1.
Wales
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Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and it had a population in 2011 of 3,063,456 and has a total area of 20,779 km2. Wales has over 1,680 miles of coastline and is mountainous, with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon. The country lies within the temperate zone and has a changeable. Welsh national identity emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, Llywelyn ap Gruffudds death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of Englands conquest of Wales, though Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored independence to Wales in the early 15th century. The whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism, Welsh national feeling grew over the century, Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. Established under the Government of Wales Act 1998, the National Assembly for Wales holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, two-thirds of the population live in south Wales, mainly in and around Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, and in the nearby valleys. Now that the countrys traditional extractive and heavy industries have gone or are in decline, Wales economy depends on the sector, light and service industries. Wales 2010 gross value added was £45.5 billion, over 560,000 Welsh language speakers live in Wales, and the language is spoken by a majority of the population in parts of the north and west. From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the land of song, Rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness. The Old English-speaking Anglo-Saxons came to use the term Wælisc when referring to the Celtic Britons in particular, the modern names for some Continental European lands and peoples have a similar etymology. The modern Welsh name for themselves is Cymry, and Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales and these words are descended from the Brythonic word combrogi, meaning fellow-countrymen. The use of the word Cymry as a self-designation derives from the location in the post-Roman Era of the Welsh people in modern Wales as well as in northern England and southern Scotland. It emphasised that the Welsh in modern Wales and in the Hen Ogledd were one people, in particular, the term was not applied to the Cornish or the Breton peoples, who are of similar heritage, culture, and language to the Welsh. The word came into use as a self-description probably before the 7th century and it is attested in a praise poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan c. 633. Thereafter Cymry prevailed as a reference to the Welsh, until c.1560 the word was spelt Kymry or Cymry, regardless of whether it referred to the people or their homeland. The Latinised forms of names, Cambrian, Cambric and Cambria, survive as lesser-used alternative names for Wales, Welsh
2.
The Marriage of Figaro
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The Marriage of Figaro, K.492, is an opera buffa in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 1 May 1786, the operas libretto is based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro, which was first performed in 1784. It tells how the servants Figaro and Susanna succeed in getting married, foiling the efforts of their philandering employer Count Almaviva to seduce Susanna, the opera is a cornerstone of the repertoire and appears consistently among the top ten in the Operabase list of most frequently performed operas. Beaumarchaiss earlier play The Barber of Seville had already made a transition to opera in a version by Paisiello. Mozarts librettist managed to get approval for an operatic version which eventually achieved great success. The opera was the first of three collaborations between Mozart and Da Ponte, their collaborations were Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte. In particular, Da Ponte replaced Figaros climactic speech against inherited nobility with an angry aria against unfaithful wives. Contrary to the myth, the libretto was approved by the Emperor before any music was written by Mozart. The Imperial Italian opera company paid Mozart 450 florins for the work, Da Ponte was paid 200 florins. Figaro premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 1 May 1786, Mozart himself directed the first two performances, conducting seated at the keyboard, the custom of the day. Later performances were conducted by Joseph Weigl, the first production was given eight further performances, all in 1786. The applause of the audience on the first night resulted in five numbers being encored and you will therefore cause some posters to this effect to be printed. The requested posters were printed up and posted in the Burgtheater in time for the performance on 24 May. The newspaper Wiener Realzeitung carried a review of the opera in its issue of 11 July 1786, did not really know on the first day where it stood. Apart from that, it is true that the first performance was none of the best, but now, after several performances, one would be subscribing either to the cabal or to tastelessness if one were to maintain that Herr Mozarts music is anything but a masterpiece of art. It contains so many beauties, and such a wealth of ideas, as can be only from the source of innate genius. – Mozart directed the orchestra, playing his fortepiano, the joy which this causes is so far removed from all sensuality that one cannot speak of it. Where could words be found that are worthy to describe such joy, Joseph Haydn appreciated the opera greatly, writing to a friend that he heard it in his dreams
3.
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
4.
Falstaff (opera)
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Falstaff is an opera in three acts by the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeares The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV, the work premiered on 9 February 1893 at La Scala, Milan. Verdi wrote Falstaff, which was the last of his 28 operas, as he was approaching the age of 80 and it was his second comedy, and his third work based on a Shakespeare play, following Macbeth and Otello. The plot revolves around the thwarted, sometimes farcical, efforts of the fat knight, Sir John Falstaff, Verdi was concerned about working on a new opera at his advanced age, but he yearned to write a comic work and was pleased with Boitos draft libretto. It took the three years from mid-1889 to complete. Although the prospect of a new opera from Verdi aroused immense interest in Italy and around the world, some felt that the piece suffered from a lack of the full-blooded melodies of the best of Verdis previous operas, a view strongly contradicted by Toscanini. Conductors of the generation after Toscanini to champion the work included Herbert von Karajan, Georg Solti, the work is now part of the regular operatic repertory. Verdi made numerous changes to the music after the first performance, the work was first recorded in 1932 and has subsequently received many studio and live recordings. Singers closely associated with the role have included Victor Maurel, Mariano Stabile, Giuseppe Valdengo, Tito Gobbi, Geraint Evans. By 1889 Verdi had been a composer for more than fifty years. He had written 27 operas, of only one was a comedy, his second work, Un giorno di regno. His fellow composer Rossini commented that he admired Verdi greatly, Verdi disagreed and said that he longed to write another light-hearted opera, but nobody would give him the chance. He had included moments of even in his tragic operas, for example in Un ballo in maschera. For a comic subject Verdi considered Cervantess Don Quixote and plays by Goldoni, Molière and Labiche, the singer Victor Maurel sent him a French libretto based on Shakespeares The Taming of the Shrew. Verdi liked it, but replied that to deal with it properly you need a Rossini or a Donizetti, following the success of Otello in 1887 he commented, After having relentlessly massacred so many heroes and heroines, I have at last the right to laugh a little. He confided his ambition to the librettist of Otello, Arrigo Boito, Boito said nothing at the time, but he secretly began work on a libretto based on The Merry Wives of Windsor with additional material taken from Henry IV, parts 1 and 2. Many composers had set the play to music, with success, among them Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Antonio Salieri, Michael William Balfe. The first version to secure a place in the repertoire was Otto Nicolais The Merry Wives of Windsor in 1849
5.
Wozzeck
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Wozzeck is the first opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. It was composed between 1914 and 1922 and first performed in 1925, the opera is based on the drama Woyzeck, which was left incomplete by the German playwright Georg Büchner at his death. Berg attended the first production in Vienna of Büchners play on 5 May 1914, from the fragments of unordered scenes left by Büchner, Berg selected fifteen to form a compact structure of three acts with five scenes each. He adapted the libretto himself, retaining the character of the play, with its many short scenes, its abrupt and sometimes brutal language. The plot depicts the life of soldiers and the townspeople of a rural German-speaking town. Prominent themes of militarism, callousness, social exploitation, and a casual sadism are brutally and uncompromisingly presented, toward the end of act 1, scene 2, the title character murmurs, Still, all is still, as if the world died. With his fellow soldier Andres uttering, Night, seemingly oblivious to Wozzecks previous words. The dialogue is concluded and a funeral march begins, only to transform into the song of the military marching band in the next scene. Musicologist Glenn Watkins considers this, as vivid a projection of impending doom as any to come out of the Great War. Bergs experience of the war had a impact on the compositional direction of Wozzeck. His correspondence and notebooks dating from the war years reveal a painful obsession with completing Wozzeck, in a draft page of the act 1, scene 2 libretto, Berg included notations in the dialogue that refer to Austrian army bugle calls. These military signals were later inserted into the score in a modified slightly atonal form, the scene of snoring soldiers in the barracks during act 2, scene 5 was influenced by Bergs similar such experience. This polyphonic breathing, gasping, and groaning is the most peculiar chorus Ive ever heard and it is like some primeval music that wells up from the abysses of the soul. In 1916, however, he devoted himself to attaining the rank of Einjährig-Freiwillige Korporal, during this period, as Berg wrote to his wife, For months I havent done any work on Wozzeck. Finishing act 1 by the summer of 1919, act 2 in August 1921, for the climactic section, Berg used one of his old student pieces in D minor. A typical performance of the work takes slightly over an hour, erich Kleiber, who programmed on his own initiative, conducted the world premiere at the Berlin State Opera on 14 December 1925. He spent a deal of his time through the 1920s and 30s travelling to attend performances. The American premiere of the opera was given by the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company on 19 March 1931 at the Philadelphia Metropolitan Opera House with Leopold Stokowski conducting
6.
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
7.
Pontypridd
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Pontypridd is both a community and the county town of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, and is situated 12 miles/19 km north of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff. Pontypridd is often abbreviated to Ponty by local residents, the town sits at the junction of the Rhondda and Taff/Cynon valleys, where the River Rhondda flows into the Taff immediately south of the town at Ynysangharad War Memorial Park. Pontypridd community had a population of approximately 32,700 according to figures gathered in 2011. While Pontypridd Town Ward itself was recorded as having a population of 2,919 also as of 2001, the town lies alongside the dual carriageway north-south A470, between Cardiff and Merthyr Tydfil. The A4054, running north and south of the town, was the main road. South of the town is the A473, for Llantrisant and Pencoed, to the west is the A4058, which follows the River Rhondda to Porth and the Rhondda Valley beyond. The name Pontypridd is from Pont-y-tŷ-pridd the Welsh for bridge by the earthen house, Pontypridd is noted for its Old Bridge, a stone construction across the River Taff built in 1756 by William Edwards. This was Edwards third attempt, and, at the time of construction, was the longest single-span stone arch bridge in the world. Rising 35 feet above the level of the river, the forms a perfect segment of a circle. Notable features are the three holes of differing diameters through each end of the bridge, the purpose of which is to reduce weight. On completion, questions were raised as to the utility of the bridge, with the steepness of the design making it difficult to get horses. As a result, a new bridge, the Victoria Bridge, Pontypridd was known as Newbridge from shortly after the construction of the Old Bridge until the 1860s. Because of its role in transporting cargo, its railway platform is thought to have once been the longest in the world during its heyday. Pontypridd was, in the half of the 19th century, a hive of industry. The Albion Colliery in the village of Cilfynydd in 1894 was the site of one of the worst explosions within the South Wales coalfield, the town is also home to a large hospital, Dewi Sant Hospital. Pontypridd Urban District Council was established in 1894, and operated until 1974, in turn, that authority was incorporated into the unitary Rhondda Cynon Taf Council in 1995. Pontypridd Town Council continues to function as a community council, labour is the dominant political force, and has been since the First World War. Pontypridd came into being because of transport, as it was on the route from the south Wales coast and the Bristol Channel, to Merthyr
8.
Welsh National Opera
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Welsh National Opera is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales, it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as an amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its early days the company gave a weeks annual season in Cardiff, gradually extending its schedule to become an all-year-round operation, with its own salaried chorus. It has been described by The New York Times as one of the finest operatic ensembles in Europe, for most of its existence the company lacked a permanent base in Cardiff, but in 2004 it moved into the new Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay. The company tours nationally and internationally, giving more than 120 performances annually, with a repertoire of eight operas each year, to a combined audience of more than 150,000 people. Its most frequent venues other than Cardiff are Llandudno in Wales and Bristol, Birmingham, Liverpool, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Plymouth, Singers who have been associated with the company include Geraint Evans, Thomas Allen, Anne Evans, and Bryn Terfel. Guest artists from other countries have included Joan Hammond, Tito Gobbi, among the conductors have been Sir Charles Mackerras, Reginald Goodall, James Levine and Pierre Boulez. The company has led since 2011 by David Pountney as chief executive. Choral singing became popular in 19th-century Wales, principally owing to the rise of the eisteddfod as a symbol of its culture. The first Welsh National Opera Company was formed in 1890, a local newspaper commented that it was remarkable that a race of people to whom vocal music is a ruling passion should not generations ago have established a permanent national opera. The company gave performances of operas by the Welsh composer Joseph Parry in Cardiff, the company, predominantly amateur with some professional guest singers from the London stage, gave numerous performances of Parrys Blodwen and Arienwen, composed in 1878 and 1890 respectively. An American tour was planned, but the company folded, and Parrys final opera, a Cardiff Grand Opera Society ran from 1924 to 1934. It presented week-long annual seasons of popular operas including Faust, Carmen and Il trovatore, apart from the productions of these two enterprises, opera in Wales in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was generally presented by visiting companies from England. In the 1930s Idloes Owen, a teacher and conductor, ran an amateur choir. They publicised their plan and held a meeting of potential supporters in December 1943. By January 1944 plans were far advanced for the companys first rehearsals to be held. Owen recruited a local businessman, W. H. Smith, at first doubtful of the companys prospects, Smith became its dominant influence, leading fund-raiser, and chairman for twenty years from 1948. The new company made its debut at the Prince of Wales Theatre, Cardiff on 15 April 1946 with a bill of Cavalleria Rusticana
9.
Royal Air Force
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The Royal Air Force is the United Kingdoms aerial warfare force. Formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, following victory over the Central Powers in 1918 the RAF emerged as, at the time, the largest air force in the world. The RAF describe its mission statement as, an agile, adaptable and capable Air Force that, person for person, is second to none, and that makes a decisive air power contribution in support of the UK Defence Mission. The mission statement is supported by the RAFs definition of air power, Air power is defined as the ability to project power from the air and space to influence the behaviour of people or the course of events. Today the Royal Air Force maintains a fleet of various types of aircraft. The majority of the RAFs rotary-wing aircraft form part of the tri-service Joint Helicopter Command in support of ground forces, most of the RAFs aircraft and personnel are based in the UK, with many others serving on operations or at long-established overseas bases. It was founded on 1 April 1918, with headquarters located in the former Hotel Cecil, during the First World War, by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps, at that time it was the largest air force in the world. The RAFs naval aviation branch, the Fleet Air Arm, was founded in 1924, the RAF developed the doctrine of strategic bombing which led to the construction of long-range bombers and became its main bombing strategy in the Second World War. The RAF underwent rapid expansion prior to and during the Second World War, under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of December 1939, the air forces of British Commonwealth countries trained and formed Article XV squadrons for service with RAF formations. Many individual personnel from countries, and exiles from occupied Europe. By the end of the war the Royal Canadian Air Force had contributed more than 30 squadrons to serve in RAF formations, additionally, the Royal Australian Air Force represented around nine percent of all RAF personnel who served in the European and Mediterranean theatres. In the Battle of Britain in 1940, the RAF defended the skies over Britain against the numerically superior German Luftwaffe, the largest RAF effort during the war was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany by Bomber Command. Following victory in the Second World War, the RAF underwent significant re-organisation, during the early stages of the Cold War, one of the first major operations undertaken by the Royal Air Force was in 1948 and the Berlin Airlift, codenamed Operation Plainfire. Before Britain developed its own nuclear weapons the RAF was provided with American nuclear weapons under Project E and these were initially armed with nuclear gravity bombs, later being equipped with the Blue Steel missile. Following the development of the Royal Navys Polaris submarines, the nuclear deterrent passed to the navys submarines on 30 June 1969. With the introduction of Polaris, the RAFs strategic nuclear role was reduced to a tactical one and this tactical role was continued by the V bombers into the 1980s and until 1998 by Tornado GR1s. For much of the Cold War the primary role of the RAF was the defence of Western Europe against potential attack by the Soviet Union, with many squadrons based in West Germany. With the decline of the British Empire, global operations were scaled back, despite this, the RAF fought in many battles in the Cold War period
10.
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
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The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in music, opera, drama and technical theatre arts, the school currently numbers almost 900 students, approximately 700 of whom are undergraduate and postgraduate music students and 175 on the acting and technical theatre programmes. In any given year, about 40% of the students are from outside the UK, the chairman of Guildhall is David Andrew Graves, elected a governor in 2009 he became deputy of the board and then chairman in 2012. Ife led the Guildhall School’s application for Taught Degree-Awarding Powers, which were granted by the Privy Council in April 2014, the Guildhall School of Music first opened its doors on 27 September 1880, housed in a disused warehouse in the City of London. With 62 part-time students, it was the first municipal college in Great Britain. The new building was completed by 9 December 1886 and the then Lord Mayor of London, teaching continued under the first principal of the school, Thomas Henry Weist Hill, and his team of 90 professors. The new site, designed by architect Sir Horace Jones, comprised a common room for professors and 45 studios, each room contained both a grand piano and an upright piano. Additionally, there was a room and a practice room, in reality a small concert hall which was used for orchestral. The practice room was also the venue for the school concerts Initially, all tuition was on a part-time basis. Departments of speech, voice and acting were added and by 1935 the school had added, the school moved to its present premises in the heart of the City of Londons Barbican Centre in 1977 and continues to be owned, funded and administered by the City of London. About three minutes walk from the school, Sundial Court offers self-catering single-room accommodation for 178 students, in 2001 the Secretary of State, Baroness Blackstone, announced that the Barbican Centre, including the Guildhall School, was to be Grade II listed. The school currently numbers over 800 students on its roll call, as of 2017, about 135 are studying in the acting and technical theatre programmes. In any given year, about 40% of the students are from outside the UK typically represent over 40 nationalities, the school is a member of Conservatoires UK and of the European Association of Conservatoires. The school was rated No.1 specialist institution in the UK in the Guardian University Guide 2013 and 2014, the most significant investment in the Guildhall Schools future came to fruition via the £90 million redevelopment of the neighbouring Milton Court site. The new building, which opened in 2013, houses three new performance spaces, a hall, a theatre and a studio theatre in addition to drama teaching. The school offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs as well as the Junior Guildhall, a Saturday school serving students from 4 to 18 years of age. The schools outreach activities won the Queens Anniversary Prize in 2005, the school was awarded a further Queens Anniversary Prize in 2007 in recognition of the outstanding achievements and work of the Opera Programme. The schools performance facilities include a 308-seat drama and opera theatre, concert hall, lecture/recital hall, in addition, students of the school regularly perform in other London venues, including the Barbican Centre, the Bridewell Theatre, the Soho Theatre, the Royal Court and the Swan
11.
Die Meistersinger
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Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is a music drama in three acts, written and composed by Richard Wagner. It is among the longest operas commonly performed, usually taking around four and it was first performed at the Königliches Hof- und National-Theater, today the home of the Bavarian State Opera, in Munich, on 21 June 1868. The conductor at the premiere was Hans von Bülow, the story is set in Nuremberg in the mid-16th century. At the time, Nuremberg was an imperial city and one of the centers of the Renaissance in Northern Europe. The story revolves around the guild of Meistersinger, an association of amateur poets. The master singers had developed an approach to music-making, with an intricate system of rules for composing and performing songs. The work draws much of its atmosphere from its depiction of the Nuremberg of the era, one of the main characters, the cobbler-poet Hans Sachs, is based on a historical figure, Hans Sachs, the most famous of the master singers. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg occupies a place in Wagners oeuvre. It is the only comedy among his operas, and is also unusual amongst his works in being set in a historically well-defined time. It is the only mature Wagner opera based on an original story, devised by Wagner himself. It incorporates many of the conventions that Wagner had railed against in his essays on the theory of opera, rhymed verse, arias, choruses, a quintet. Wagners autobiography Mein Leben described the genesis of Die Meistersinger, taking the waters at Marienbad in 1845 he began reading Georg Gottfried Gervinus Geschichte der deutschen Dichtung. This work included chapters on Mastersong and on Hans Sachs, I had formed a particularly vivid picture of Hans Sachs and the mastersingers of Nuremberg. I was especially intrigued by the institution of the Marker and his function in rating master-songs, Gervinus book also mentions a poem by the real-life Hans Sachs on the subject of Protestant reformer Martin Luther, called Die Wittenbergisch Nachtigall. In addition to this, Wagner added a scene drawn from his own life, in which a case of identity led to a near-riot. Out of this evolved a uproar, which through the shouting and clamour. And it was the effect of this which had scattered everybody so suddenly and this first draft of the story was dated Marienbad 16 July 1845. Wagner later said, in Eine Mitteilung an meine Freunde that Meistersinger was to be an opera to follow a tragic opera
12.
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
13.
La Scala
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La Scala is an opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was known as the Nuovo Regio Ducale Teatro alla Scala. The premiere performance was Antonio Salieris Europa riconosciuta, most of Italys greatest operatic artists, and many of the finest singers from around the world, have appeared at La Scala during the past 200 years. The theatre is regarded as one of the opera and ballet theatres in the world and is home to the La Scala Theatre Chorus, La Scala Theatre Ballet. The theatre also has a school, known as the La Scala Theatre Academy. La Scalas season traditionally opens on 7 December, Saint Ambroses Day, all performances must end before midnight, and long operas start earlier in the evening when necessary. La Scala also hosts the Accademia dArti e Mestieri dello Spettacolo and its goal is to train a new generation of young musicians, technical staff, and dancers. A fire destroyed the theatre, the Teatro Regio Ducale, on 25 February 1776. The neoclassical architect Giuseppe Piermarini produced a design but it was rejected by Count Firmian. A second plan was accepted in 1776 by Empress Maria Theresa, the new theatre was built on the former location of the church of Santa Maria alla Scala, from which the theatre gets its name. The church was deconsecrated and demolished, and over a period of two years the theatre was completed by Pietro Marliani, Pietro Nosetti and Antonio and Giuseppe Fe. The theatre had a total of 3,000 or so seats organized into 678 pit-stalls and its stage is one of the largest in Italy. Building expenses were covered by the sale of palchi, which were decorated by their owners. La Scala soon became the preeminent meeting place for noble and wealthy Milanese people, in the tradition of the times, the platea had no chairs and spectators watched the shows standing up. The orchestra was in sight, as the golfo mistico had not yet been built. Above the boxes, La Scala has a gallery—called the loggione—where the less wealthy can watch the performances, the gallery is typically crowded with the most critical opera aficionados, known as the loggionisti, who can be ecstatic or merciless towards singers perceived successes or failures. As with most of the theatres at that time, La Scala was also a casino, conditions in the auditorium, too, could be frustrating for the opera lover, as Mary Shelley discovered in September 1840, At the Opera they were giving Otto Nicolais Templario. La Scala was originally illuminated with 84 oil lamps mounted on the palcoscenico, to prevent the risks of fire, several rooms were filled with hundreds of water buckets
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Vienna Staatsoper
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The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria and it was originally called the Vienna Court Opera. In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian Republic, the members of the Vienna Philharmonic are recruited from its orchestra. The opera house was the first major building on the Vienna Ringstrasse commissioned by the Viennese city expansion fund, work commenced on the house in 1861 and was completed in 1869, following plans drawn up by architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll. It was built in the Neo-Renaissance style by the renowned Czech architect, the somewhat coarser-grained Kelheimerstein was intended as the main stone to be used in the building of the opera house, but the necessary quantity was not deliverable. Breitenbrunner stone was suggested as a substitute for the Kelheimer stone, the staircases were constructed from polished Kaiserstein, while most of the rest of the interior was decorated with varieties of marble. The decision was made to use dimension stone for the exterior of the building, due to the monumental demand for stone, stone from Sóskút, widely used in Budapest, was also used. Three Viennese masonry companies were employed to supply enough masonry labour, Eduard Hauser, Anton Wasserburger, the foundation stone was laid on 20 May 1863. The building was, however, not very popular with the public, on the one hand, it did not seem as grand as the Heinrichshof, a private residence which was destroyed in World War II. Eduard van der Nüll committed suicide, and barely ten weeks later Sicardsburg died from tuberculosis so neither architect saw the completion of the building, the opening premiere was Don Giovanni, by Mozart, on May 25,1869. Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elisabeth were present, towards the end of World War II, on March 12,1945, the opera was set alight by an American bombardment. The front section, which had been walled off as a precaution, remained intact including the foyer, with frescoes by Moritz von Schwind, the stairways, the vestibule. The auditorium and stage were, however, destroyed by flames as well as almost the entire décor, the State Opera was temporarily housed at the Theater an der Wien and at the Vienna Volksoper. Eventually the decision was made to rebuild the house as it had been. The Austrian Federal Chancellor Leopold Figl made the decision in 1946 to have an opera house again by 1949. An architectural competition was announced, which was won by Erich Boltenstern, in order to achieve a good acoustic, wood was the favoured building material, at the advice of, among others, Arturo Toscanini. In addition, the number of seats in the parterre was reduced, and the fourth gallery, the façade, entrance hall and the Schwind foyer were restored and remain in their original style. In 1947, the company went on tour to London, due to the appalling conditions at Theater an der Wien, the opera company leadership tried to raise significant quantities of money to speed up reconstruction of the original opera house
15.
Herbert von Karajan
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Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 35 years and he is generally regarded as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, and he was a dominant figure in European classical music from the mid-1950s until his death. Part of the reason for this was the number of recordings he made. By one estimate he was the classical music recording artist of all time. The Karajans were of Greek or Aromanian ancestry and his great-great-grandfather, Georg Karajan, was born in Kozani, in the Ottoman province of Rumelia, leaving for Vienna in 1767, and eventually Chemnitz, Electorate of Saxony. By this line, Karajan was related to Austrian composer of Slovene descent Hugo Wolf, Karajan seems to have known some Slovene. Karajan was born in Salzburg, Austria-Hungary, as Heribert Ritter von Karajan and he was a child prodigy at the piano. From 1916 to 1926, he studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Franz Ledwenke, theory with Franz Zauer and he was encouraged to concentrate on conducting by Paumgartner, who detected his exceptional promise in that regard. In 1926 Karajan graduated from the conservatory and continued his studies at the Vienna Academy, studying piano with Josef Hofmann and conducting with Alexander Wunderer and Franz Schalk. In 1929, he conducted Salome at the Festspielhaus in Salzburg and his senior colleague in Ulm was Otto Schulmann. After Schulmann was forced to leave Germany in 1933, Karajan became first Kapellmeister, in 1933 Karajan made his conducting debut at the Salzburg Festival with the Walpurgisnacht Scene in Max Reinhardts production of Faust. It was also in 1933 that von Karajan became a member of the Nazi party, in Salzburg in 1934, Karajan led the Vienna Philharmonic for the first time, and from 1934 to 1941, he was engaged to conduct operatic and symphony-orchestra concerts at the Theater Aachen. In 1938 Karajan made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Berlin State Opera and he then enjoyed a major success at the State Opera with Tristan und Isolde. His performance was hailed by a Berlin critic as Das Wunder Karajan, receiving a contract with Deutsche Grammophon that same year, Karajan made the first of numerous recordings, conducting the Staatskapelle Berlin in the overture to The Magic Flute. On 26 July 1938, he married operetta singer Elmy Holgerloef, on 22 October 1942, at the height of the Second World War, Karajan married Anna Maria Anita Sauest, born Gütermann. She was the daughter of a manufacturer of yarn for sewing machines. Having had a Jewish grandfather, she was considered a Vierteljüdin, by 1944, Karajan was, according to his own account, losing favour with the Nazi leadership, but he still conducted concerts in wartime Berlin on 18 February 1945. A short time later, in the stages of the war, he and Anita fled Germany for Milan
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David Webster (opera manager)
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Sir David Webster was the chief executive of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, from 1945 to 1970. He played a key part in the establishment of the Royal Ballet, from a retail background, Webster became chairman of the Liverpool Philharmonic during the Second World War. From there he was asked to set up opera and ballet companies at Covent Garden and he persuaded the existing Sadlers Wells Ballet to move to the opera house but found no established opera company suitable to do the same, and he set up a new opera company from scratch. By the time of Websters retirement, the Royal Opera and the Royal Ballet were world-famous, David Webster was born in Dundee. When he was ten the family moved to Liverpool, where Webster was educated at the Holt High School and the University of Liverpool, where he graduated in economics in 1924. He joined a local department store, Lewiss, where he rose swiftly to become manager of the groups smaller Liverpool store, the Bon Marché. In 1931 while on business for Lewiss he met his partner, James Cleveland Belle. In his spare time Webster engaged in amateur theatricals, becoming a figure in an influential Liverpool group. He became a prominent member of the management committee of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society, at the outbreak of the Second World War there had been pressure to suspend the orchestras concerts. Webster strongly resisted it, insisting that music was an essential morale-booster and he set up low-priced concerts for factory workers and members of the armed forces. Webster was fortunate in recruiting Malcolm Sargent as chief conductor, since whatever orchestral players thought of Sargent, guest conductors included Sir Henry Wood and Charles Münch. During Websters time as chairman, the orchestra increased its concerts from 32 a year to 148, before the war there had been no permanent company at Covent Garden. Sir Thomas Beecham, as proprietor of the house, had staged annual seasons, with international stars on stage. During the war, the Royal Opera House had been converted into a dance hall, the music publishers Boosey & Hawkes acquired the lease of the building in 1944 and proposed to re-establish opera and ballet there. The new Chairman of Covent Garden, the economist John Maynard Keynes, agreed with Leslie Boosey and Ralph Hawkes that a permanent ensemble was needed, Webster was invited to become chief executive, under the title General Administrator, which he used throughout his tenure. Webster persuaded the Sadlers Wells Ballet to take up residence at Covent Garden, on the operatic side, however, Webster had to create a new company from scratch. He appointed as musical director an efficient but less known conductor, Karl Rankl, a pupil of Schoenberg and Webern, british singers were recruited for as many leading roles as possible, and the policy of the house was that operas should be sung in English. The Royal Opera House was re-opened under Websters direction on 20 February 1946 with a production of The Sleeping Beauty designed by Oliver Messel, operatically, Websters task was both harder and less predictable
17.
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
18.
Franco Zeffirelli
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Franco Zeffirelli, KBE Grande Ufficiale OMRI is an Italian director and producer of operas, films and television. He is also a senator for the Italian centre-right Forza Italia party. Recently Italian researchers have found that he is one of the few distant relatives of Leonardo da Vinci, some of his operatic designs and productions have become worldwide classics. He is also known for several of the movies he has directed, especially the 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet and his 1967 version of The Taming of the Shrew with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton remains the best-known film adaptation of that play as well. His miniseries Jesus of Nazareth won acclaim and is shown on Christmas. He was awarded the Premio Colosseo in 2009 by the city of Rome, Zeffirelli was born Gianfranco Zeffirelli in the outskirts of Florence, Italy. He was the result of an affair between Alaide Garosi, a designer, and Ottorino Corsi, a wool and silk dealer. Since both were married, Alaide was unable to use her surname or Corsis for her child and she came up with Zeffiretti which are the little breezes mentioned in Mozarts opera Idomeneo, of which she was quite fond. However, it was misspelled in the register and became Zeffirelli and he graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze in 1941 and, following his fathers advice, entered the University of Florence to study art and architecture. After World War II broke out, he fought as a partisan, before he met up with British soldiers of the 1st Scots Guards and became their interpreter. After the war, he re-entered the University of Florence to continue his studies, but when he saw Laurence Oliviers Henry V in 1945, he directed his attention toward theatre instead. While working for a painter in Florence, he was introduced to and hired by Luchino Visconti, who made him the assistant director for the film La Terra trema. Viscontis methods had an impact upon Zeffirellis later work. He also worked with such as Vittorio De Sica and Roberto Rossellini. In the 1960s, he made his name designing and directing his own plays in London and New York, Taylor and Burton helped fund production and took a percentage of the profits rather than their normal salaries. While editing The Taming of the Shrew, Zeffirellis native Florence was devastated by floods, a month later, Zeffirelli released a short documentary, Florence, Days of Destruction, to raise funds for the disaster appeal. Zeffirellis major breakthrough came the year after when he presented two teenagers as Romeo and Juliet, the movie is still immensely popular and was for many years the standard adaptation of the play shown to students. This movie also made Zeffirelli a household name - no other subsequent work by him had the impact of Romeo
19.
Metropolitan Opera
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The Metropolitan Opera, commonly referred to as The Met, is a company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager, the music director position is in transition as of 2016. The music director designate is Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the director emeritus is James Levine. The Met was founded in 1880 as an alternative to the previously established Academy of Music opera house, the Metropolitan Opera is the largest classical music organization in North America. It presents about 27 different operas each year in a season lasts from late September through May. The operas are presented in a rotating schedule with up to seven performances of four different works staged each week. Moving to the new Lincoln Center location in 1966, performances are given in the evening Monday through Saturday with a matinée on Saturday, several operas are presented in new productions each season. Sometimes these are borrowed from or shared with other opera houses, the rest of the years operas are given in revivals of productions from previous seasons. The 2015-16 season comprised 227 performances of 25 operas, the operas in the Mets repertoire consist of a wide range of works, from 18th-century Baroque and 19th-century Bel canto to the Minimalism of the late 20th century. These operas are presented in staged productions that range in style from those with elaborate traditional decors to others that feature modern conceptual designs, the Mets performing company consists of a large symphony-sized orchestra, a chorus, childrens choir, and many supporting and leading solo singers. The company also employs numerous free-lance dancers, actors, musicians, the Mets roster of singers includes both international and American artists, some of whose careers have been developed through the Mets young artists programs. The Metropolitan Opera Company was founded in 1880 to create an alternative to New Yorks old established Academy of Music opera house, the subscribers to the Academys limited number of private boxes represented the highest stratum in New York society. By 1880, these old families were loath to admit New Yorks newly wealthy industrialists into their long-established social circle. Frustrated with being excluded, the Metropolitan Operas founding subscribers determined to build a new house that would outshine the old Academy in every way. A group of some 22 men assembled at Delmonicos restaurant on April 28,1880 and they elected officers and established subscriptions for ownership in the new company. The first Met subscribers included members of the Morgan, Roosevelt, the new Metropolitan Opera House opened on October 22,1883, and was an immediate success, both socially and artistically. The Academy of Musics opera season folded just three years after the Met opened, in its early decades the Met did not produce the opera performances itself but hired prominent manager/impresarios to stage a season of opera at the new Metropolitan Opera House. Henry Abbey served as manager for the season, 1883–84
20.
Fidelio
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Fidelio, Op.72, is a German opera with spoken dialogue by Ludwig van Beethoven, his only opera. The German libretto was prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly. The following year, Stephan von Breuning helped shorten the work from three acts to two, after further work on the libretto by Georg Friedrich Treitschke, a final version performed at the Kärntnertortheater on 23 May 1814. By convention, both of the first two versions are referred to as Leonore, the opera tells how Leonore, disguised as a prison guard named Fidelio, rescues her husband Florestan from death in a political prison. Bouillys scenario fits Beethovens aesthetic and political outlook, a story of sacrifice, heroism. With its underlying struggle for liberty and justice mirroring contemporary political movements in Europe, the finale celebrates Leonores bravery with alternating contributions of soloists and chorus. The distant origin of Fidelio dates from 1803, when the librettist, the contract included free housing for Beethoven in the apartment complex that was part of Schikaneders large suburban theater, the Theater an der Wien. Beethoven was to set a new libretto by Schikaneder, entitled Vestas Feuer, however and he spent about a month composing music for it, then abandoned it when the libretto for Fidelio came to his attention. The time Beethoven spent on Vestas Feuer was not entirely wasted, welch’ ein Augenblick. and the duet O namenlose Freude for Leonora and Florestan, both originated as music for Vestas Feuer. The success of these performances was hindered by the fact that Vienna was under French military occupation, after this premiere, Beethoven was pressured by friends to revise and shorten the opera into just two acts, and he did so with the help of Stephan von Breuning. The composer also wrote a new overture, in this form the opera was first performed on 29 March and 10 April 1806, with greater success. Further performances were prevented by a dispute between Beethoven and the theatre management, in 1814 Beethoven revised his opera yet again, with additional work on the libretto by Georg Friedrich Treitschke. This version was first performed at the Kärntnertortheater on 23 May 1814, the 17-year-old Franz Schubert was in the audience, having sold his school books to obtain a ticket. The increasingly deaf Beethoven led the performance, assisted by Michael Umlauf, the role of Pizarro was taken by Johann Michael Vogl, who later became known for his collaborations with Schubert. This version of the opera was a success, and Fidelio has been part of the operatic repertory ever since. Beethoven cannot be said to have enjoyed the difficulties posed by writing and producing an opera, in a letter to Treitschke he said, I assure you, dear Treitschke, that this opera will win me a martyrs crown. You have by your co-operation saved what is best from the shipwreck, for all this I shall be eternally grateful to you. The full score was not published until 1826, and all three versions are known as Beethovens Opus 72, the first performance outside Vienna took place in Prague on 21 November 1814, with a revival in Vienna on 3 November 1822
21.
Don Pasquale
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Don Pasquale is an opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti with an Italian libretto completed largely by Giovanni Ruffini as well as the composer. In addition, it is clear from another letter on 11 October to his mother that Ruffini is hard at work, Ive been eating up the paper and its not a question of doing it well or doing it badly, but of doing it fast. In the tradition of opera buffa, the opera makes reference to the characters of the commedia dellarte. Pasquale is recognizable as the blustery Pantalone, Ernesto as the lovesick Pierrot, Malatesta as the scheming Scapino, the false Notary echoes a long line of false officials as operatic devices. The work had been condemned, judged, he concludes, however, during the evening of the final dress rehearsal, Donizetti added a new piece which he had already written for the tenor, Comè gentil, which was designed for the third act. As for fears for the success, the composer had none, Have no fear for me. My work will be a success. At its premiere Don Pasquale was performed by four of the most celebrated singers of the day and was an immediate success and it was recognized at the time as Donizettis comic masterpiece and, to this day, is still considered as such. The first performance in Italy was at La Scala, Milan on 17 April 1843 with Ottavia Malvani, Napoleone Rossi, Leone Corelli, in England it was first presented on 29 June 1843 at Her Majestys Theatre in London. The first Australian performance was presented in Sydney on 12 October 1854 at the Royal Victoria Theatre, in the years since World War II, the opera has been given frequently. Time, Early 19th century Place, Rome The music is suggestive of an opera of this type, bright, after a while, the ambience changes to suggesting a party. The overture ends with a satisfactory finale, scenes 1–3, A room in the home of Don Pasquale, at 9 oclock Ernesto has refused the woman that his uncle Don Pasquale had found for him, and as a result is to be disinherited. Ernesto declares his devotion to the young – but poor – widow Norina, Malatesta, confronted with Pasquales impatience, mutters that he is a buffoon, but proceeds to describe the attributes of the bride-to-be. Honest, modest and sweet – when pressed, Malatesta reveals she is in fact his sister, overcome with joy, Pasquale demands to meet her at once, and sends Malatesta to fetch her, before singing of the love that has gripped him. Ernesto comes back and pleads with the Don to consult with his friend Malatesta – when he hears that Malatesta supposedly supports Pasquale, Ernesto determines to elope and writes to tell Norina that all is lost. Scenes 4–5, An apartment in the home of Norina Norina sits alone and she recites a passage, before laughing at the situation described and reflecting on her own temperament. She is in cahoots with Dr. Malatesta and impatiently waits for him to come, a servant delivers the letter from Ernesto, which she quickly reads and is instantly dismayed. Malatesta arrives to explain the stratagem, but Norina cuts him off and hands him the letter, which he reads aloud, Ernesto has announced his intention to leave Rome, and Europe altogether. Malatesta reassures her, saying that he has adapted his plan, having arranged for his cousin to act as a notary, they will easily deceive the Don
22.
L'elisir d'amore
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Lelisir damore is a comic opera in two acts by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto, after Eugène Scribes libretto for Daniel Aubers Le philtre, the opera premiered on 12 May 1832 at the Teatro della Canobbiana in Milan. Written in haste in a period, Lelisir damore was the most often performed opera in Italy between 1838 and 1848 and it has remained continually in the international opera repertory. There are a number of recordings. It contains the popular tenor aria Una furtiva lagrima, a romanza that has a performance history in the concert hall. Donizetti insisted on a number of changes from the original Scribe libretto, the best known of these was the insertion of Una furtiva lagrima and the duet between Adina and Nemorino in the first act, Chiedi allaura lusinghiera. The melody to the duet Io son ricco e tu sei bella in Act 2, in general, under Donizettis hands, the subject became more romantic than in the Auber version, Lelisir damore features three big duets between the tenor and soprano. There is also history in this opera. Donizettis military service was bought by a woman, so that. The premiere of Lelisir damore took place at the Teatro della Canobbiana, today, the opera is part of the standard repertory. Place, A small village in the Basque Country Time, The end of the 18th century Nemorino, a peasant, is in love with Adina, a beautiful landowner. When Nemorino hears Adina reading to her workers the story of Tristan and Isolde, the self-important Sergeant Belcore appears with his regiment and immediately sets about courting Adina in front of everyone. Nemorino becomes anxious and, alone with Adina, reveals his love for her, yet Adina rebuffs him, saying she wants a different lover every day and following her example would do Nemorino better. Nemorino declares that his feelings will never change, the travelling quack doctor, Dulcamara, arrives, selling his bottled cure-all to the townspeople. Nemorino innocently asks Dulcamara if he has any of Isoldes love potion, to make a safe escape, Dulcamara tells Nemorino the potion needs 24 hours to take effect — by which time, the doctor will be long gone. Nemorino drinks the potion in a haste in order to watch the effect tomorrow, emboldened by the elixir, Nemorino feigns indifference when he encounters Adina, as he expects that the elixir will facilitate his conquest of Adina the following day. She becomes increasingly annoyed, perhaps she has feelings for Nemorino after all, Belcore returns and proposes marriage to Adina. Still riled by Nemorino and wishing to give him a lesson, yet Nemorino only laughs in response, such confidence is sustained in the belief in the magic potion
23.
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
24.
Otello
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Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeares play Othello. It was Verdis penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, when it finally premiered in Milan on 5 February 1887, it proved to be a resounding success, and further stagings of Otello soon followed at leading theatres throughout Europe and America. Thus a plot of sorts was hatched in order to coax the composer out of retirement to write another opera, because of the importance of the dramatic aspects of opera to the composer, Verdi was especially selective in his choice of subjects. Consequently, if he were to agree to another opera after a decade of retirement. Verdis refusals continued as the 1870s progressed, but she confessed defeat yet again. Clara Maffei also tried, unsuccessfully, in March 1878 to interest Verdi, what would I succeed in doing. Boito, Verdi, and revisions of Simon Boccanegra While he was attempting to get Verdi involved a new opera, persisting with further attempts to convince the composer, Ricordi had also broached the idea of a collaboration with Boito for a new opera based on Shakespeares Othello. Because of its relatively straightforward story, the play Othello was selected as a likely target, collaborations with Boito in the revision of the 1857 opera Simon Boccanegra helped to convince Verdi of Boitos ability as a librettist. Verdi visited Milan on 30 June 1879, and conducted his Requiem Mass in a performance at La Scala. He received the acclaim of the public, which included the La Scala orchestra playing outside his hotel. Walker assumes that it was both Ricordi and Faccio who stage managed the effects to give the composer the sense of being welcome and respected in Milan. Finally, after some plotting, Ricordi, in conjunction with Verdis friend, during a dinner at Verdis Milan residence during the summer of 1879, Ricordi and Faccio guided the conversation towards Shakespeares play Othello and to the librettist Arrigo Boito. At the mention of Othello I saw Verdi fix his eyes on me, with suspicion and he had certainly understood, he had certainly reacted. I believed the time was ripe, suggestions were made, despite initial skepticism on the part of the composer, that Boito would be interested in creating a new libretto based upon the play. Within several days, Ricordi approached Verdi with the request that he would like to visit Sant Agata with a friend in September, Verdis reaction was clearly non-committal, I wish absolutely to avoid committing myself The best thing. Is for him to me the finished poem. Meanwhile, Boito began work on the libretto in spite of illness and, after appealing to Giuseppina, Ricordi was told that the Verdis would be coming to Milan and that he would meet privately with Boito. However, she noted in her letter of 7 November, Between ourselves, what Boito has so far written of the African seems to please him, and is very well done
25.
Rigoletto
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Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi samuse by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had control over northern Italian theatres at the time and it is considered by many to be the first of the operatic masterpieces of Verdis middle-to-late career. Its tragic story revolves around the licentious Duke of Mantua, his court jester Rigoletto. The operas original title, La maledizione, refers to the placed on both the Duke and Rigoletto by a courtier whose daughter had been seduced by the Duke with Rigolettos encouragement. The curse comes to fruition when Gilda likewise falls in love with the Duke, Verdi was commissioned to write a new opera by the La Fenice opera house in Venice in 1850. By this time he was already a composer and had a degree of freedom in choosing the works he would prefer to set to music. He then asked Francesco Maria Piave to examine the play Kean by Alexandre Dumas, père, Verdi soon stumbled upon Victor Hugos five-act play Le roi samuse. He later explained that The subject is grand, immense, and there is a character that is one of the greatest creations that the theatre can boast of, in any country and in all history. It was a controversial subject, and Hugo himself had already had trouble with censorship in France. As Austria at that time controlled much of Northern Italy. Hugos play depicted a king as an immoral and cynical womanizer, from the beginning, Verdi was aware of the risks, as was Piave. In a letter which Verdi wrote to Piave, Use four legs, run through the town, correspondence between a prudent Piave and an already committed Verdi followed, but the two underestimated the power and the intentions of Austrians and remained at risk. Even the friendly Guglielmo Brenna, secretary of La Fenice, who had promised them that they would not have problems with the censors, was wrong, at the beginning of the summer of 1850, rumours started to spread that Austrian censorship was going to forbid the production. The censors considered the Hugo work to verge on lèse majesté, in August, Verdi and Piave prudently retired to Busseto, Verdis hometown, to continue the composition and prepare a defensive scheme. They wrote to the theatre, assuring them that the doubts about the morality of the work were not justified but since very little time was left. Verdi was completely against this solution and preferred instead to have direct negotiations with censors, arguing over each. At this point, Brenna, La Fenices secretary, showed the Austrians some letters and articles depicting the bad character but the value of the artist
26.
Ralph Vaughan Williams
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Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies. Strongly influenced by Tudor music and English folk-song, his output marked a break in British music from its German-dominated style of the 19th century. Vaughan Williams was born to a family with strong moral views. Throughout his life he sought to be of service to his fellow citizens and he wrote many works for amateur and student performance. He was musically a late developer, not finding his voice until his late thirties. Vaughan Williams is among the best-known British symphonists, noted for his wide range of moods, from stormy and impassioned to tranquil. Among the most familiar of his concert works are Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. His vocal works include hymns, folk-song arrangements and large-scale choral pieces and he wrote eight works for stage performance between 1919 and 1951. Although none of his operas became popular repertoire pieces, his ballet Job, Two episodes made notably deep impressions in Vaughan Williamss personal life. The First World War, in which he served in the army, had an emotional effect. Twenty years later, though in his sixties and devotedly married, he was reinvigorated by an affair with a much younger woman. He went on composing through his seventies and eighties, producing his last symphony months before his death at the age of eighty-five. His works have continued to be a staple of the British concert repertoire, Vaughan Williams was born at Down Ampney, Gloucestershire, the third child and younger son of the vicar, the Reverend Arthur Vaughan Williams and his wife, Margaret, née Wedgwood. His paternal forebears were of mixed English and Welsh descent, many of them went into the law or the Church, the judges Sir Edward and Sir Roland Vaughan Williams were respectively Arthurs father and brother. Margaret Vaughan Williams was a great-granddaughter of Josiah Wedgwood and niece of Charles Darwin, Arthur Vaughan Williams died suddenly in February 1875, and his widow took the children to live in her family home, Leith Hill Place, Wotton, Surrey. The children were under the care of a nurse, Sara Wager, such views were consistent with the progressive-minded tradition of both sides of the family. When the young Vaughan Williams asked his mother about Darwins controversial book On the Origin of Species, she answered, great Uncle Charles thinks it took longer, but we need not worry about it, for it is equally wonderful either way
27.
Benjamin Britten
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Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten OM CH was an English composer, conductor and pianist. He was a figure of 20th-century British classical music, with a range of works including opera, other vocal music, orchestral. His best-known works include the opera Peter Grimes, the War Requiem, Born in Suffolk, the son of a dentist, Britten showed talent from an early age. He studied at the Royal College of Music in London and privately with the composer Frank Bridge, Britten first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy was Born in 1934. With the premiere of Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to international fame, over the next 28 years, he wrote 14 more operas, establishing himself as one of the leading 20th-century composers in the genre. In addition to large-scale operas for Sadlers Wells and Covent Garden, he wrote operas for small forces. Among the best known of these is The Turn of the Screw, recurring themes in his operas include the struggle of an outsider against a hostile society and the corruption of innocence. Brittens other works range from orchestral to choral, solo vocal, chamber and he took a great interest in writing music for children and amateur performers, including the opera Noyes Fludde, a Missa Brevis, and the song collection Friday Afternoons. He often composed with particular performers in mind, Britten was a celebrated pianist and conductor, performing many of his own works in concert and on record. He also performed and recorded works by others, such as Bachs Brandenburg concertos, Mozart symphonies, in his last year, he was the first composer to be given a life peerage. Britten was born in the port of Lowestoft in Suffolk, on the east coast of England on 22 November 1913. He was the youngest of four children of Robert Victor Britten and his wife Edith Rhoda, Robert Brittens youthful ambition to become a farmer had been thwarted by lack of capital, and he had instead trained as a dentist, a profession he practised successfully but without pleasure. While studying at Charing Cross Hospital in London he met Edith Hockey and they were married in September 1901 at St Johns, Smith Square, London. The consensus among biographers of Britten is that his father was a loving but somewhat stern, Britten, according to his sister Beth, got on well with him and shared his wry sense of humour, dedication to work and capacity for taking pains. Edith Britten was an amateur musician and secretary of the Lowestoft Musical Society. In the English provinces of the early 20th century, distinctions of class were taken very seriously. Music was the means by which Edith Britten strove to maintain the familys social standing, inviting the pillars of the local community to musical soirées at the house. When Britten was three months old he contracted pneumonia and nearly died, the illness left him with a damaged heart, and doctors warned his parents that he would probably never be able to lead a normal life
28.
Billy Budd (opera)
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Billy Budd, Op.50, is an opera by Benjamin Britten to a libretto by the English novelist E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier, based on the short novel Billy Budd by Herman Melville. Originally in four acts, it was first performed at the Royal Opera House, London, on 1 December 1951, it was revised as a two-act opera with a prologue. The author E. M. Forster had an interest in the novella, in 1948, Britten and Forster discussed whether Forster might write an opera libretto, and by that November, Britten seems to have mentioned Billy Budd as a possible work to be adapted. Forster agreed to this project, and worked with Eric Crozier, while Britten was composing the music, the Italian composer Giorgio Federico Ghedini premiered his one-act operatic setting of Billy Budd at the 1949 Venice International Festival. This disturbed Britten, but Ghedinis opera gained little notice, Britten originally intended the title role for Geraint Evans, who prepared it but then withdrew because it lay too high for his voice. Britten chose Theodor Uppman to replace him, and Evans sang a different role, when Britten conducted the operas premiere, in its original form of four acts, it received 17 curtain calls. Uppman was acclaimed as a new star, Billy Budd received its United States première in 1952 in performances by Indiana University Opera Company. In 1960 Britten revised the score substantially in preparation for a BBC broadcast, Britten changed some of the structural balance from the contrasting Acts 3 and 4. The original version in four acts is still occasionally revived, such as at the Vienna State Opera in 2001 and 2011, the 1966 BBC Television broadcast was conducted by Charles Mackerras, with Peter Glossop as Billy, Peter Pears as Vere, and Michael Langdon as Claggart. It has become part of the repertory of the New York Metropolitan Opera, a 2010 production by the Glyndebourne Festival Opera marked the operatic directorial debut of the theatre director Michael Grandage. Notable Veres have included Philip Langridge, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Roderick Williams, the opera premiered at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow on November 25th,2016. The operas stage director is David Alden and the conductor is William Lacey. 4 flutes,2 oboes, cor anglais,2 clarinets, bass clarinet, alto saxophone,2 bassoons, double bassoon,4 horns,4 trumpets,3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, strings. Place, On board the battleship HMS Indomitable, a seventy-four Time, The French Revolutionary Wars in 1797 Captain Edward Fairfax Vere, an old man, reflects on his life and his time in the navy. He reflects on the conflict between good and evil, he is tormented by guilt over the case of Billy Budd on board his ship, HMS Indomitable, the crew of the Indomitable works on deck. For slipping and bumping into an officer, the Novice is sentenced to be flogged, at the same time a cutter approaches, returning from a merchant ship where it has pressed three sailors into the Royal Navy. One of these sailors, Billy Budd, seems overjoyed with his situation – entirely different from the two who are not so happy. Claggart, the Master-at-Arms, calls him a find in a thousand, Billy says a jaunty farewell to the Rights o Man, his former ship, innocent of what his words imply
29.
Gloriana
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Gloriana, Op.53, is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten to an English libretto by William Plomer, based on Lytton Stracheys 1928 Elizabeth and Essex, A Tragic History. The first performance was presented at the Royal Opera House, London, Gloriana was the name given by the 16th-century poet Edmund Spenser to his character representing Queen Elizabeth I in his poem The Faerie Queene. It became the name given to Elizabeth I. It is recorded that the troops at Tilbury hailed her with cries of Gloriana, Gloriana, Gloriana, the opera depicts the relationship between Queen Elizabeth and the Earl of Essex, and was composed for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953. Several in the audience of its opening were disappointed by the opera, which presents the first Elizabeth as a sympathetic. The premiere was one of Brittens few critical failures, and the opera was not included in the series of complete Decca recordings conducted by the composer. However, a symphonic suite extracted from the opera by the composer, on 22 November 1963, the composers 50th birthday, Bryan Fairfax conducted a concert performance, which was the operas first performance in any form since its inaugural production in 1953. In 1973, at The Proms in London, a version under conductor Charles Mackerras was performed and recorded. Another eleven years were to pass before a recording appeared, that of 1984 under Mark Elder by the English National Opera and this production also toured to the United States in New York, New Orleans and Texas. Other productions of the opera in Britain have been undertaken by Welsh National Opera in 1992, central City Opera presented the North American premiere production of the opera in 2001, starring Joyce Castle as Elizabeth I. The Opera Theatre of Saint Louis mounted the work in 2005, the Royal Opera House in London presented a 60th anniversary performance, to celebrate both the anniversary and the centenary of Brittens birth in June-July 2013. Scene 1, A tournament Lord Mountjoy wins a jousting tournament, robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, provokes Mountjoy into fighting with him and is slightly wounded. Queen Elizabeth arrives and scolds the men for their jealousy and she requests that they attend her at court as friends. Mountjoy and Essex make peace and the crowd praise Elizabeth, scene 2, The Queens apartment, Nonsuch Palace Elizabeth and Cecil discuss the rivalry between Mountjoy and Essex. Cecil warns Elizabeth about the threat of another Armada from Spain, after Cecil has gone, Essex himself enters and sings to the Queen to take her mind off political problems. He asks her to let him go to Ireland to counter the rebellion led by the Earl of Tyrone and he grows impatient when the Queen shows reluctance, and accuses Cecil and Walter Raleigh of plotting against him. Elizabeth sends him away and prays for strength to rule her people well, scene 1, Norwich The Queen, accompanied by Essex, visits Norwich, and talks with the Recorder of Norwich. A masque celebrating Time and Concord is given in her honour, scene 2, Essexs house Essexs sister Lady Penelope Rich meets Mountjoy for an illicit tryst in the garden
30.
William Walton
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Sir William Turner Walton, OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several genres and styles. His best-known works include Façade, the cantata Belshazzars Feast, the Viola Concerto, born in Oldham, Lancashire, the son of a musician, Walton was a chorister and then an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford. On leaving the university, he was taken up by the literary Sitwell siblings, who provided him with a home and a cultural education. His earliest work of note was a collaboration with Edith Sitwell, Façade, which at first brought him notoriety as a modernist, in middle age, Walton left Britain and set up home with his young wife Susana on the Italian island of Ischia. By this time, he had ceased to be regarded as a modernist and his only full-length opera, Troilus and Cressida, was among the works to be so labelled and has made little impact in opera houses. In his last years, his works back into critical fashion, his later compositions. Walton was a worker, painstakingly perfectionist, and his complete body of work across his long career is not large. His most popular compositions continue to be performed in the twenty-first century. Walton was born into a family in Oldham, Lancashire. His father, Charles Alexander Walton, was a musician who had trained at the Royal Manchester College of Music under Charles Hallé, charless wife, Louisa Maria, had been a singer before their marriage. William Waltons musical talents were spotted when he was still a young boy and he was more successful as a singer, he and his elder brother sang in their fathers choir, taking part in performances of large-scale works by Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn and others. Walton was sent to a school, but in 1912 his father saw a newspaper advertisement for probationer choristers at Christ Church Cathedral School in Oxford. The boy and his mother missed their intended train from Manchester to Oxford because Waltons father had spent the money for the fare in a public house. Louisa Walton had to borrow the fares from a greengrocer, although they arrived in Oxford after the entrance trials were over, Mrs Walton successfully pleaded for her son to be heard, and he was accepted. He remained at the school for the next six years. At the age of sixteen Walton became an undergraduate of Christ Church and it is sometimes said that he was Oxfords youngest undergraduate since Henry VIII, and though this is probably not correct, he was nonetheless among the youngest. He came under the influence of Hugh Allen, the dominant figure in Oxfords musical life, Allen introduced Walton to modern music, including Stravinskys Petrushka, and enthused him with the mysteries of the orchestra
31.
Alun Hoddinott
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Alun Hoddinott CBE was a Welsh composer of classical music, one of the first to receive international recognition. Hoddinott was born in Bargoed, Glamorganshire, Wales and he was educated at Gowerton Grammar school before matriculating to University College, Cardiff, and later studied privately with Arthur Benjamin. His first major composition, the Clarinet Concerto, was performed at the Cheltenham Festival of 1954 by Gervase de Peyer with the Hallé Orchestra and this brought Hoddinott a national profile, which was followed by a string of commissions by leading orchestras and soloists. These commissions continued up to his death, and he was championed by some of the most distinguished singers, however, his move into opera from 1970 helped to broaden his stylistic range and lighten his palette. His music often displays a brooding, darkly lyrical intensity, manifested in his slow movements. One of the best examples is his rhapsodic Poem for violin and orchestra, inspired by a line from James Joyce, combining tough, disciplined writing with a sense of the mysterious and unknown, his musical style has been described as modernist romantic. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1983 New Year Honours, in 1997 Alun Hoddinott received the Glyndŵr Award for an Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales during the Machynlleth Festival. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arts Council of Wales in 1999, on 1 March 2007 soprano Helen Field and baritone Jeremy Huw Williams gave the world première of his orchestral song cycle Serenissima with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at St Davids Hall. The new hall was inaugurated with a festival held between 22 January and 1 February 2009, with live performances broadcast on BBC Radio 3. The opening piece was a piece by Hoddinott himself. Alun Hoddinott died on 11 March 2008 at Morriston Hospital, Swansea, aged 78 and his very last work, the orchestral tone poem Taliesin, was premièred by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at the Swansea Festival of Music in October 2009. Late 1940s two student string quartets 1948 Cello Concerto 1948 Prelude and fugue for string trio 1949 Nocturne for orchestra 1950 Op.1 String Trio, Op.99 Rajahs Diamond 1979 Op. 100/1 Scena, strqt 1979 Op. 100/2 Ritornelli 2, brass. Op.1151984 Op.116 Symphony 61984 Op.117 The Bells of Paradise 1984 Op.118 Divertimenti 1984 Op.119 Scena for strings. Op.1201985 Christ Is Risen 1985 Sing A New Song for SSAATB chorus and organ 1985 Op.121 The Silver Hound for tenor and piano. Op.1391989 Op.140 Flute Sonata 1989 Op.141 Violin Sonata 51989 Op.142 Symphony 8, for Brass & Percussion 2001 Op. 143/1 Paradwys Mai, baritone, Op.149 Piano Sonata 121993 Op.150 Six Bagatelles. Op.1511994 Op. 152/1 The Silver Swimmer, soprano, Op.153 Violin Concerto No.21995 Op.154 Trumpet Concerto, written for Gareth Small and premiered at St David’s Hall, Cardiff, on the last night of the Welsh Proms in 1995. 1995 Op.155 Tymhorau for voice and piano or voice, Op.157 Oboe and Harp Sonata 1996 Op.158 Mass of Camargue for baritone, choir, piano duet, organ and percussion 1996 Op.159 Cello Sonata 31997 Spectrum 2, Lizard, pno. Op.165 Poetry of Earth for voice and harp, Op.175 Concerto for percussion and brass band
32.
Georg Solti
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Born in Budapest, he studied there with Béla Bartók, Leó Weiner and Ernő Dohnányi. In the 1930s, he was a répétiteur at the Hungarian State Opera and his career was interrupted by the rise of the Nazis, and being of Jewish background he fled the increasingly restrictive anti-semitic laws in 1938. After conducting a season of Russian ballet in London at the Royal Opera House he found refuge in Switzerland, prohibited from conducting there, he earned a living as a pianist. After the war, Solti was appointed director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich in 1946. In 1952 he moved to the Frankfurt Opera, where he remained in charge for nine years and he took West German citizenship in 1953. In 1961 he became director of the Covent Garden Opera Company. During his ten-year tenure, he introduced changes that raised standards to the highest international levels, under his musical directorship the status of the company was recognised with the grant of the title the Royal Opera. He became a British citizen in 1972, in 1969 Solti became music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a post he held for 22 years. He relinquished the position in 1991 and became the music director laureate. Known in his early years for the intensity of his music making and he recorded many works two or three times at various stages of his career, and was a prolific recording artist, making more than 250 recordings, including 45 complete opera sets. The most famous of his recordings is probably Deccas complete set of Wagners Der Ring des Nibelungen, Soltis Ring has twice been voted the greatest recording ever made, in polls for Gramophone magazine in 1999 and the BBCs Music Magazine in 2012. Solti was repeatedly honoured by the industry with awards throughout his career. Solti also received the Academy’s 1995 Lifetime Achievement Award, Solti was born György Stern on Maros utca, in the Hegyvidék district of the Buda side of Budapest. He was the younger of the two children of Móricz Stern and his wife Teréz, née Rosenbaum, both of whom were Jewish, in the aftermath of the First World War it became the accepted practice in Hungary for citizens with Germanic surnames to adopt Hungarian ones. The right wing regime of Admiral Horthy enacted a series of Hungarianisation laws, Mor Stern, a self-employed merchant, felt no need to change his surname, but thought it prudent to change that of his children. He renamed them after Solt, a town in central Hungary. His sons given name, György, was acceptably Hungarian and was not changed, Solti described his father as a kind, sweet man who trusted everyone. He shouldnt have, but he did, jews in Hungary were tremendously patriotic
33.
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
34.
Daniel Barenboim
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Daniel Barenboim, KBE is an Argentine-Israeli pianist and conductor who is also a citizen of Palestine and Spain. In May,2015 he proudly introduced his new piano at Royal Festival Hall and it was designed by Chris Maene, a Belgian instrument maker. This Barenboim grand piano has straight parallel strings, soundboard veins which go in different directions, specially designed bridges, ribs and bracing, some listeners have been excited by the pianos new sound, while others find it very similar to a conventional Steinway. Together with the Palestinian-American scholar Edward Said, he was given Spains Prince of Asturias Concord Award and he has won seven Grammy awards for his work and discography. Barenboim is a polyglot, fluent in Spanish, Hebrew, English, French, Italian, Daniel Barenboim was born in 1942 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Argentinian-Jewish parents Aida and Enrique Barenboim. He started piano lessons at the age of five with his mother, continuing to study with his father, on 19 August 1950, at the age of seven, he gave his first formal concert in his hometown, Buenos Aires. In 1952, Barenboims family moved to Israel, two years later, in the summer of 1954, his parents took him to Salzburg to take part in Igor Markevitchs conducting classes. During that summer he met and played for Wilhelm Furtwängler. In 1955 Barenboim studied harmony and composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, on 15 June 1967, Barenboim and British cellist Jacqueline du Pré were married in Jerusalem at a Western Wall ceremony, Du Pré having converted to Judaism. Acting as one of the witnesses was the conductor Zubin Mehta, since I was not Jewish I had to temporarily be renamed Moshe Cohen, which made me a kosher witness, Mehta recalled. Du Pré retired from music in 1973, after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the marriage lasted until du Prés death in 1987. In the early 1980s, Barenboim began an affair with the Russian pianist Elena Bashkirova, with whom he has two sons born in Paris before du Prés death, David Arthur, born 1983, and Michael, born 1985. Barenboim worked to keep his relationship with Bashkirova hidden from du Pré and he and Bashkirova married in 1988. Both sons are part of the world, David is a manager-writer for the German hip-hop band Level 8. Barenboim holds citizenship in Argentina, Israel, Palestine, and Spain, after performing in Buenos Aires, Barenboim made his international debut as a pianist at the age of 10 in 1952 in Vienna and Rome. In 1955 he performed in Paris, in 1956 in London, regular concert tours of Europe, the United States, South America, Australia and the Far East followed thereafter. In June 1967, Barenboim and his then fiancée Du Pré gave concerts in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa and Beersheba before and during the Six-Day War. His friendship with musicians Itzhak Perlman, Zubin Mehta, and Pinchas Zukerman, following his debut as a conductor with the English Chamber Orchestra in Abbey Road Studios, London, in 1966, Barenboim was invited to conduct by many European and American symphony orchestras
35.
Peter Grimes
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Peter Grimes is an opera by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto adapted by Montagu Slater from the narrative poem, Peter Grimes, in George Crabbes book The Borough. The borough of the opera is a village which shares some similarities with Crabbes, and later Brittens, own home of Aldeburgh. It was first performed at Sadlers Wells in London on 7 June 1945, conducted by Reginald Goodall and it is still widely performed, both in the UK and internationally, and is considered part of the standard repertoire. In addition, the Four Sea Interludes were published separately and are performed as an orchestral suite. The Passacaglia was also published separately, and is often performed. In 1941, shortly after the first performance of his opera Paul Bunyan, Britten and his partner Peter Pears went to stay at Escondido, there they read the poem by Crabbe and were struck by it. Britten, being a native of Suffolk, strongly identified with the story of the Aldeburgh fisherman Peter Grimes. This opera was first conceived while Britten was in California, happening to read E. M. Forsters article on the 18th-century Suffolk poet George Crabbe in the BBCs magazine The Listener, he was straight away filled with nostalgic feelings about Suffolk. Pears found a copy of Crabbes works in a bookshop and Britten read the poem The Borough. He said later, in a flash I realised two things, that I must write an opera, and where I belonged, Britten returned to England in April 1942. Soon after his return, he asked Montagu Slater to be his librettist for Peter Grimes, Britten and Pears both had a strong hand in drafting the story, and in this process the character of Grimes became far more complex. Rather than being the villain he is in Crabbes version. It is left to the audience to decide which version is more true, Pears was certainly the intended Peter Grimes, and it is likely that Britten wrote the role of Ellen Orford for Joan Cross. The more vicious the society, the more vicious the individual, the opera was commissioned by the Koussevitzky Music Foundations and is dedicated to the memory of Natalie Koussevitzky, wife of the Russian-born American conductor Serge Koussevitzky. Its American premiere was given in 1946 at Tanglewood by Koussevitzkys pupil, Peter Grimes has been produced many times at the Royal Opera House. The first was in 1947, conducted by Karl Rankl and with Peter Pears, Joan Cross, the most recent was in 2011 with Andrew Davis conducting, and starring Ben Heppner, Amanda Roocroft and Jonathan Summers. In 1967, the Metropolitan Opera mounted a production directed by Tyrone Guthrie. In the summer of 2013, the Aldeburgh Festival staged a performance of Peter Grimes in its setting on the beach at Aldeburgh with tenor Alan Oke in the title role
36.
Walter Legge
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Harry Walter Legge was an influential English classical record producer, most notably for EMI. His recordings include many sets later regarded as classics and reissued by EMI as Great Recordings of the Century and he worked in the recording industry from 1927, combining this with the post of junior music critic of The Manchester Guardian. He was assistant to Sir Thomas Beecham at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, after the war, Legge founded the Philharmonia Orchestra and worked for EMI as a recording producer. In the 1960s he quarrelled with EMI and resigned and he attempted to disband the Philharmonia in 1964, but it continued as an independent body without him. After this he had no permanent job, and confined himself to giving masterclasses with, Legge was born in Shepherds Bush, London, where his father was a tailor. He was educated at the Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith and he excelled in Latin and French, but received no musical training. He left school at 16 and had no formal education. Encouraged by his father he developed a taste for music, and Richard Wagner in particular, in pursuit of which he himself to read music. Between 1933 and 1938 Legge also worked as a critic for The Manchester Guardian. Another famous pre-war recording supervised by Legge, which has been reissued on LP and CD, was Sir Thomas Beechams set of The Magic Flute, Beecham invited Legge to join him at Covent Garden as assistant artistic director. Given a free hand by Beecham he engaged Richard Tauber, Jussi Björling, Maria Reining, Hilde Konetzni, Julius Patzak, during World War II Legges poor eyesight prevented him from serving in the armed forces. In 1941 Legge married the singer Nancy Evans, they divorced in 1948, after the war Legge set to work to refresh EMIs catalogue and its roster of star performers. He set up his base in Vienna, then occupied by the Allies. These performers included Josef Krips, Irmgard Seefried, Ljuba Welitsch, Hans Hotter, Ludwig Weber, Herbert von Karajan, later he was among the first to spot the potential of Maria Callas, whose studio recordings he produced for EMI. The repertoire he chose to record was broad, though not extending much earlier than Handel and among modern composers concentrating on the approachable, from the 1940s to the 1960s he supervised a long series of recordings of the works of William Walton. For these, and for recordings, he founded a new orchestra, Beecham conducted its first concert but was unwilling to be the employee of his former assistant and soon founded the Royal Philharmonic in competition with the Philharmonia. Other eminent musicians whom Legge persuaded to conduct the Philharmonia were Wilhelm Furtwängler, Arturo Toscanini, in its heyday in the 1950s the Philharmonia was widely rated as the finest British orchestra. In 1964, concerned at what he saw as falling standards, Legge disbanded the orchestra, which at once re-formed as the New Philharmonia, without him but with Klemperer as chief conductor
37.
Johann Sebastian Bach
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Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. Bachs compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor and his music is revered for its technical command, artistic beauty, and intellectual depth. He is now regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time. Bach was born in Eisenach, in the duchy of Saxe-Eisenach and his father Johann Ambrosius Bach was the director of the town musicians, and all of his uncles were professional musicians. His father probably taught him to play the violin and harpsichord, apparently at his own initiative, Bach attended St. Michaels School in Lüneburg for two years. He received the title of Royal Court Composer from Augustus III in 1736, Bachs health and vision declined in 1749, and he died on 28 July 1750. Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, the capital of the duchy of Saxe-Eisenach, in present-day Germany and he was the son of Johann Ambrosius Bach, the director of the town musicians, and Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt. He was the eighth and youngest child of Johann Ambrosius, who taught him violin. His uncles were all musicians, whose posts included church organists, court chamber musicians. One uncle, Johann Christoph Bach, introduced him to the organ, Bachs mother died in 1694, and his father died eight months later. The 10-year-old Bach moved in with his eldest brother, Johann Christoph Bach, there he studied, performed, and copied music, including his own brothers, despite being forbidden to do so because scores were so valuable and private and blank ledger paper of that type was costly. He received valuable teaching from his brother, who instructed him on the clavichord, also during this time he was taught theology, Latin, Greek, French and Italian at the local gymnasium. By 3 April 1700 Bach and his schoolfriend Georg Erdmann–who was two years Bachs elder–were enrolled in the prestigious St. Michaels School in Lüneburg, some two weeks travel north of Ohrdruf and their journey was probably undertaken mostly on foot. His two years there were critical in exposing Bach to a range of European culture. In addition to singing in the choir, he played the Schools three-manual organ and he came into contact with sons of aristocrats from northern Germany, sent to the highly selective school to prepare for careers in other disciplines. While in Lüneburg, Bach had access to St. Johns Church and possibly used the famous organ from 1553. His role there is unclear, but it probably included menial, non-musical duties, despite strong family connections and a musically enthusiastic employer, tension built up between Bach and the authorities after several years in the post. Bach was dissatisfied with the standard of singers in the choir and he called one of them a Zippel Fagottist
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St Matthew Passion
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The St Matthew Passion, BWV244, is a Passion, a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel of Matthew to music, with interspersed chorales and it is widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of classical sacred music. The original Latin title Passio Domini nostri J. C. secundum Evangelistam Matthæum translates to The Passion of our Lord J C according to the Evangelist Matthew. The St Matthew Passion is the second of two Passion settings by Bach that have survived in their entirety, the first being the St John Passion, little is known with certainty about the creation process of the St Matthew Passion. The available information derives from extant early manuscripts, contemporary publications of the libretto, the St Matthew Passion was probably first performed on 11 April 1727 in the St. Thomas Church, and again on 15 April 1729,30 March 1736, and 23 March 1742. Bach then revised it again between 1743 and 1746, in Leipzig it was not allowed to paraphrase the words of the Gospel in a Passion presentation on Good Friday. A setting of the then popular Brockes Passion libretto, largely consisting of such paraphrasing and that was the option chosen by Bach for his 1724 St John Passion. The performance took place in the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, in this version the Passion was written for two choruses and orchestras. Choir I consists of a soprano in ripieno voice, a solo, an alto solo. Choir II consists of SATB voices, violin I, violin II, viola, viola da gamba, cello, the music of the cantata consisted largely of music adapted from the St Matthew Passion. At the time only men sung in church, high pitch vocal parts were performed by treble choristers. The size of the organ lofts limited the number of performers for each Choir, Bach revised the Passion by 1736, for a performance on Good Friday 30 March 1736. This is the version that is known as the St Matthew Passion. In this version both choirs have SATB soloists and chorus, and a section and continuo consisting of at least violins I and II, viola, gamba. The woodwinds are two traversos, oboes and oboes damore for each choir, and in addition for choir I two oboes da caccia, some parts were adjusted for a new performance on Good Friday 23 March 1742. Bach finalized his autograph score 1743–1746, however not tied to any new performance, Bach did not number the sections of the St Matthew Passion, all of them vocal movements, but twentieth-century scholars have done so. Both use lettered subsections in some cases and this article is written using the NBA numbering system. Bach worked together with his librettist, Christian Friedrich Henrici, known as Picander, the text of the libretto of the St Matthew Passion was published by Picander in 1729
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Gilbert and Sullivan
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Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H. M. S, Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado are among the best known. Sullivan, six years Gilberts junior, composed the music, contributing memorable melodies that could convey both humour and pathos and their operas have enjoyed broad and enduring international success and are still performed frequently throughout the English-speaking world. Gilbert and Sullivan introduced innovations in content and form that influenced the development of musical theatre through the 20th century. The operas have influenced political discourse, literature, film. Producer Richard DOyly Carte brought Gilbert and Sullivan together and nurtured their collaboration and he built the Savoy Theatre in 1881 to present their joint works and founded the DOyly Carte Opera Company, which performed and promoted Gilbert and Sullivans works for over a century. Gilbert was born in London on 18 November 1836 and his father, William, was a naval surgeon who later wrote novels and short stories, some of which included illustrations by his son. Director and playwright Mike Leigh described the Gilbertian style as follows, With great fluidity and freedom, First, within the framework of the story, he makes bizarre things happen, and turns the world on its head. Thus the Learned Judge marries the Plaintiff, the soldiers metamorphose into aesthetes, and so on and his genius is to fuse opposites with an imperceptible sleight of hand, to blend the surreal with the real, and the caricature with the natural. In other words, to tell a perfectly outrageous story in a deadpan way. Gilbert developed his theories on the art of stage direction. At the time Gilbert began writing, theatre in Britain was in disrepute, Gilbert helped to reform and elevate the respectability of the theatre, especially beginning with his six short family-friendly comic operas, or entertainments, for Thomas German Reed. At a rehearsal for one of these entertainments, Ages Ago, the composer Frederic Clay introduced Gilbert to his friend, two years later, Gilbert and Sullivan would write their first work together. Those two intervening years continued to shape Gilberts theatrical style, Sullivan was born in London on 13 May 1842. His father was a bandmaster, and by the time Arthur had reached the age of eight. In school he began to compose anthems and songs, in 1856, he received the first Mendelssohn Scholarship and studied at the Royal Academy of Music and then at Leipzig, where he also took up conducting. His graduation piece, completed in 1861, was a suite of music to Shakespeares The Tempest. Revised and expanded, it was performed at the Crystal Palace in 1862 and was an immediate sensation and he began building a reputation as Englands most promising young composer, composing a symphony, a concerto, and several overtures, among them the Overture di Ballo, in 1870
40.
EMI
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EMI was a British multinational conglomerate founded in March 1931 and was based in London. At the time of its break-up in 2012, it was the fourth-largest business group and its EMI Records Ltd. group of record labels included EMI Records, Parlophone, Virgin Records and Capitol Records. EMI also had a publishing arm, EMI Music Publishing—also based in London with offices globally. The company was once a constituent of the FTSE100 Index, other members of the Sony consortium include the Estate of Michael Jackson, The Blackstone Group, and Abu Dhabi–owned investment fund Mubadala Development Company. The new vertically integrated company produced sound recordings as well as recording, the companys gramophone manufacturing led to forty years of success with larger-scale electronics and electrical engineering. He was killed in 1942 whilst conducting flight trials on an experimental H2S radar set, post-war, the company resumed its involvement in making broadcasting equipment, notably providing the BBCs second television transmitter at Sutton Coldfield. It also manufactured broadcast television cameras for British television production companies as well as for the BBC, the commercial television ITV companies also used them alongside cameras made by Pye and Marconi. Exports of this piece of equipment were low, however, the company was also for many years an internationally respected manufacturer of photomultipliers. This part of the business was transferred to Thorn as part of Thorn-EMI, in 1958 the EMIDEC1100, the UKs first commercially available all-transistor computer, was developed at Hayes under the leadership of Godfrey Hounsfield, an electrical engineer at EMI. In 1973 EMI was awarded a prestigious Queens Award for Technological Innovation for what was called the EMI scanner. After brief, but brilliant, success in the imaging field, EMIs manufacturing activities were sold off to other companies. Subsequently, development and manufacturing activities were sold off to companies and work moved to other towns such as Crawley. Emihus Electronics, based in Glenrothes, Scotland, was owned 51% by Hughes Aircraft, of California, US and it manufactured integrated circuits electrolytic capacitors and, for a short period in the mid-1970s, hand-held calculators under the Gemini name. Early in its life, the Gramophone Company established subsidiary operations in a number of countries in the British Commonwealth, including India, Australia. Over 150,000 78-rpm recordings from around the world are held in EMIs temperature-controlled archive in Hayes, in 1931, the year the company was formed, it opened the legendary recording studios at Abbey Road, London. During the 1930s and 1940s, its roster of artists included Arturo Toscanini, Sir Edward Elgar, during this time EMI appointed its first A&R managers. These included George Martin, who brought the Beatles into the EMI fold. When the Gramophone Company merged with the Columbia Graphophone Company in 1931, at this point RCA had a majority shareholding in the new company, giving RCA chair David Sarnoff a seat on the EMI board
41.
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
42.
The Mikado
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The Mikado, or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations. Before the end of 1885, it was estimated that, in Europe and America, the Mikado remains the most frequently performed Savoy Opera, and it is especially popular with amateur and school productions. The work has translated into numerous languages and is one of the most frequently played musical theatre pieces in history. Setting the opera in Japan, a locale far away from Britain, allowed Gilbert to satirise British politics. Gilbert and Sullivans opera immediately preceding The Mikado was Princess Ida, which ran for nine months, on 22 March 1884, Carte gave Gilbert and Sullivan contractual notice that a new opera would be required within six months. Sullivans close friend, the conductor Frederic Clay, had suffered a stroke in December 1883 that effectively ended his career. Gilbert, who had started work on a new libretto in which people fall in love against their wills after taking a magic lozenge, was surprised to hear of Sullivans hesitation. Gilbert was much hurt, but Sullivan insisted that he could not set the lozenge plot, in addition to the improbability of it, it was too similar to the plot of their 1877 opera, The Sorcerer. Sullivan returned to London, and, as April wore on, Gilbert tried to rewrite his plot, but he could not satisfy Sullivan. However, by 8 May 1884, Gilbert was ready to back down, writing, am I to understand that if I construct another plot in which no element occurs. A consistent plot, free from anachronisms, constructed in perfect good faith & to the best of my ability, the stalemate was broken, and on 20 May, Gilbert sent Sullivan a sketch of the plot to The Mikado. It would take ten months for The Mikado to reach the stage. A revised version of their 1877 work, The Sorcerer, coupled with their one-act piece Trial by Jury, played at the Savoy while Carte, Gilbert eventually found a place for his lozenge plot in The Mountebanks, written with Alfred Cellier in 1892. A trifling accident inspired him with an idea, One day an old Japanese sword that, for years, had been hanging on the wall of his study, fell from its place. This incident directed his attention to Japan, Just at that time a company of Japanese had arrived in England and set up a little village of their own in Knightsbridge. The story is an one, but it is largely fictional. Gilbert was interviewed twice about his inspiration for The Mikado, in both interviews the sword was mentioned, and in one of them he said it was the inspiration for the opera, although he never said that the sword had fallen. Gilbert scholar Brian Jones, in his article The Sword that Never Fell, notes that the further removed in time the writer is from the incident and it suggested the broad idea, as he said later
43.
The Gondoliers
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The Gondoliers, or, The King of Barataria is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 and ran for a very successful 554 performances and this was the twelfth comic opera collaboration of fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan. The story of the concerns the young bride of the heir to the throne of the fictional kingdom of Barataria who arrives in Venice to join her husband. It turns out, however, that he cannot be identified, to complicate matters, the King of Barataria has just been killed. The two young gondoliers must now jointly rule the kingdom until the nurse of the prince can be brought in to determine which of them is the rightful king. Moreover, when the queen arrives to claim her husband. A last complicating factor is that she, herself, is in love with another man, the Gondoliers was Gilbert and Sullivans last great success. In this opera, Gilbert returns to the satire of class distinctions figuring in many of his earlier librettos, the Gondoliers was preceded by the most serious of the Gilbert and Sullivan collaborations, The Yeomen of the Guard. Moreover, to speak from my own point of view. Anybody — Hersee, Farnie, Reece — can write a libretto for such a purpose, personally. Again, the success of the Yeoman — which is a step in the direction of serious opera — has not been so convincing as to warrant us in assuming that the public want something more earnest still. On 12 March, Sullivan responded, I have lost the liking for writing comic opera and you say that in a serious opera, you must more or less sacrifice yourself. I say that this is just what I have been doing in all our joint pieces, Gilbert tried to encourage his collaborator, You say that our operas are Gilberts pieces with music added by you. Sullivans acceptance came with the proviso that we are agreed upon the subject. Can you not develop this with something we can go into with warmth and enthusiasm and thus give me a subject in which we can both be interested. The long opening number was the idea, and it gave Sullivan the opportunity to establish the mood of the work through music. The costumes were designed by Percy Anderson and sets were by Hawes Craven and they worked all summer and autumn, with a successful opening on 7 December 1889. Press accounts were almost entirely favourable, and the opera enjoyed a run longer than any of their joint works except for H. M. S
44.
The Yeomen of the Guard
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The Yeomen of the Guard, or, The Merryman and His Maid, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 3 October 1888, and this was the eleventh collaboration of fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan. The dialogue, though in prose, is quasi-Shakespearian, or early modern English and this was the first Savoy Opera to use Sullivans larger orchestra, including a second bassoon and third trombone. Most of Sullivans subsequent operas, including those not composed with Gilbert as librettist, pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. Before the premiere of Yeomen, Sullivan had recently been lauded for the successful oratorio The Golden Legend and would produce his grand opera, Ivanhoe, on Christmas Day,1887, he read to Sullivan and Carte his plot sketch for an opera set at the Tower of London. Sullivan was immensely pleased and, with relief, accepted it, writing in his diary, Pretty story, no topsy turvydom, very human. Although not an opera, Yeomen provided Sullivan with the opportunity to write his most ambitious score to date. The two set to work on the new opera, taking longer to prepare it than they had taken many of their earlier works. Gilbert made every effort to accommodate his collaborator, even writing alternative lyrics to some songs, Sullivan had trouble setting one lyric in particular, I have a song to sing-O. with its increasing length in each stanza. He asked Gilbert if he had anything in mind when writing it, Gilbert hummed a few lines from a sea shanty, and Sullivan knew what to do. The first act was rather long and contained a number of sentimental pieces. As opening night approached, Gilbert became increasingly apprehensive, would the audience accept this serious, sentimental tone from one of the duos comic operas. Gilbert and Sullivan cut two songs from Act I and part of the Act I finale, partly to decrease the number of sentimental pieces near the beginning of the opera. Jessie Bond, who was to open the show with a song alone on stage, finally said to him, For Heavens sake, Mr. Gilbert, go away and leave me alone. Phoebe Meryll sits at the wheel, sighing about the pain of love. Wilfred Shadbolt, the jailer and assistant torturer at the Tower of London enters. Wilfred, who is in love with Phoebe, has noticed her interest in one of the prisoners at the Tower and he gleefully conveys the news that Fairfax is to be beheaded, for the crime of sorcery, that very day. Phoebe replies that Fairfax is merely a scientist and alchemist and leaves Wilfred to suffer from his love for her, the citizens and Yeomen arrive, singing of the Yeomens bravery and valiant deeds
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Cesare Siepi
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Cesare Siepi was an Italian opera singer, generally considered to have been one of the finest basses of the post-war period. His voice was characterised by a deep, warm timbre, a full, resonant, wide-ranging lower register with relaxed vibrato, although renowned as a Verdian bass, his tall, striking presence and the elegance of phrasing made him a natural for the role of Don Giovanni. He can be seen in that role on a famous 1954 film of the opera made during an edition of the Salzburg Festival under the baton of Wilhelm Furtwängler, born in Milan, he began singing as a member of a madrigal group. He often claimed to have been largely self-taught, having attended the conservatory in his home city for just a short time. His operatic career was interrupted by World War II, after his debut in 1941, Siepi, an opponent of the fascist regime, fled to Switzerland. After the end of the war his career took off. Success as Zaccaria in Nabucco at La Fenice in Venice was followed by the first of engagements at La Scala. His early engagements there were in the Verdi bass roles, the role in Boitos Mefistofele under Arturo Toscanini, as Colline in La bohème, and in La Gioconda, La favorite. He was to remain principal bass at the Met until 1974, adding roles such as Boris Godunov and Gurnemanz in Parsifal and his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, was in 1950, and he appeared there regularly until the mid-1970s. In 1953, Siepi debuted at the Salzburg Festival with a production of Don Giovanni conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler, staged by Herbert Graf. He made an impact in the title role of the opera. This performance has been released on CD, and a 1954 mounting of this production was filmed in color, Siepi was a frequent guest at the Vienna State Opera. In 43 performances he sang Don Giovanni, more often than any other singer in modern times except for Eberhard Wächter, in Vienna he also sang Basilio, Colline, Fiesco, Figaro, Padre Guardiano, Gurnemanz, Méphistophélès, Filippo II, and Ramphis. His final performance at Vienna was in Norma at the Austria Center Vienna in 1994 and he was a particularly fine recital artist, especially in Community Concerts under Columbia Artist Management, and a sensitive interpreter of German Lieder. He married Met ballerina Louellen Sibley and they had two children, Siepi enjoyed a long career, and performed regularly until the 1980s, including lead roles in the ill-fated Broadway musicals Bravo Giovanni and Carmelina. In addition to his recordings, there are also many live recordings of performances of his major roles. Siepis formal farewell to the operatic stage occurred at the Teatro Carani in Sassuolo on 21 April 1989, indeed, Capons List shows live recordings made as late as 1988. Siepis last studio recording was as the old King Archibaldo in RCAs 1976 taping of Italo Montemezzis Lamore dei tre re, with Anna Moffo, Siepi died at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia on July 5,2010 after suffering a stroke more than a week earlier
