1.
Order of the Companions of Honour
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The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. Founded on the date as the Order of the British Empire. The order consists of the Sovereign plus no more than 65 members, additionally, foreigners from outside the realms may be added as honorary members. Membership confers no title or precedence, but those inducted into the order are entitled to use the post-nominal letters CH. Appointments can be made on the advice of Commonwealth realm prime ministers, for Canadians, the advice to the Sovereign can come from a variety of officials. The quota numbers were altered in 1970 to 47 for the United Kingdom,7 for Australia,2 for New Zealand, the quota was adjusted again in 1975 by adding 2 places to the New Zealand quota and reducing the 9 for the other countries to 7. While able to nominate candidates to the Order, New Zealand, as of 2016 those countries have nominated only politicians who have served as Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister. Men wear the badge on a ribbon and women on a bow at the left shoulder. Sovereign Queen Elizabeth II List of Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour List of honorary British Knights List of people who have declined a British honour
2.
Order of the British Empire
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There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. Recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire were at first made on the nomination of the United Kingdom, the self-governing Dominions of the Empire, nominations continue today from Commonwealth countries that participate in recommending British honours. Most members are citizens of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth realms that use the Imperial system of honours and awards. Honorary knighthoods are appointed to citizens of nations where the Queen is not head of state, occasionally, honorary appointees are, incorrectly, referred to as Sir or Dame – Bill Gates or Bob Geldof, for example. In particular, King George V wished to create an Order to honour many thousands of those who had served in a variety of non-combatant roles during the First World War, when first established, the Order had only one division. However, in 1918, soon after its foundation, it was divided into Military. The Orders motto is For God and the Empire, at the foundation of the Order, the Medal of the Order of the British Empire was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. In 1922, this was renamed the British Empire Medal, in addition, the BEM is awarded by the Cook Islands and by some other Commonwealth nations. The British monarch is Sovereign of the Order, and appoints all members of the Order. The next most senior member is the Grand Master, of whom there have been three, Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, Queen Mary, and the current Grand Master, the Duke of Edinburgh. The Order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross,845 Knights and Dames Commander, and 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the number of members of the fourth and fifth classes. Foreign recipients, as members, do not contribute to the numbers restricted to the Order as full members do. Though men can be knighted separately from an order of chivalry, women cannot, and so the rank of Knight/Dame Commander of the Order is the lowest rank of damehood, and second-lowest of knighthood. Because of this, Dame Commander is awarded in circumstances in which a man would be created a Knight Bachelor, for example, by convention, female judges of the High Court of Justice are created Dames Commander after appointment, while male judges become Knights Bachelor. The Order has six officials, the Prelate, the Dean, the Secretary, the Registrar, the King of Arms, the Bishop of London, a senior bishop in the Church of England, serves as the Orders Prelate. The Dean of St Pauls is ex officio the Dean of the Order, the Orders King of Arms is not a member of the College of Arms, as are many other heraldic officers. From time to time, individuals are appointed to a higher grade within the Order, thereby ceasing usage of the junior post-nominal letters
3.
London Symphony Orchestra
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The London Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1904, is the oldest of Londons symphony orchestras. It was set up by a group of players who left Henry Woods Queens Hall Orchestra because of a new rule requiring players to give the orchestra their exclusive services, the LSO itself later introduced a similar rule for its members. From the outset, the LSO was organised on co-operative lines and this practice continued for the orchestras first four decades. The profit-sharing principle was abandoned in the era as a condition of receiving public subsidy for the first time. In the 1950s the orchestra debated whether to concentrate on work at the expense of symphony concerts. By the 1960s the LSO had recovered its position, which it has retained subsequently. In 1966, to perform alongside it in works, the orchestra established the LSO Chorus, originally a mix of professional and amateur singers. As a self-governing body, the orchestra selects the conductors with whom it works, at some stages in its history, it has dispensed with a principal conductor and worked only with guests. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in the Barbican Centre in the City of London, among its programmes there have been large-scale festivals celebrating composers as diverse as Berlioz, Mahler and Bernstein. At the turn of the century there were no permanent salaried orchestras in London. The main orchestras were those of Covent Garden, the Philharmonic Society and he would then engage another player to deputise at him for the original concert and the rehearsals for it. The treasurer of the Philharmonic Society described the system thus, A and he sends B to the first rehearsal. B, without knowledge or consent, sends C to the second rehearsal. Not being able to play at the concert, C sends D, in 1904, the manager of the Queens Hall, Robert Newman and the conductor of his promenade concerts, Henry Wood, agreed that they could no longer tolerate the deputy system. After a rehearsal in which Wood was faced with dozens of unfamiliar faces in his own orchestra, Newman came to the platform and announced, Gentlemen, in future there will be no deputies. Orchestral musicians were not highly paid, and removing their chances of better-paid engagements permitted by the deputy system was a financial blow to many of them. The principal movers were three players and a trumpeter, John Solomon. Busby organised a meeting at St. Andrews Hall, not far from the Queens Hall, invitations were sent to present and former members of the Queens Hall Orchestra
4.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, baptised as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. Born in Salzburg, he showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood, already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. At 17, Mozart was engaged as a musician at the Salzburg court, while visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame, during his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of his death. The circumstances of his death have been much mythologized. He was survived by his wife Constanze and two sons and he composed more than 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers, Ludwig van Beethoven composed his own early works in the shadow of Mozart, and Joseph Haydn wrote, posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 to Leopold Mozart and Anna Maria, née Pertl and this was the capital of the Archbishopric of Salzburg, an ecclesiastic principality in what is now Austria, then part of the Holy Roman Empire. He was the youngest of seven children, five of whom died in infancy and his elder sister was Maria Anna Mozart, nicknamed Nannerl. Mozart was baptized the day after his birth, at St. Ruperts Cathedral in Salzburg, the baptismal record gives his name in Latinized form, as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart. He generally called himself Wolfgang Amadè Mozart as an adult, Leopold Mozart, a native of Augsburg, Germany, was a minor composer and an experienced teacher. In 1743, he was appointed as fourth violinist in the establishment of Count Leopold Anton von Firmian. Four years later, he married Anna Maria in Salzburg, Leopold became the orchestras deputy Kapellmeister in 1763. During the year of his sons birth, Leopold published a textbook, Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule. When Nannerl was 7, she began lessons with her father. Years later, after her brothers death, she reminisced, He often spent much time at the clavier, picking out thirds, which he was ever striking, and his pleasure showed that it sounded good. In the fourth year of his age his father, for a game as it were, began to teach him a few minuets and he could play it faultlessly and with the greatest delicacy, and keeping exactly in time. At the age of five, he was composing little pieces
5.
Hector Berlioz
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Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts. Berlioz made significant contributions to the orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works, and he also composed around 50 songs. His influence was critical for the development of Romanticism, especially in composers like Richard Wagner, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Franz Liszt, Richard Strauss. Hector Berlioz was born in France at La Côte-Saint-André in the département of Isère, Louis was an agnostic, with a liberal outlook, his mother, Marie-Antoinette, was a devout Roman Catholic. He had five siblings in all, three of whom did not survive to adulthood, the other two, Nanci and Adèle, remained close to Berlioz throughout his life. Berlioz was not a prodigy, unlike some other famous composers of the time, he began studying music at age 12, writing small compositions. As a result of his fathers discouragement, he never learned to play the piano and he became proficient at guitar, flageolet and flute. He learned harmony from textbooks alone—he was not formally trained, the majority of his early compositions were romances and chamber pieces. While yet at age twelve, as recalled in his Mémoires, he experienced his first passion for a woman and he also began to visit the Paris Conservatoire library, seeking out scores of Glucks operas and making personal copies of parts of them. He recalled in his Mémoires his first encounter with Luigi Cherubini, Cherubini attempted to throw the impetuous Berlioz out of the library since he was not a formal music student at that time. Berlioz also heard two operas by Gaspare Spontini, a composer who influenced him through their friendship, and whom he later championed when working as a critic, from then on, he devoted himself to composition. He was encouraged in his endeavors by Jean-François Le Sueur, director of the Royal Chapel, in 1823, he wrote his first article—a letter to the journal Le corsaire defending Spontinis La vestale. Despite his parents disapproval, in 1824 he formally abandoned his studies to pursue a career in music. This work was rehearsed and revised after the rehearsal but not performed until the following year, Berlioz later claimed to have burnt the score, but it was re-discovered in 1991. Later that year or in 1825, he began to compose the opera Les francs-juges, the work survives only in fragments, the overture has been much recorded and is sometimes played in concert. In 1826 he began attending the Conservatoire to study composition under Jean-François Le Sueur and he also submitted a fugue to the Prix de Rome, but was eliminated in the primary round. Winning the prize would become an obsession until he won it in 1830
6.
Edward Elgar
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Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos for violin and cello and he also composed choral works, including The Dream of Gerontius, chamber music and songs. He was appointed Master of the Kings Musick in 1924, although Elgar is often regarded as a typically English composer, most of his musical influences were not from England but from continental Europe. He felt himself to be an outsider, not only musically and he nevertheless married the daughter of a senior British army officer. His later full-length religious choral works were received but have not entered the regular repertory. In his fifties, Elgar composed a symphony and a concerto that were immensely successful. His second symphony and his cello concerto did not gain immediate public popularity, Elgars music came, in his later years, to be seen as appealing chiefly to British audiences. His stock remained low for a generation after his death and it began to revive significantly in the 1960s, helped by new recordings of his works. Some of his works have, in recent years, been taken up again internationally, Elgar has been described as the first composer to take the gramophone seriously. Between 1914 and 1925, he conducted a series of recordings of his works. Edward Elgar was born in the village of Lower Broadheath, outside Worcester. His father, William Henry Elgar, was raised in Dover and had apprenticed to a London music publisher. In 1841 William moved to Worcester, where he worked as a tuner and set up a shop selling sheet music. In 1848 he married Ann Greening, daughter of a farm worker, Edward was the fourth of their seven children. Ann Elgar had converted to Roman Catholicism shortly before Edwards birth, William Elgar was a violinist of professional standard and held the post of organist of St. Georges Roman Catholic Church, Worcester, from 1846 to 1885. At his instigation, masses by Cherubini and Hummel were first heard at the Three Choirs Festival by the orchestra in which he played the violin, all the Elgar children received a musical upbringing. Elgars mother was interested in the arts and encouraged his musical development and he inherited from her a discerning taste for literature and a passionate love of the countryside. His friend and biographer W. H, Billy Reed wrote that Elgars early surroundings had an influence that permeated all his work and gave to his whole life that subtle but none the less true and sturdy English quality
7.
Jean Sibelius
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Jean Sibelius, born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius, was a Finnish composer and violinist of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. The core of his oeuvre is his set of seven symphonies which, like his major works, continue to be performed and recorded in his home country. His other best-known compositions are Finlandia, the Karelia Suite, Valse triste, the Violin Concerto, the choral symphony Kullervo, throughout his career, the composer found inspiration in nature and Nordic mythology, especially the heroic legends of the national epic, the Kalevala. Although he is reputed to have stopped composing, he attempted to continue writing, including abortive efforts on an eighth symphony, in later life, he wrote Masonic music and re-edited some earlier works while retaining an active but not always favourable interest in new developments in music. The Finnish 100 mark note featured his image until 2002, when the euro was adopted, since 2011, Finland has celebrated a Flag Day on 8 December, the composers birthday, also known as the Day of Finnish Music. In 2015, the 150th anniversary of the birth, a number of special concerts and events were held. Sibelius was born on 8 December 1865 in Hämeenlinna in the Grand Duchy of Finland and he was the son of the Swedish-speaking medical doctor Christian Gustaf Sibelius and Maria Charlotta Sibelius née Borg. The family name stems from the Sibbe estate in Eastern Uusimaa which was owned by his paternal great-grandfather, Sibeliuss father died of typhoid in July 1868, leaving substantial debts. As a result, his mother—who was again pregnant—had to sell their property and move the family into the home of Katarina Borg, her widowed mother, who also lived in Hämeenlinna. Sibelius was therefore brought up in a decidedly female environment, the only male influence coming from his uncle, Pehr Ferdinand Sibelius and it was he who gave the boy a violin when he was ten years old and later encouraged him to maintain his interest in composition. For Sibelius, Uncle Pehr not only took the place of a father, from an early age, Sibelius showed a strong interest in nature, frequently walking around the countryside when the family moved to Loviisa on the coast for the summer months. In his own words, For me, Loviisa represented sun, Hämeenlinna was where I went to school, Loviisa was freedom. It was in Hämeenlinna, when he was seven, that his aunt Julia was brought in to give him piano lessons on the familys upright instrument and he progressed by improvising on his own, but still learned to read music. He later turned to the violin, which he preferred and he participated in trios with his elder sister Linda on piano, and his younger brother Christian on the cello. Furthermore, Sibelius often played in quartets with neighboring families, adding to his experience in chamber music, fragments survive of his early compositions of the period, a trio, a piano quartet and a Suite in D Minor for violin and piano. Around 1881, he recorded on paper his short pizzicato piece Vattendroppar for violin, in 1881, he started to take violin lessons from the local bandmaster, Gustaf Levander, immediately developing a particularly strong interest in the instrument. Despite such success as an instrumentalist, he chose to become a composer. Although his mother tongue was Swedish, in 1874 Sibelius attended Lucina Hagmans Finnish-speaking preparatory school, despite having to repeat a year, he succeeded in passing the schools final examination in 1885 which allowed him to enter a university
8.
Igor Stravinsky
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Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was a Russian-born composer, pianist, and conductor. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century, Stravinskys compositional career was notable for its stylistic diversity. His Russian phase which continued with such as Renard, The Soldiers Tale. The works from this tended to make use of traditional musical forms, drawing on earlier styles. In the 1950s, Stravinsky adopted serial procedures, Stravinsky was born on 17 June 1882 in Oranienbaum, a suburb of Saint Petersburg, the Russian imperial capital, and was brought up in Saint Petersburg. It is believed that Stravinsky’s ancestry is traceable back to the 17th and 18th centuries, to the bearers of the Soulima, ivan Sulima, was a famous Ukrainian hetman 1628–1635. Stravinskys family branch most likely came from Stravinskas, polonized Lithuanian land owners and it is still unclear to when exactly the Soulima part of the surname was dropped. Stravinsky recalled his schooldays as being lonely, later saying that I never came across anyone who had any attraction for me. Stravinsky began piano lessons as a boy, studying music theory. In 1890, he saw a performance of Tchaikovskys ballet The Sleeping Beauty at the Mariinsky Theatre, despite his enthusiasm for music, his parents expected him to study law. Stravinsky enrolled at the University of Saint Petersburg in 1901, Stravinskys father died of cancer that year, by which time his son had already begun spending more time on his musical studies than on law. Thereafter, he concentrated on studying music, in 1905, he began to take twice-weekly private lessons from Rimsky-Korsakov, whom he came to regard as a second father. These lessons continued until Rimsky-Korsakovs death in 1908, in 1905 Stravinsky was betrothed to his cousin Katherine Gavrylivna Nosenko, whom he had known since early childhood. Diaghilev was sufficiently impressed by Fireworks to commission Stravinsky to carry out some orchestrations and then to compose a ballet score. The early period of Igor Stravinsky’s work would be incomplete without a research of his life while in Ukraine. From approximately 1890 till 1914 the composer was frequently visiting Ustyluh, town in Volyn Oblast and he spent most of his summers there and that’s where he met his cousin, Katherine Nosenko who he married in 1906. In 1907 Stravinsky designed and built his own house in Ustyluh where his own family stayed often during summer times until 1914 and his new Ukrainian home he called “My heavenly place”. In this house Igor Stravinsky worked on his seventeen early compositions, among which were orchestral fantasy Fireworks, ballets Firebird, Petrushka, currently, after its renovation this house is the only composers house-museum opened to the public
9.
Michael Tippett
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Sir Michael Kemp Tippett OM CH CBE was an English composer who rose to prominence during and immediately after the Second World War. In his lifetime he was ranked with his contemporary Benjamin Britten as one of the leading British composers of the 20th century. Among his best-known works are the oratorio A Child of Our Time, the orchestral Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli, and he withdrew or destroyed his earliest compositions, and was 30 before any of his works were published. Until the mid-to-late 1950s his music was broadly lyrical in character, before changing to a more astringent, New influences, including those of jazz and blues after his first visit to America in 1965, became increasingly evident in his compositions. While Tippetts stature with the continued to grow, not all critics approved of these changes in style. From around 1976 Tippetts late works began to reflect the works of his youth through a return to lyricism, although he was much honoured in his lifetime, critical judgement on Tippetts legacy has been uneven, the greatest praise being generally reserved for his earlier works. His centenary in 2005 was an affair, apart from the few best-known works. Having briefly embraced communism in the 1930s, Tippett avoided identifying with any political party, a pacifist after 1940, he was imprisoned in 1943 for refusing to carry out war-related duties required by his military exemption. His initial difficulties in accepting his homosexuality led him in 1939 to Jungian psychoanalysis and he was a strong advocate of music education, and was active for much of his life as a radio broadcaster and writer on music. The Tippett family originated in Cornwall, Michael Tippetts grandfather, George Tippett, left the county in 1854 to make his fortune in London through property speculation and other business schemes. A flamboyant character, he had a tenor voice that was a popular feature at Christian revivalist meetings. In later life his business faltered, leading to debts, prosecution for fraud. His son Henry, born in 1858, was Michaels father, a lawyer by training, he was successful in business and was independently wealthy by the time of his marriage in April 1903. Unusually for his background and upbringing, Henry Tippett was a progressive liberal, Henry Tippetts bride was Isabel Kemp, from a large upper-middle class family based in Kent. Among her mothers cousins was Charlotte Despard, a campaigner for womens rights, suffragism. Despard was an influence on the young Isabel, who was herself briefly imprisoned after participating in an illegal suffragette protest in Trafalgar Square. Although neither she nor Henry was musical, she had inherited an artistic talent from her mother, after their marriage the couple settled outside London in Eastcote where two sons were born, the second, Michael, on 2 January 1905. Shortly after Michaels birth, the moved to Wetherden in Suffolk
10.
BBC Symphony Orchestra
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The BBC Symphony Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, the BBC SO is the principal orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation. Among its guest conductors in its first years was Arturo Toscanini, after Boults retirement from the BBC in 1950, the orchestra went through a fallow period. Boults successor, Sir Malcolm Sargent, was popular with the public but had poor rapport with his players, as a result of initiatives begun in the 1960s by the BBC controller of music William Glock, performing standards gradually began to rise. Under Andrew Davis in the 1990s and Jiří Bělohlávek in the 2000s the orchestra prospered, by the second decade of the 21st century the BBC SO was once again regarded by critics as of first-class status. Almost from its beginning in November 1922 the BBC had started broadcasting from its 2LO transmitter with its own musical ensembles. The first such groups were the 2LO Dance Band, the 2LO Military Band, the 2LO Light Orchestra, and the 2LO Octette, all of which began broadcasting in 1923. No concert promoter would co-operate with the BBC, regarding it as a dangerous competitor, John Reith, the General Manager of the BBC, invited the opera companys musical director, Percy Pitt, to become the BBCs part-time musical adviser from May 1923. Later in the same year Pitt conducted the BBCs first broadcast symphony concert, Pitt expanded the regular eight-piece studio ensemble to form The Wireless Orchestra of 18 players, augmented to 37 for important broadcasts. There was no thought at this stage that the BBC would maintain a full-scale symphonic orchestra of up to 100 players, with Reiths approval, Pitt engaged various orchestras for a BBC concert series in 1924 at the Methodist Central Hall Westminster. In 1924 the Wireless Orchestra, by then comprising 22 players, was contracted for six concerts a week, in 1927 the BBC and Covent Garden collaborated in a series of public concerts with an orchestra of 150 players under conductors including Richard Strauss and Siegfried Wagner. Although the orchestra was large, it was not good, the BBC attempted to stop its contracted players sending deputies to rehearsals and even to concerts, but was unsuccessful. In January 1928 The Musical Times protested, The B. B. C, … This year at Queens Hall they have assembled an orchestra which sounds as if it were composed in great part of substitutes. In 1927 the BBC took over the responsibility for the Promenade Concerts, at first Henry Wood, the founding conductor, persuaded the corporation to engage his Queens Hall Orchestra for each Prom season, from 1930 onwards, the BBC provided the orchestra. The inadequacy of the BBCs players, and also of the established London orchestras, was shown up by the Berlin Philharmonic, under Wilhelm Furtwängler, in two concerts in 1927. These, and later concerts by the orchestra, gained plaudits from the public and music critics at the expense of the London orchestras. The chief music critic of The Times, Frank Howes, later commented, was electrified when it heard the disciplined precision of the Berlin Philharmonic. This apparently was how an orchestra could, and, therefore, among those determined that London should have a permanent orchestra of similar excellence were Reith and the conductor Sir Thomas Beecham
11.
English National Opera
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English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martins Lane. It is one of the two opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera, Covent Garden. ENOs productions are sung in English, Baylis subsequently built up both the opera and the theatre companies, and later added a ballet company, these evolved into ENO, the Royal National Theatre and The Royal Ballet, respectively. Baylis acquired and rebuilt the Sadlers Wells theatre in north London, the opera company grew there into a permanent ensemble in the 1930s. During the Second World War, the theatre was closed and the company toured British towns, after the war, the company returned to its home, but it continued to expand and improve. By the 1960s, a theatre was needed. In 1968, the moved to the London Coliseum and adopted its present name in 1974. Among the conductors associated with the company have been Colin Davis, Reginald Goodall, Charles Mackerras, Mark Elder, the current music director of ENO is Martyn Brabbins. Noted directors who have staged productions at ENO have included David Pountney, Jonathan Miller, Nicholas Hytner, Phyllida Lloyd, ENOs current artistic director is Daniel Kramer. In addition to the operatic repertoire, the company has presented a wide range of works, from early operas by Monteverdi to new commissions, operetta. In 1889, Emma Cons, a Victorian philanthropist who ran the Old Vic theatre in a area of London. Although the theatre licensing laws of the day prevented full costumed performances, Cons presented condensed versions of well-known operas, among the performers were noted singers such as Charles Santley. These operatic evenings quickly became more popular than the dramas that Cons had been staging separately, in 1898, she recruited her niece Lilian Baylis to help run the theatre. At the same time she appointed Charles Corri as the Old Vics musical director, Baylis and Corri, despite many disagreements, shared a passionate belief in popularising opera, hitherto generally the preserve of the rich and fashionable. They worked on a budget, with an amateur chorus. By the early years of the 20th century, the Old Vic was able to present semi-staged versions of Wagner operas, Emma Cons died in 1912, leaving her estate, including the Old Vic, to Baylis, who dreamed of transforming the theatre into a peoples opera house. In the same year, Baylis obtained a licence to allow the Old Vic to stage performances of operas. In the 1914–1915 season, Baylis staged 16 operas and 16 plays, the opera, however, remained her first priority
12.
Royal Opera House
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The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is referred to as simply Covent Garden. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, originally called the Theatre Royal, it served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented, a year later, Handels first season of operas began. Many of his operas and oratorios were written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there. The current building is the theatre on the site following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1856. The façade, foyer, and auditorium date from 1858, the main auditorium seats 2,256 people, making it the third largest in London, and consists of four tiers of boxes and balconies and the amphitheatre gallery. The proscenium is 12.20 m wide and 14.80 m high, the main auditorium is a Grade I listed building. The letters patent remained in the possession of the patentees heirs until the 19th century, in 1728, John Rich, actor-manager of the Dukes Company at Lincolns Inn Fields Theatre, commissioned The Beggars Opera from John Gay. In addition, a Royal Charter had created a fruit and vegetable market in the area, at its opening on 7 December 1732, Rich was carried by his actors in processional triumph into the theatre for its opening production of William Congreves The Way of the World. Despite the frequent interchangeability between the Covent Garden and Drury Lane companies, competition was intense, often presenting the plays at the same time. Rich introduced pantomime to the repertoire, himself performing and a tradition of seasonal pantomime continued at the modern theatre, in 1734, Covent Garden presented its first ballet, Pygmalion. Marie Sallé discarded tradition and her corset and danced in diaphanous robes, george Frideric Handel was named musical director of the company, at Lincolns Inn Fields, in 1719, but his first season of opera, at Covent Garden, was not presented until 1734. His first opera was Il pastor fido followed by Ariodante, the première of Alcina, there was a royal performance of Messiah in 1743, which was a success and began a tradition of Lenten oratorio performances. From 1735 until his death in 1759 he gave regular seasons there and he bequeathed his organ to John Rich, and it was placed in a prominent position on the stage, but was among many valuable items lost in a fire that destroyed the theatre on 20 September 1808. In 1792 the architect Henry Holland rebuilt the auditorium, within the shell of the building but deeper and wider than the old auditorium. Rebuilding began in December 1808, and the second Theatre Royal, the Old Price Riots lasted over two months, and the management was finally forced to accede to the audiences demands. During this time, entertainments were varied, opera and ballet were presented, kemble engaged a variety of acts, including the child performer Master Betty, the great clown Joseph Grimaldi made his name at Covent Garden
13.
Boston Symphony Orchestra
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The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the Big Five, founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Bostons Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at Tanglewood. Andris Nelsons is the current music director of the BSO, Bernard Haitink currently holds the title of conductor emeritus of the BSO, and Seiji Ozawa has the title of BSO music director laureate. The BSO was founded in 1881 by Henry Lee Higginson and its first conductor was George Henschel, who was a noted baritone as well as conductor, and a close friend of Johannes Brahms. Wilhelm Gericke served twice, from 1884 to 1889 and again from 1898 to 1906, according to Joseph Horowitzs review of correspondence, Higginson considered 25 candidates to replace Gericke after receiving notice in 1905. He decided not to offer the position to Gustav Mahler, Fritz Steinbach and he was conductor until 1908 and again from 1912 to 1918. The music director 1908–12 was Max Fiedler and he conducted the premiere of Ignacy Jan Paderewskis Symphony in B minor Polonia in 1909. He vowed never to return, and conducted only in Europe. The BSOs next two titled conductors were French, Henri Rabaud, who took over from Muck for a season, the orchestras reputation increased during the music directorship of Serge Koussevitzky. One million radio listeners tuned in when Koussevitzky and the orchestra were the first to perform a concert for radio broadcast. Those network radio broadcasts ran from 1926 through 1951, and again from 1954 through 1956, the orchestra continues to make regular live radio broadcasts to the present day. The Boston Symphony has been involved with Bostons WGBH Radio as an outlet for its concerts. They also gave the premiere of Béla Bartóks Concerto for Orchestra, other BSO commissions have included John Coriglianos Symphony No.2 for the 100th anniversary of Symphony Hall. Hans Werner Henze dedicated his Eighth Symphony to the orchestra, although Koussevitsky recommended his protégé Leonard Bernstein to be his successor after he retired in 1949, the BSO awarded the position to the Alsatian maestro Charles Munch. Munch had made his Boston conducting debut in 1946 and he led orchestra on its first overseas tour, and also produced their first stereo recording in February 1954 for RCA Victor. In 1952, Munch appointed the first woman to hold a chair in a major U. S. orchestra, flutist Doriot Anthony Dwyer. Erich Leinsdorf became music director in 1962 and held the post until 1969, William Steinberg was then music director from 1969 to 1972. Steinberg was ill and ailing according to composer/author Jan Swafford, the committee eventually chose Seiji Ozawa, who became Music Director in 1973 and held the post until 2002, the longest tenure of any Boston Symphony conductor
14.
New York Philharmonic
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It is one of the leading American orchestras popularly referred to as the Big Five. The Philharmonics home is David Geffen Hall, known as Avery Fisher Hall until September 2015, founded in 1842, the orchestra is one of the oldest musical institutions in the United States and the oldest of the Big Five orchestras. Its record-setting 14, 000th concert was given in December 2004, the New York Philharmonic was founded in 1842 by the American conductor Ureli Corelli Hill, with the aid of the Irish composer William Vincent Wallace. The orchestra was called the Philharmonic Society of New York. It was the third Philharmonic on American soil since 1799, and had as its intended purpose, the first concert of the Philharmonic Society took place on December 7,1842 in the Apollo Rooms on lower Broadway before an audience of 600. The concert opened with Beethovens Symphony No, the musicians operated as a cooperative society, deciding by a majority vote such issues as who would become a member, which music would be performed and who among them would conduct. At the end of the season, the players would divide any proceeds among themselves, after only a dozen public performances and barely four years old, the Philharmonic organized a concert to raise funds to build a new music hall. The centerpiece was the American premiere of Beethovens Symphony No,9, to take place at Castle Garden on the southern tip of Manhattan. About 400 instrumental and vocal performers gathered for this premiere, which was conducted by George Loder, the chorals were translated into what would be the first English performance anywhere in the world. However, with the expensive US$2.00 ticket price and a war rally uptown, the audience was kept away. Although judged by some as an odd work with all those singers kept at bay until the end, during the Philharmonics first seven seasons, seven musicians alternated the conducting duties. In addition to Hill, Timm and Étienne, these were William Alpers, George Loder, Louis Wiegers and this changed in 1849 when Theodore Eisfeld was installed as sole conductor for the season. Eisfeld, later along with Carl Bergmann, would be the conductor until 1865 and that year Eisfeld returned to Europe, and Bergmann continued to conduct the Society until his death in 1876. Leopold Damrosch, Franz Liszts former concertmaster at Weimar, served as conductor of the Philharmonic for the 1876/77 season, but failing to win support from the Philharmonics public, he left to create the rival Symphony Society of New York in 1878. Upon his death in 1885, his 23-year-old son Walter took over, Carnegie Hall would remain the orchestras home until 1962. The Philharmonic in 1877 was in financial condition, caused by the paltry income from five concerts in the 1876/77 season that brought in an average of only $168 per concert. At first the Philharmonics suggestion offended Thomas because he was unwilling to disband his own orchestra, because of the desperate financial circumstances, the Philharmonic offered Theodore Thomas the conductorship without conditions, and he began conducting the orchestra in the autumn of 1877. He left in 1891 to found the Chicago Symphony, taking thirteen Philharmonic musicians with him, another celebrated conductor, Anton Seidl, followed Thomas on the Philharmonic podium, serving until 1898
15.
Staatskapelle Dresden
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The Staatskapelle Dresden is an orchestra based in Dresden, Germany founded in 1548 by Maurice, Elector of Saxony. It is one of the worlds oldest orchestras, the precursor ensemble was Die Kurfürstlich-Sächsische und Königlich-Polnische Kapelle. The orchestra is the body of the Sächsische Staatsoper. Venue of the orchestra is the Semperoper opera house, the orchestra has had many eminent chief conductors. Heinrich Schütz was associated with it early in its existence, and in the nineteenth century Carl Maria von Weber, in the twentieth century, Richard Strauss became closely associated with the orchestra as both conductor and composer, which premiered several of his works. Karl Böhm and Hans Vonk were notable among the orchestras chief conductors in that served as chief conductors of both the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and the State Opera simultaneously. Herbert Blomstedt was musical director of the Staatskapelle from 1975 to 1985, in 1990, the Staatskapelle elected Colin Davis as its first conductor laureate, a position that he held until his death in 2013. Giuseppe Sinopoli was chief conductor from 1992 until his death in 2001. Bernard Haitink replaced him in August 2002, but resigned in 2004 over disputes with the Staatskapelles Intendant, Gerd Uecker, in August 2007 Fabio Luisi began his tenure as chief conductor after having appointed as far back as January 2004. He shared with Böhm and Vonk the historic distinction of being chief conductor of both the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and the Sächsische Staatsoper simultaneously, the orchestra has named Myung-Whun Chung as its first-ever principal guest conductor, effective as of the 2012–2013 season. In 2007, the orchestra inaugurated the post of Capell-Compositeur or composer-in-residence, the first Capell-Compositeur was Isabel Mundry, and for the 2011–12 season, Lera Auerbach. In April 2007, the European Cultural Foundation awarded the orchestra a prize zur Bewahrung des musikalischen Weltkulturerbes, in June 2011, the orchestra was announced as the new resident orchestra of the Salzburg Easter Festival, as of 2013. April 2007 in Brüssel, European Cultural Foundation, photo posting,31 December 2007 Staatskapelle Dresden at AllMusic
16.
Royal Academy of Music
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The Royal Academy of Music is a conservatoire in London, England, is a constituent college of the University of London and is one of the leading conservatoires in the world. It was founded in 1822 and is Britains oldest degree-granting music school and it received a Royal Charter in 1830. It is a charity under English law. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist, the Academy was granted a Royal Charter by King George IV in 1830. The Academys current facilities are situated on Marylebone Road in central London adjacent to Regents Park, the Royal Academy of Music offers training from infant level, with the senior Academy awarding the LRAM diploma, B. Mus. and higher degrees to Ph. D. The former degree GRSM, equivalent to a university honours degree, all undergraduates now take the University of London degree of BMus. There are also departments for musical performance and jazz. The Academy collaborates with other worldwide, including participating in the SOCRATES student. The Academy has students from over 50 countries, following diverse programmes including instrumental performance, conducting, composition, jazz, musical theatre, the Academy has an established relationship with Kings College London, particularly the Department of Music, whose students receive instrumental tuition at the Academy. In return, many students at the Academy take a range of Humanities choices at Kings, the Junior Academy, for pupils under the age of 18, takes place every Saturday. The Academys library contains over 160,000 items, including significant collections of printed and manuscript materials. The library also houses dedicated to Sir Arthur Sullivan and Sir Henry Wood. The Academys museum displays many of these items, the Orchestral Library has approximately 4,500 sets of orchestral parts. Other collections include the libraries of Sir Henry Wood and Otto Klemperer, noted for her performances of Bach and modern English music, she was a friend and advocate of Arnold Bax and also premièred Vaughan Williams Piano Concerto — a work dedicated to her — in 1933. In 1886, Franz Liszt performed at the Academy to celebrate the creation of the Franz Liszt Scholarship, in summer 2012, John Adams conducted an orchestra which combined students from the Academy and New Yorks Juilliard School at the Proms and at New Yorks Lincoln Center. Conductors who have worked with the orchestras include Semyon Bychkov, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Simon Rattle, Pierre-Laurent Aimard. Famous people who have conducted the Academys orchestra also include Carl Maria Von Weber in 1826, for many years, the Academy celebrated the work of a living composer with a festival in the presence of the composer. In February–March 2006, an Academy festival celebrated the violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, the festival included a recital by Academy professor Maxim Vengerov, who performed on Il Cannone Guarnerius, Paganinis favourite violin
17.
Philips Records
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Not to be confused with Phillips International Records. Philips Records is a label that was founded by the Dutch electronics company Philips. In 1946 Philips acquired the company which pressed records for British Deccas Dutch outlet in Amsterdam, the record label was started by Philips Phonographische Industrie in June 1950 when it began issuing classical recordings. Recordings were also made with artists of various nationalities and with classical artists from Germany, France. Launched under the slogan Records of the Century, the first releases in Britain appeared at the beginning of January 1953 on 1078 rpm discs, Philips also distributed recordings made by the Columbia Records in the UK and on the European continent. After the separation of the English Columbia label and American Columbia, the first single on the label to chart was Frankie Laines I Believe, which reached the No.1 chart position in the UK that April. Many of the first British recordings on the label were produced by Norman Newell until John Franz was appointed artists, in 1958 Philips created a subsidiary label, Fontana Records, which meant that American-Columbia recordings were being issued on both the Philips and Fontana labels. This arrangement lasted until April 1962 when, under pressure from Columbia in America, Philips then created a label for them. In late 1964, under the stewardship of U. S. President of Columbia Records Goddard Lieberson, CBS Records formed its own international operations, CBS Records set up their UK operation in Theobalds Road in Holborn. Singles and albums on the Philips and Fontana labels by Columbia-owned product were subsequently withdrawn, in 1962, Philips Records and Deutsche Grammophon formed the Grammophon-Philips Group joint venture, which later became PolyGram in 1972. UK pressings were manufactured at the large factory based at Walthamstow in N. E. In 1961, after Philips lost its North American distribution deal with Columbia Records, a year later, Philips US affiliate Consolidated Electronics Industries Corp. bought Mercury and its subsidiary labels, such as Smash. Philips classical, jazz and pop records were marketed by Mercury in the US under the Philips label, the Mercury Living Presence team also made classical recordings for Philips, in July 1961. 69 for cello and piano by Richter and Rostropovich, classical groups that Philips heavily recorded included the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Beaux Arts Trio, and the Quartetto Italiano. Violinist Arthur Grumiaux and the pianist Claudio Arrau were under contract to Philips, symphony orchestras under contract, including the LSO, were under the command of prestigious young conductors such as Colin Davis and Bernard Haitink. From 1961 until the late 1980s, Philips Records issued many classical titles in US-specific packaging, the records were pressed at Mercurys plant in Richmond, Indiana, and mastered in New York by George Piros at Fine Recording, using 2-track and mono master tapes provided by Philips. These releases were the PHS900 xxx series for stereo and the 500 xxx series for mono, clair Van Ausdal in Mercurys New York office oversaw the Philips classical US releases through the mid-1960s. These records were made through Mercurys existing jazz operations and produced by Jack Tracy, in addition to jazz and classical music, Philips also became a major player in the world of rock and pop music in the late 1950s till late 1970s
18.
Weybridge
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Weybridge /ˈweɪbrɪdʒ/ is a town by the River Wey in the Elmbridge district of Surrey. It is bounded to the north by the River Thames at the mouth of the Wey and it is an outlying suburban town within the Greater London Urban Area, situated 7 miles northeast of Woking and 16 miles southwest of central London. Real estate prices are well above the average, as of 2008. Within the post town, rather than Weybridges other boundaries is Oatlands or Oatlands Village, Weybridge lay within the Elmbridge hundred. Its domesday assets were,6 hides, 1½ ploughs,32 acres of meadow and it rendered £4 per year to it feudal system overlords. It was much smaller than todays post town, and about one quarter of the size of neighbouring Walton. The earliest monuments on the wall of St Jamess C of E Church are 15th century plaques. When it was demolished in 1650, bricks from its walls helped to line the then new Wey Navigation canal, in 1571 commissioners were appointed to report on the condition of the bridge across the Wey. It was accordingly ordered that a new bridge – a horse-bridge like the last – should be built, wood being used for its construction, the expense was to be borne by the queen, as the land on either side belonged to her. St. Georges Hill was the site of the Diggers Commune in the 1640s, the Duchess is buried in St. Jamess Churchyard. In the 19th century Oatlands broke away from the parish of Walton on Thames to become a village in its own right, influenced by the secondary manor of Weybridge, the forerunner of Oatlands Palace, the post town adopted Oatlands as its only village in the 19th century. The entomologist, Horace Donisthorpe, visited Weybridge Heath to investigate the ant colony, Weybridge grew into a commuter town with the advent of the fast train link into London Waterloo and a lot of new houses have been built around the Oatlands Park and Broadwater Lake area. Weybridge railway station was opened by the London and Southampton Railway in 1838, after the station was opened, development of what was until then only a village began and gradually Weybridge became a town. Large houses were built on St Georges Hill from 1911 by local builder and developer Walter George Tarrant of Byfleet, in Weybridge Heath, many rare species of insects, rare birds and insectivorous plant have been recorded. The heath was allowed to become overgrown in recent years. Weybridge is the British headquarters of Alliance Boots, CHEP UK, Sony Corporation, Procter & Gamble, JTI, Abbey Business Centres also have a presence in the town. Eurotax Glass, owners and publishers of Glasss Guide, pricing bible to the motor industry, in addition, retailing also forms part of the local economy, and a range of retailers are represented in the town centre. In H. G. Wells classic novel The War of the Worlds, the title of chapter 12 of the book is, What I saw of the destruction of Weybridge and Shepperton
19.
Malcolm Sargent
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Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britains leading conductor of choral works. As chief conductor of Londons internationally famous music festival the Proms from 1948 to 1967. When he took over the Proms from their founder, Sir Henry Wood, he, by the time he died, he was assisted by a large international roster of guest conductors. He toured widely throughout the world and was noted for his skill as a conductor, his championship of British composers, and his debonair appearance, Sargent was born in Bath Villas, Ashford, in Kent, England, to a working-class family. His father, Henry Sargent, was a merchant, amateur musician and part-time church organist, his mother, Agnes. Sargent was brought up in Stamford, Lincolnshire, where he joined the choir at Peterborough Cathedral, studied the organ, at the age of 14, he accompanied rehearsals for amateur productions of The Gondoliers and The Yeomen of the Guard at Stamford. At the age of 16 he earned his diploma as Associate of the Royal College of Organists and he was chosen for the organist post over more than 150 other applicants. At the age of 24 Sargent became Englands youngest Doctor of Music, Sargents break came when Sir Henry Wood visited De Montfort Hall, Leicester, early in 1921 with the Queens Hall orchestra. As it was customary to commission a piece from a local composer, Sargent completed the work too late for Wood to have enough time to learn it, and so Wood called on Sargent to conduct the first performance himself. Sargent was invited to conduct the Impression again in the 1923 season, on the advice of Wood, among others, he soon abandoned composition in favour of conducting. He founded the amateur Leicester Symphony Orchestra in 1922, which he continued to conduct until 1939, under Sargent, the orchestras prestige grew until it was able to obtain such top-flight soloists as Alfred Cortot, Artur Schnabel, Solomon, Guilhermina Suggia and Benno Moiseiwitsch. Moiseiwitsch gave Sargent piano lessons without charge, judging him talented enough to make a career as a concert pianist. At the instigation of Wood and Adrian Boult he became a lecturer at the Royal College of Music in London in 1923, in the 1920s, Sargent became one of the best-known English conductors. Some of the principal cast members and the director, J. M. Gordon, objected to Sargents fast tempi. The DOyly Carte seasons brought Sargents name to a public with an early BBC radio relay of The Mikado in 1926 heard by up to eight million people. The Evening Standard noted that this was probably the largest audience that has heard anything at one time in the history of the world. In 1927, Sergei Diaghilev engaged Sargent to conduct for the Ballets Russes, sharing the duties with Igor Stravinsky. Sargent also conducted for the final Ballets Russes season in 1928, in 1928 he became conductor of the Royal Choral Society, and he retained this post for four decades until his death
20.
Lauritz Melchior
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Lauritz Melchior was a Danish and later American opera singer. He was the pre-eminent Wagnerian tenor of the 1920s, 1930s, late in his career, Melchior appeared in movie musicals and on radio and television. In 1913, Melchior made his debut in the role of Silvio in Ruggero Leoncavallos Pagliacci at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen. He sang mostly secondary baritone and bass roles for the Royal Danish Opera, one night, while on tour, Melchior helped an ailing soprano performing in Il trovatore by singing a high C in the Act IV Leonora-di Luna duet. She even wrote to the Royal Opera pleading that Melchior be given a sabbatical and this he did between 1917 and 1918, taking lessons from the noted Danish tenor Vilhelm Herold who had sung Wagnerian roles in Covent Garden, Chicago and elsewhere from 1900 to 1915. This proved to be a point in Melchiors career. His high baritone voice was recast into that of a low tenor and his second debut was on 8 October 1918 in the title role of Tannhäuser, also at the Royal Opera in Copenhagen. In 1920, Melchior visited England to sing in a radio broadcast to the Scandinavian capital cities from the Marconi station in Chelmsford. From 1920, Melchior was a frequent performer in London, appearing at Sir Henry J. Woods Prom Concerts in Queens Hall. On a visit to Walpoles cottage in Polperro Melchior caused a sensation by singing at a concert in the village, in December 1921 on a visit with Walpole to his parents in Edinburgh, Melchior gave a concert in the Usher Hall. Walpole provided the fledgling Heldentenor with financial aid in February 1922, in 1923, Walpole gave Melchior a further £800, enabling him to continue his studies with Ernst Grenzebach and the legendary dramatic soprano of the Vienna Court Opera, Anna Bahr von Mildenburg. Word of his talent spread and was heard of by Cosima, there the re-opening of the Festival for 1924 was under preparation. Melchior was engaged to sing Siegmund and Parsifal and this prestigious contract opened the way to several other appearances such as a Wagner concert with Frida Leider in Berlin in 1923. Around this time several acoustic records were cut for Polydor, on May 14,1924 Lauritz Melchior made his debut, as Siegmund, at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden in London. The result was a smashing success, some weeks later Melchior made his debut on the stage of the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth in the roles of Siegmund and Parsifal. In July 1925 Adolf Hitler attended a performance of Parsifal in Bayreuth as a guest of Winifred Wagner, according to Walpole, who was sitting in Wagners box next to Hitler, as Melchior sang, the tears poured down Hitlers cheeks. On February 17,1926 his first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City took place and he sang Tannhäuser opposite Maria Jeritza, Friedrich Schorr, Karin Branzell and Michael Bohnen with Artur Bodanzky conducting. Although he was not adversely criticized, there was not much enthusiasm elicited by this debut, in his first season at the Metropolitan opera, Melchior sang only eight times
21.
Siegfried (opera)
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Siegfried, WWV 86C, is the third of the four music dramas that constitute Der Ring des Nibelungen, by Richard Wagner. It premiered at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 16 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of The Ring cycle, the musical composition was commenced in 1856, but not finally completed until 1871. Having grappled with his text for Siegfrieds Tod, and indeed having undertaken some musical sketches for it during 1851, at this point he conceived that the prefatory opera, Der junge Siegfried, could act as a comic foil to the tragedy of Siegfrieds Tod. Its all growing out of the ground as if it were wild, shortly afterwards he wrote to Uhlig that he was now planning to tell the Siegfried story in the form of three dramas, plus a prologue in three acts—a clear prefiguring of the Ring cycle. The composition of Acts 1 and 2 was completed by August 1857, Wagner then left off work on Siegfried to write the operas Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger. He did not resume work on Siegfried until 1869, when he composed the third act, the final revision of the score was undertaken in February 1871. Performance was withheld until the first complete production of the Ring cycle, elements of the plot of Siegfried come from a variety of sources. In a letter to Uhlig, Wagner recounted The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was and it concerns a boy so stupid he had never learned to be afraid. Wagner wrote that the boy and Siegfried are the same character, the boy is taught to fear by his wife, and Siegfried learns it when he discovers the sleeping Brünnhilde. Siegfrieds ability in Act Two to see through Mimes deceitful words seems to have derived from a 19th-century street theatre version of the story of Faust. Some elements of the story are derived from legends of Sigurd, notably the Völsunga saga, scene 1 of Act 3 has a parallel in the Eddic poem Baldrs draumar, in which Odin questions a völva about the future of the gods. A cave in rocks in the forest, as the curtain rises, Alberichs brother, the dwarf Mime, is forging a sword. Mime is plotting to obtain the ring of power created by his brother Alberich. Mime needs a sword for Siegfried to use, but the youth has contemptuously broken every sword Mime has made, Siegfried returns from his wanderings in the forest with a wild bear in tow, and immediately breaks the new sword. Mime is forced to explain how he took in Siegfrieds mother, Sieglinde and he shows Siegfried the broken pieces of the sword Nothung, which Mime had obtained from her. Siegfried orders him to reforge the sword, Mime, however, is unable to accomplish this, Siegfried departs, leaving Mime in despair. An old man arrives at the door and introduces himself as the Wanderer, in return for the hospitality due a guest, he wagers his head on answering any three questions of Mime. The dwarf asks the Wanderer to name the races that live beneath the ground, on the earth and these are the Nibelung, the Giants, and the Gods, as the Wanderer answers correctly
22.
Phonograph record
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The groove usually starts near the periphery and ends near the center of the disc. The phonograph disc record was the medium used for music reproduction until late in the 20th century. It had co-existed with the cylinder from the late 1880s. Records retained the largest market share even when new formats such as compact cassette were mass-marketed, by the late 1980s, digital media, in the form of the compact disc, had gained a larger market share, and the vinyl record left the mainstream in 1991. The phonograph record has made a resurgence in the early 21st century –9.2 million records were sold in the U. S. in 2014. Likewise, in the UK sales have increased five-fold from 2009 to 2014, as of 2017,48 record pressing facilities remain worldwide,18 in the United States and 30 in other countries. The increased popularity of vinyl has led to the investment in new, only two producers of lacquers remains, Apollo Masters in California, USA, and MDC in Japan. Vinyl records may be scratched or warped if stored incorrectly but if they are not exposed to heat or broken. The large cover are valued by collectors and artists for the space given for visual expression, in the 2000s, these tracings were first scanned by audio engineers and digitally converted into audible sound. Phonautograms of singing and speech made by Scott in 1860 were played back as sound for the first time in 2008, along with a tuning fork tone and unintelligible snippets recorded as early as 1857, these are the earliest known recordings of sound. In 1877, Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, unlike the phonautograph, it was capable of both recording and reproducing sound. Despite the similarity of name, there is no evidence that Edisons phonograph was based on Scotts phonautograph. Edison first tried recording sound on a paper tape, with the idea of creating a telephone repeater analogous to the telegraph repeater he had been working on. The tinfoil was wrapped around a metal cylinder and a sound-vibrated stylus indented the tinfoil while the cylinder was rotated. The recording could be played back immediately, Edison also invented variations of the phonograph that used tape and disc formats. A decade later, Edison developed a greatly improved phonograph that used a wax cylinder instead of a foil sheet. This proved to be both a better-sounding and far more useful and durable device, the wax phonograph cylinder created the recorded sound market at the end of the 1880s and dominated it through the early years of the 20th century. Berliners earliest discs, first marketed in 1889, but only in Europe, were 12.5 cm in diameter, both the records and the machine were adequate only for use as a toy or curiosity, due to the limited sound quality
23.
Symphony No. 8 (Beethoven)
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The Symphony No.8 in F Major, Op.93 is a symphony in four movements composed by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1812. Beethoven fondly referred to it as my little Symphony in F, distinguishing it from his Sixth Symphony, the Eighth Symphony is generally light-hearted, though not lightweight, and in many places cheerfully loud, with many accented notes. Various passages in the symphony are heard by listeners to be musical jokes. As with various other Beethoven works such as the Opus 27 piano sonatas, the work was begun in the summer of 1812, immediately after the completion of the Seventh Symphony. At the time Beethoven was 41 years old, the work took Beethoven only four months to complete, and is, unlike many of his works, without dedication. The premiere took place on 27 February 1814, at a concert in the Redoutensaal, Vienna, Beethoven was growing increasingly deaf at the time, but nevertheless led the premiere. Reportedly, the largely ignored his ungainly gestures and followed the principal violinist instead. When asked by his pupil Carl Czerny why the Eighth was less popular than the Seventh, Beethoven is said to have replied, because the Eighth is so much better. A critic wrote that the applause it received was not accompanied by that enthusiasm which distinguishes a work which gives universal delight, Beethoven was angered at this reception. George Bernard Shaw, in his capacity as a critic, agreed with Beethovens assessment of the work, writing that indeed. But other critics have been divided in their judgement and it is approximately 26 minutes in duration. This movement is in the key of F major and is in fast 34 time. As with most of Beethovens first movements of this period, it is written in sonata form, including a fairly substantial coda. As Antony Hopkins has noted, the movement is unusual among Beethovens works in that it reaches its dramatic climax not during the development section. This extravagance is balanced, however, by the closing measures of the movement. The opening theme is in three sections of four each, with the pattern forte–piano–forte. At the onset of the recapitulation, the theme is more emphatic by omitting the middle four bars. There is a belief that this movement is an affectionate parody of the metronome
24.
Royal College of Music
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The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the level in all aspects of Western Art including performance, composition, conducting. The RCM also undertakes research, with strengths in performance practice and performance science. The college is one of the four conservatories of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and its buildings are directly opposite the Royal Albert Hall on Prince Consort Road, next to Imperial College and among the museums and cultural centres of Albertopolis. The college was founded in 1883 to replace the short lived, the school was the result of an earlier proposal by the Prince Consort to provide free musical training to winners of scholarships under a nationwide scheme. After many years delay it was established in 1876, with Arthur Sullivan as its principal, the school was housed in a new building in Kensington Gore, opposite the west side of the Royal Albert Hall. The building was not large, having only 18 practice rooms, the following year Sullivan resigned, and was replaced by John Stainer. And because its purpose was unclear, so was its provision, even before the 1880 report it had become clear that the NTSM would not fulfil the role of national music conservatoire. The original plan was to merge the Royal Academy of Music, the NTSM agreed, but after prolonged negotiations the Royal Academy refused to enter into the proposed scheme. In 1881, with George Grove as an instigator, and with the support of the Prince of Wales. The Royal College of Music occupied the premises previously home to the NTSM, Grove was appointed its first director. There were 50 scholars elected by competition and 42 fee-paying students, Grove, a close friend of Sullivan, loyally maintained that the new college was a natural evolution from the NTSM. In reality his aims were different from Sullivans. They believed that a capable college orchestra would not only benefit instrumental students, the colleges first intake of scholarship students included 28 who studied an orchestral instrument. The potential strength of the orchestra, including fee-paying instrumental students, was 33 violins, five violas, six cellos, one double bass, one flute, one oboe. The old premises proved restrictive, and a new building was commissioned in the early 1890s on a new site in Prince Consort Road, the building was designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield in Flemish Mannerist style in red brick dressed with buff-coloured Welden stone. Construction began in 1892 and the building opened in May 1894, the building was largely paid for by two large donations from Samson Fox, a Yorkshire industrialist, whose statue, along with that of the Prince of Wales, stands in the entrance hall. Grove retired at the end of 1894, and was succeeded as director by Hubert Parry, since its founding in 1882 the college has been linked with the British royal family
25.
Christ's Hospital
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Christs Hospital, known colloquially as the Bluecoat School, is an English co-educational independent day and boarding school located south of Horsham in West Sussex. It is a charity school whose fees are calculated on a means test, pupils from disadvantaged circumstances are assisted at the charitys expense. Christs Hospital was established as a school in November 1552 at the instigation of King Edward VI, the kings patronage of the school was confirmed by a Royal Charter granted on 26 June 1553, eleven days before his death. The school was founded at Newgate Street, London, on the site of a Grey Friars monastery, with a school in Hertford, Hertfordshire which had supplementary schools at Ware. In 1902 the Newgate Street and Hertford schools relocated to its present location south of Horsham in West Sussex, a new railway station adjacent to the new site was partially sponsored by the school and also opened in 1902. A girls school was founded in Hertford after the school moved to Horsham. The girls school was incorporated into the Horsham site in 1985 when the Hertford site was closed, in 2007 Christs Hospital was separated into two related registered charities, Christs Hospital Foundation and Christs Hospital School. The schools Tudor uniform consists of belted, long coats with knee-breeches, yellow socks. The uniform has been in place since 1553, the nickname Blue-coat School comes from the blue coats worn by the students – however, the nickname used within the school community itself is Housey and the long coat is called a housey coat. By 2011 students and alumni stated that they see the uniform as an important way of giving the school a unique identity, around that time the administrators had discussed the idea of updating the uniform. A few of the schools 800 students voted, over 95% voted in favour of keeping the original uniform, in 2006 19% of children accepting places were assessed as being in very high need, 64% in medium to high need and 17% in low need. Admission of pupils is either by open competitive examination or by show of skills — in either case the suitability of candidates is judged according to criteria of need and parental income. Some of the means of entry are denoted on the uniform by a metal plate sewn on the breast of the housey coat. In late November 2012, Christs Hospital underwent a school inspection carried out by the Independent Schools Inspectorate. The school was rated excellent in the released in January 2013. The optional term Exceptional was not used, the report also noted, The school is advised to make the following improvement. Ensure, through consistent monitoring by its leaders, the highest standards of teaching in all subject areas. An Arts Centre complex was opened in 1974 including a theatre with Tudor style auditorium, music school extension, Octagon rehearsal/performance space and classrooms
26.
Clarinet
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The clarinet is a musical-instrument family belonging to the group known as the woodwind instruments. It has a mouthpiece, a straight cylindrical tube with an almost cylindrical bore. A person who plays a clarinet is called a clarinetist, the word clarinet may have entered the English language via the French clarinette, or from Provençal clarin, oboe. It would seem however that its roots are to be found amongst some of the various names for trumpets used around the renaissance. Clarion, clarin and the Italian clarino are all derived from the medieval term claro which referred to a form of trumpet. This is probably the origin of the Italian clarinetto, itself a diminutive of clarino, according to Johann Gottfried Walther, writing in 1732, the reason for the name is that it sounded from far off not unlike a trumpet. The English form clarinet is found as early as 1733, while the similarity in sound between the earliest clarinets and the trumpet may hold a clue to its name, other factors may have been involved. The trumpet parts that required this speciality were known by the term clarino, Johann Christoph Denner is generally believed to have invented the clarinet in Germany around the year 1700 by adding a register key to the earlier chalumeau. Over time, additional keywork and airtight pads were added to improve the tone and these days the most popular clarinet is the B♭ clarinet. However, the clarinet in A, just a lower, is commonly used in orchestral music. Since the middle of the 19th century the clarinet has become an essential addition to the orchestra. The clarinet family ranges from the BBB♭ octo-contrabass to the A♭ piccolo clarinet, the clarinet has proved to be an exceptionally flexible instrument, equally at home in the classical repertoire as in concert bands, military bands, marching bands, klezmer, and jazz. The cylindrical bore is primarily responsible for the clarinets distinctive timbre, the tone quality can vary greatly with the musician, the music, the instrument, the mouthpiece, and the reed. The most prominent were the German/Viennese traditions and the French school, the latter was centered on the clarinetists of the Conservatoire de Paris. The proliferation of recorded music has made examples of different styles of clarinet playing available, the modern clarinetist has a diverse palette of acceptable tone qualities to choose from. The A clarinet and B♭ clarinet have nearly the same bore, orchestral players using the A and B♭ instruments in the same concert could use the same mouthpiece for both. The A and the B♭ instruments have nearly identical tonal quality, the tone of the E♭ clarinet is brighter than that of the lower clarinets and can be heard even through loud orchestral or concert band textures. The bass clarinet has a deep, mellow sound, while the alto clarinet is similar in tone to the bass
27.
Life Guards (United Kingdom)
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The Life Guards is the senior regiment of the British Army and part of the Household Cavalry, along with the Blues and Royals. The Life Guards grew from the four troops of Horse Guards raised by Charles II around the time of his restoration, the first troop was originally raised in Bruges in 1658 as His Majestys Own Troop of Horse Guards. The second troop was founded in 1659 as Moncks Life Guards, the third troop, like the first troop was formed in 1658 from exiled Royalists and was initially known as The Duke of Yorks Troop of Horse Guards. The fourth troop was raised in 1661 in England, the first troop of horse grenadier guards was formed in 1693 from the amalgamation of three troops of grenadiers. The second troop of horse grenadier guards was raised in Scotland in 1702 and these units first saw action during the Third Anglo-Dutch War in 1672 and then at the Battle of Sedgemoor during the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685. The 3rd and 4th troops were disbanded in 1746, in 1788, the remaining 1st and 2nd troops, along with the two troops of Horse Grenadier Guards, were reorganised into two regiments, the 1st and 2nd Regiments of Life Guards. From then on, rank and file were mostly formed of commoners, in 1815 they were part of The Household Brigade at the Battle of Waterloo under Major-General Lord Edward Somerset. They reverted to their previous names and roles after the end of the war, in 1922, the two regiments were merged into one regiment, the The Life Guards. In 1928, it was re-designated The Life Guards, during the Second World War, the Life Guards took part in the Normandy landings and the advance through France to liberate Brussels. However, they maintain their identity, with distinct uniforms and traditions. In common with the Blues and Royals, they have a peculiar non-commissioned rank structure, In brief, they lack sergeants, in addition, the Life Guards wear their chin strap below their lower lip, as opposed to the Blues and Royals who wear it under their chin. On service dress the Life Guards Officers and Warrant Officer Class Ones wear a red lanyard on the right shoulder, as well as a Sam Browne belt. The Life Guards, as part of the Household Division, does not use the Order of the Bath Star for its officer rank pips, revised combined list issued May 1933, omitting from emblazonment Passchendaele and St. Quentin Canal of the 1st Life Guards. Awarded jointly to The Life Guards and Blues and Royals, for services of Household Cavalry Regiment, the Standards of the Household Cavalry. Lloyd, W. Challengers and Chargers, A History of The Life Guards 1945-1992, massacre of Innocents, The Crofton Diaries 1914-15. Watson, J N P. Guardsmen of the Sky, unofficial site for serving and ex-Life Guards of all ranks
28.
Windsor, Berkshire
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Windsor is a historic market town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the residences of the British Royal Family. The town is situated 23 miles west of Charing Cross, London,7 miles south east of Maidenhead and it is immediately south of the River Thames, which forms its boundary with its ancient twin town of Eton. Windlesora is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the name originates from old English Windles-ore or winch by the riverside. By the late 12th century the settlement at Windelsora was renamed Old Windsor, the early history of the site is unknown, although it was almost certainly settled some years before 1070 when William the Conqueror had a timber motte and bailey castle constructed. The focus of royal interest at that time was not the castle, however, from about the 8th century, high status people started to visit the site occasionally, and possibly this included royalty. From the 11th century the sites link with king Edward the Confessor is documented, after the Conquest of 1066 royal use of the site increased, probably because it offered good access to woodlands and opportunities for hunting – a sport which also practised military skills. Windsor Castle is noted in the Domesday Book under the entry for Clewer, although this might seem strange, it occurred because plans for the castle had changed since 1070, and more land had been acquired in Clewer on which to site a castle town. This plan was not actioned until the early 12th century, King Henry married his second wife at Windsor Castle in 1121, after the White Ship disaster. The settlement at Old Windsor largely transferred to New Windsor during the 12th century,1170, under Henry II, following the civil war of Stephens reign. At about the time, the present upper ward of the castle was rebuilt in stone. It had a merchant guild from the early 13th century and, under patronage, was made the chief town of the county in 1277. Somewhat unusually, this gave no new rights or privileges to Windsor. Windsors position as town of Berkshire was short-lived, however. Wallingford took over this position in the early 14th century, as a self-governing town Windsor enjoyed a number of freedoms unavailable to other towns, including the right to hold its own borough court, the right of membership and some financial independence. The town accounts of the 16th century survive in part, although most of the once substantial borough archive dating back to the 12th century was destroyed, probably in the late 17th century. New Windsor was a significant town in the Middle Ages. Its prosperity came from its association with the royal household
29.
Thomas Beecham
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Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, CH was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras. From the early 20th century until his death, Beecham was an influence on the musical life of Britain and. Born to an industrial family, Beecham began his career as a conductor in 1899. Among the works he introduced to England were Richard Strausss Elektra, Salome and Der Rosenkavalier, together with his younger colleague Malcolm Sargent, Beecham founded the London Philharmonic, and he conducted its first performance at the Queens Hall in 1932. In the 1940s he worked for three years in the United States where he was director of the Seattle Symphony and conducted at the Metropolitan Opera. After his return to Britain, he founded the Royal Philharmonic in 1946, Beechams repertoire was eclectic, sometimes favouring lesser-known composers over famous ones. His specialities included composers whose works were neglected in Britain before he became their advocate, such as Delius, other composers with whose music he was frequently associated were Haydn, Schubert, Sibelius and the composer he revered above all others, Mozart. Beecham was born in St Helens, Lancashire, in a house adjoining the Beechams Pills laxative factory founded by his grandfather and his parents were Joseph Beecham, the elder son of Thomas, and Josephine, née Burnett. In 1885, with the family firm flourishing financially, Joseph Beecham moved his family to a house in Ewanville, Huyton. Their former home was demolished to make room for an extension to the pill factory and he did not find university life to his taste and successfully sought his fathers permission to leave Oxford in 1898. He studied as a pianist, but had difficulty because of his small hands and he studied composition privately with Frederic Austin in Liverpool, Charles Wood in London, and Moritz Moszkowski in Paris. As a conductor, he was self-taught, Beecham first conducted in public in St Helens in October 1899, with an ad hoc ensemble comprising local musicians and players from the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hallé in Manchester. A month later, he stood in at short notice for the celebrated conductor Hans Richter at a concert by the Hallé to mark Joseph Beechams inauguration as mayor of St Helens, soon afterwards, Joseph Beecham secretly committed his wife to a mental hospital. Thomas and his elder sister Emily helped to secure their mothers release, Beecham was estranged from his father for ten years. Beechams professional début as a conductor was in 1902 at the Shakespeare Theatre, Clapham, with Balfes The Bohemian Girl and he was engaged as assistant conductor for a tour and was allotted four other operas, including Carmen and Pagliacci. A Beecham biographer calls the company grandly named but decidedly ramshackle, though Beechams Carmen was Zélie de Lussan, Beecham was also composing music in these early years, but he was not satisfied with his own efforts and instead concentrated on conducting. In 1906 Beecham was invited to conduct the New Symphony Orchestra, throughout his career, Beecham frequently chose to programme works to suit his own tastes rather than those of the paying public
30.
Bruno Walter
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Bruno Walter was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he left Germany in 1933 to escape the Third Reich and he studied composition at Stern with Robert Radecke, and remained active as a composer until about 1910. But it was hearing a concert in 1889 by the Berlin Philharmonic led by Hans von Bülow, he wrote, now I knew what I was meant for. No musical activity but that of a conductor could any longer be considered by me. He made his conducting début at the Cologne Opera with Albert Lortzings Der Waffenschmied in 1894, later that year he left for the Hamburg Opera to work as a chorus director. There he first met and worked with Gustav Mahler, whom he revered, in 1896, he was appointed Kapellmeister of the Stadttheater in Breslau, on the strength of a recommendation from Mahler to the theaters director, Theodor Löwe. These biographers add that Walter wrote to his parents that he found that having to change his name was terrible, in 1897, Walter became Chief Conductor at the municipal opera in Pressburg. He found the provincial and depressing, and in 1898 took the position of Chief Conductor of the Riga Opera. While there, he converted to Christianity, probably Roman Catholicism, in 1899 Walter was appointed music director of the Temeswar, Austria-Hungary Opera, the current Banatul Philharmonic of Timișoara. While in Berlin he also conducted the premiere of Der arme Heinrich by Hans Pfitzner, in 1901, Walter accepted Mahlers invitation to be his assistant at the Court Opera in Vienna. Walter led Verdis Aida at his debut, in 1907 he was elected by the Vienna Philharmonic to conduct its Nicolai Concert. In 1910, he helped Mahler select and coach solo singers for the premiere of Mahlers Symphony No.8, when Mahler died on May 18,1911, Walter was at his deathbed. On June 6, he wrote to his sister that he was to conduct the premiere of Mahlers Das Lied von der Erde, he did so in Munich on November 20,1911, in the first half of an all-Mahler concert. On June 26,1912 he led the Vienna Philharmonic in the premiere of Mahlers Symphony No.9. Although Walter became an Austrian citizen in 1911, he left Vienna in 1913 to become the Royal Bavarian Music Director, while there, argue Erik Ryding and Rebecca Pechefsky, Walters contribution to the history of Wagner performance more significant than many realize. The Bayreuth Festival was suspended after 1914. and resumed only in 1924, Walter was the citys music director for most of this period, and he presided over most of the Wagnerian repertoire. In January 1914, Walter conducted his first concert in Moscow, during the First World War he remained actively involved in conducting, giving premieres to Erich Wolfgang Korngolds Violanta and Der Ring des Polykrates as well as Hans Pfitzners Palestrina. In 1920, he conducted the premiere of Walter Braunfels Die Vögel, in Munich, Walter was a good friend of Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli
31.
Don Giovanni
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Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It is based on the legends of Don Juan, a fictional libertine and it was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the National Theater, now called the Estates Theatre, on 29 October 1787. Da Pontes libretto was billed as a dramma giocoso, a designation of its time that denotes a mixing of serious. Mozart entered the work into his catalogue as an opera buffa, although sometimes classified as comic, it blends comedy, melodrama and supernatural elements. A staple of the operatic repertoire, Don Giovanni for the five seasons 2011/12 through 2015/16 was ninth on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide. It has also proved a fruitful subject for writers and philosophers, the opera was commissioned as a result of the overwhelming success of Mozarts trip to Prague in January and February 1787. The subject matter may have chosen in consideration of the long history of Don Juan operas in Prague. For Bertati, the setting was Villena, Spain, whereas Da Pontes libretto only specifies a city in Spain, the score was completed on 28 or 29 October 1787 after Da Ponte was recalled to Vienna to work on another opera. Reports about the completion of the overture conflict, some say it was completed the day before the premiere. More likely it was completed the day before, in light of the fact that Mozart recorded the completion of the opera on 28 October. The score calls for double woodwinds, two horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, basso continuo for the recitatives, and the string section. The composer also specified occasional special musical effects, in act 2, Giovanni is seen to play the mandolin, accompanied by pizzicato strings. In the same act, two of the Commendatores interventions are accompanied by a chorale of oboes, clarinets, bassoons. The instrumentation and vocal writing are very reminiscent of Mozarts treatment of the voice of Neptune in Idomeneo, the opera was first performed on 29 October 1787 in Prague under its full title of Il Dissoluto Punito ossia il Don Giovanni – Dramma giocoso in due atti. The work was received, as was often true of Mozarts work in Prague. The Prager Oberpostamtzeitung reported, Connoisseurs and musicians say that Prague has never heard the like, the Provincialnachrichten of Vienna reported, Herr Mozart conducted in person and was welcomed joyously and jubilantly by the numerous gathering. Mozart also supervised the Vienna premiere of the work, which place on 7 May 1788. These cuts are very seldom performed in theatres or recordings, the operas final ensemble was generally omitted until the early 20th century, a tradition that apparently began very early on
32.
Original Ballet Russe
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The Original Ballet Russe was a ballet company established in 1931 by René Blum and Colonel Wassily de Basil as a successor to the Ballets Russes, founded in 1909 by Sergei Diaghilev. The company assumed the new name Original Ballet Russe after a split between de Basil and Blum, de Basil led the renamed company, while Blum and others founded a new company under the name Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. It was a large scale professional ballet company toured extensively in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, the United States. It closed down operations in 1947, the companys name is derived from the Ballets Russes of impresario Sergei Diaghilev. The last season of Diaghilevs Ballets Russes was 1929, during which it toured and performed in both London, England, and Paris, France, during the final season, it produced the new ballets The Prodigal Son and Le Bal. The company performed for the time in London at the Covent Garden Theatre on July 26,1929. Diaghliev died of diabetes a month later, on August 19,1929, in 1931, with the help from financier Serge Denham, René Blum and Colonel Wassily de Basil formed the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. One of the new board members was American businessman Jim Thompson. The company hired Leonide Massine and George Balanchine as choreographers, the majority of the works performed had previously been staged by Diaghilevs company, but other new works were commissioned, such as Jeux denfants, with music of George Bizet and sets by Joan Miró. Featured dancers included David Lichine, and the Baby Ballerinas Irina Baronova, Tamara Toumanova, the company conductor was Efrem Kurtz, who stayed with the company until 1942, touring with them extensively. The company librettist was Boris Kochno, the ballet gave its first performance in Monte Carlo in 1932. Without consulting Blum, Col. de Basil dropped Balanchine after one year — ostensibly because he thought that audiences preferred the works choreographed by Massine, librettist Kochno was also let go, while dancer Toumanova left the company when Balanchine was fired. Col. de Basil and Blum had a relationship, which ended in 1934 with Blum breaking up the partnership. Col. de Basil renamed his company Ballets Russes de Colonel W. de Basil, the company struggled financially in the wake of the Great Depression, and was on the verge of bankruptcy. Sol Hurok, an American, took over the management of the Ballet Russe, in 1937, Massine left, joining with Blum to form their own company, recruiting several dancers from their previous group. However, the ballets which Massine had choreographed while under contract with Col. de Basil were owned by his company, Massine sued de Basil in London to regain the intellectual property rights to his own works. He also sued to claim the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo name, the jury decided that de Basil owned Massines ballets created between 1932 and 1937, but not those created before 1932. It also ruled that both companies could use the name Ballet Russe — but only Massine and Blums company could be called Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
33.
Bryanston School
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Bryanston is a member of the Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference and the Eton Group. It has a reputation as a liberal and artistic school using some ideas of the Dalton Plan, the school opened on 24 January 1928 with 23 pupils and seven members of staff. In 2004, the school had around 650 pupils and 80 teachers, during the mid-1930s, Bryanston School was the location of Anglo-German youth camps where the Hitler Youth and Boy Scouts tried to develop links. In 2005 the school was one of fifty of the leading independent schools which were found guilty of running an illegal price-fixing cartel. In 2014 the school opened a new building, the Tom Wheare Music School, designed by Hopkins Architects. The 300-seat concert hall was named after conductor Sir Mark Elder, the interior of the building won a 2015 Wood Award. G. Jeffreys Thorold Coade Robson Fisher Rev. David Jones Bob Allan Tom Wheare Sarah Thomas — first female head of Bryanston, alumni of the school are known as Old Bryanstonians, there is an alumni organisation called the Bryanston Society. The Society exists to further the cause of Bryanston in the broadest possible sense and it aims to bring together the whole Bryanston family through social and sporting events. The school estate has Europes tallest London Plane tree, each year, the JACT Ancient Greek Summer School is held at Bryanston, the school has played host to many of the United Kingdoms classicists, both as teachers and pupils. The school hosts the annual Dorset Opera Festival, which combines amateur, operas are staged at the conclusion of a two-week summer school. Bryanston Reflections, Et nova et vetera, Angela Holdsworth
34.
London Mozart Players
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The London Mozart Players is a British chamber orchestra founded in 1949. The LMP is the chamber orchestra in the United Kingdom whose performances. Since 1989, the orchestra has been based at Fairfield Halls, the concert took place on 11 February at Wigmore Hall, London and the programme also included two Mozart symphonies, Nos.28 in C and 29 in A. With this sell-out concert Harry Blech realised that he had found an audience for the music he wanted to perform, the Haydn-Mozart Society was created shortly after with William Walton as its chairman and Alan Rawsthorne as one of the committee members. On 3 May 1951, the Royal Festival Hall was opened, the orchestra then switched its operation to the more appropriately-sized Queen Elizabeth Hall after its opening in 1967. In 1956, the LMP embarked on its first overseas tour to Italy by way of Amsterdam, during Blechs time as principal conductor, the orchestra made many commercial recordings and was also regularly broadcast on the Third Programme and its successor, BBC Radio 3. Jane Glover became Harry Blechs successor in 1984 and introduced much new repertoire to the LMP concert programmes as well as appointing Howard Shelley and Andrew Parrott as Associate Conductors. The most significant development of Jane Glovers time with the orchestra was the LMPs move to Croydon in 1989, to become Resident Orchestra of the London Borough of Croydon, with Glover, Thomas Bowes led the ensemble at their BBC Proms debut in 1991. In 1992, Swiss conductor Matthias Bamert became principal conductor of the LMP and during his time, in April 1996, the LMP made their début in the Musikverein concert hall in Vienna. Working alongside Matthias Bamert was the conductor and pianist Howard Shelley, Shelley has performed as both conductor and soloist/director with the orchestra and continues to make several appearances with the LMP every year. In 1999, flautist Sir James Galway succeeded Shelley as Principal Guest Conductor, like Shelley, Galway has often combined the dual roles of conductor and soloist and has also worked with the orchestra on several recordings. In September 2000, British conductor Andrew Parrott was appointed Music Director, on 22 October 2009, the LMP announced the appointment of South African conductor Gérard Korsten as Music Director Designate who will assume the role at the start of the LMPs 2010/11 concert season. On 1 May 2014, at the time of the cessation of funding from Croydon Council, the first project the new player-led group took on was a tour of China playing in Wuhan, Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. In 1993, the London Mozart Players began a series of recordings for Chandos Records of works by lesser-known eighteenth-century composers, many of these recordings have drawn widespread critical acclaim and have been credited with bringing these lesser-heard composers to the public light. A number of releases have also been awarded Editors Choice in Gramophone magazine, the series includes works by, London Mozart Players official website London Mozart Players 2009/10 concert dates Fairfield Halls, Croydon website Chandos Records website
35.
The Observer
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The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the worlds oldest Sunday newspaper, the first issue, published on 4 December 1791 by W. S. Bourne, was the worlds first Sunday newspaper. Believing that the paper would be a means of wealth, Bourne instead soon found himself facing debts of nearly £1,600, though early editions purported editorial independence, Bourne attempted to cut his losses and sell the title to the government. When this failed, Bournes brother made an offer to the government, as a result, the paper soon took a strong line against radicals such as Thomas Paine, Francis Burdett and Joseph Priestley. In 1807, the decided to relinquish editorial control, naming Lewis Doxat as the new editor. Seven years later, the brothers sold The Observer to William Innell Clement, the woodcut pictures published of the stable and hayloft where the conspirators were arrested reflected a new stage of illustrated journalism that the newspaper pioneered during this time. Clement maintained ownership of The Observer until his death in 1852, during that time, the paper supported parliamentary reform, but opposed a broader franchise and the Chartist leadership. After Doxat retired in 1857, Clements heirs sold the paper to Joseph Snowe, under Snowe, the paper adopted a more liberal political stance, supporting the North during the American Civil War and endorsing universal manhood suffrage in 1866. These positions contributed to a decline in circulation during this time, in 1870, wealthy businessman Julius Beer bought the paper and appointed Edward Dicey as editor, whose efforts succeeded in reviving circulation. Though Beers son Frederick became the owner upon Juliuss death in 1880, henry Duff Traill took over the editorship after Diceys departure, only to be replaced in 1891 by Fredericks wife, Rachel Beer, of the Sassoon family. Though circulation declined during her tenure, she remained as editor for thirteen years, combining it in 1893 with the editorship of The Sunday Times, upon Fredericks death in 1901, the paper was purchased by the newspaper magnate Lord Northcliffe. After maintaining the editorial leadership for a couple of years. Garvin quickly turned the paper into an organ of political influence, yet the revival in the papers fortunes masked growing political disagreements between Garvin and Northcliffe. These disagreements ultimately led Northcliffe to sell the paper to William Waldorf Astor in 1911, during this period, the Astors were content to leave the control of the paper in Garvins hands. Under his editorship circulation reached 200,000 during the interwar years, politically the paper pursued an independent Tory stance, which eventually brought Garvin into conflict with Waldorfs more liberal son, David. Their conflict contributed to Garvins departure as editor in 1942, after which the paper took the step of declaring itself non-partisan. Ownership passed to Waldorfs sons in 1948, with David taking over as editor and he remained in the position for 27 years, during which time he turned it into a trust-owned newspaper employing, among others, George Orwell, Paul Jennings and C. A. Lejeune. Under Astors editorship The Observer became the first national newspaper to oppose the governments 1956 invasion of Suez, in 1977, the Astors sold the ailing newspaper to US oil giant Atlantic Richfield who sold it to Lonrho plc in 1981
36.
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
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Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, except in 1941–45 during World War II and 1993 when the theatre was being rebuilt, for a 1994 reopening. Gus Christie, son of Sir George Christie and grandson of festival founder John Christie, since the companys inception, Glyndebourne has been particularly celebrated for its productions of Mozart operas. Recordings of Glyndebournes past historic Mozart productions have been reissued, while Mozart operas have continued to be the mainstay of its repertory, the company has expanded it with productions of Janáček and Handel operas. The primary resident orchestra for the Glyndebourne Festival is the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the festivals associate orchestra is the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. In January 2014, Robin Ticciati became the music director of the company. David Pickard has been director of the festival, since 2001. In November 2015, the announced the appointment of Sebastian F. Schwarz as its general director. Its first placement of advertisements was in 2003, the festival has planned to incorporate power by wind turbine, as part of its green initiatives. Many Glyndebourne attendees come from London, and the event is regarded as part of the English summer season, performances start in the afternoon, enabling Londoners to leave town after lunch, and finish in time for them to catch the last train back. A long interval allows opera-goers the opportunity for picnic dinners on the lawns or in one of the restaurants in the grounds. Annually in London, the company presents a performance at The Proms. In 2003, the Glyndebourne Touring Opera administrative duties were absorbed back into the main Glyndebourne Festival Opera administration, unlike Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Glyndebourne On Tour does receive some subsidy, from the Arts Council England. The schedule involves three weeks of performances at Glyndebourne, and then one week in each of the six cities, the music directors of Glyndebourne Touring Opera and Glyndebourne on Tour are separate from the Glyndebourne Festival Opera music directors. Glyndebourne Festival Opera has also toured internationally, including the Adelaide Festival in 2006 with its production of Flight by Jonathan Dove, Glyndebourne is constituted as a registered charity called Glyndebourne Productions Limited, which is a company limited by guarantee. It has a wholly owned subsidiary, Glyndebourne Enterprises Limited, which carries out merchandising, production hire and media development activities, a related charity called the Glyndebourne Arts Trust carries out fund-raising activities. Glyndebourne Association America allows residents of the United States to make tax efficient donations to Glyndebourne, Glyndebourne has an annual budget of a little over £20 million, as of 2010. The Festival is the major opera season in the United Kingdom which is not state subsidised
37.
Otto Klemperer
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Otto Klemperer was a German-born conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the conductors of the 20th century. Otto Klemperer was born in Breslau, Silesia Province, then in Germany, as a son of Nathan Klemperer, Klemperer studied music first at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, and later at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin under James Kwast and Hans Pfitzner. He followed Kwast to three institutions and credited him with the basis of his musical development. In 1905 he met Gustav Mahler while conducting the brass at a performance of Mahlers Symphony No. He also made a reduction of the second symphony. The two men became friends, and Klemperer became conductor at the German Opera in Prague in 1907 on Mahlers recommendation, Mahler wrote a short testimonial, recommending Klemperer, on a small card which Klemperer kept for the rest of his life. Later, in 1910, Klemperer assisted Mahler in the premiere of his Symphony No, Klemperer went on to hold a number of positions, in Hamburg, in Barmen, the Strasbourg Opera, the Cologne Opera, and the Wiesbaden Opera House. From 1927 to 1931, he was conductor at the Kroll Opera in Berlin, on March 22,1920, his wife soprano Johanna Geisler gave birth to their son, the German-American actor Werner Klemperer. In 1933, once the Nazi Party had reached power, Klemperer, Klemperer had previously converted to Catholicism, but returned to Judaism at the end of his life. In the U. S. he was appointed Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and he was granted United States citizenship in 1937. He also visited other countries, including England and Australia, Klemperer hoped for a permanent position as lead conductor in New York or Philadelphia. The New York decision was particularly galling, as Klemperer had been engaged to conduct the first fourteen weeks of the New York Philharmonics 1935-6 season and you see, I am no youngster. I have a name and a good name, one could not use me in a most difficult season and then expell me. This non-reengagement will have bad results not only for me in New York. This non-reengagement is an absolutely unjustified wrong done to me by the Philharmonic Society, though he would occasionally conduct the Philharmonic after that, he lost the post of Music Director. Furthermore, his behavior during manic episodes made him an undesirable guest to US orchestras. After World War II, Klemperer returned to Europe to work at the Budapest Opera, in the early 1950s Klemperer experienced difficulties arising from his U. S. citizenship
38.
Royal Festival Hall
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The Royal Festival Hall is a 2, 500-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge and it is a Grade I listed building, the first post-war building to become so protected. The London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment are resident in the hall, the hall was built as part of the Festival of Britain for London County Council, and was officially opened on 3 May 1951. The complex includes several rooms, bars and restaurants. A large head and shoulders bust of Nelson Mandela stands on the walkway between the hall and Hungerford Bridge approach viaduct, originally made in glass-fibre it was repeatedly vandalised until re-cast in bronze. The closest tube stations are Waterloo and, across the river via the Jubilee Bridges, Embankment, the acoustical consultant was Hope Bagenal, working with members of the Building Research Station, Henry Humphreys, Peter Parkin and William Allen. Martin was 39 at the time, and very taken with the Nordic activities of Alvar Aalto, the figure who really drove the project forward was Herbert Morrison, the Labour Party politician. He it was who had insisted that Matthew had Martin as his deputy architect, a 1948 sketch by Martin shows the design of the concert hall as the egg in a box. But the strength of the design was the arrangement of interior space and they were concerned that whilst the scale of the project demanded a monumental building, it should not ape the triumphal classicism of many earlier public buildings. The wide open foyers, with bars and restaurants, were intended to be meeting places for all, because these public spaces were built around the auditorium, they also had the effect of insulating the Hall from the noise of the adjacent railway bridge. The hall they built used modernism’s favourite material, reinforced concrete, alongside more luxurious elements including beautiful woods, the exterior of the building was bright white, intended to contrast with the blackened city surrounding it. The cantilevered boxes are described as looking like drawers pulled out in a hurried burglary. The ceiling was wilfully sculptural, a conceit at the edge of building technology and, as it turns out. Robin Day, who designed the furniture for the auditorium, used a clearly articulated structure in his designs of bent plywood, the foundation stone was laid in 1949 by Prime Minister Clement Attlee on the site of the former Lion Brewery, built in 1837. The first general manager was T. E. Bean, who had managed the Hallé Orchestra. I was overwhelmed by a shock of breathless delight at the originality and beauty of the interior and it felt as if I had been instantly transported far into the future and that I was on another planet, said journalist Bernard Levin of his first impressions of the building. The 7,866 pipe organ was built during 1950–1954 by Harrison & Harrison in Durham, to the specification of the London County Councils consultant, Ralph Downes, however, the design of the organ in its housing made maintenance difficult, and by 2000 it had become unusable. It was consequently completely removed before restoration of the Hall itself began in 2005, and after restoration and updating by Harrison & Harrison, the remainder was reinstalled between 2012 and 2013, and voicing completed in 2014
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The Magic Flute
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The Magic Flute, K.620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on 30 September 1791 at Schikaneders theatre, the Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna, separately, then together, Tamino and Pamina undergo severe trials of initiation, which end in triumph, with the Queen and her cohorts vanquished. The earthy Papageno, who accompanies Tamino on his quest, fails the trials completely but is rewarded anyway with the hand of his female companion Papagena. The opera was the culmination of a period of increasing involvement by Mozart with Schikaneders theatrical troupe, Mozart was a close friend of one of the singer-composers of the troupe, tenor Benedikt Schack, and had contributed to the compositions of the troupe, which were often collaboratively written. Mozarts participation increased with his contributions to the 1790 collaborative opera Der Stein der Weisen, like The Magic Flute, Der Stein der Weisen was a fairy-tale opera and can be considered a kind of precursor, it employed much the same cast in similar roles. The libretto for The Magic Flute, written by Schikaneder, is thought by scholars to be based on many sources, especially for the role of Papageno, the libretto draws on the Hanswurst tradition of the Viennese popular theatre. Many scholars also acknowledge an influence of Freemasonry, for detailed discussion of sources see Branscombe, as well as Libretto of The Magic Flute. In composing the opera, Mozart evidently kept in mind the skills of the intended for the premiere. Thus, the lines for Papageno—sung by Schikaneder himself—and Monostatos are often stated first in the strings so the singer can find his pitch. In contrast, Mozarts sister-in-law Josepha Hofer, who premiered the role of the Queen of the Night, evidently needed little such help, in ensembles, Mozart skillfully combined voices of different ability levels. The vocal ranges of two of the singers for whom Mozart tailored his music have posed challenges for many singers who have since recreated their roles. Both arias of the Queen of the Night, O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn and Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen require high F6, rare in opera. At the low end, the part of Sarastro, premiered by Franz Xaver Gerl, the opera was premiered in Vienna on 30 September 1791 at the suburban Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden. Mozart conducted the orchestra, Schikaneder himself played Papageno, while the role of the Queen of the Night was sung by Mozarts sister-in-law Josepha Hofer, as Mozarts letters show, he was very pleased to have achieved such a success. Solomon continues, Mozarts delight is reflected in his last three letters, written to Constanze, who with her sister Sophie was spending the week of October in Baden. I have this moment returned from the opera, which was as full as ever, he wrote on 7 October, but what always gives me the most pleasure is the silent approval. You can see how this opera is becoming more and more esteemed, … He went to hear his opera almost every night, taking along relatives
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