1.
Gesamtkunstwerk
–
A Gesamtkunstwerk is a work of art that makes use of all or many art forms or strives to do so. The term is a German word which has come to be accepted in English as a term in aesthetics, the term was first used by the German writer and philosopher K. F. E. Trahndorff in an essay in 1827. The German opera composer Richard Wagner used the term in two 1849 essays, and the word has become associated with his aesthetic ideals. It is unclear whether Wagner knew of Trahndorffs essay, in the twentieth century, some writers applied the term to some forms of architecture, while others have applied it to film and mass media. Some elements of opera reform, seeking a more classical formula, had begun at the end of the 18th century and this movement, reform opera is primarily associated with Christoph Willibald Gluck and Ranieri de Calzabigi. Others who wrote on syntheses of the arts included Gottfried Lessing, Ludwig Tieck, carl Maria von Webers enthusiastic review of E. T. A. He also used in these essays many similar such as the consummate artwork of the future and the integrated drama. Such a work of art was to be the clearest and most profound expression of folk legend, Wagner felt that the Greek tragedies of Aeschylus had been the finest examples so far of total artistic synthesis, but that this synthesis had subsequently been corrupted by Euripides. Wagner felt that during the rest of history up to the present day the arts had drifted further and further apart. Wagner felt that such works celebrated bravura singing, sensational stage effects, in Art and Revolution Wagner applies the term Gesamtkunstwerk in the context of Greek tragedy. In The Art-Work of the Future he uses it to apply to his own, as yet unrealised, ideal. In his extensive book Opera and Drama he takes these ideas further, describing in detail his idea of the union of opera and drama, in which the individual arts are subordinated to a common purpose. It has been argued by historian Robert L. Delevoy that Art Nouveau represented an essentially decorative trend that thus lent itself to the idea of the architectural Gesamtkunstwerk. But it is possible it was born from social theories that arose out of a fear of the rise of industrialism. However evidence of complete interiors that typify the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk can be some time before the 1890s. There was a trend amongst architects in the 18th and 19th centuries to control every facet of an architectural commission. As well as being responsible for just the structure they tried to extend their role to include designing every aspect of the work as well. This included not only the architectural features but was extended to the design of furniture, carpets, wallpaper, fabrics
2.
Richard Wagner
–
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is primarily known for his operas. Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works and he described this vision in a series of essays published between 1849 and 1852. Wagner realised these ideas most fully in the first half of the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen and his advances in musical language, such as extreme chromaticism and quickly shifting tonal centres, greatly influenced the development of classical music. His Tristan und Isolde is sometimes described as marking the start of modern music, Wagner had his own opera house built, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, which embodied many novel design features. The Ring and Parsifal were premiered here and his most important stage works continue to be performed at the annual Bayreuth Festival, until his final years, Wagners life was characterised by political exile, turbulent love affairs, poverty and repeated flight from his creditors. His controversial writings on music, drama and politics have attracted extensive comment, notably, since the late 20th century, where they express antisemitic sentiments. The effect of his ideas can be traced in many of the arts throughout the 20th century, his influence spread beyond composition into conducting, philosophy, literature, Richard Wagner was born to an ethnic German family in Leipzig, where his family lived at No. 3, the Brühl in the Jewish quarter and he was baptized at St. Thomas Church. He was the child of Carl Friedrich Wagner, who was a clerk in the Leipzig police service, and his wife, Johanna Rosine. Wagners father Carl died of typhus six months after Richards birth, afterwards his mother Johanna lived with Carls friend, the actor and playwright Ludwig Geyer. In August 1814 Johanna and Geyer probably married—although no documentation of this has found in the Leipzig church registers. She and her family moved to Geyers residence in Dresden, until he was fourteen, Wagner was known as Wilhelm Richard Geyer. He almost certainly thought that Geyer was his biological father, Geyers love of the theatre came to be shared by his stepson, and Wagner took part in his performances. In his autobiography Mein Leben Wagner recalled once playing the part of an angel, in late 1820, Wagner was enrolled at Pastor Wetzels school at Possendorf, near Dresden, where he received some piano instruction from his Latin teacher. He struggled to play a scale at the keyboard and preferred playing theatre overtures by ear. Following Geyers death in 1821, Richard was sent to the Kreuzschule, at the age of nine he was hugely impressed by the Gothic elements of Carl Maria von Webers opera Der Freischütz, which he saw Weber conduct. At this period Wagner entertained ambitions as a playwright and his first creative effort, listed in the Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis as WWV1, was a tragedy called Leubald. Begun when he was in school in 1826, the play was influenced by Shakespeare
3.
Heinrich Vogl
–
Heinrich Vogl was a German operatic heldentenor. He played the role of Loge in Richard Wagners Das Rheingold at Munich Court Opera on September 22,1869, with his wife, Therese Vogl and he also played the role of Siegmund in Wagners Die Walküre, also at Munich, on June 26,1870. Therese Vogl played the role of Siegmunds sister and lover Sieglinde in the same performance and his Munich debut was as Max in Webers Der Freischütz. He sang at Bayreuth, Berlin, London and the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, at Bayreuth, he played the role of Loge in the first complete Ring cycle on August 13,1876. His performance in the role caused fellow singer Lilli Lehmann to comment that he was born for the part and he and his wife Therese were among the first performers to sing the lead roles in Tristan und Isolde, and were highly regarded in these roles. His non-Wagner roles included the role in Verdis Otello, Canio in Leoncavallos I Pagliacci, Aeneas in Berliozs Les Troyens. He was known for his power and stamina, which allowed him to perform Loge, Siegmund. Heinrich Vogl is buried beside his wife in Tutzing, Bavaria
4.
National Theatre Munich
–
The National Theater on Max-Joseph-Platz in Munich, Germany is a historic opera house, home of the Bavarian State Opera, Bavarian State Orchestra and the Bavarian State Ballet. The first theatre was commissioned in 1810 by King Maximilian I of Bavaria because the nearby Cuvilliés Theatre had too little space and it was designed by Karl von Fischer, with the 1782 Odéon in Paris as architectural precedent. Construction began on 26 October 1811 but was interrupted in 1813 by financing problems, in 1817 a fire occurred in the unfinished building. Coincidentally the Paris Odéon itself burned down in 1818, designed by Leo von Klenze, the second theater incorporated Neo-Grec features in its portico and triangular pediment and an entrance supported by Corinthian columns. In 1925 it was modified to create a stage area with updated equipment. The building was gutted in an air raid on the night of 3 October 1943, the third and present theatre recreates Karl von Fischers original neo-classical design, though on a slightly larger,2, 100-seat scale. The magnificent royal box is the center of the interior rondel, the new stage covers 2,500 square metres, and is thus the worlds third largest, after the Opéra Bastille in Paris and the Grand Theatre, Warsaw. Through the consistent use of wood as a material, the auditorium has excellent acoustics. Architect Gerhard Moritz Graubner closely preserved the look of the foyer. It opened on 21 November 1963 with a performance of Die Frau ohne Schatten under the baton of Joseph Keilberth. Two nights later came the first public performance, of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, during its early years, the National Theatre saw the premières of a significant number of operas, including many by German composers. During the latter part of the 19th century, it was Richard Strauss who would make his mark on the theatre in the city in which he was born in 1864. After accepting the position of conductor for a time, Strauss returned to the theatre to become principal conductor from 1894 to 1898. In the pre-War period, his Friedenstag and Capriccio were premièred in Munich, in the post-War period, the house has seen significant productions and many world premieres. The list refers only to those premieres of the Bavarian State Opera staged in the National Theatre, the Bavarian State Opera had additional premieres also in other theatres. The Bayerisches Staatsballett had also premieres in the National Theatre
5.
Opera
–
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. In traditional opera, singers do two types of singing, recitative, a style and arias, a more melodic style. Opera incorporates many of the elements of theatre, such as acting, scenery. The performance is given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble. Opera is a key part of the Western classical music tradition, in the 18th century, Italian opera continued to dominate most of Europe, attracting foreign composers such as George Frideric Handel. Opera seria was the most prestigious form of Italian opera, until Christoph Willibald Gluck reacted against its artificiality with his operas in the 1760s. The first third of the 19th century saw the point of the bel canto style, with Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti. It also saw the advent of Grand Opera typified by the works of Auber and Meyerbeer, the mid-to-late 19th century was a golden age of opera, led and dominated by Richard Wagner in Germany and Giuseppe Verdi in Italy. The popularity of opera continued through the era in Italy and contemporary French opera through to Giacomo Puccini. During the 19th century, parallel operatic traditions emerged in central and eastern Europe, the 20th century saw many experiments with modern styles, such as atonality and serialism, Neoclassicism, and Minimalism. With the rise of recording technology, singers such as Enrico Caruso, since the invention of radio and television, operas were also performed on these mediums. Beginning in 2006, a number of opera houses began to present live high-definition video transmissions of their performances in cinemas all over the world. In 2009, an opera company offered a download of a complete performance. The words of an opera are known as the libretto, some composers, notably Wagner, have written their own libretti, others have worked in close collaboration with their librettists, e. g. Mozart with Lorenzo Da Ponte. Vocal duets, trios and other ensembles often occur, and choruses are used to comment on the action, in some forms of opera, such as singspiel, opéra comique, operetta, and semi-opera, the recitative is mostly replaced by spoken dialogue. Melodic or semi-melodic passages occurring in the midst of, or instead of, the terminology of the various kinds of operatic voices is described in detail below. Over the 18th century, arias were accompanied by the orchestra. Subsequent composers have tended to follow Wagners example, though some, the changing role of the orchestra in opera is described in more detail below
6.
Libretto
–
A libretto is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term libretto is also used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as the Mass, requiem and sacred cantata. Libretto, from Italian, is the diminutive of the word libro, sometimes other language equivalents are used for libretti in that language, livret for French works and Textbuch for German. A libretto is distinct from a synopsis or scenario of the plot, in that the libretto contains all the words and stage directions, while a synopsis summarizes the plot. The relationship of the librettist to the composer in the creation of a work has varied over the centuries, as have the sources. In the context of a modern English language musical theatre piece, Libretti for operas, oratorios and cantatas in the 17th and 18th centuries generally were written by someone other than the composer, often a well-known poet. Metastasio was one of the most highly regarded librettists in Europe and his libretti were set many times by many different composers. Another noted 18th-century librettist was Lorenzo Da Ponte, who wrote the libretti for three of Mozarts greatest operas, as well as for other composers. Eugène Scribe was one of the most prolific librettists of the 19th century, providing the words for works by Meyerbeer, Auber, Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini and Verdi. The French writers duo Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote a number of opera and operetta libretti for the likes of Jacques Offenbach, Jules Massenet. Arrigo Boito, who wrote libretti for, among others, Giuseppe Verdi and Amilcare Ponchielli, the libretto is not always written before the music. Some composers wrote their own libretti, Richard Wagner is perhaps most famous in this regard, with his transformations of Germanic legends and events into epic subjects for his operas and music dramas. Hector Berlioz, too, wrote the libretti for two of his works, La Damnation de Faust and Les Troyens. Alban Berg adapted Georg Büchners play Woyzeck for the libretto of Wozzeck, sometimes the libretto is written in close collaboration with the composer, this can involve adaptation, as was the case with Rimsky-Korsakov and his librettist Belsky, or an entirely original work. In the case of musicals, the music, the lyrics, thus, a musical such as Fiddler on the Roof has a composer, a lyricist and the writer of the book. In rare cases, the composer writes everything except the dance arrangements - music, lyrics and libretto, Other matters in the process of developing a libretto parallel those of spoken dramas for stage or screen. A famous case of the latter is Wagners 1861 revision of the original 1845 Dresden version of his opera Tannhäuser for Paris, since the late 19th century some opera composers have written music to prose or free verse libretti. The libretto of a musical, on the hand, is almost always written in prose
7.
Der Ring des Nibelungen
–
Der Ring des Nibelungen, WWV86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas, the composer termed the cycle a Bühnenfestspiel, structured in three days preceded by a Vorabend. It is often referred to as the Ring Cycle, Wagners Ring, Wagner wrote the libretto and music over the course of about twenty-six years, from 1848 to 1874. The first performance as an opened the first Bayreuth Festival in 1876, beginning with Das Rheingold on 13 August. Wagners title is most literally rendered in English as The Ring of the Nibelung, the Nibelung of the title is the dwarf Alberich, and the ring in question is the one he fashions from the Rhine Gold. The title therefore denotes Alberichs Ring, Nibelungen is occasionally mistaken as a plural, but the Ring of the Nibelungs is incorrect. The cycle is a work of extraordinary scale, the first and shortest work, Das Rheingold, typically lasts two and a half hours, while the final and longest, Götterdämmerung, takes up to five hours, excluding intervals. The cycle is modelled after ancient Greek dramas that were presented as three tragedies and one satyr play, the Ring proper begins with Die Walküre and ends with Götterdämmerung, with Rheingold as a prelude. Wagner called Das Rheingold a Vorabend or Preliminary Evening, and Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung were subtitled First Day, Second Day and Third Day, respectively, the scale and scope of the story is epic. It follows the struggles of gods, heroes, and several mythical creatures over the magic ring that grants domination over the entire world. The drama and intrigue continue through three generations of protagonists, until the final cataclysm at the end of Götterdämmerung, the music of the cycle is thick and richly textured, and grows in complexity as the cycle proceeds. Wagner wrote for an orchestra of gargantuan proportions, including a greatly enlarged brass section with new instruments such as the Wagner tuba, bass trumpet and contrabass trombone. Remarkably, he uses a chorus only relatively briefly, in acts 2 and 3 of Götterdämmerung and he eventually had a purpose-built theatre constructed, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, in which to perform this work. The theatre has a stage that blends the huge orchestra with the singers voices. The result was that the singers did not have to strain themselves vocally during the long performances. The plot revolves around a ring that grants the power to rule the world. Wotans schemes to regain the ring, spanning generations, drive much of the action in the story, Hagen is drowned as he attempts to recover the ring. In the process, the gods and Valhalla are destroyed, details of the storylines can be found in the articles on each music drama
8.
Norse mythology
–
The cosmos in Norse mythology consists of Nine Worlds that flank a central cosmological tree, Yggdrasil. Units of time and elements of the cosmology are personified as deities or beings, various forms of a creation myth are recounted, where the world is created from the flesh of the primordial being Ymir, and the first two humans are Ask and Embla. These worlds are foretold to be reborn after the events of Ragnarök, there the surviving gods will meet, and the land will be fertile and green, and two humans will repopulate the world. Norse mythology has been the subject of scholarly discourse since the 17th century, by way of comparative mythology and historical linguistics, scholars have identified elements of Germanic mythology reaching as far back as Proto-Indo-European mythology. In the modern period, the Romanticist Viking revival re-awoke an interest in the subject matter, the myths have further been revived in a religious context among adherents of Germanic Neopaganism. The majority of these Old Norse texts were created in Iceland and this occurred primarily in the 13th century. The Prose Edda was composed as a manual for producing skaldic poetry—traditional Old Norse poetry composed by skalds. Originally composed and transmitted orally, skaldic poetry utilizes alliterative verse, kennings, the Prose Edda presents numerous examples of works by various skalds from before and after the Christianization process and also frequently refers back to the poems found in the Poetic Edda. The Poetic Edda consists almost entirely of poems, with some prose narrative added, in comparison to skaldic poetry, Eddic poetry is relatively unadorned. Numerous further texts, such as the sagas, provide further information, the saga corpus consists of thousands of tales recorded in Old Norse ranging from Icelandic family histories to Migration period tales mentioning historic figures such as Attila the Hun. By way of historical linguistics and comparative mythology, comparisons to other attested branches of Germanic mythology may also lend insight, wider comparisons to the mythology of other Indo-European peoples by scholars has resulted in the potential reconstruction of far earlier myths. Of the mythical tales and poems that are presumed to have existed during the Middle Ages, Viking Age, Migration Period, numerous gods are mentioned in the source texts. In the mythology, Thor lays waste to numerous jötnar who are foes to the gods or humanity, the god Odin is also frequently mentioned in surviving texts. One-eyed, wolf and raven-flanked, and spear in hand, Odin pursues knowledge throughout the worlds, Odin has a strong association with death, Odin is portrayed as the ruler of Valhalla, where valkyries carry half of those slain in battle. Odins wife is the powerful goddess Frigg who can see the future but tells no one, and together they have a beloved son, Baldr. After a series of dreams had by Baldr of his death, his death is engineered by Loki, and Baldr thereafter resides in Hel. Odin must share half of his share of the dead with a powerful goddess and she is beautiful, sensual, wears a feathered cloak, and practices seiðr. She rides to battle to choose among the slain, and brings her chosen to her afterlife field Fólkvangr, Freyja weeps for her missing husband Óðr, and seeks after him in far away lands
9.
Poetic Edda
–
Poetic Edda is the modern attribution for an unnamed collection of Old Norse anonymous poems, which is different from the Edda, written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all consisting primarily of text from the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript known as the Codex Regius, poets who have acknowledged their debt to the Codex Regius include Vilhelm Ekelund, August Strindberg, J. R. R. Tolkien, Ezra Pound, Jorge Luis Borges, and Karin Boye, Codex Regius was written in the 13th century, but nothing is known of its whereabouts until 1643, when it came into the possession of Brynjólfur Sveinsson, then Bishop of Skálholt. At the time, versions of the Edda were known in Iceland, but scholars speculated that once was another Edda, an Elder Edda. Brynjólfur attributed the manuscript to Sæmundr the Learned, a larger-than-life 12th century Icelandic priest and that attribution is rejected by modern scholars, but the name Sæmundar Edda is still sometimes associated with both the Codex Regius and versions of Poetic Edda using it as a source. Bishop Brynjólfur sent Codex Regius as a present to the Danish king, for centuries, it was stored in the Royal Library in Copenhagen but in 1971, it was returned to Iceland. The Eddic poems are composed in alliterative verse, most are in fornyrðislag, while málaháttr is a common variation. The rest, about a quarter, are composed in ljóðaháttr, the language of the poems is usually clear and relatively unadorned. Kennings are often employed, though they do not arise as frequently, nor are they as complex, like most early poetry, the Eddic poems were minstrel poems, passing orally from singer to singer and from poet to poet for centuries. None of the poems are attributed to an author, though many of them show strong individual characteristics and are likely to have been the work of individual poets. Scholars sometimes speculate on hypothetical authors, but firm and accepted conclusions have never been reached, the dating of the poems has been a source of lively scholarly argument for a long time, and firm conclusions are hard to reach. Lines from the Eddic poems sometimes appear in poems by known poets, for example, Eyvindr skáldaspillir composed in the latter half of the 10th century, and he uses a couple of lines in his Hákonarmál which are also found in Hávamál. It is possible that he was quoting a poem, but it is also possible that Hávamál. The few demonstrably historical characters mentioned in the poems, such as Attila, the dating of the manuscripts themselves provides a more useful terminus ante quem. Individual poems have individual clues to their age, for example, Atlamál hin groenlenzku is claimed by its title to have been composed in Greenland, and seems so by some internal evidence. If so, it can be no earlier than about 985, in some cases, old poems may have been interpolated with younger verses or merged with other poems. For example, stanzas 9-16 of Völuspá, the Dvergatal or Roster of Dwarfs, is considered by scholars to be an interpolation. The problem of dating the poems is linked with the problem of finding out where they were composed, Iceland was not settled until about 870, so anything composed before that time would necessarily have been elsewhere, most likely in Scandinavia
10.
Valkyrie
–
In Norse mythology, a valkyrie is one of a host of female figures who choose those who may die in battle and those who may live. Selecting among half of those who die in battle, the valkyries bring their chosen to the hall of the slain, Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become einherjar, when the einherjar are not preparing for the events of Ragnarök, the valkyries bear them mead. They appear throughout the poetry of skalds, in a 14th-century charm, scholarly theories have been proposed about the relation between the valkyries, the norns, and the dísir, all of which are supernatural figures associated with fate. Archaeological excavations throughout Scandinavia have uncovered amulets theorized as depicting valkyries, in modern culture, valkyries have been the subject of works of art, musical works, video games and poetry. The word valkyrie derives from Old Norse valkyrja, which is composed of two words, the noun valr and the verb kjósa, together, they mean chooser of the slain. The Old Norse valkyrja is cognate to Old English wælcyrge, from the Old English and Old Norse forms, philologist Vladimir Orel reconstructs a Proto-Germanic form, *wala-kuzjōn. However, the term may have been borrowed into Old English from Old Norse, other terms for valkyries in Old Norse sources include óskmey, appearing in the poem Oddrúnargrátr and Óðins meyjar, appearing in the Nafnaþulur. Óskmey may be related to the Odinic name Óski, referring to the fact that Odin receives slain warriors in Valhalla, valkyries are mentioned or appear in the Poetic Edda poems Völuspá, Grímnismál, Völundarkviða, Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar, Helgakviða Hundingsbana I, Helgakviða Hundingsbana II and Sigrdrífumál. In stanza 30 of the poem Völuspá, a völva tells Odin that she saw valkyries coming from far away who are ready to ride to the realm of the gods. The völva follows this with a list of six valkyries, Skuld who bore a shield, Skögul, Gunnr, Hildr, afterwards, the völva tells him she has listed the ladies of the War Lord, ready to ride, valkyries, over the earth. A prose introduction in the poem Völundarkviða relates that the brothers Slagfiðr, Egil, there, early one morning, the brothers find three women spinning linen on the shore of the lake Úlfsjár, and near them were their swans garments, they were valkyries. Two, daughters of King Hlödvér, are named Hlaðguðr svanhvít and Hervör alvitr, the brothers take the three women back to their hall with them—Egil takes Ölrún, Slagfiðr takes Hlaðguðr svanhvít and Völund takes Hervör alvitr. They live together for seven winters, until the women fly off to go to a battle, Egil goes off in snow-shoes to look for Ölrún, Slagfiðr goes searching for Hlaðguðr svanhvít and Völund sits in Úlfdalir. He finds one particularly striking, this valkyrie is detailed later in a narrative as Sváva, king Eylimis daughter. The valkyrie speaks to the man, and gives him the name Helgi. The valkyrie tells him she knows of a hoard of swords in Sigarsholm, and that one of them is of particular importance, further into the poem, Atli flytes with the female jötunn Hrímgerðr. After Hrímgerðr is turned to stone by the daylight, a prose narrative continues that Helgi, Helgi and Sváva are betrothed and love one another dearly
11.
Ride of the Valkyries
–
The Ride of the Valkyries is the popular term for the beginning of act 3 of Die Walküre, the second of the four operas by Richard Wagner that constitute Der Ring des Nibelungen. As a separate piece, the Ride is often heard in an instrumental version. Together with the Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin, the Ride of the Valkyries is one of Wagners best-known pieces, the main theme of the Ride, the leitmotif labelled Walkürenritt, was first written down by the composer on 23 July 1851. The preliminary draft for the Ride was composed in 1854 as part of the composition of the entire opera, which was fully orchestrated by the end of the first quarter of 1856. As they are joined by the four, the familiar tune is carried by the orchestra, while, above it. Apart from the song of the Rhinemaidens in Das Rheingold, it is the ensemble piece in the first three operas of Wagners Ring cycle. The complete opera Die Walküre was first performed on 26 June 1870 in the National Theatre Munich against the composers intent, however, the piece was still printed and sold in Leipzig, and Wagner subsequently wrote a complaint to the publisher Schott. Once the Ring had been given in Bayreuth in 1876, Wagner lifted the embargo and he himself conducted it in London on 12 May 1877, repeating it as an encore. Uses in film include the score for The Birth of a Nation. The Ride is the quick march of the British Parachute Regiment. Within the concert repertoire, the Ride of the Valkyries remains a popular encore, apart from where the Ride is included in the recordings of the Walküre opera, it is a very popular piece, included in various popular classics anthologies. Edited and annotated by Martin Gregor-Dellin and Dietrich Mack, translated by Geoffrey Skelton, Ride of the Valkyries, Scores at the International Music Score Library Project Ride of the Valkyries at Project Gutenberg Fantasie from Die Walkure, WWV 86B on Musopen
12.
Ludwig II of Bavaria
–
Ludwig II was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or der Märchenkönig and he also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, Duke of Franconia, and Duke in Swabia. He succeeded to the throne aged 18, two years later Bavaria and Austria fought a war against Prussia, which they lost. However, in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 Bavaria sided with Prussia against France and he commissioned the construction of two lavish palaces and the Neuschwanstein Castle, and was a devoted patron of the composer Richard Wagner. Ludwig spent all his royal revenues on these projects, borrowed extensively and this extravagance was used against him to declare him insane, an accusation which has since come under scrutiny. Today, his architectural and artistic legacy includes many of Bavarias most important tourist attractions, born in Nymphenburg Palace, he was the elder son of Maximilian II of Bavaria of the House of Wittelsbach, and his wife Princess Marie of Prussia. His younger brother, born three years later, was named Otto, like many young heirs in an age when kings governed most of Europe, Ludwig was continually reminded of his royal status. King Maximilian wanted to both of his sons in the burdens of royal duty from an early age. Ludwig was both extremely indulged and severely controlled by his tutors and subjected to a regimen of study. There are some who point to these stresses of growing up in a family as the causes for much of his odd behavior as an adult. Ludwig was not close to either of his parents, King Maximilians advisers had suggested that on his daily walks he might like, at times, to be accompanied by his future successor. The King replied, But what am I to say to him, after all, my son takes no interest in what other people tell him. Later, Ludwig would refer to his mother as my predecessors consort and he was far closer to his grandfather, the deposed and notorious King Ludwig I, who came from a family of eccentrics. Ludwigs childhood years did have happy moments and he lived for much of the time at Castle Hohenschwangau, a fantasy castle his father had built near the Alpsee near Füssen. It was decorated in the Gothic Revival style with frescoes depicting heroic German sagas. The family also visited Lake Starnberg, as an adolescent, Ludwig became close friends with his aide de camp, Prince Paul, a member of Bavarias wealthy Thurn und Taxis family. The two young men together, read poetry aloud, and staged scenes from the Romantic operas of Richard Wagner. The friendship ended when Paul became engaged in 1866, during his youth Ludwig also initiated a lifelong friendship with his cousin, Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria, later Empress of Austria
13.
Bayreuth Festival
–
The Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived and promoted the idea of a festival to showcase his own works, in particular his monumental cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. Performances take place in a specially designed theatre, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, the Festival has become a pilgrimage destination for Wagner enthusiasts, who often must wait years to obtain tickets. The origins of the Festival itself lie rooted in Richard Wagners interest in establishing his financial independence, a souring of the relationship with his patron, Ludwig II of Bavaria, led to his expulsion from Munich, where he had originally intended to launch the festival. Wagner next considered Nuremberg, which would have reinforced the significance of works such as Die Meistersinger. On the advice of Hans Richter, however, the focus fell upon Bayreuth which enjoyed three distinct advantages, first, the town boasted a splendid venue, the Markgräfliches Opernhaus built for Margrave Frederick and his wife, Friederike Sophie Wilhelmine in 1747. With its ample capacity and strong acoustics, the house was a good match for Wagners vision. Finally, the town had no cultural life that could offer competition to Wagners own artistic dominance, the Festival, once launched, would be the dominant feature of Bayreuths cultural landscape. In April 1870, Wagner and his wife Cosima visited Bayreuth, on inspection, the Opera House proved to be inadequate. It was built to accommodate the baroque orchestras of the 18th century and was unsuited for the complex stagings. Nonetheless, the Burgermeisters proved open to assisting Wagner with the construction of a new theatre. After a fruitless meeting in the spring of 1871 with the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck to obtain funds, Wagner embarked on a tour across Germany, including Leipzig. Societies were established, among other places, in Leipzig, Berlin, despite making direct appeals based on Wagners role as a composer of the new German Reich, the Societies and other fundraising channels were well short of the needed sum by the end of 1872. Wagner made another appeal to Bismarck in August 1873 and was again denied, desperate, Wagner turned to his former patron, Ludwig II who reluctantly agreed to help. In January 1874, Ludwig granted 100,000 Thaler and construction on the theatre, designed by architect Gottfried Semper, a planned 1875 debut was postponed for a year due to construction and other delays. Since its opening in 1876, the Bayreuth Festival has been a socio-cultural phenomenon, the inauguration took place on 13 August 1876, with a performance of Das Rheingold. Artistically, the festival was a success, financially, however, the festival was a disaster and did not begin to make money until several years later. Wagner abandoned his plan to hold a second festival the following year
14.
Academy of Music (New York City)
–
The Academy of Music was a New York City opera house, located on the northeast corner of East 14th Street and Irving Place in Manhattan. The 4, 000-seat hall opened on October 2,1854, the review in The New York Times declared it to be an acoustical triumph, but In every other aspect. The Academys opera season became the center of life for New Yorks elite. The Academy of Music has been described as the first successful dedicated opera house in the United States, by May 1853, the interior has been dismantled and the furnishings sold off, with the shell of the building sold to the Mercantile Library Association. The stages proscenium opening was 48 feet, with an additional 35 feet in the wings, the height of the proscenium opening was 30 feet. Its first opera season was from October through December 1854, the Max Maretzek Italian Opera Company was engaged by US actor James Henry Hackett. The company performed Bellinis Norma for the inauguration of the theatre with Giulia Grisi in the title role, Maretzeks company performed an annual season at the Academy through 1878. His company was not the group active at the opera house as the theater during this time. Musicologist George Whitney Martin writes, New Yorks Academy of Music, from 1854 to 1883 the citys leading house for opera, because it was primarily a real estate venture run by a board of investors seeking the highest rent possible. The Academy hosted several American premieres, including Rigoletto, Il trovatore, La traviata, Aida, Lohengrin, Die Walkure, in 1860 it was the site of a reception for the Prince of Wales. These balls were covered by the press, which did little to dim the enthusiasm or ribald behavior of the participants, one reporter wrote that women were thrown in the air and then sexually assaulted amid the jeers and laughter of the other drunken wretches on the floor. Not a whisper of shame in the crowd and these spectacles grew in size over the following decades, in 1876, one such ball was attended by over 4000 people. Still, it was the season that made the Academy the mainstay of social life for New Yorks uppertens. This emblem of social prominence was passed down generation to generation. The Metropolitans new opera house at Broadway and 39th Street, twice the size of the Academy and it contained three tiers of elegant boxes to display the wealth of the citys new economic leaders. The new opera house was an instant success with New York society and music lovers alike, in 1888 the Academy began to offer vaudeville. From January 28 to March 1901, a revival of Clyde Fitchs play Barbara Frietchie appeared there, the venue was rented by labor organizations in the early 1900s and used to stage rallies. In 1926 it was demolished, along with its neighbor Tammany Hall, on the south side of 14th Street across from the site of the opera house, a movie theatre opened in 1927 which took the name the Academy of Music
15.
United States Marine Corps Band
–
The United States Marine Band is the premier band of the United States Marine Corps. Established by act of Congress on July 11,1798, it is the oldest of the United States military bands, today, the Marine Band also includes the Marine Chamber Orchestra and Marine Chamber Ensembles. The Marine Band is entirely separate from its military band, the United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps. The Marine Band has been known as The Presidents Own since 1801 because of its historic connection to the President of the United States. The relationship between the Marine Band and the White House began on New Years Day 1801, when President John Adams invited the band to perform at the Executive Mansion. Later that year, Thomas Jefferson initiated the tradition of Marine Band performances by requesting that it perform at his inauguration, the Marine Band has played at every United States presidential inauguration since. President Thomas Jefferson gave the title The Presidents Own in 1801, today, the Marine Band performs in approximately 500 events every year including state funerals, state arrival ceremonies, state dinners, parades, concerts, and other social events. The Marine Band also travels across the country each October and November during its concert tour. The Marine Band recruits experienced musicians, members are selected through a rigorous procedure and must satisfy additional security. Selected band members serve under a contract as active duty enlisted Marines and are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. They are the members of the United States Armed Forces not required to undergo recruit training. Also, they are not assigned to any other than the Marine Band. The band members start at the rank of Staff Sergeant, as of 2010, the USMC spends about $10 million annually to support the band. The full band has a complement of about 130 members, a 42-piece Marine Band is used for all Pentagon and formal military arrivals and patriotic openers for large events. Patriotic openers are 15 minutes of music, including the presentation and retirement of the colors, the The Star-Spangled Banner. Patriotic openers are performed throughout the Washington Metropolitan Area at a variety of events for organizations, federal agencies. Events that the Marine Band participates in include, United States presidential inaugurations, the Marine Band has participated in every presidential inauguration since Thomas Jeffersons in 1801. The Marine Band is positioned at the United States Capitol for the swearing-in ceremony, the band also performs for celebrations following the official ceremony and parade
16.
Der Ring des Nibelungen: Composition of the poem
–
The names of the last two Ring operas, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, were probably not definitively settled until 1856. While researching this work, he came to see Friedrich as a rebirth of the old. Then, in the summer of 1848, he wrote the essay Die Wibelungen, Weltgeschichte aus der Saga and this led him to consider Siegfried as a possible subject for a new opera, and by October 1848 the entire Ring cycle had been conceived. The actual sequence of events, it seems, was not nearly as clear-cut as he would have us believe. It was in October 1846 – some sixteen months before the February Revolution – that he first drew up a plan for a drama based on the life of Friedrich Barbarossa. Whatever the truth, Wagner was certainly contemplating an opera on Siegfried by 1 April 1848, otto-Peters even wrote a libretto for such an opera. Wagner, as it happened, was familiar with the Nibelungenlied. He had even drawn upon it for one of the scenes in an opera, Lohengrin. Wagners libretti, which he wrote himself, usually passed through four stages. These stages are as follows, Prose Sketch – a brief outline of the dramatic action, typically these sketches consisted of no more than a few paragraphs of prose, though Wagner sometimes added to them or modified them before proceeding to the next stage. This was the case with the sketches for the first three parts of the tetralogy, exceptionally, however, Wagner never drafted a prose sketch for Götterdämmerung. The prose sketch for Act III of Die Walküre has disappeared, Prose Draft – an elaborate prose treatment of the opera, describing the action in great detail. These drafts were usually ten or more pages in length and they included a considerable amount of dialogue. Prose drafts survive for all four Ring operas, verse Draft – a first draft of the final libretto, written in an archaic form of German alliterative verse known as Stabreim. He also added new elements not present in the prose drafts and it was also while developing the latter that he first thought of making Loge a god of fire, in the prose draft of Das Rheingold he is merely a trickster and teller of unwelcome truths. While writing his verse drafts, Wagner also greatly expanded his stage directions, fair Copy – a clean, carefully written verse libretto, usually free of corrections and alterations. Punctuation and capitalization were regularized at this stage, as part of his preparations for the projected opera on Siegfried, Wagner first drafted a preliminary study of the relevant German and Nordic myths, Die Nibelungensage. When he made a copy of this text on 8 October
17.
Der Ring des Nibelungen: Composition of the music
–
The composition of the operatic tetralogy The Ring of the Nibelung occupied Richard Wagner for more than a quarter of a century. Conceived around 1848, the work was not finished until 1874, most of this time was devoted to the composition of the music, the text having been largely completed in about four years. Furthermore, it was often Wagners practice to work on two or more drafts of a work at the time, switching back and forth between them as the fancy took him. Consequently, it is all but impossible to make statements about the exact order in which the various themes, leitmotifs. Needless to say, he added supplementary sketches to these throughout the compositional process and these sketches are sometimes little more than fragmentary phrases jotted down on scraps of paper, but they can also be quite lengthy and elaborate sections of music written on several staves. Preliminary Draft – the first complete draft in pencil of the work or of an entire act. There is generally only one vocal stave and one or two instrumental staves, instrumental interludes are sometimes elaborated on three staves. Developed Draft – in the case of Siegfried, the drafts were elaborated before Wagner proceeded to develop the full scores. In these intermediate drafts, he worked out all the orchestral details, the developed drafts for the first two acts of Siegfried are in ink and are written on one vocal and two instrumental staves throughout. In WWV these developed drafts are called Orchesterskizzen, a term which WWV also employs to describe the more elaborate second drafts of the acts of the Ring. These Orchesterskizzen, as Wagner himself styled them, are more detailed than the developed drafts of the first two acts of Siegfried. This draft was written in pencil and on as many staves as were required by the instrumentation and it is thus but one remove from being a full score, and in WWV both are referred to by the same name. The instrumental prelude that precedes Scene 1 was not included in the draft, however. Full Score – the final score, in which the instrumentation is fully detailed and separate staves are allocated to the various instruments, the full scores for Die Walküre and Siegfried are in pencil, those for Das Rheingold, Siegfried and the whole of Götterdämmerung are in ink. Needless to say, as many staves are used as are required by the instrumentation, no full score was made for Das Rheingold, as the instrumentation draft was considered sufficiently detailed for a fair copy to be made directly from it. Fair Copy – a clean copy in ink of the full score, Wagner only drafted fair copies for Das Rheingold, Die Walküre and the first two acts of Siegfried. In the case of the Das Rheingold, there was no full score as such, in the case of Siegfried and the whole of Götterdämmerung the full scores were written neatly in ink, so Wagner did not deem it necessary to draft a separate fair copy. The fair copy of Das Rheingold was, incidentally, the first fair copy Wagner ever made of one of his operas and it took Wagner just over four years to complete the text of his Ring cycle
18.
Sigurd
–
Sigurd is a legendary hero of Norse mythology, as well as the central character in the Völsunga saga. The earliest extant representations for his legend come in form from seven runestones in Sweden and most notably the Ramsund carving. As Siegfried, he is one of the heroes in the German Nibelungenlied, as Sivard Snarensven he was the hero of several medieval Scandinavian ballads. The name Sigurðr is not the name as the German Siegfried. The Old Norse form of Siegfried would have been Sigfroðr, Sivard is a variant form of Sigurðr. These name forms all share the first element Sig-, which means victory, in the Völsunga saga, Sigurd is supposedly the posthumous son of Sigmund and his second wife, Hiordis. Sigmund dies in battle when he attacks Odin, and Odin shatters Sigmunds sword, dying, Sigmund tells Hiordis of her pregnancy and bequeaths the fragments of his sword to his unborn son. Hiordis marries King Alf, and then Alf decides to send Sigurd to Regin as a foster, Regin tempts Sigurd to greed and violence by first asking Sigurd if he has control over Sigmunds gold. When Sigurd says that Alf and his control the gold and will give him anything he desires. Sigurd replies that he is treated as an equal by the kings, then Regin asks Sigurd why he acts as stableboy to the kings and has no horse of his own. Sigurd then goes to get a horse, an old man advises Sigurd on choice of horse. In this way Sigurd acquires Grani, a directly descended from Odins own horse. Finally, Regin tries to tempt Sigurd by telling him the story of the Otters Gold, Regin explains to Sigurd that his father is Hreidmar, a powerful magician, and that his two brothers are Ótr and Fafnir. Regin explains that he is a master at smithing and he also describes how his brother, Ótr possesses many magical talents. Regin tells a story of how Ótr enjoys taking the form of an otter and swimming at a waterfall, Andvari often assumes the form of a pike and swims in the same pool as well. One day, the Æsir see Ótr in the form of an otter carrying a fish in his mouth on the banks, loki kills him for his pelt. They take the pelt to the home of Hreidmar to display their catch. Hreidmar, Fafnir, and Regin promptly seize the Æsir and demand compensation for the death of Ótr, loki acquires a net from the sea giantess, Rán
19.
Das Rheingold
–
Das Rheingold, WWV 86A, is the first of the four music dramas that constitute Richard Wagners Der Ring des Nibelungen, or in English, The Ring of the Nibelung. Das Rheingold premiered at the National Theatre Munich on 22 September 1869, with August Kindermann in the role of Wotan, Heinrich Vogl as Loge, and Karl Fischer as Alberich. Wagner wanted this work to premiere as part of the entire cycle, the work was first performed as part of the complete cycle on 13 August 1876, in the Bayreuth Festspielhaus. Although Das Rheingold comes first in the sequence of Ring operas, so in August 1851, Wagner wrote in Eine Mittheilung an meine Freunde, I propose to produce my myth in three complete dramas. However, by October, he had decided that this required a prelude. To the sentence quoted above he added the words, which will be preceded by a great prelude, a letter Wagner wrote to Theodor Uhlig confirms that at this time the opera was intended to have three acts. Wagner continued to develop the text and storyline of the prelude in parallel with those of Die Walküre, the prose draft of Das Rheingold was completed between 21 March and 23 March 1852 and its verse draft between 15 September and 3 November. A fair copy of the text was finished by 15 December, during the early years of the 1850s Wagner produced some musical sketches for parts of the Ring and noted down various motifs that were to be used in the work. There also exist three sets of isolated musical sketches for Das Rheingold which were composed between 15 September 1852 and November 1853. The first of these was entered into the draft of the text, the second into Wagners copy of the 1853 printing of the text. All three were used by Wagner. Proper sequential development of the score started on 1 November 1853, by 14 January, Wagner had completed the first draft of the opera on between two and three staves. The next stage involved the development of a detailed draft that indicated most of the vocal and instrumental details. This was completed by 28 May, in parallel with this, Wagner started work on a fair copy of the score on 15 February, a task he completed on 26 September 1854, by which time he had also started work on the sketches of Die Walküre. Das Rheingold was first performed at Munich on 22 September 1869 and its first performance as part of the complete Ring cycle took place at Bayreuth on 13 August 1876. It continues to be performed on a regular basis both in Bayreuth and elsewhere, Das Rheingold, considerably shorter than its three successors, consists of four scenes performed without a break. It has been noted as one of the best-known drone examples in the concert repertory, the curtain rises to show, at the bottom of the Rhine, the three Rhine maidens, Woglinde, Wellgunde, and Flosshilde, playing together. The key shifts to A flat as Woglinde begins an innocent song whose melody is used to characterise the Rhine maidens later in the cycle
20.
Odin
–
In Germanic mythology, Odin is a widely revered god. In the modern period, Odin continued to be acknowledged in the folklore of Germanic Europe. Forms of his name appear frequently throughout the Germanic record, though narratives regarding Odin are mainly found in Old Norse works recorded in Iceland and these texts make up the bulk of modern understanding of Norse mythology. In Old Norse texts, Odin is depicted as one-eyed and long-bearded, frequently wielding a spear named Gungnir, and wearing a cloak, Odin is attested as having many sons, most famously the god Baldr with Frigg, and is known by hundreds of names. Odin has an association with Yule, and mankinds knowledge of both the runes and poetry is also attributed to him. In Old Norse texts, Odin is given primacy over female beings associated with the battlefield—the valkyries—and oversees Valhalla, where he receives half of those who die in battle, the other half are chosen by the goddess Freyja for her afterlife location, Fólkvangr. In later folklore, Odin appears as a leader of the Wild Hunt and he has also been associated with charms and other forms of magic, particularly in Old English and Old Norse texts. Odin has been a frequent subject of study in Germanic studies, in the modern period, Odin has inspired numerous works of poetry, music, and other forms of media. He is venerated in most forms of the new religious movement Heathenry, together with other gods venerated by the ancient Germanic peoples, some branches focus particularly on him. The Old Norse theonym Óðinn and its cognates, including Old English Wōden, Old Saxon Wōden, the masculine noun *wōđanaz developed from the Proto-Germanic adjective *wōđaz, related to Latin vātēs and Old Irish fáith, both meaning seer, prophet. Adjectives stemming from *wōđaz include Gothic woþs possessed, Old Norse óðr, mad, frantic, furious, additionally the Old Norse noun æði rage, fury and Old High German wuotī madness derive from the feminine noun *wōđīn, from *wōđaz. Over 170 names are recorded for the god Odin and these names are variously descriptive of attributes of the god, refer to myths involving him, or refer to religious practices associated with the god. This multitude of names makes Odin the god with the most names known among the Germanic peoples, the weekday name Wednesday derives from Old English wōdnesdæg. Cognate terms are found in other Germanic languages, such as Middle Low German wōdensdach, all of these terms derive from Proto-Germanic *Wodensdag, itself a Germanic interpretation of Latin Dies Mercurii. However, in Old High German, the derived from Odins was replaced by a translation of Church Latin media hebdomas. The earliest records of the Germanic peoples were recorded by the Romans and they regard it as a religious duty to offer to him, on fixed days, human as well as other sacrificial victims. Hercules and Mars they appease by animal offerings of the permitted kind, in this instance, Tacitus refers to the god Odin as Mercury, Thor as Hercules, and Týr as Mars, and the identity of the Isis of the Suebi has been debated. But their rankings in their respective religious spheres may have very different
21.
Foul papers
–
Foul papers are an authors working drafts. The term is most often used in the study of the plays of Shakespeare, once the composition of a play was finished, a transcript or fair copy of the foul papers was prepared, by the author or by a scribe. The term foul papers is given different definitions by various scholars, for example, some define them as the authors original drafts. W. W. Greg and Fredson Bowers define them as The authors last complete draft, E. A. J. Honigmann defines them as any kind of draft preceding the first fair copy. Few sets of foul papers actually exist from the era in question,4 volumes, Oxford, Clarendon Press,1923
22.
Leitmotif
–
A leitmotif or leitmotiv /ˌlaɪtmoʊˈtiːf/ is a short, constantly recurring musical phrase associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the concepts of idée fixe or motto-theme. The spelling leitmotif is an anglicization of the German Leitmotiv, literally meaning leading motif, or perhaps more accurately, a musical motif has been defined as a short musical idea. It may also be combined with other leitmotifs to suggest a new dramatic condition or development, although usually a short melody, it can also be a chord progression or even a simple rhythm. Leitmotifs can help to bind a work together into a coherent whole, by association, the word has also been used to mean any sort of recurring theme, in literature, or the life of a fictional character or a real person. It is sometimes used in discussion of other musical genres, such as instrumental pieces, cinema. The use of characteristic, short, recurring motives in orchestral music can be traced back to the seventeenth century. In French opera of the eighteenth century, reminiscence motif can be identified. Their use, however, is not extensive or systematic, indeed, the first use of the word leitmotif in print was by the critic Friedrich Wilhelm Jähns in describing Webers work, although this was not until 1871. Motives also figured occasionally in purely instrumental music of the romantic period, the related idea of the musical idée fixe was coined by Hector Berlioz in reference to his Symphonie fantastique. This purely instrumental, programmatic work features a recurring melody representing the object of the artists obsessive affection and depicting her presence in various real, in La forza del destino, the opening theme of the overture recurs whenever Leonora feels guilt or fear. In Il Trovatore, the theme of the first aria by Azucena is repeated whenever she invokes the horror of how her mother was burnt alive, Richard Wagner is the earliest composer most specifically associated with the concept of leitmotif. His cycle of four operas, Der Ring des Nibelungen, uses hundreds of leitmotifs, often related to characters, things. While some of these occur in only one of the operas. Wagner had raised the issue of how music could best unite disparate elements of the plot of a drama in his essay Opera and Drama. Some controversy surrounded the use of the word in Wagners own circle, Wagner never authorised the use of the leitmotiv, using words such as Grundthema. His preferred name for the technique was Hauptmotiv, which he first used in 1877, the word gained currency with the overly literal interpretations of Wagners music by Hans von Wolzogen, who in 1876 published a Leitfaden to the Ring. In it he claimed to have isolated and named all of the motifs in the cycle
23.
Seelisberg
–
Seelisberg is a municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. The Rütli meadow, according to legend the site of the original oath foundational to the Old Swiss Confederacy, is situated in the territory of the municipality, the Seelisberg Conference against anti-Semitism was held in this locality in 1947. The global headquarters of the Transcendental Meditation movement headed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was situated in a hotel in Seelisberg from 1968 to 1992. Seelisberg has an area, as of 2006, of 13.3 km2, of this area,34. 3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 48. 7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 4% is settled and the remainder is non-productive, in the 1993 land survey,43. 5% of the total land area was heavily forested, while 0. 7% is covered in small trees and shrubbery. Of the agricultural land,0. 7% is used for farming or pastures, while 23. 6% is used for orchards or vine crops and 10. 0% is used for alpine pastures. Of the settled areas,2. 0% is covered with buildings,0. 5% is classed as special developments,0. 2% is listed as parks and greenbelts and 1. 3% is transportation infrastructure. Of the unproductive areas,1. 9% is unproductive standing water,0. 2% is unproductive flowing water,5. 7% is too rocky for vegetation, Seelisberg has a population of 688. As of 2007,11. 1% of the population was made up of foreign nationals, over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 4. 2%. Most of the population speaks German, with French being second most common, as of 2007 the gender distribution of the population was 49. 9% male and 50. 1% female. In the 2007 federal election the FDP party received 93. 4% of the vote, in Seelisberg about 67. 8% of the population have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education. Seelisberg has an unemployment rate of 0. 88%, as of 2005, there were 72 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 31 businesses involved in this sector. 18 people are employed in the sector and there are 7 businesses in this sector. 151 people are employed in the sector, with 29 businesses in this sector. Treib is linked to the centre of Seelisberg by the Treib–Seelisberg funicular
24.
Amalie Materna
–
Amalie Materna was an Austrian operatic soprano. While possessing a powerful voice, Materna also maintained a youthful bright vocal timbre throughout her career which spanned three decades. She is best remembered today for originating roles in operas by Richard Wagner. Materna made her professional opera début at the Thalia Theatre in Graz in 1865 and she then married Karl Friedrich, an actor, and was engaged with him singing operettas in suburban theatres near Vienna, and at the Carltheater in Vienna. She made her debut at the Vienna State Opera in 1869, popularly received, Materna became a regular performer at the Vienna court for the next 25 years. Her notable performances include Amneris in the first Vienna performance of Aida in 1874, Materna was perhaps most admired for her interpretations of the works of Richard Wagner. In 1882 she originated the role of Kundry in Parsifal at Bayreuth, in 1884, Materna toured the United States with Hermann Winkelmann and Emil Scaria. She joined the Metropolitan Opera roster the following year making her début on 5 January 1885 as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser and her other roles at the Met included Valentine in Les Huguenots, Rachel in La juive and Brünnhilde in Die Walküre. Writing in The New York Times, W. J. told quite as strongly as the beauty and she returned to Vienna later in 1885 and appeared in numerous productions there for the next nine years. Her final performance in Vienna was as Elisabeth on 31 December 1894, after her retirement she taught singing in Vienna, where she made one last public appearance in 1913, singing Kundry at a concert commemorating the centenary of Wagners birth. Elizabeth Forbes, Amalie Materna, Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy, Wilson, James Grant, Fiske, John, bio at Great Singers of the Past Media related to Amalie Materna at Wikimedia Commons Amalie Friedrich-Materna, North American Theatre Online
25.
Voice type
–
Other considerations are physical characteristics, speech level, scientific testing, and vocal register. A singers voice type is identified by a known as voice classification, by which the human voice is evaluated. The discipline of voice classification developed within European classical music and is not generally applicable to other forms of singing, voice classification is often used within opera to associate possible roles with potential voices. Voice classification is a tool for singers, composers, venues, while useful, voice classification systems have been used too rigidly, i. e. a house assigning a singer to a specific type and only casting him or her in roles they consider belonging to this category. A singer will choose a repertoire that suits his or her instrument, many different voice types are used in vocal pedagogy in a variety of voice classification systems. Most of these types, however, are grouped into seven major categories that are, for the most part. Women are typically divided into three groups, soprano, mezzo-soprano, and alto, men are usually divided into four groups, countertenor, tenor, baritone, and bass. Some women fall into the tenor or baritone groups, while men identified as countertenors can be grouped as contralto, mezzo-soprano, when considering the pre-pubescent voice, an eighth term, treble, is applied. Within each of these categories, subcategories identify specific vocal qualities such as coloratura facility. The vocal range of classical performance covers about five octaves, from a low G1 to a high G6, any individuals voice can perform over a range of one and a half to more than two octaves. Vocal ranges are grouped into overlapping types that each span two octaves. Many singers fall between groups and can perform some parts in either type, soprano range, The soprano is the highest singing voice. The typical soprano voice lies between C4 and C6, the low extreme for sopranos is roughly A3. Most soprano roles do not extend above C6 although there are several standard soprano roles that call for D6, at the highest extreme, some coloratura soprano roles may reach to F6. Soprano tessitura, The tessitura of the soprano voice lies higher than all the other voices except the sopranino, in particular, the coloratura soprano has the highest tessitura of all the soprano subtypes. Soprano subtypes, As with all types, sopranos are often divided into different subcategories based on range, vocal color or timbre, the weight of voice. Sopranos are often broken down into five subcategories, coloratura soprano, soubrette, lyric soprano, spinto soprano, two types of soprano especially dear to the French are the Dugazon and the Falcon, which are intermediate voice types between the soprano and the mezzo soprano. A Dugazon is a darker-colored soubrette, a Falcon a darker-colored soprano drammatico
26.
Conducting
–
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. A conductors directions will almost invariably be supplemented or reinforced by verbal instructions or suggestions to their musicians in rehearsal prior to a performance. The conductor typically stands on a podium with a large music stand for the full score. Conducting while playing a piano or synthesizer may also be done with musical theatre pit orchestras, communication is typically non-verbal during a performance. However, in rehearsals, frequent interruptions allow the conductor to give verbal directions as to how the music should be played or sung, Conductors act as guides to the orchestras or choirs they conduct. They choose the works to be performed and study their scores, to which they may make adjustments, work out their interpretation. They may also attend to matters, such as scheduling rehearsals, planning a concert season, hearing auditions and selecting members. Orchestras, choirs, concert bands and other musical ensembles such as big bands are usually led by conductors. The principal conductor of an orchestra or opera company is referred to as a music director or chief conductor, or by the German words Kapellmeister or Dirigent. Conductors of choirs or choruses are sometimes referred to as director, chorus master, or choirmaster. Conductors of concert bands, military bands, marching bands and other bands may hold the title of director, bandmaster. Respected senior conductors are sometimes referred to by the Italian word, an early form of conducting is cheironomy, the use of hand gestures to indicate melodic shape. This has been practiced at least as far back as the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, other devices to indicate the passing of time came into use. Rolled up sheets of paper, smaller sticks and unadorned hands are all shown in pictures from this period, the large staff was responsible for the death of Jean-Baptiste Lully, who injured his foot with one while conducting a Te Deum for the Kings recovery from illness. The wound became gangrenous and Lully refused amputation, whereupon the gangrene spread to his leg, in instrumental music throughout the 18th century, a member of the ensemble usually acted as the conductor. This was sometimes the concertmaster, who could use his bow as a baton and it was common to conduct from the harpsichord in pieces that had a basso continuo part. In opera performances, there were sometimes two conductors – the keyboard player was in charge of the singers, and the principal violinist or leader was in charge of the orchestra. By the early 19th century, it became the norm to have a dedicated conductor, the size of the usual orchestra expanded during this period, and the use of a baton became more common, as it was easier to see than bare hands or rolled-up paper
27.
Hans Richter (conductor)
–
Hans Richter was an Austrian–Hungarian orchestral and operatic conductor. Richter was born in Raab, Kingdom of Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire and his father was a good local composer, conductor and regens chori Anton Richter. His mother was opera-singer Jozefa Csazenszky and he studied at the Vienna Conservatory. He had a particular interest in the horn, and developed his career at several different opera houses in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He became associated with Richard Wagner in the 1860s, and in 1876 he was chosen to conduct the first complete performance of Wagners Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus. In Europe his work was based in Vienna, where he gave much attention to the works of Brahms himself, Anton Bruckner and Antonín Dvořák. In later years, Richter became an admirer of Sir Edward Elgar. On one occasion, he laid down his baton and allowed a London orchestra to play the second movement of Tchaikovskys Pathétique Symphony itself. Never afraid to experiment on behalf of the music he loved, in 1909 he delivered the British premiere, very shortly after the world premiere in Boston, of Ignacy Jan Paderewskis Symphony in B minor Polonia. Failing eyesight forced his retirement in 1911 and he died at Bayreuth in 1916. True Artist and True Friend, A Biography of Hans Richter
28.
Tenor
–
Tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is one of the highest of the male voice types. The tenors vocal range lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, and A4, the A above middle C, in solo work, this range extends up to C5, or tenor high C. The low extreme for tenors is roughly A♭2, at the highest extreme, some tenors can sing up to two Fs above middle C. The tenor voice type is divided into the leggero tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor. The name tenor derives from the Latin word tenere, which means to hold, in medieval and Renaissance polyphony between about 1250 and 1500, the tenor was the structurally fundamental voice, vocal or instrumental. All other voices were normally calculated in relation to the tenor, until the late 16th century introduction of the contratenor singers, the tenor was usually the highest voice, assuming the role of providing a foundation. It was also in the 18th century that tenor came to signify the male voice that sang such parts, thus, for earlier repertoire, a line marked tenor indicated the parts role, and not the required voice type. Indeed, even as late as the century, partbooks labelled tenor might contain parts for a range of voice types. The vocal range of the tenor is one of the highest of the voice types. Within opera, the lowest note in the tenor repertoire is probably A♭2 in Rossinis rarely performed La donna del lago in the role of Rodrigo di Dhu. Within more frequently performed repertoire, Mime and Herod both call for an A2, a few tenor roles in the standard repertoire call for a tenor C. Some of the few top Cs in the operatic repertoire are either optional or interpolated by tradition. However, the highest demanded note in the standard operatic repertoire is D5. Some operatic roles for tenors require a darker timbre and fewer high notes, in the leggero repertoire, the highest note is F5, therefore, very few tenors can, given the raising of concert pitch since its composition, have this role in their repertoire without transposition. Within the tenor voice type category are seven generally recognized subcategories, leggero tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor, Mozart tenor, Also known as the tenore di grazia, the leggero tenor is essentially the male equivalent of a lyric coloratura. This voice is light, agile, and capable of executing difficult passages of fioritura, the typical leggero tenor possesses a range spanning from approximately C3 to E♭5, with a few being able to sing up to F5 or higher in full voice. In some cases, the chest register of the leggero tenor may extend below C3, voices of this type are utilized frequently in the operas of Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini and in music dating from the Baroque period. Leggero tenor roles in operas, The lyric tenor is a warm voice with a bright, full timbre that is strong but not heavy
29.
Albert Niemann (tenor)
–
Albert Wilhelm Karl Niemann was a leading German tenor opera singer especially associated with the operas of Richard Wagner. He gave important premieres in France, Germany, England and the United States, born in Erxleben, near Magdeburg, Niemann lost his father at an early age and was brought up by his mother, a woman of almost unwomanly hardness who lived to be ninety. He was apprenticed to an engine-maker, but ran away to Dresden to make his own life and he grew up with a Germanic dedication to hunting but also student-like, reading extensively in science, history and philosophy. He was not particularly sociable or tactful, was blunt in speech, Niemann made a debut in Dessau in 1849, singing in minor roles and in chorus. He received training from Fritz Schneider, from Albert Nusch and from Gilbert Duprez in Paris, until 1866 he had various engagements in Stuttgart, Königsberg, Stettin, and from 1854 in Hannover. At Hannover he sang Tannhäuser, Lohengrin and Rienzi and he had a large physique and a large voice to match. In 1859 he married the soprano Marie Seebach, however it is said that marriage ended in divorce after he threw her out of a first-floor window. Niemann visited Wagner in the Asyl, at the composers invitation, Wagner had him in mind to create the role of Siegfried. From 1859, Wagner had involved Niemann in his plan to form a model German company to perform some operas, including Tristan und Isolde, however, the projected Isolde, Frau Bürde-Ney, could not be released from a Leipzig contract, and the project foundered. However, Paris issued a command for Tannhäuser, and Niemann obtained a nine-month contract to join these rehearsals in September 1860. Hans von Bülow had little time for Niemann, either for his forced timbre or for his loutishness towards Wagner. He had learned that a Parisian faction intended to disrupt the production, the performances were utterly disrupted, and Niemann remained disingenuously aloof from Wagners artistic claims throughout. Baudelaire wrote that Niemann had sung out of tune with deplorable assiduity, the Meyerbeer press, however, took Niemanns side, and he returned to Hanover to sing Raoul in Les Huguenots. In 1864, Niemann sang as guest in two performances of Tannhäuser at Munich, and in one of Lohengrin by the arrangement of Ludwig II, shortly before the death of King Maximilian II of Bavaria. Ludwig invited Niemann to repeat these roles in Munich in 1866, but war intervened, in the year he was again invited. In 1866, he became a member of the Berlin Opera, in April 1870, he sang Walther in the Berlin Meistersinger premiere. As Tichatschek had grown old, and after Ludwig Schnorrs death in 1865, in 1871, he married the actress Hedwig Raabe. By 1874, Wagner had mentally settled on Niemann for the role of Siegmund in the complete Ring cycle as it was to be performed at Bayreuth, however, his departure gave Wagner the opportunity to coach Georg Unger as Siegfried
30.
Soprano
–
A soprano is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The sopranos vocal range is from approximately middle C =261 Hz to high A =880 Hz in choral music, in four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody. The soprano voice type is divided into the coloratura, soubrette, lyric, spinto. The lyric soprano is the most common female singing voice, the word soprano comes from the Italian word sopra, as the soprano is the highest pitch human voice, often given to the leading female roles in operas. The term soprano is also based on the Latin word superius which, like soprano, the word superius was especially used in choral and other multi-part vocal music between the 13th and 16th centuries. The soprano has the highest vocal range of all voice types, a soprano and a mezzo-soprano have a similar range, but their tessituras will lie in different parts of that range. The low extreme for sopranos is roughly A3 or B♭3, within opera, the lowest demanded note for sopranos is F3. Often low notes in higher voices will project less, lack timbre, however, rarely is a soprano simply unable to sing a low note in a song within a soprano role. The high extreme, at a minimum, for non-coloratura sopranos is soprano C, a couple of roles have optional E♭6s, as well. In the coloratura repertoire several roles call for E♭6 on up to F6, in rare cases, some coloratura roles go as high as G6 or G♯6, such as Mozarts concert aria Popoli di Tessaglia. Or the title role of Jules Massenets opera Esclarmonde, while not necessarily within the tessitura, a good soprano will be able to sing her top notes full-throated, with timbre and dynamic control. In opera, the tessitura, vocal weight, and timbre of voices, a singers tessitura is where the voice has the best timbre, easy volume, and most comfort. Within the soprano voice type category are five generally recognized subcategories, coloratura soprano, soubrette, lyric soprano, spinto soprano, the coloratura soprano may be a lyric coloratura or a dramatic coloratura. The lyric coloratura soprano is a very agile light voice with a high upper extension capable of fast vocal coloratura, Light coloraturas have a range of approximately middle C to high F with some coloratura sopranos being able to sing somewhat higher or lower. Dramatic coloraturas have a range of approximately low B to high F with some coloratura sopranos being able to sing higher or lower. In classical music and opera, a soubrette soprano refers to both a type and a particular type of opera role. A soubrette voice is light with a bright, sweet timbre, a tessitura in the mid-range, the soubrette voice is not a weak voice, for it must carry over an orchestra without a microphone like all voices in opera. The voice, however, has a lighter weight than other soprano voices with a brighter timbre
31.
Josephine Schefsky
–
Josephine Schefsky was a German opera singer who had an active career during the latter half of the 19th century. Possessing a powerful voice with a vocal range, she tackled roles from both the soprano and mezzo-soprano repertoires. She is best remembered today for portraying roles in the first complete presentation of Richard Wagners The Ring Cycle at the very first Bayreuth Festival in 1876. Schefsky made her opera debut in 1868 at the Bavarian State Opera as Orfeo in Christoph Willibald Glucks Orfeo ed Euridice. She was one of the artists at that house up through 1883 and was the favorite performer of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. While there she sang the role of Amneris in the Munich premiere of Giuseppe Verdis Aida in 1877. Wagner heard Schefsky perform in Munich and was impressed by her vocal. He invited her to part in the first presentation of the complete Ring Cycle at the Bayreuth Festival in 1876. At the festival she premiered the role of the second Norn in Wagners Götterdämmerung on 17 August 1876, in 1882 Schefsky portrayed Magdalena in the United Kingdom premiere of Wagners Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London under the direction of Hans Richter. After leaving the employ of the Bavarian State Opera in 1883, she sang at the Opéra national du Rhin and she spent her last few years on the stage performing at the Berlin State Opera and the Oper Frankfurt. After retiring from the stage in the early 1890s, Schefsky taught singing in Munich and she died there in 1912 at the age of 69
32.
Bass (voice type)
–
A bass is a type of classical male singing voice and has the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C. Its tessitura, or comfortable range, is defined by the outermost lines of the bass clef. Categories of bass voices vary according to style and classification system. Italians favour subdividing basses into the basso cantante, basso buffo, the American system identifies the bass-baritone, comic bass, lyric bass, and dramatic bass. The German fach system offers further distinctions, Spielbaß, Schwerer Spielbaß, Charakterbaß, rare is the performer who embodies a single fach without also touching repertoire from another category. Cultural influence and individual variation create a variation in range. Many British composers such as Benjamin Britten have written parts for bass that center far higher than the bass tessitura as implied by the clef, the Harvard Dictionary of Music defines the range as being from the E below low C to middle C. The bass has the lowest vocal range of all voice types, the low extreme for basses is generally C2. However, several extreme bass singers, referred to as basso profondos, within opera, the lowest note in the standard bass repertoire is D2, sung by the character Osmin in Mozarts Die Entführung aus dem Serail, but few roles fall below F2. The high extreme, a few roles in the standard repertoire call for a high F♯ or G. In the operatic repertoire, the highest notes are a G♯4 and, in the aria Fra lombre e glorrori in Handels serenata Aci. Basso cantante is a higher, more lyrical voice and it is produced using a more Italianate vocal production, and possesses a faster vibrato, than its closest Germanic/Anglo-Saxon equivalent, the bass-baritone. Hoher Bass or high bass or often a dramatic bass-baritone, jugendlicher Bass denotes the role of a young man sung by a bass, regardless of the age of the singer. They are usually the blustering antagonist of the hero/heroine or the fool in bel canto operas. English equivalent, dramatic bass Basso profondo is the lowest bass voice type, steane in Voices, Singers & Critics, the basso profondo voice derives from a method of tone-production that eliminates the more Italian quick vibrato. In its place is a kind of tonal solidity, a front, which may nevertheless prove susceptible to the other kind of vibrato. Dramatic basso profondo is a basso profondo voice
33.
August Kindermann
–
August Kindermann was a German bass-baritone singer and regisseur, particularly noted for his performances in the operas of Richard Wagner. He began his singing in the chorus of the Berlin State Opera in 1836. He went on to sing bass and baritone roles with Leipzig Opera from 1839 to 1846. While at Leipzig, he became a friend of Albert Lortzing and sang in the premieres of two of his operas, the role in Hans Sachs and Count von Eberbach in Der Wildschütz. He also sang Gazna in the premiere of Robert Schumanns secular oratorio Das Paradies und die Peri, in 1846, Kinderman moved to the Bavarian State Opera in Munich where he was a Kammersänger and stage director who enjoyed great popularity. In 1855, he directed the production of Wagners Tannhäuser as well as singing the role of Wolfram. During his time in Munich he sang the role of Wotan in the premieres of both Das Rheingold and Die Walküre as well as Titurel in the premiere of Parsifal. In addition to the Wagner premieres, Kindermann also sang Count Eckart in the premiere of Josef Rheinbergers opera Die sieben Raben, August Kindermans daughters, Franziska Kindermann, Hedwig Reicher-Kindermann, and Marie Kindermann also became opera singers. Carnegy, Patrick Wagner and the Art of the Theatre, Yale University Press, meyerbeer, Giacomo Briefwechsel und Tagebücher, Vol.5, edited and annotated by Sabine Henze-Döhring, Walter de Gruyter, p.974. ISBN 0-8386-3789-2 Rosenthal, H. and Warrack, J. Kindermann, August in The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press
34.
Franz Betz
–
Franz Betz was a German bass-baritone opera singer who sang at the Berlin State Opera from 1859 to 1897. He was particularly known for his performances in operas by Richard Wagner, Franz Betz was born in Mainz and trained as a singer in Karlsruhe. He made his debut in 1856 at the Court Theater of Hanover as The Herald in Wagners Lohengrin and his 1859 success at the Berlin State Opera in the role of Don Carlo in Verdis Ernani, led to a permanent contract with the company. He became one of Wagners most trusted singers, and sang the role of Hans Sachs in the premiere of his Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Betz sang the role more than a hundred times and was identified with the character. He also sang Wotan in Das Rheingold and Die Walküre and The Wanderer in Siegfried for the first complete performance of Der Ring des Nibelungen. In May 1872, he was one of the four soloists in the performance of Beethovens Ninth Symphony to mark the laying of the stone for the Bayreuth Festspielhaus. From 1882 to 1890, he served as the first president of the Genossenschaft Deutscher Bühnen-Angehöriger and he never sang in operas in either the United States or the United Kingdom, although he sang in concerts in London in 1882 and 1889. His singing in the 1889 concert when he was in his mid-fifties was described as still without flaw, upon his retirement from the stage in 1897, Betz was made a Kammersänger of the Berlin State Opera. Franz Betz died on 11 August 1900 in Berlin and is buried in the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Friedhof there and he was married to the coloratura soprano, Johanna Betz. Newman, Ernest, The Life of Richard Wagner, rosenthal, H. and Warrack, J. Betz, Franz, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press,1979, p.49
35.
Mezzo-soprano
–
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-sopranos vocal range extends from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above. In the lower and upper extremes, some mezzo-sopranos may extend down to the F below middle C, the mezzo-soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic mezzo-soprano. Mezzo-sopranos are well represented in music, early music. Some roles designated for lighter soubrette sopranos are sung by mezzo-sopranos, such roles include Despina in Mozarts Così fan tutte and Zerlina in his Don Giovanni. Mezzos sometimes play dramatic soprano roles such as Santuzza in Mascagnis Cavalleria rusticana, Lady Macbeth in Verdis Macbeth, the vocal range of the mezzo-sopranos lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. Mezzo-sopranos generally have a heavier, darker tone than sopranos, the mezzo-soprano voice resonates in a higher range than that of a contralto. The terms Dugazon and Galli-Marié are sometimes used to refer to light mezzo-sopranos, usually men singing within the female range are called countertenors since there is a lighter more breathy tonal quality difference. Within the mezzo-soprano voice type category are three generally recognized subcategories, coloratura mezzo-soprano, lyric mezzo-soprano, and dramatic mezzo-soprano, a coloratura mezzo-soprano has a warm lower register and an agile high register. The roles they sing often demand not only the use of the register but also leaps into the upper tessitura with highly ornamented. They have a range from approximately the G below middle C to the B two octaves above middle C, some coloratura mezzo-sopranos can sing up to high C or high D, but this is very rare. What distinguishes these voices from being called sopranos is their extension into the register and warmer vocal quality. Although coloratura mezzo-sopranos have impressive and at times thrilling high notes, they are most comfortable singing in the middle of their range, many of the hero roles in the operas of Handel and Monteverdi, originally sung by male castrati, can be successfully sung today by coloratura mezzo-sopranos. Rossini demanded similar qualities for his heroines, and Vivaldi wrote roles frequently for this voice as well. Coloratura mezzo-sopranos also often sing lyric-mezzo-soprano roles or soubrette roles, coloratura mezzo-soprano roles in operas, The lyric mezzo-soprano has a range from approximately the G below middle C to the A two octaves above middle C. This voice has a smooth, sensitive and at times lachrymose quality. Lyric mezzo-sopranos do not have the agility of the coloratura mezzo-soprano or the size of the dramatic mezzo-soprano. The lyric mezzo-soprano is ideal for most trouser roles and this voice has less vocal facility than the coloratura mezzo-soprano
_-_The_Victrola_book_of_the_opera.jpg)
