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
Wales
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Bryn Celli Ddu, a late Neolithic chambered tomb on Anglesey
Wales
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Flag
Wales
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This article is about the country. For other uses, see
Wales (disambiguation).
Wales
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Coin of
Magnus Maximus
2.
Le nozze di 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
Le nozze di Figaro
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Early 19th-century engraving depicting Count Almaviva and Susanna in act 3
Le nozze di Figaro
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Act 1: Cherubino hides behind Susanna's chair as the Count arrives.
Le nozze di Figaro
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Libretto 1786
Le nozze di Figaro
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Biography
3.
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
Falstaff (opera)
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Lucien Fugère in the title role, 1894
Falstaff (opera)
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Boito in 1893
Falstaff (opera)
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Falstaff, by
Charles Robert Leslie
Falstaff (opera)
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Victor Maurel as Iago in Boito and Verdi's
Otello
4.
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
Wozzeck
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Alban Berg
5.
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
Royal Opera House
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The Royal Opera House, Bow Street frontage with
Plazzotta 's statue, Young Dancer, in the foreground
Royal Opera House
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"Rich's Glory": John Rich takes over (seemingly invades) his new Covent Garden Theatre. (A caricature by
William Hogarth)
Royal Opera House
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A satirical drawing from 1811 of the "Pigeon Holes" that flanked the upper gallery at Covent Garden
Royal Opera House
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A picture of the first theatre drawn shortly before it burned down in 1808
6.
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
Pontypridd
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Pontypridd
Pontypridd
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Old Bridge, dating from 1756
Pontypridd
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Tonypandy & Trealaw railway station during an early 1910s coal strike
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Front page of the earliest surviving copy of the Welsh newspaper The Pontypridd Chronicle; 15 January 1881
7.
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
Welsh National Opera
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Wales Millennium Centre, home of Welsh National Opera in Cardiff
8.
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
Royal Air Force
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A later version of the
Spitfires which played a major part in the
Battle of Britain.
Royal Air Force
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Royal Air Force emblem
Royal Air Force
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The
Avro Lancaster heavy bomber was extensively used during the strategic bombing of Germany.
Royal Air Force
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The
Handley Page Victor bomber was a
strategic bomber of the RAF's
V bomber force used to carry both conventional and
nuclear bombs.
9.
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
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
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The main entrance to Guildhall at the
Barbican Estate
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
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Guildhall School inside the Barbican Estate
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
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Logo until 2014
10.
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
Die Meistersinger
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Max Staegemann (1843-1905) as Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, before 1876
Die Meistersinger
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Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, act 3, painting by
Ferdinand Leeke
11.
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
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
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Mozart c. 1780, detail from portrait by
Johann Nepomuk della Croce
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
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Anonymous portrait of the child Mozart, possibly by
Pietro Antonio Lorenzoni; painted in 1763 on commission from Leopold Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
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Mozart's birthplace at Getreidegasse 9, Salzburg
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
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The Mozart family on tour: Leopold, Wolfgang, and Nannerl. Watercolor by
Carmontelle, ca. 1763
12.
The Marriage of Figaro
–
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
The Marriage of Figaro
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Early 19th-century engraving depicting Count Almaviva and Susanna in act 3
The Marriage of Figaro
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Act 1: Cherubino hides behind Susanna's chair as the Count arrives.
The Marriage of Figaro
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Libretto 1786
The Marriage of Figaro
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Biography
13.
La Scala
–
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
La Scala
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Exterior of La Scala in 1976
La Scala
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The Teatro alla Scala in Milan, by night
La Scala
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A nineteenth-century depiction of the Teatro alla Scala
La Scala
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Interior of the opera house in 1900
14.
Vienna Staatsoper
–
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
Vienna Staatsoper
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Vienna State Opera
Vienna Staatsoper
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Vienna State Opera at night
Vienna Staatsoper
–
Marble staircase sweeps up from the main entrance to the first floor
Vienna Staatsoper
–
Inside one of the halls
15.
Herbert von Karajan
–
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
Herbert von Karajan
–
Herbert von Karajan in 1938
Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan
–
Herbert von Karajan's parents, Ernst and Marta (née Kosmač)
Herbert von Karajan
–
Herbert von Karajan conducting in 1941
16.
David Webster (opera manager)
–
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
David Webster (opera manager)
–
David Webster by
David Hockney
17.
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
–
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
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
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The new theatre, 31 July 2007
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
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The Glyndebourne on Tour trailer
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
Franco Zeffirelli
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Senatore Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli
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Maria Callas and Tito Gobbi, Act 2, Tosca,
Royal Opera House, London, February 1964
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
Metropolitan Opera
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The
Metropolitan Opera House at
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, home of the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
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A full house at the old Metropolitan Opera House, seen from the rear of the stage, at a concert by pianist
Josef Hofmann, November 28, 1937
Metropolitan Opera
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Auditorium of the Metropolitan Opera House at
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Metropolitan Opera
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The gold curtain in the auditorium
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
Fidelio
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Fidelio, playbill of the premiere, Vienna, Kärntnertortheater, 23 May 1814
Fidelio
–
The theatrical mask contemplated by a
putto on the Beethoven monument by
Kaspar von Zumbusch (Vienna, 1880) commemorates Beethoven's sole opera in the city where it made its debut
Fidelio
–
Florestan (
Günther Treptow) and Leonore (Karina Kutz); September 1945,
Deutsche Oper Berlin
Fidelio
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Lotte Lehmann as Leonore
21.
Don Pasquale
–
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
Don Pasquale
–
Gaetano Donizetti
Don Pasquale
–
Giulia Grisi, 1844
Don Pasquale
–
Antonio Tamburini
Don Pasquale
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Luigi Lablache as Don Pasquale
22.
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
Don Giovanni
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Portrait of
Francisco D'Andrade in the title role by
Max Slevogt, 1912
Don Giovanni
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Original playbill for the Vienna premiere of Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
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Ildebrando D'Arcangelo as Don Giovanni,
Salzburg Festival 2014
Don Giovanni
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Luigi Bassi in the title role of Don Giovanni in 1787
23.
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
Otello
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Otello and Desdemona by Alexandre-Marie Colin, 1829
Otello
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Giuseppe Verdi c. 1870
Otello
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Boito and Verdi at Sant'Agata
Otello
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Francesco Tamagno as Otello in a costume designed by
Alfred Edel for the original production
24.
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
Rigoletto
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Set design by Philippe Chaperon.
Rigoletto
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Francesco Maria Piave, the librettist of Rigoletto
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La Fenice 's poster for the world premiere of Rigoletto
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Felice Varesi, the first Rigoletto
25.
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
Ralph Vaughan Williams
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Vaughan Williams c. 1920
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
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Leith Hill Place, Surrey, Vaughan Williams's childhood home
Ralph Vaughan Williams
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Hubert Parry, Vaughan Williams's first composition teacher at the
Royal College of Music
26.
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
Benjamin Britten
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Britten in the mid-1960s (photograph by Hans Wild)
Benjamin Britten
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Britten's birthplace in Lowestoft, which was the Britten family home for over twenty years
Benjamin Britten
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Frank Bridge, Britten's teacher
Benjamin Britten
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Early influences, clockwise from top left:
Mahler,
Ireland,
Shostakovich,
Stravinsky
27.
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
Billy Budd (opera)
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Benjamin Britten
28.
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
Gloriana
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Benjamin Britten
29.
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
William Walton
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William Walton in 1928
William Walton
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Christ Church, Oxford, where Walton was a chorister and then an undergraduate
William Walton
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Edith Sitwell, Walton's patron and collaborator. 1915 portrait by
Roger Fry
William Walton
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Portsmouth Point by
Thomas Rowlandson inspired Walton's overture of the same name.
30.
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
Alun Hoddinott
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Alun Hoddinott
Alun Hoddinott
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Entrance to the BBC Hoddinott Hall
