is to reconnect with its history and discover its unique repertoire to en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruth Welting
Ruth Welting (November 5, 1948 – December 16, 1999) was an American operatic soprano who had an active international career from the early 1970s through the mid-1990s. A specialist in the coloratura soprano repertoire, she was particularly associated with the Metropolitan Opera where she performed regularly from 1976 until her retirement from performance in 1994. Endowed with a powerful coloratura voice, she is remembered as one of a few sopranos capable of singing the Mad Scene ("Il dolce suono") from ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' in the original F major key. Life and career Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Welting was the youngest of four sisters. Her older sister, Patricia Welting (1938–1986), was also a soprano who performed roles at the Metropolitan Opera during the late 1960s. Ruth began studying the piano at the age of 3. While a student at Messick High School she won the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Gold Medal from the National Guild of Piano Teachers. After graduating from Messick in 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above (i.e. A3–A5 in scientific pitch notation, where middle C = C4; 220–880 Hz). In the lower and upper extremes, some mezzo-sopranos may extend down to the F below middle C (F3, 175 Hz) and as high as "high C" (C6, 1047 Hz). The mezzo-soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic mezzo-soprano. History While mezzo-sopranos typically sing secondary roles in operas, notable exceptions include the title role in Bizet's '' Carmen'', Angelina ( Cinderella) in Rossini's '' La Cenerentola'', and Rosina in Rossini's '' Barber of Seville'' (all of which are also sung by sopranos and contraltos). Many 19th-century French-language operas give the leading female role to mezzos, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christina Nilsson
Christina Nilsson, Countess de Casa Miranda, also called Christine Nilsson (20 August 1843 – 22 November 1921) was a Swedish dramatic coloratura soprano. Possessed of a pure and brilliant voice of first three then two and a half octaves trained in the bel canto technique, and noted for her graceful appearance and stage presence, she enjoyed a twenty-year career as a top-rank international singer before her 1888 retirement. A contemporary of one of the Victorian era's most famous divas, Adelina Patti, the two were often compared by reviewers and audiences, and were sometimes believed to be rivals. Nilsson became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in 1869. Biography Christina Nilsson was born Christina Jonasdotter in a forester's hut at Sjöabol (or Snugge) farm near Växjö, Småland, the youngest of seven children of the peasants Jonas Nilsson (1798 - 1871) and Stina Cajsa Månsdotter (1804 - 1870). As a young child she received a rudimentary education, attend ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenor
A tenor is a type of classical male singing 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 '' 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 enor was thestructurally fundamental (or 'holding') voice, vocal or instrumental; by the 15th century it came to signify the male voice that sang such parts. All other voices were normal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coloratura Soprano
A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs, leaps and trills. The term '' coloratura'' refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component of the music written for this voice. Within the coloratura category, there are roles written specifically for lighter voices known as lyric coloraturas and others for larger voices known as dramatic coloraturas. Categories within a certain vocal range are determined by the size, weight and color of the voice. Coloratura is particularly found in vocal music and especially in operatic singing of the 18th and 19th centuries. The word ''coloratura'' ( , , ) means "coloring" in Italian, and derives from the Latin word ''colorare'' ("to color").''Oxford American Dictionaries''. Lyric coloratura soprano A very agile light voice with a high upper extension, capable of fast vocal coloratura. Lyric coloraturas have a range of approximately middle C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour. He is widely regarded as the greatest and most influential writer in the German language, his work having a profound and wide-ranging influence on Western literary, political, and philosophical thought from the late 18th century to the present day.. Goethe took up residence in Weimar in November 1775 following the success of his first novel, '' The Sorrows of Young Werther'' (1774). He was ennobled by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, Karl August, in 1782. Goethe was an early participant in the '' Sturm und Drang'' literary movement. During his first ten years in Weimar, Goethe became a member of the Duke's privy council (1776–1785), sat on the war and highway commissions, oversaw the reopening of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Opera House
The French Opera House, or ''Théâtre de l'Opéra'', was an opera house in New Orleans. It was one of the city's landmarks from its opening in 1859 until it was destroyed by fire in 1919. It stood in the French Quarter at the uptown lake corner of Bourbon and Toulouse Streets, with the main entrance on Bourbon. The site is currently occupied by the Four Points by Sheraton French Quarter. History Designed by James Gallier Jr., the hall was commissioned by Charles Boudousquié, then the director of the opera company, which had previously made its home in the Théâtre d'Orléans. After a dispute with new owners of the Orléans, Boudousquié determined to build a grand new house for French opera. The building went up in less than a year at a cost of $118,500 and for the next sixty years, it was the center of social activity in New Orleans. Not only opera was held there, but also Carnival balls, debuts, benefits, receptions, and concerts. On May 23, 1859, the ''New Orleans Delta'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
