1.
The Graphic
–
The Graphic was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomass company Illustrated Newspapers Limited. The influence of The Graphic within the art world was immense, its many admirers included Vincent Van Gogh, from 1889 Luson Thomass company, H. R. Baines and Co. published The Daily Graphic. The Graphic was founded by William Luson Thomas, a successful artist, wood engraver, earlier he, his brother and his brother-in-law had been persuaded to go to New York and assist in launching two newspapers, Picture Gallery and Republic. Thomas also had an establishment of his own and, aided by a large staff. His illustrated paper, despite being more expensive that its competition, when it began in 1869, the newspaper was printed in a rented house. By 1882, the company owned three buildings and twenty printing presses, and employed more than 1,000 people, the first editor was Henry Sutherland Edwards. A successful artist himself, founder Thomas recruited gifted artists including Luke Fildes, Hubert von Herkomer, Frank Holl, the Graphic was published on a Saturday and its original cover price was sixpence, while the Illustrated London News was fivepence. In addition to its market the paper had subscribers all around the British Empire. The Graphic covered home news and news from around the Empire, and devoted much attention to literature, arts, sciences, royal occasions and national celebrations and ceremonials were also given prominent coverage. Writers for the paper included George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, H. Rider Haggard, malcolm Charles Salaman was employed there from 1890 to 1899. Beatrice Grimshaw travelled the South Pacific reporting on her experiences for the Daily Graphic, mary Frances Billington served the Graphic as a special correspondent from 1890 to 1897, reporting from India in essays that were compiled into Woman in India. Topics of the Week,12 paragraphs of news coverage, amusements, A roundup of activities for the week, for the middle-class reader. Our illustrations, a summary of all the illustrations in the edition, home, a summary of the news in Britain. Church news Legal, Trials and Cases of interest to the target reader, a weekly serial written by popular authors of the time, such as William Black. Book reviews A summary of the new developments in science, rural notes, information about the season and tips about crops, and other news concerning the rampant unrest of the farm labourers. New Music, Reviews of the latest music and musicals, obituaries, of Church leaders, factory owners, European Royalty, musicians and noteworthy Victorians. Sport, coverage of football and cricket Motoring, c, 1903-1908 Dorothy Levitt, The Fastest Girl on Earth, wrote a column on motoring from the point of view of A womans right to motor. A collection of her articles formed the basis of the book The Woman, there were at least three pages dedicated to advertising and it is interesting to see the obsession with hygiene, with countless adverts for toothpaste and soap products
2.
Opera
–
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. In traditional opera, singers do two types of singing, recitative, a style and arias, a more melodic style. Opera incorporates many of the elements of theatre, such as acting, scenery. The performance is given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble. Opera is a key part of the Western classical music tradition, in the 18th century, Italian opera continued to dominate most of Europe, attracting foreign composers such as George Frideric Handel. Opera seria was the most prestigious form of Italian opera, until Christoph Willibald Gluck reacted against its artificiality with his operas in the 1760s. The first third of the 19th century saw the point of the bel canto style, with Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti. It also saw the advent of Grand Opera typified by the works of Auber and Meyerbeer, the mid-to-late 19th century was a golden age of opera, led and dominated by Richard Wagner in Germany and Giuseppe Verdi in Italy. The popularity of opera continued through the era in Italy and contemporary French opera through to Giacomo Puccini. During the 19th century, parallel operatic traditions emerged in central and eastern Europe, the 20th century saw many experiments with modern styles, such as atonality and serialism, Neoclassicism, and Minimalism. With the rise of recording technology, singers such as Enrico Caruso, since the invention of radio and television, operas were also performed on these mediums. Beginning in 2006, a number of opera houses began to present live high-definition video transmissions of their performances in cinemas all over the world. In 2009, an opera company offered a download of a complete performance. The words of an opera are known as the libretto, some composers, notably Wagner, have written their own libretti, others have worked in close collaboration with their librettists, e. g. Mozart with Lorenzo Da Ponte. Vocal duets, trios and other ensembles often occur, and choruses are used to comment on the action, in some forms of opera, such as singspiel, opéra comique, operetta, and semi-opera, the recitative is mostly replaced by spoken dialogue. Melodic or semi-melodic passages occurring in the midst of, or instead of, the terminology of the various kinds of operatic voices is described in detail below. Over the 18th century, arias were accompanied by the orchestra. Subsequent composers have tended to follow Wagners example, though some, the changing role of the orchestra in opera is described in more detail below
3.
Ivanhoe
–
Ivanhoe /ˈaɪvənˌhoʊ/ is a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott, first published in 1820 in three volumes and subtitled A Romance. At the time it was written it represented a shift by Scott away from fairly realistic novels set in Scotland in the recent past. It has proved to be one of the best known and most influential of Scotts novels, Ivanhoe is set in 12th-century England, with colourful descriptions of a tournament, outlaws, a witch trial and divisions between Jews and Christians. It has also had an important influence on perceptions of Robin Hood, Richard the Lionheart. There have been adaptations for stage, film and television. Ivanhoe is the story of one of the remaining Saxon noble families at a time when the nobility in England was overwhelmingly Norman. It follows the Saxon protagonist, Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, who is out of favour with his father for his allegiance to the Norman king Richard the Lionheart. The story is set in 1194, after the failure of the Third Crusade, King Richard, who had been captured by Leopold of Austria on his return journey to England, was believed to still be in captivity. The legendary Robin Hood, initially under the name of Locksley, is also a character in the story, the character that Scott gave to Robin Hood in Ivanhoe helped shape the modern notion of this figure as a cheery noble outlaw. The book was written and published during a period of increasing struggle for the emancipation of the Jews in England, and there are frequent references to injustices against them. Ivanhoe accompanies King Richard on the Crusades, where he is said to have played a role in the Siege of Acre, and tends to Louis of Thuringia. The book opens with a scene of Norman knights and prelates seeking the hospitality of Cedric and they are guided there by a pilgrim, known at that time as a palmer. Also returning from the Holy Land that same night, Isaac of York, following the nights meal, the palmer observes one of the Normans, the Templar Brian de Bois-Guilbert, issue orders to his Saracen soldiers to capture Isaac. The palmer then assists in Isaacs escape from Rotherwood, with the aid of the swineherd Gurth. The palmer is taken by surprise, but accepts the offer, the story then moves to the scene of the tournament, presided over by Prince John. The masked knight declines to reveal himself despite Prince Johns request but is declared the champion of the day and is permitted to choose the Queen of the Tournament. He bestows this honour upon the Lady Rowena, on the second day, at a melee, Desdichado is the leader of one party, opposed by his former adversaries. Desdichados side is hard pressed and he himself beset by multiple foes until rescued by a knight nicknamed Le Noir Faineant
4.
Walter Scott
–
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet, FRSE was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright and poet. Many of his works remain classics of both English-language literature and of Scottish literature, famous titles include Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, Old Mortality, The Lady of the Lake, Waverley, The Heart of Midlothian and The Bride of Lammermoor. A prominent member of the Tory establishment in Edinburgh, Scott was an member of the Highland Society. He survived a bout of polio in 1773 that left him lame. To cure his lameness he was sent in 1773 to live in the rural Scottish Borders at his grandparents farm at Sandyknowe, adjacent to the ruin of Smailholm Tower. Here he was taught to read by his aunt Jenny, and learned from her the speech patterns and many of the tales and legends that characterised much of his work. In January 1775 he returned to Edinburgh, and that went with his aunt Jenny to take spa treatment at Bath in England. In the winter of 1776 he went back to Sandyknowe, with another attempt at a cure at Prestonpans during the following summer. In 1778, Scott returned to Edinburgh for private education to him for school. In October 1779 he began at the Royal High School of Edinburgh and he was now well able to walk and explore the city and the surrounding countryside. His reading included chivalric romances, poems, history and travel books and he was given private tuition by James Mitchell in arithmetic and writing, and learned from him the history of the Church of Scotland with emphasis on the Covenanters. Scott began studying classics at the University of Edinburgh in November 1783, at the age of 12, in March 1786 he began an apprenticeship in his fathers office to become a Writer to the Signet. While at the university Scott had become a friend of Adam Ferguson, Scott met the blind poet Thomas Blacklock, who lent him books and introduced him to James Macphersons Ossian cycle of poems. During the winter of 1786–87 the 15-year-old Scott saw Robert Burns at one of these salons, for what was to be their only meeting. When Burns noticed a print illustrating the poem The Justice of the Peace and asked who had written the poem, only Scott knew that it was by John Langhorne, and was thanked by Burns. When it was decided that he would become a lawyer, he returned to the university to study law, first taking classes in Moral Philosophy, after completing his studies in law, he became a lawyer in Edinburgh. As a lawyers clerk he made his first visit to the Scottish Highlands directing an eviction and he was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1792. He had an unsuccessful love suit with Williamina Belsches of Fettercairn, as a boy, youth and young man, Scott was fascinated by the oral traditions of the Scottish Borders
5.
Arthur Sullivan
–
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. The best known of his hymns and songs include Onward Christian Soldiers, the son of a military bandmaster, Sullivan composed his first anthem at age eight. He was selected as soloist in the choir of the Chapel Royal. His graduation piece was a suite of music to Shakespeares The Tempest. When it was performed in London in 1862, it was an immediate sensation, Sullivan began his composing career with a series of ambitious works, interspersed with hymns, parlour ballads and other light pieces. Among his best received early pieces were a ballet, LÎle Enchantée, from 1861 to 1872, he supplemented his income by working as a church organist and music teacher, and writing hymns and songs. In 1866, Sullivan composed a comic opera, Cox and Box. His most successful work, the Overture di Ballo, premiered in 1870. Sullivans talent and native charm earned him friends in musical and social circles, including Queen Victorias son Alfred. In 1871, Sullivan wrote his first opera with W. S. Gilbert, Sullivan then produced his Festival Te Deum, an oratorio, The Light of the World, and incidental music for West End productions of several Shakespeare plays. He also had conducting and academic appointments, in 1875, producer Richard DOyly Carte reunited Gilbert and Sullivan to create a one-act piece, Trial by Jury, which was a surprise hit. Pinafore became a sensation, as did The Pirates of Penzance and Patience. Sullivan never married but had a love affair with an American socialite. After the death of his brother Fred in 1877, Sullivan supported Freds large family financially for the rest of his life, effectively adopting his nephew Bertie. Carte used his profits from the Gilbert and Sullivan partnership to build the Savoy Theatre in 1881, later hits in the series were Iolanthe, The Mikado, The Yeomen of the Guard and The Gondoliers. Sullivan was knighted for his contributions to music in 1883 and his infrequent serious pieces during the 1880s included two cantatas, The Martyr of Antioch and The Golden Legend, his most popular choral work. Sullivans only serious opera, Ivanhoe, though successful in 1891, was little-heard after that
6.
Libretto
–
A libretto is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term libretto is also used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as the Mass, requiem and sacred cantata. Libretto, from Italian, is the diminutive of the word libro, sometimes other language equivalents are used for libretti in that language, livret for French works and Textbuch for German. A libretto is distinct from a synopsis or scenario of the plot, in that the libretto contains all the words and stage directions, while a synopsis summarizes the plot. The relationship of the librettist to the composer in the creation of a work has varied over the centuries, as have the sources. In the context of a modern English language musical theatre piece, Libretti for operas, oratorios and cantatas in the 17th and 18th centuries generally were written by someone other than the composer, often a well-known poet. Metastasio was one of the most highly regarded librettists in Europe and his libretti were set many times by many different composers. Another noted 18th-century librettist was Lorenzo Da Ponte, who wrote the libretti for three of Mozarts greatest operas, as well as for other composers. Eugène Scribe was one of the most prolific librettists of the 19th century, providing the words for works by Meyerbeer, Auber, Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini and Verdi. The French writers duo Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote a number of opera and operetta libretti for the likes of Jacques Offenbach, Jules Massenet. Arrigo Boito, who wrote libretti for, among others, Giuseppe Verdi and Amilcare Ponchielli, the libretto is not always written before the music. Some composers wrote their own libretti, Richard Wagner is perhaps most famous in this regard, with his transformations of Germanic legends and events into epic subjects for his operas and music dramas. Hector Berlioz, too, wrote the libretti for two of his works, La Damnation de Faust and Les Troyens. Alban Berg adapted Georg Büchners play Woyzeck for the libretto of Wozzeck, sometimes the libretto is written in close collaboration with the composer, this can involve adaptation, as was the case with Rimsky-Korsakov and his librettist Belsky, or an entirely original work. In the case of musicals, the music, the lyrics, thus, a musical such as Fiddler on the Roof has a composer, a lyricist and the writer of the book. In rare cases, the composer writes everything except the dance arrangements - music, lyrics and libretto, Other matters in the process of developing a libretto parallel those of spoken dramas for stage or screen. A famous case of the latter is Wagners 1861 revision of the original 1845 Dresden version of his opera Tannhäuser for Paris, since the late 19th century some opera composers have written music to prose or free verse libretti. The libretto of a musical, on the hand, is almost always written in prose
7.
Julian Sturgis
–
Julian Russell Sturgis was a novelist, poet, librettist and lyricist. Born in the US, he lived and worked in Britain nearly all his life, educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, Sturgis was a notable athlete. He distinguished himself in Etons sporting activities and rowed for Balliol for three years and he then played association football as an amateur, from 1872 to 1876, and was the first foreigner to play in an FA Cup Final. Sturgis qualified as a barrister, but he embarked on a career in 1874, producing novels, poetry, plays. He wrote the words for four operas, with music by Arthur Goring Thomas, Arthur Sullivan, Alexander Mackenzie and Charles Villiers Stanford and he is, perhaps, best remembered as the librettist for Sullivans 1891 opera Ivanhoe. Sturgis was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of merchant and lawyer Russell Sturgis and his third wife. His great-grandfather was another Russell Sturgis, and his older half-brother was John Hubbard Sturgis, when Julian was seven months old, the family moved to England, where Russell Sturgis joined Baring Brothers in London. The writer Howard Sturgis was Julians younger brother, Sturgis attended Eton from 1862 to 1867, where he played an active role in the mixed Wall and Field XI games in 1867, serving as Keeper of the Field in 1867. He also edited the Eton College Journal and was chairman of Pop, on leaving Eton, he went to Balliol College, Oxford, where he rowed for three years for the college. After graduating in 1872, Sturgis entered the profession, becoming a barrister of the Inner Temple in 1876. During the same four years, he distinguished himself as a footballer, playing for the amateur team the Wanderers when they won the FA Cup in 1873. As all the players in this and the previous Cup Final were either English, Irish or Scottish, Sturgis was the first American to appear in, let alone play on the winning side of. He played in the final at The Oval, Sturgis also played for the Gitanos football club and at county level for Middlesex. Sturgis was granted British nationality in 1877, and he travelled throughout the world in the late 1870s. Sturgiss first published work as a writer was a short piece, The Philosophers Baby. Mr. Sturgis, who must have steeped himself in local inspiration, … But with all its poetical refinement of tone and inspirations of cultivation and art worship there is a great deal of fun in the book in one shape or another. Sturgiss biographer Elizabeth Lee writes that he specialised in light comedies, in 1880 he published Little Comedies, described by Lee as dialogues in dramatic form containing some of his most dazzling and characteristic writing. In 1882 two books by Sturgis came out, Comedies New and Old and Dicks Wandering, in November 1883, he married Mary Maud de la Poer Beresford
8.
Palace Theatre, London
–
The Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London. Its red-brick facade dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus behind a plaza near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue. Richard DOyly Carte, producer of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas and it was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and intended to be a home of English grand opera. The theatre opened as the Royal English Opera House in January 1891 with a production of Arthur Sullivans opera Ivanhoe. Although this ran for 160 performances, followed briefly by André Messagers La Basoche and he leased it to Sarah Bernhardt for a season and sold the opera house within a year at a loss. It was then converted into a music hall and renamed the Palace Theatre of Varieties. In 1897, the theatre began to screen films as part of its programme of entertainment, in 1904, Alfred Butt became manager and continued to combine variety entertainment, including dancing girls, with films. Herman Finck was musical director at the theatre from 1900 until 1920, the Marx Brothers appeared at the theatre in 1922, performing selections from their Broadway shows. In 1925, the musical comedy No, No, Nanette opened at the Palace Theatre, followed by other musicals, the Sound of Music ran for 2,385 performances at the theatre, opening in 1961. Jesus Christ Superstar ran from 1972 to 1980, and Les Misérables played at the theatre for nineteen years, in 1983, Andrew Lloyd Webber purchased and by 1991 had refurbished the theatre. Monty Pythons Spamalot played at the theatre from 2006 until January 2009, between February 2012 and June 2013, it hosted a production of Singin in the Rain. In June 2016, the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child opened at the theatre, commissioned by impresario Richard DOyly Carte in the late 1880s, it was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt. Carte intended it to be the home of English grand opera, much as his Savoy Theatre had been built as a home for English light opera, beginning with the Gilbert and Sullivan series. The foundation stone, laid by his wife Helen in 1888, can still be seen on the façade of the theatre, the theatres design was considered to be novel. The upper levels are supported by heavy steel cantilevers built into the back walls, the tiers, corridors, staircases, landings are all constructed of concrete to reduce the risk and damage that might be done by fire. The theatre opened as the Royal English Opera House in January 1891 with Arthur Sullivans Ivanhoe, No expense was spared to make the production a success, including a double cast and every imaginable effect of scenic splendour. It ran for 160 performances, but when Ivanhoe finally closed in July, Carte had no new work to replace it, one opera is not enough to sustain an opera house venture. It was, as critic Herman Klein observed, the strangest comingling of success, towards the end of the run of Ivanhoe I was already preparing the Flying Dutchman with Eugène Oudin in the name part
9.
Michael William Balfe
–
Michael William Balfe was an Irish composer, best-remembered for his opera The Bohemian Girl. After a short career as a violinist, Balfe pursued a singing career. In a career spanning more than 40 years, he composed at least 29 operas, almost 250 songs and he was also a noted conductor, directing Italian Opera at Her Majestys Theatre for seven years, among other conducting posts. Balfe was born in Dublin, where his musical gifts became apparent at an early age and he received instruction from his father, a dancing master and violinist, and the composer William Rooke. His family moved to Wexford when he was a child, between 1814 and 1815, Balfe played the violin for his fathers dancing-classes, and at the age of seven composed a polacca. In 1817, he appeared as a violinist in public, and in this year composed a ballad, first called Young Fanny and afterwards, when sung in Paul Pry by Madame Vestris, The Lovers Mistake. In 1823, upon the death of his father, the teenaged Balfe moved to London and was engaged as a violinist in the orchestra of the Theatre Royal and he eventually became the leader of that orchestra. While there, he studied violin with Charles Edward Horn and composition with Charles Frederick Horn, while still playing the violin, Balfe pursued a career as an opera singer. He debuted unsuccessfully at Norwich in Carl Maria von Webers Der Freischütz, in 1825, Count Mazzara took him to Rome for vocal and musical studies and introduced him to Luigi Cherubini. Balfe also pursued composing, in Italy, he wrote his first dramatic work and he became a protégée of Rossinis, and at the close of 1827, he appeared as Figaro in The Barber of Seville at the Italian opera in Paris. Balfe soon returned to Italy, where he was based for the eight years. He met Maria Malibran while singing at the Paris Opera during this period, in 1829 in Bologna, Balfe composed his first cantata for the soprano Giulia Grisi, then 18 years old. She performed it with the tenor Francesco Pedrazzi with much success, Balfe produced his first complete opera, I rivali di se stessi, at Palermo in the carnival season of 1829—1830. Around 1831, he married Lina Roser, a Hungarian-born singer of Austrian parentage whom he had met at Bergamo, the couple had two sons and two daughters. Their younger son, Edward, died in infancy and their elder son, Michael William Jr. died in 1915. Their daughters were Louisa and Victoire, Balfe wrote another opera Un avvertimento ai gelosi at Pavia, and Enrico Quarto at Milan, where he had been engaged to sing in Rossinis Otello with Malibran at La Scala in 1834. An unpopular attempt at improving Giacomo Meyerbeers opera, Il crociato in Egitto, by interpolated music of his own, Balfe returned to London with his wife and young daughter in May 1835. His initial success took place months later, with the premiere of The Siege of Rochelle on 29 October 1835 at Drury Lane
10.
Edward VII
–
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, before his accession to the throne, he served as heir apparent and held the title of Prince of Wales for longer than any of his predecessors. During the long reign of his mother, he was excluded from political power. He travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial duties, and represented Britain on visits abroad. His tours of North America in 1860 and the Indian subcontinent in 1875 were popular successes, as king, Edward played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet and the reorganisation of the British Army after the Second Boer War. He reinstituted traditional ceremonies as public displays and broadened the range of people with whom royalty socialised and he died in 1910 in the midst of a constitutional crisis that was resolved the following year by the Parliament Act 1911, which restricted the power of the unelected House of Lords. Edward was born at 10,48 in the morning on 9 November 1841 in Buckingham Palace and he was the eldest son and second child of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was christened Albert Edward at St Georges Chapel, Windsor Castle and he was named Albert after his father and Edward after his maternal grandfather Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn. He was known as Bertie to the family throughout his life. As the eldest son of the British sovereign, he was automatically Duke of Cornwall, as a son of Prince Albert, he also held the titles of Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Saxony. He was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on 8 December 1841, Earl of Dublin on 17 January 1850, a Knight of the Garter on 9 November 1858, and a Knight of the Thistle on 24 May 1867. In 1863, he renounced his rights to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in favour of his younger brother. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were determined that their eldest son should have an education that would prepare him to be a constitutional monarch. At age seven, Edward embarked on an educational programme devised by Prince Albert. Unlike his elder sister Victoria, Edward did not excel in his studies and he tried to meet the expectations of his parents, but to no avail. Although Edward was not a diligent student—his true talents were those of charm, sociability and tact—Benjamin Disraeli described him as informed, intelligent, after the completion of his secondary-level studies, his tutor was replaced by a personal governor, Robert Bruce. After an educational trip to Rome, undertaken in the first few months of 1859, he spent the summer of that year studying at the University of Edinburgh under, among others, in October, he matriculated as an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford. Now released from the strictures imposed by his parents, he enjoyed studying for the first time
11.
Carl Rosa Opera Company
–
The Carl Rosa Opera Company was founded in 1873 by Carl August Nicholas Rosa, a German-born musical impresario, to present opera in English in London and the British provinces. The company premiered many operas in the UK, employing a mix of established stars and young singers. It survived Rosas death in 1889, and continued to present opera in English on tour until 1960, the company was revived in 1997, presenting mostly lighter operatic works including Gilbert and Sullivan. The company was arguably the most influential opera company ever in the UK, Carl Rosa was born Karl August Nikolaus Rose in Hamburg, Germany, the son of a local businessman. A child violin prodigy, Rosa studied at the Conservatorium at Leipzig, in 1863 he was appointed Konzertmeister at Hamburg, where he had occasional opportunities to conduct. He soon had success as a conductor both in England and the United States. During an American tour in 1866–67 as conductor of a troupe that included the Scottish operatic soprano Euphrosyne Parepa, Rosa. From 1869 to 1872, Rosa and his wife toured their own opera company through America, with Parepa as the star and it brought opera to places that had never seen any, performing Italian operas in English, which made them more accessible to American audiences. In 1872, the Rosas returned to England and also visited Europe, in September the next year, they inaugurated the Carl Rosa Opera with a performance of William Vincent Wallaces Maritana in Manchester, on 1 September, and then toured England and Ireland. Rosas policy was to present operas in English, and that remained the companys practice, Parepa died in childbirth in January 1874, and Rosa married a second time in 1881, to Josephine, with whom he had four children. In November 1874, Carl Rosa Opera made its first of many visits to Scotland with a season at Glasgows Prince of Wales Theatre. The companys first London season opened at the Princesss Theatre in September 1875, playing Mozarts The Marriage of Figaro, with Charles Santley as Figaro and Rose Hersee as Susanna. In 1876, Rosa staged a second London season, which featured the first performance in English of Wagners The Flying Dutchman, with Santley in the title role. For the next fifteen years, the company prospered and earned good notices, with tours and London seasons. Such was the success of the company that at one point three Carl Rosa touring troupes were set up, in October 1892, Rosas Grand Opera Company received the royal accolade, with a command performance of Donizettis La fille du régiment at Balmoral Castle. The French-American soprano Zélie de Lussan sang the heroine, Marie, the company introduced many works of important opera repertoire to England for the first time, performing some 150 different operas over the years. Alberto Randegger served as director of the company from 1879 to 1885. The company also encouraged and supported new works by English composers, pauline in 1876, Esmeralda in 1883, Colomba in 1883 and The Troubabour, and The Canterbury Pilgrims in 1884 were five of the operas commissioned by the company
12.
Richard D'Oyly Carte
–
Richard DOyly Carte was an English talent agent, theatrical impresario, composer and hotelier during the latter half of the Victorian era. Carte started his working for his father, Richard Carte, in the music publishing. As a young man, he conducted and composed music, Carte believed that a school of wholesome, well-crafted, family-friendly, English comic opera could be as popular as the risqué French works dominating the London musical stage in the 1870s. To that end, he brought together the dramatist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan and, together with his wife Helen Carte and he founded the DOyly Carte Opera Company and built the state-of-the-art Savoy Theatre to host the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Carte also built the Savoy Hotel in London, and acquired other luxury hotels and his opera company, later operated by Helen and then by his son, Rupert, and granddaughter, Bridget, promoted those works for over a century, and they are still performed regularly today. Carte was born in Greek Street in the West End of London on 3 May 1844 and he was the eldest of six children. His father, Richard Carte, was a flautist, and his mother was the former Eliza Jones, they had eloped, to the disappointment of her father, Thomas Jones and his siblings were Blanch, Viola, Rose, Henry and Eliza. Carte was of Welsh and Norman ancestry, DOyly is a Norman French name which was a forename, to supplement his income as a performer, Cartes father joined the firm of Rudall, Rose & Co. musical instrument makers and music publishers, in 1850. After he became a partner in the business, it changed its name to Rudall, Rose, Carte and Co. and later to Rudall, Carte was brought up in Dartmouth Park Road. His cultured mother exposed her family to art, music and poetry, the family spoke French at home two days a week, and his parents often took their children to the theatre. He was educated at University College School, which he left in 1860, in 1861, he achieved First Class level in the matriculation examination and then attended University College, London. However, he later that year to work in his fathers business, along with his brother. He studied music during this time and composed pieces, which he dedicated to the actress Kate Terry. He also acted in amateur theatricals, spencer Mott, at Londons Opera Comique in 1871, and Happy Hampstead, with librettist Frank Desprez, which debuted on an 1876 provincial tour and then played at the Royalty Theatre in 1877. On tour in 1871, Carte conducted Cox and Box by composer Arthur Sullivan, burnand, in tandem with English adaptations of two Offenbach pieces, called Rose of Auvergne and Breaking the Spell, in which Cartes client Selina Dolaro appeared. Cartes musical talent would be later in his career, as he was able to audition singers himself from the pianoforte. Hesketh Pearson said of Carte, His acute business sense was aided by a frank and he took what other people thought were risks, but he felt were certainties. And his practical judgement was as sure as his sense of artistry, Carte announced his ambitions on the front of the programme for the latter, It is my desire to establish in London a permanent abode for light Opera
13.
Gilbert and Sullivan
–
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H. M. S, Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado are among the best known. Sullivan, six years Gilberts junior, composed the music, contributing memorable melodies that could convey both humour and pathos and their operas have enjoyed broad and enduring international success and are still performed frequently throughout the English-speaking world. Gilbert and Sullivan introduced innovations in content and form that influenced the development of musical theatre through the 20th century. The operas have influenced political discourse, literature, film. Producer Richard DOyly Carte brought Gilbert and Sullivan together and nurtured their collaboration and he built the Savoy Theatre in 1881 to present their joint works and founded the DOyly Carte Opera Company, which performed and promoted Gilbert and Sullivans works for over a century. Gilbert was born in London on 18 November 1836 and his father, William, was a naval surgeon who later wrote novels and short stories, some of which included illustrations by his son. Director and playwright Mike Leigh described the Gilbertian style as follows, With great fluidity and freedom, First, within the framework of the story, he makes bizarre things happen, and turns the world on its head. Thus the Learned Judge marries the Plaintiff, the soldiers metamorphose into aesthetes, and so on and his genius is to fuse opposites with an imperceptible sleight of hand, to blend the surreal with the real, and the caricature with the natural. In other words, to tell a perfectly outrageous story in a deadpan way. Gilbert developed his theories on the art of stage direction. At the time Gilbert began writing, theatre in Britain was in disrepute, Gilbert helped to reform and elevate the respectability of the theatre, especially beginning with his six short family-friendly comic operas, or entertainments, for Thomas German Reed. At a rehearsal for one of these entertainments, Ages Ago, the composer Frederic Clay introduced Gilbert to his friend, two years later, Gilbert and Sullivan would write their first work together. Those two intervening years continued to shape Gilberts theatrical style, Sullivan was born in London on 13 May 1842. His father was a bandmaster, and by the time Arthur had reached the age of eight. In school he began to compose anthems and songs, in 1856, he received the first Mendelssohn Scholarship and studied at the Royal Academy of Music and then at Leipzig, where he also took up conducting. His graduation piece, completed in 1861, was a suite of music to Shakespeares The Tempest. Revised and expanded, it was performed at the Crystal Palace in 1862 and was an immediate sensation and he began building a reputation as Englands most promising young composer, composing a symphony, a concerto, and several overtures, among them the Overture di Ballo, in 1870
14.
Cantata
–
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. Cantatas for use in the liturgy of church services are called church cantata or sacred cantata, several cantatas were, and still are, written for special occasions, such as Christmas cantatas. Johann Sebastian Bach composed cycles of cantatas for the occasions of the liturgical year. The term originated in the early 17th century simultaneously with opera, prior to that, all cultured music was vocal. With the rise of music the term appeared, while the instrumental art became sufficiently developed to be embodied in sonatas. From the beginning of the 17th century until late in the 18th, a cantata consisted first of a declamatory narrative or scene in recitative, held together by a primitive aria repeated at intervals. Fine examples may be found in the music of Giacomo Carissimi. With the rise of the da capo aria, the became a group of two or three arias joined by recitative. George Frideric Handels numerous Italian duets and trios are examples on a large scale. His Latin motet Silete Venti, for solo, shows the use of this form in church music. This is equally evident whether we examine the church cantatas of Bach, of which nearly 200 are extant. Cantatas were in demand for the services of the Lutheran church. Many secular cantatas were composed for events in the nobility and they were so similar in form to the sacred ones that many of them were parodied to sacred cantatas, for example in Bachs Christmas Oratorio. The term cantata came to be applied almost exclusively to choral works, Anton Bruckner composed several Name-day cantatas, a Festive Cantata and two secular cantatas. Brucknerss Psalm 146 is also in cantata form, mendelssohns Symphony Cantata, the Lobgesang, is a hybrid work, partly in the oratorio style. Robert Schumann wrote the cantata Paradise and the Peri, the full lyric possibilities of a string of choral songs were realized by Johannes Brahms in his Rinaldo, that—like the Walpurgisnacht—was set to a text by Goethe. The competition for the French Prix de Rome prescribed that each candidate submit a cantata, hector Berlioz failed in three attempts before finally winning in 1830 with Sardanapale. While almost all of the Prix de Rome cantatas have long since been forgotten, cantatas, both of the chamber variety and on a grand scale, were composed after 1900 as well
15.
The Golden Legend (cantata)
–
The Golden Legend is a cantata by Arthur Sullivan with libretto by Joseph Bennett, based on the 1851 poem of the same name by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The piece premiered at the triennial Leeds Music Festival, indeed, outside of the comic operas with W. S. Gilbert, this cantata was widely regarded as Sullivans most successful large-scale composition. A few days after the first performance, Gilbert wrote to Sullivan, in May 1888, there was a performance of the work at the Royal Albert Hall by command of Queen Victoria. She sent for Sullivan after the performance and said, At last I have heard The Golden Legend and you ought to write a grand opera – you would do it so well. Numerous amateur choral societies performed the work, and at one point the composer declared a moratorium on its performance, in recent decades, however, there has been a significant revival of interest in Sullivans compositions, including The Golden Legend. By 1886, Sullivan was serving as the Leeds Festivals musical director for the time. Only weeks before Sullivan began composing The Golden Legend in the spring of 1886, Sullivan had met Liszt many years earlier in Leipzig, when Sullivan was a student there, and he now escorted the older composer to functions given in his honour. During this visit, Liszts music was heard in London, including his sacred cantata, like Sullivans other Leeds Festival pieces, such as The Martyr of Antioch, the work was presented on a grand scale, with 325 voices and 120 orchestra players. The festival was held 13–16 October 1886, and the premiere of The Golden Legend took place on Saturday,16 October 1886, its success with audiences and this failure foreshadows Lucifers ultimate defeat. Scene one depicts Prince Henry of Hoheneck at his Castle of Vautsberg on the Rhine being tempted by Lucifer, Elsie hopes that by giving her life for Henry, she will become closer to Christ. Elsie and Henry set out for Salerno, scene three has Elsie and Henry travelling to Salerno, although Henry is disturbed by the fate that awaits Elsie. They pass a band of pilgrims, which is joined by a friar who is really Lucifer in disguise, Lucifer gloats over Elsies fate, and Elsie and Henry find comfort in each other. The couple arrive in Salerno in scene four, where Lucifer reappears disguised as Friar Angelo, despite the opposition of the Prince, who now declares that he intended to do no more than test her constancy, Elsie persists in her resolve to die for him. Lucifer plans to claim Elsies soul for his own rather than let it rise to Heaven and he draws Elsie into an inner chamber, but at the last minute, Henry breaks down the door and rescues her from the doctor and eternal damnation. In the fifth scene, a forester brings the news to an anxious Ursula that her daughter is not dead, miraculously healed, Prince Henry marries Elsie and is restored to his rightful place. The final scene finds Henry and Elsie on the evening of their wedding day, an epilogue provides the moral and explains that Prince Henrys malady was cured by love. Elsies devotion is compared to the course of a brook that cools. After the first performance, The Leeds Mercury reported, How can we describe the scene which followed the last note of the cantata, never was a more heartfelt ovation
16.
Royal Albert Hall
–
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, which holds the Proms concerts annually each summer since 1941. It has a capacity of up to 5,272 seats, the Hall is a registered charity held in trust for the nation and receives no public or government funding. A further 400 events are each year in the non-auditorium spaces. In 1851, the Great Exhibition was held in Hyde Park, the Exhibitions Royal Commission bought Gore House and its grounds on the advice of the Prince. Progress on the scheme was slow and in 1861 Prince Albert died, however, a memorial was proposed for Hyde Park, with a Great Hall opposite. The proposal was approved and the site was purchased with some of the profits from the Exhibition, the Hall was designed by civil engineers Captain Francis Fowke and Major-General Henry Y. D. Scott of the Royal Engineers and built by Lucas Brothers. The designers were heavily influenced by ancient amphitheatres, but had also exposed to the ideas of Gottfried Semper while he was working at the South Kensington Museum. The recently opened Cirque dHiver in Paris was seen in the press as the design to outdo. The Hall was constructed mainly of Fareham Red brick, with terra cotta block decoration made by Gibbs, the dome on top was made of wrought iron and glazed. There was an assembly made of the iron framework of the dome in Manchester, then it was taken apart again and transported to London via horse. When the time came for the structure to be removed from the dome after reassembly in situ. It did drop – but only by five-sixteenths of an inch, the Hall was scheduled to be completed by Christmas Day 1870 and the Queen visited a few weeks beforehand to inspect. The official opening ceremony of the Hall was on 29 March 1871, a welcoming speech was given by Edward, the Prince of Wales, Queen Victoria was too overcome to speak. At some point, the Queen remarked that the Hall reminded her of the British constitution, a concert followed, when the Halls acoustic problems became immediately apparent. Engineers first attempted to solve the strong echo by suspending a canvas awning below the dome, in July 1871, French organist Camille Saint-Saëns performed Church Scene from the Faust by Charles Gounod, The Orchestra described his performance as an exceptional and distinguished performer. Initially lit by gas, the Hall contained a system where its thousands of gas jets were lit within ten seconds. Though it was demonstrated as early as 1873 in the Hall, full electric lighting was not installed until 1888, during an early trial when a partial installation was made, one disgruntled patron wrote to The Times declaring it to be a very ghastly and unpleasant innovation. In May 1877, Richard Wagner himself conducted the first half of each of the eight concerts which made up the Grand Wagner Festival
17.
Queen Victoria
–
Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she adopted the title of Empress of India. Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, both the Duke of Kent and King George III died in 1820, and Victoria was raised under close supervision by her German-born mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She inherited the throne aged 18, after her fathers three brothers had all died, leaving no surviving legitimate children. The United Kingdom was already a constitutional monarchy, in which the sovereign held relatively little direct political power. Privately, Victoria attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments, publicly, Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, tying them together, after Alberts death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism temporarily gained strength and her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration. Her reign of 63 years and seven months is known as the Victorian era and it was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover and her son and successor, Edward VII, belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the line of his father. Victorias father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, until 1817, Edwards niece, Princess Charlotte of Wales, was the only legitimate grandchild of George III. Her death in 1817 precipitated a crisis that brought pressure on the Duke of Kent. In 1818 he married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, a widowed German princess with two children—Carl and Feodora —by her first marriage to the Prince of Leiningen and her brother Leopold was Princess Charlottes widower. The Duke and Duchess of Kents only child, Victoria, was born at 4.15 a. m. on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. Victoria was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, on 24 June 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace and she was baptised Alexandrina, after one of her godparents, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria, after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina, Charlotte, and Augusta—were dropped on the instructions of the Dukes eldest brother, George, the Duke of Clarence and the Duke of Kent married on the same day in 1818, but both of Clarences daughters died as infants. Victorias father died in January 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old, a week later her grandfather died and was succeeded by his eldest son, George IV. The Duke of York died in 1827, when George IV died in 1830, he was succeeded by his next surviving brother, William IV, and Victoria became heir presumptive
18.
George Bernard Shaw
–
He wrote more than sixty plays, including major works such as Man and Superman, Pygmalion and Saint Joan. With a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory, Shaw became the leading dramatist of his generation, born in Dublin, Shaw moved to London in 1873, where he established himself as a writer and novelist. By the mid-1880s he was a theatre and music critic. Following a political awakening, he joined the gradualist Fabian Society, Shaw had been writing plays for years before his first public success, 1894s Arms and the Man. Influenced by Henrik Ibsen, he sought to introduce a new realism into English-language drama, using his plays as vehicles to disseminate his political, social and religious ideas. By the early twentieth century his reputation as a dramatist was secured with a series of critical and popular successes that included Major Barbara, The Doctors Dilemma and Caesar, Shaws expressed views were often contentious, he promoted eugenics and alphabet reform while opposing vaccination and organised religion. He courted unpopularity by denouncing both sides in the First World War as equally culpable and he castigated British policy on Ireland in the postwar period, and became a citizen of the Irish Free State in 1934, maintaining dual citizenship. He was prolific, finishing during the years a series of often ambitious plays which achieved varying degrees of popular success. Since Shaws death, opinion has varied about his works and he has at times been rated as second only to William Shakespeare among English-language dramatists, analysts recognise his extensive influence on generations of playwrights. The word Shavian has entered the language as encapsulating Shaws ideas, Shaw was born at 3 Upper Synge Street in Portobello, a lower-middle-class part of Dublin. He was the youngest child and only son of George Carr Shaw and his elder siblings were Lucinda Frances and Elinor Agnes. The Shaw family was of English descent and belonged to the dominant Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland, George Carr Shaw and his relatives secured him a sinecure in the civil service, from which he was pensioned off in the early 1850s, thereafter he worked irregularly as a corn merchant. In 1852 he married Bessie Gurly, in the view of Shaws biographer Michael Holroyd she married to escape a tyrannical great-aunt, if, as Holroyd and others surmise, Georges motives were mercenary, then he was disappointed, as Bessie brought him little of her familys money. She came to despise her ineffectual and often drunken husband, with whom she shared what their son later described as a life of shabby-genteel poverty. By the time of Shaws birth, his mother had become close to George John Lee, Shaw retained a lifelong obsession that Lee might have been his biological father, there is no consensus among Shavian scholars on the likelihood of this. The young Shaw suffered no harshness from his mother, but he recalled that her indifference. He found solace in the music that abounded in the house, Lee was a conductor and teacher of singing, Bessie had a fine mezzo-soprano voice and was much influenced by Lees unorthodox method of vocal production. The Shaws house was filled with music, with frequent gatherings of singers and players
19.
Royal Opera House
–
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
20.
Her Majesty's Theatre
–
Her Majestys Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, M. Synge, Noël Coward and J. B. Since the First World War, the stage has made the theatre suitable for large-scale musical productions. The theatre was established by architect and playwright John Vanbrugh, in 1705, legitimate drama unaccompanied by music was prohibited by law in all but the two London patent theatres, and so this theatre quickly became an opera house. Between 1711 and 1739, more than 25 operas by George Frideric Handel premiered here and it also hosted the Ballet of her Majestys Theatre in the mid-19th century, before returning to hosting the London premieres of such operas as Bizets Carmen and Wagners Ring Cycle. The name of the changes with the sex of the monarch. It first became the Kings Theatre in 1714 on the accession of George I and it was renamed Her Majestys Theatre in 1837. Most recently, the theatre was known as His Majestys Theatre from 1901 to 1952, the theatres capacity is 1,216 seats, and the building was Grade II* listed by English Heritage in 1970. Really Useful Theatres has owned the building since 2000, the land beneath it is on a long-term lease from the Crown Estate. In the new business, he hoped to improve the share of profits that would go to playwrights, —John Vanbrughs notice of subscription for the new theatre He was joined in the enterprise by his principal associate and manager William Congreve and an actors co-operative led by Thomas Betterton. The theatre provided the first alternative to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, built in 1663, the theatres site is the second oldest such site in London that remains in use. These three post-interregnum theatres defined the shape and use of modern theatres, the land for the theatre was held on a lease renewable in 1740 and was ultimately owned, as it is today, by the Crown Estate. Building was delayed by the necessity of acquiring the street frontage, colley Cibber described the audience fittings as lavish but the facilities for playing poor. This was the first Italian opera performed in London, the opera failed, and the season struggled on through May, with revivals of plays and operas. The first new play performed was The Conquest of Spain by Mary Pix, the theatre proved too large for actors voices to carry across the auditorium, and the first season was a failure. Congreve departed, Vanbrugh bought out his partners, and the actors reopened the Lincolns Inn Fields theatre in the summer. On 7 May 1707, experiencing mounting losses and running costs, after 1709, the theatre was devoted to Italian opera and was sometimes known informally as the Haymarket Opera House. Young George Frideric Handel produced his English début, Rinaldo, on 24 February 1711 at the theatre and this was the first Italian opera composed specifically for the London stage
21.
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
–
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, a West End theatre, is a Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane, the building is the most recent in a line of four theatres which were built at the same location, the earliest of which dated back to 1663, making it the oldest theatre site in London still in use. According to the author Peter Thomson, for its first two centuries, Drury Lane could reasonably have claimed to be Londons leading theatre. For most of time, it was one of a handful of patent theatres. The first theatre on the site was built at the behest of Thomas Killigrew in the early 1660s, when theatres were allowed to reopen during the English Restoration. Initially known as Theatre Royal in Bridges Street, the proprietors hired a number of prominent actors who performed at the theatre on a regular basis, including Nell Gwyn. In 1672 the theatre caught fire and Killigrew built a theatre on the same plot, renamed the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane. This building lasted nearly 120 years, under the leaderships of Colley Cibber, David Garrick and Richard Brinsley Sheridan, in 1791, under Sheridans management, the building was demolished to make way for a larger theatre which opened in 1794. This new Drury Lane survived for 15 years before burning down in 1809, the building that stands today opened in 1812. It has been the residency of a number of known actors including, Edmund Kean, comedian Dan Leno. From the Second World War, the theatre has primarily hosted long runs of musicals and my Fair Lady, 42nd Street and Miss Saigon, the theatres longest-running show. The theatre is owned by the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, soon after, Charles issued Letters Patent to two parties licensing the formation of new acting companies. One of these went to Thomas Killigrew, whose company became known as the Kings Company, the new playhouse, architect unknown, opened on 7 May 1663 and was known from the placement of the entrance as the Theatre Royal in Bridges Street. It went by names as well, including the Kings Playhouse. The building was a wooden structure,112 feet long and 59 feet wide. Set well back from the streets, the theatre was accessed by narrow passages between surrounding buildings. The King himself frequently attended the productions, as did Samuel Pepys. The day after the Theatre Royal opened, Pepys attended a performance of Francis Beaumont, performances usually began at 3 pm to take advantage of the daylight, the main floor for the audience, the pit, had no roof in order to let in the light
22.
Frederic Hymen Cowen
–
Sir Frederic Hymen Cowen, was a British pianist, conductor and composer. Cowen was born Hymen Frederick Cohen at 90 Duke Street, Kingston, Jamaica and his siblings were Elizabeth Rose Cohen, actress, Henrietta Sophia Cohen, painter, Lionel Jonas Cohen and Emma Magnay Cohen. The family initially lived at 11 Warwick Crescent, London, in the known as Little Venice. His first teacher was Henry Russell, and his first published composition, Minna-waltz and he produced his first published operetta, Garibaldi, at the age of eight. With the help of the Earl of Dudley, he studied the piano with Julius Benedict and his first public appearance as a pianist was as an accompanist in one of his own early songs sung by Mrs Drayton at a concert in Brighton in the early 1860s. At the same venue a year later he premiered his Pianoforte Trio in A major with Joseph Joachim playing the violin part. By the Autumn of 1865 it was the judgment of his instructors, Julius Benedict and John Goss, by coincidence the second competition for the Mendelssohn Scholarship was due to be held that gave its winner three years of tuition at the Leipzig Conservatorium. Cowen attended the examination and won the prize, but his parents intervened, as they were not prepared to give up control of him, instead, they agreed to send him to the same institution, but as an independent student. Charles Swinnerton Heap was awarded the prize in his place, at Leipzig, overseen by Ernst Friedrich Eduard Richter, Cowen studied under Moritz Hauptmann, Ignaz Moscheles, Carl Reinecke and Ferdinand David. He also came into contact with Salomon Jadassohn and Ernst Wenzel, cowens fellow students and companions in Leipzig included Swinnerton Heap, Johan Svendsen, Oscar Beringer and Stephen Adams. A symphony and a piano concerto were given in St, in that year his opera, Pauline, was given by the Carl Rosa Opera Company with moderate success. Appearing in 1880, it proved to be the most regularly and widely performed British symphony until the arrival of Elgars First. In 1884 he conducted five concerts of the Philharmonic Society of London, the directors took umbrage at his remarks and did not renew his contract. In 1896, Cowen was appointed conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society and of the Hallé Orchestra and he was ousted from the Hallé after three years in favour of Hans Richter. In 1899, he was reappointed conductor of the Philharmonic Society of London, cowen’s career, both as composer and conductor, is now almost forgotten. Whether in his cantatas for female voices, his charming Sleeping Beauty, his Water Lily or his pretty overture, The Butterflys Ball and his dance music, such as is to be found in various orchestral suites, is refined, original and admirably instrumented. Much of his serious music is commendable rather than inspired. Indeed, his works, written for the numerous musical festivals around Victorian and Edwardian Britain
23.
W. S. Gilbert
–
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for the fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan. The most famous of these include H. M. S, Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and one of the most frequently performed works in the history of musical theatre, The Mikado. The popularity of works was supported for over a century by year-round performances of them, in Britain and abroad, by the repertory company that they founded. Eleven of the Savoy operas continue to be performed in the English-speaking world and beyond by opera companies, repertory companies, schools. Lines from these works have become part of the English language, such as short, sharp shock, What, and Let the punishment fit the crime. Gilberts creative output included over 75 plays and libretti, and numerous stories, poems and lyrics. He also began to write burlesques and his first comic plays, developing a unique absurdist and he also developed a realistic method of stage direction and a reputation as a strict theatre director. M. S. Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance, in the 1880s, Gilbert focused on the Savoy operas, including Patience, Iolanthe, The Mikado, The Yeomen of the Guard and The Gondoliers. Gilbert won the lawsuit, but the argument caused hurt feelings among the partnership. Although Gilbert and Sullivan were persuaded to collaborate on two last operas, they were not as successful as the previous ones, in later years, Gilbert wrote several plays, and a few operas with other collaborators. He retired, with his wife and ward, Nancy McIntosh, to a country estate, Gilbert died of a heart attack while attempting to rescue a young woman to whom he was giving a swimming lesson in the lake at his home. Gilbert was born at 17 Southampton Street, Strand, London and his father, also named William, was briefly a naval surgeon, who later became a writer of novels and short stories, some of which were illustrated by his son. Gilberts mother was the former Anne Mary Bye Morris, the daughter of Thomas Morris, Gilberts parents were distant and stern, and he did not have a particularly close relationship with either of them. They quarrelled increasingly, and following the break-up of their marriage in 1876, his relationships with them, especially his mother, Gilbert was nicknamed Bab as a baby, and then Schwenck, after his fathers godparents. As a child, Gilbert travelled to Italy in 1838 and then France for two years with his parents, who returned to settle in London in 1847. He then attended Kings College London, graduating in 1856, instead he joined the Civil Service, he was an assistant clerk in the Privy Council Office for four years and hated it. In 1859 he joined the Militia, a volunteer force formed for the defence of Britain, with which he served until 1878. In 1863 he received a bequest of £300 that he used to leave the service and take up a brief career as a barrister
24.
Arthur Goring Thomas
–
Arthur Goring Thomas was an English composer. He was the youngest son of Freeman Thomas and Amelia, daughter of Colonel Thomas Frederick and he was born at Ratton Park, Sussex, and educated at Haileybury College. He was intended for the Civil Service, but delicate health interfered with his studies, here he studied for two years with Émile Durand. At a later period he received instruction in orchestration from Max Bruch. His first published composition was a song, Le Roi Henri, an early comic opera, Don Braggadocio, was apparently unfinished, some of the music in it was afterwards used for The Golden Web. This contained the very successful aria O, vision entrancing, two years later the opera was given at Cologne and Hamburg, and in 1890 at Covent Garden. On 16 April 1885, at Drury Lane, Rosa produced Thomass fourth and best opera, Nadeshda, in spite of some positive critical attention, interest in the opera was short-lived. Besides these dramatic works, Thomass chief compositions were a psalm, Out of the Deep, for solo and chorus, a choral ode, The Sun Worshippers. A cantata, The Swan and the Skylark, was found in piano score among his manuscripts after his death, it was orchestrated by Charles Villiers Stanford and his minor compositions include over 100 songs and duets. He was buried in Finchley Cemetery, Goring Thomas occupies a distinct place among English composers of the 19th century. His music, which traces of his early French training, reveals a great talent for dramatic composition. Personally the most amiable of men, he was most critical of his own work, never attempting anything for which he felt he was unfitted, attribution This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Squire, William Barclay. Free scores by Arthur Goring Thomas at the International Music Score Library Project
25.
Gioachino Rossini
–
Gioachino Antonio Rossini was an Italian composer who wrote operas, as well as some sacred music, songs, chamber music and piano pieces. A precocious composer of operas, he made his debut at the age of eighteen. His best-known operas include the Italian comedies Il barbiere di Siviglia, Litaliana in Algeri and he also wrote a string of serious operas in Italian, including works such as Tancredi, Otello and Semiramide. The semi-serious opera La Gazza Ladra has one of Rossinis most celebrated overtures, after moving to Paris in 1824, he eventually started to write in French. His last opera, the epic Guillaume Tell, replete with its iconic overture, after composing thirty-nine significant operas in nineteen years Rossini retired from the theatre in 1829. Later, he was affected by physical and mental illnesses and for decades wrote relatively little apart from a setting of the Stabat Mater. A return to Paris from Italy in 1855 was followed by better health, during these, he presented salon music in the form of songs, piano pieces and small chamber ensembles that he called Sins of Old Age. He considered the last of these Sins to be the unusually scored Petite messe solennelle that he wrote in 1863, Rossini had been the most popular opera composer in history, and he was one of the most renowned public figures of his time. A rapid and prolific composer, he was quoted as joking, Give me the laundress bill, a tendency for inspired, song-like melodies is evident throughout his scores, earning him the nickname The Italian Mozart. Use of a build up of orchestral sound over a repeated phrase—commonly known as a Rossini crescendo—also prompted the nickname Signor Crescendo. Gioachino Antonio Rossini was born into a family of musicians in Pesaro and his father, Giuseppe, was a horn player and inspector of slaughterhouses. His mother, Anna, was a singer and a bakers daughter, Rossinis father was sympathetic to the French Revolution and welcomed Napoleons troops when they arrived in northern Italy. When Austria restored the old regime, Rossinis father was sent to prison in 1799, Rossinis mother took him to Bologna, making a living as leading singer at various theatres of the Romagna region. Her husband would ultimately join her in Bologna, during this time, Rossini was frequently left in the care of his aging grandmother, who had difficulty supervising the boy. He remained at Bologna in the care of a pork butcher while his father played the horn in the orchestras of the theatres at which his wife sang and these qualities made him a subject for ridicule in the eyes of the young Rossini. He was eventually taken from Prinetti and apprenticed to a blacksmith, in Angelo Tesei, he found a congenial music master, and learned to sight-read, play accompaniments on the piano and sing well enough to take solo parts in the church when he was ten years of age. Important products of this period are six sonate a quattro, or string sonatas, the original scores, dating from 1804 when the composer was twelve, were found in the Library of Congress in Washington D. C. In 1805, he appeared at the theatre of the Commune in Ferdinando Paers Camilla and he was also a capable horn player, treading in the footsteps of his father
26.
Heinrich Marschner
–
Heinrich August Marschner was the most important composer of German opera between Weber and Wagner. Marschner was born in Zittau and was intended for a legal career. After a meeting with Beethoven around 1815–16, he decided to devote himself to music, Marschner was widely regarded as one of the most important composers in Europe from about 1830 until the end of the 19th century. He was a rival of Weber and friend of Beethoven and Mendelssohn and his operas often contain thematic material based on folksong, and this folk-influenced genre had begun with Webers Der Freischütz. The last of his operas, Austin, was first staged in 1852 and it was not very well received, and later the increasingly renowned Wagner overshadowed him. Schumann praised Marschners piano trios lavishly, Marschner did not just toss off these works as an afterthought, but clearly devoted considerable time and effort to writing them. He gave the title Grand Trio to each of his works for piano, violin and cello, in these pieces, one finds all of the emotions prevalent in the Romantic movement during the mid-19th century. To the extent that Marschner is still remembered, it is largely for his operas Hans Heiling, Der Vampyr and Der Templer und die Jüdin, extremely popular in his lifetime. Marschners ability to depict supernatural horror by musical means is especially evident in the first two operas as well as in some of his ballads, such as Die Monduhr, next to his operas, Marschners most significant musical contribution is to the Lied. The best of his works in form are comparable with those by Carl Loewe. He also wrote a considerable amount of music, including seven piano trios. Marschners Bagatelles for guitar have been taken up lately by some guitarists, among his operas, Hans Heiling and especially Der Vampyr have been adapted and revived in recent years with considerable success. Wie die Hans Heilings, Weber, Marschner, and Thomas Manns Doktor Faustus, Marschners Villains, Monomania, and the Fantasy of Deviance. Berlin, Harmonie, Verlagsgesellschaft für Literatur und Kunst, palmer, Allen Dean, Heinrich August Marschner, 1795–1861. Ann Arbor 1980 Weber, Brigitta, Heinrich Marschner, ISBN 3-931266-01-X Von der Lucretia zum Vampyr. Dokumente zur Entstehung und Rezeption der Lucretia, vollständige Edition des Reise-Tagebuchs von 1826 bis 1828. Und kommentiert von Till Gerrit Waidelich, ein Symposium des Instituts für Kulturelle Infrastruktur Sachsen. Hrsg. von Allmuth Behrendt und Matthias Theodor Vogt
27.
Giovanni Pacini
–
Giovanni Pacini was an Italian composer, best known for his operas. Pacini was born in Catania, Sicily, the son of the buffo Luigi Pacini, the family was of Tuscan origin, and just happened to be in Catania when the composer was born. His first 25 or so operas were written when Gioachino Rossini dominated the Italian operatic stage, but Pacinis operas were rather superficial, a fact which, later, he candidly admitted in his Memoirs. For some years he held the post of director of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Pacinis work is largely forgotten today, although some recordings do exist. During his lifetime, Pacini wrote some 74 operas and this is less than earlier estimates, which ranged from 80 to 90, since it has now been ascertained that many were just alternate titles for other works. It has been noted that he bothered little about harmony and instrumentation, orchestration became heavier, coloratura was reduced, especially for mens voices, and more importance was placed on lyrical pathos. While there were exceptions, romantic leads were assigned to tenors, villains became basses or later baritones. Over time, far more emphasis was placed on the drama, the role that Pacini played in instituting these changes is only now beginning to be recognized. There is little doubt that Pacini and his contemporary Nicola Vaccai exerted an influence on Bellini than has been credited before. This change in attitude can be credited to the revival of two key works, Vaccais Giulietta e Romeo and Pacinis Lultimo giorno di Pompei, both composed in 1825 within a few weeks of each other. The success of many of Pacinis lighter operas especially Il Barone di Dolsheim, La sposa fedele and his position was greatly enhanced by the rapid-fire successes of Alessandro nelle Indie, Amazilia, and the previously mentioned LUltimo giorno di Pompei. Arabi nelle Gallie reached many of the worlds most important stages and was the first Pacini opera to be given in the United States. It was staged frequently in Italy, and it was not until 1830 that Bellinis first success, while this is not generally recognized, it was Pacini, rather than Donizetti, Mercadante or Bellini, who gave Rossini the stiffest competition in Italy during the 1820s. Many operas followed that are almost completely forgotten, however, one of these, Il corsaro was revived 173 years later, in 2004, albeit only with piano accompaniment. This work is different in many ways from Verdis later opera by the same name, the title role, Corrado, is a musico role for an alto, and the villainous Seid is a tenor. However, first Bellini and then Donizetti outstripped Pacini in fame, many of his later operas, such as Carlo di Borgogna of 1835, were failures, but this is one of the few Pacini operas currently available on CD, and it has received many warm reviews. Pacini himself was the first to recognize his apparent defeat noted in memoirs, Bellini, the divine Bellini, has surpassed me. Some years later, he resumed composing, and, after one more setback, after Saffo, Pacini entered into another period of prominence
28.
Otto Nicolai
–
Carl Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai was a German composer, conductor, and founder of the Vienna Philharmonic. Nicolai is best known for his version of Shakespeares comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor as Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor. In addition to five operas, Nicolai composed lieder, works for orchestra, chorus, ensemble, Nicolai, a child prodigy, was born in Königsberg, Prussia. He received his first musical education from his father, Carl Ernst Daniel Nicolai, after initial successes in Germany, including his first symphony and public concerts, he became musician to the Prussian embassy in Rome. When Giuseppe Verdi declined the libretto of Il proscritto by the proprietors of La Scala in Milan, later, Nicolai refused a libretto by the same author, and it went to Verdi, whose Nabucco was his first early success. All of Nicolais operas were written in Italian, the sole exception being his last and best known opera, The Merry Wives of Windsor. At one time he was popular in Italy than Verdi himself was. During the early 1840s, Nicolai established himself as a figure in the concert life of Vienna. In 1844 he was offered the position, vacated by Felix Mendelssohn, of Kapellmeister at the Berlin Cathedral, but he did not reestablish himself in Berlin until the last year of his life. On 11 May 1849, two months after the premiere of The Merry Wives of Windsor, and only two days after his appointment as Hofkapellmeister at the Berlin Staatsoper, he collapsed and died from a stroke. On the very day of his death, he was elected a member of the Royal Prussian Academy of Arts. Nicolai was portrayed by Hans Nielsen in the 1940 film Falstaff in Vienna, published by Schott Music in 1999. Der dritte Psalm for alto solo, six sonatas for two horns, from the Handel Knot-Farquharson Cousins ms Mass in D major. Te Deum, Psalm 97, Der Herr ist König, Psalm 31, Herr, auf Dich traue ich, schröder, B. ed. Otto Nicolais Tagebücher nebst biographischen Ergänzungen. Altmann Wilhelm, ed. Otto Nicolai, Briefe an seinen Vater, brown, Clive, ed. Nicolai, Carl Otto Ehrenfried in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Attibution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Otto
29.
Richard Traubner
–
Richard Traubner was an American journalist, author, operetta scholar and historian, and lecturer on theatre and film. His best-known book, Operetta, A Theatrical History, was first published in 1983, according to Opera News, Traubner was universally regarded as the foremost expert on operetta in the U. S. He reviewed numerous opera and theatre productions and wrote widely on opera, musical theatre, classical music and he also wrote reviews, liner and program notes and participated in theatre productions as translator, director and designer. Traubner was the son of Muriel and Edward Traubner and he attended Boston University, where he was president of the B. He received his Ph. D. from New York University, from 1971 to 1977, he was the editor of The Palace Peeper, the newsletter of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of New York. His book on the history of operetta was first published in 1983, according to MusicWeb International, Traubners book is One of the best reference books of the Musical Theatre. Apart from s The British Musical Theatre and Musicals, there is no better book than this to dip into for acquiring a perspective on shows or the activity surrounding a particular production, is the valuable detail Traubner gives about composers backgrounds, training and career structure. John Kenrick calls the book The ultimate love letter to operetta, the book is still the definitive work on the subject. American Record Guide calls it the work on the subject. Traubner records not only the majority of noteworthy premières but the dates and places of foreign productions, as well as important or influential revivals. Traubners book, indeed, provides all the groundwork for a study of operetta as an index of socio-political attitudes. I know of no more readable or more comprehensive treatment of that subject and he frequently provided notes for recordings and operetta productions. He translated into English, directed and designed sets for many European operettas in the U. S, in 2000 and 2001, he was the designer in residence at Ohio Light Opera and designed and translated numerous productions for them, directing some. He also designed for Harrisburg Opera in Pennsylvania, Traubner lived in New York City. He was married to Andrea Traubner nee Schuster since 1971, and had a sister and he died of ALS at age 66
30.
Opera News
–
Opera News is an American classical music magazine. Opera News was initially focused primarily on the Met, particularly providing information for listeners of the Saturday afternoon live Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts, over the years, the magazine has broadened its scope to include the larger American and international opera scenes. S. The Editor-in-Chief is currently F. Paul Driscoll, the magazine is also available online, with some archival content going back to 1949. The web site was redesigned in spring 2010, some of the online content is available only to subscribers to the print edition. Opera News was founded in 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild with Mrs. John DeWitt Peltz serving as the publications first editor and it was initially intended to be a useful, instructive, and factual weekly newspaper of Opera in New York. Its first issue was published on 7 December 1936 and consisted of only one folded broadsheet and its second year of publication saw its transformation into a 17 page magazine with advertising, with its first magazine issue appearing on 15 November 1937. Beginning with the December 1940 issue, the magazine began to concentrate much of its content on the weekly Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts. The magazine at this point offered bi-weekly issues of an expanded size during the Fall, Winter, and Spring, but was on hiatus during the summers. As time went on, the magazine began to take on an international scope of coverage, but it still maintained a strong interest in the New York opera scene. In the Fall of 1957 Frank Merkling succeeded Peltz as the chief editor of Opera News. In 1972 the magazine became a publication, adding monthly issues in the summer months while maintaining its bi-weekly schedule during the opera season. In 1974 Robert Jacobson became the third chief editor. Jacobson was succeeded by Patrick OConnor, who was succeeded in 1989 by Patrick J. Smith, in 1998, Smith was succeeded by Rudolph S. Rauch. Under the leadership of Rauch and executive editor Brian Kellow, the magazine switched to a monthly format in September 1998. F. Paul Driscoll, the current editor in chief, was appointed in July 2003, however, reactions from the public led to the decision being reversed. Since 2005 the magazine has annually bestowed five Opera News Awards for Distinguished Achievement
31.
The Gondoliers
–
The Gondoliers, or, The King of Barataria is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 and ran for a very successful 554 performances and this was the twelfth comic opera collaboration of fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan. The story of the concerns the young bride of the heir to the throne of the fictional kingdom of Barataria who arrives in Venice to join her husband. It turns out, however, that he cannot be identified, to complicate matters, the King of Barataria has just been killed. The two young gondoliers must now jointly rule the kingdom until the nurse of the prince can be brought in to determine which of them is the rightful king. Moreover, when the queen arrives to claim her husband. A last complicating factor is that she, herself, is in love with another man, the Gondoliers was Gilbert and Sullivans last great success. In this opera, Gilbert returns to the satire of class distinctions figuring in many of his earlier librettos, the Gondoliers was preceded by the most serious of the Gilbert and Sullivan collaborations, The Yeomen of the Guard. Moreover, to speak from my own point of view. Anybody — Hersee, Farnie, Reece — can write a libretto for such a purpose, personally. Again, the success of the Yeoman — which is a step in the direction of serious opera — has not been so convincing as to warrant us in assuming that the public want something more earnest still. On 12 March, Sullivan responded, I have lost the liking for writing comic opera and you say that in a serious opera, you must more or less sacrifice yourself. I say that this is just what I have been doing in all our joint pieces, Gilbert tried to encourage his collaborator, You say that our operas are Gilberts pieces with music added by you. Sullivans acceptance came with the proviso that we are agreed upon the subject. Can you not develop this with something we can go into with warmth and enthusiasm and thus give me a subject in which we can both be interested. The long opening number was the idea, and it gave Sullivan the opportunity to establish the mood of the work through music. The costumes were designed by Percy Anderson and sets were by Hawes Craven and they worked all summer and autumn, with a successful opening on 7 December 1889. Press accounts were almost entirely favourable, and the opera enjoyed a run longer than any of their joint works except for H. M. S
32.
Savoy Theatre
–
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was the first public building in the world to be lit entirely by electricity, for many years, the Savoy Theatre was the home of the DOyly Carte Opera Company, which continued to be run by the Carte family for over a century. Richards son Rupert DOyly Carte rebuilt and modernised the theatre in 1929 and it is a Grade II* listed building. In recent years it has presented opera, Shakespeare and other non-musical plays, the House of Savoy was the ruling family of Savoy descended from Humbert I, Count of Sabaudia, who became count in 1032. The name Sabaudia evolved into Savoy, Count Peter of Savoy was the maternal uncle of Eleanor of Provence, queen-consort of Henry III of England, and came with her to London. King Henry made Peter Earl of Richmond and, in 1246, on Peters death, the Savoy was given to Edmund, 1st Earl of Lancaster, by his mother, Queen Eleanor. Edmunds great-granddaughter, Blanche, inherited the site and her husband, John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, built a magnificent palace that was burned down by Wat Tylers followers in the Peasants Revolt of 1381. King Richard II was still a child, and his uncle John of Gaunt was the power behind the throne, in about 1505 Henry VII planned a great hospital for pouer, nedie people, leaving money and instructions for it in his will. The hospital was built in the ruins and was licensed in 1512. Drawings show that it was a magnificent building, with a dormitory, dining hall, Henry VIIs hospital lasted for two centuries but suffered from poor management. The sixteenth-century historian John Stow noted that the hospital was being misused by loiterers, vagabonds, in 1702 the hospital was dissolved, and the hospital buildings were used for other purposes. Part of the old palace was used for a prison in the eighteenth century. In the nineteenth century, the old buildings were demolished. Carte bought the freehold of the site, then known as Beaufort Buildings, early in 1880 for £11,000, in 1877 he engaged Walter Emden, an architect whose work includes the Garrick and the Duke of Yorks theatres. Before completing the purchase, city officials had assured Carte that they would open a new street on the south side of the plot. He paid his half in March 1880, but the officials caused lengthy delays, Carte told The Times, I am struggling in the meshes of red tape. He finally received the agreement in June. At the same time he ran into another obstacle, Emden suddenly revised his estimate of building costs upward from £12,000 to £18,000, Carte dismissed Emden, who successfully sued for £1,790 for services to date and £3,000 for wrongful dismissal
33.
Monte Carlo
–
Monte Carlo /ˈmɒnti ˈkɑːrloʊ/ officially refers to an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. The permanent population of the ward of Monte Carlo is about 3,500, from west to east they are, Fontvieille, Monaco-Ville, La Condamine, and Monte Carlo. Monte Carlo is situated on a prominent escarpment at the base of the Maritime Alps along the French Riviera and it is also the location of the Hôtel de Paris, the Café de Paris, and the Salle Garnier. The eastern part of the quarter includes the community of Larvotto with Monacos only public beach, as well as its new center. At the quarters eastern border, one crosses into the French town of Beausoleil, at the time, a number of small towns in Europe were growing prosperous from the establishment of casinos, notably in German towns such as Baden-Baden and Homburg. The success of the casino grew slowly, largely due to the areas inaccessibility from much of Europe, the installation of the railway in 1868, however, brought with it an influx of people into Monte Carlo and saw it grow in wealth. Saint-Charles Church on Monte Carlos Avenue Sainte-Charles was completed in 1883 and it was restored in its centenary year. The municipalities were merged into one in 1917, after accusations that the government was acting according to the divide and conquer. Today, Monaco is divided into 10 wards, with an eleventh ward planned to land reclaimed from the sea. The quarter of Monte Carlo was served by tramways from 1900 to 1953, in 2003 a new cruise ship pier was completed in the harbour at Monte Carlo. Monte Carlo is host to most of the Circuit de Monaco and it also hosts world championship boxing bouts, the European Poker Tour Grand Final and the World Backgammon Championship as well as the Monaco International Auto Show, fashion shows and other events. Although the Monte Carlo Masters tennis tournament is billed as taking place in the community, Monte Carlo has been visited by royalty as well as the general public and movie stars for decades. The rally, however, takes place outside the Monte Carlo quarter and is run mostly on French roads, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo or Salle Garnier was built to designs of the architect Charles Garnier, who also designed the Paris opera house now known as the Palais Garnier. Although much smaller, the Salle Garnier is very similar in style with decorations in red and gold and it was inaugurated on 25 January 1879 with a performance by Sarah Bernhardt dressed as a nymph. The first opera performed there was Robert Planquettes Le Chevalier Gaston on 8 February 1879, gunsbourg had remained for sixty years. This production formed part of an association between the company and Massenet and his operas, two of which were presented there posthumously. Other famous twentieth-century singers to appear at Monte Carlo included Titta Ruffo, Geraldine Farrar, Mary Garden, Tito Schipa, Beniamino Gigli, Claudia Muzio, Georges Thill, and Lily Pons. Apart from Massenet, composers whose works had their first performances at Monte Carlo included, Saint-Saëns, Mascagni, indeed, since its inauguration, the theatre has hosted 45 world premiere productions of operas
34.
Alfred Cellier
–
Alfred Cellier was an English composer, orchestrator and conductor. He composed over a dozen operas and other works for the theatre, as well as for orchestra and it became the longest-running piece of musical theatre in the nineteenth century. Cellier was born at Hackney, in London and his parents were Arsène Cellier from France, a professor of languages at Hackney Grammar School, and his wife Mary Ann. He was educated at the school in Hackney. From 1855 to 1860, he was a chorister at the Chapel Royal, St. Jamess, under the Rev. Thomas Helmore, Celliers brother, François, also became a conductor. Celliers first appointments were as organist at All Saints Church, Blackheath, in 1866 he succeeded Dr. Chipp as organist and director of the Ulster Hall concerts, Belfast, at the same time acting as conductor of the Belfast Philharmonic Society. In 1868 he returned to London as organist of St Albans Church, in January 1871, Cellier became the first conductor and music director at the Royal Court Theatre in London. From 1871 to 1875 he was conductor and music director at the Princes Theatre, during this period he composed many comic operas and operettas, the most successful of which was The Sultan of Mocha, produced at Princes Theatre, Manchester, in 1874. Another success was Charity Begins at Home, with librettist B. C, the piece was played more than 200 times. He also wrote numerous songs and composed for orchestra and the piano. His stage works, however, were more successful than his serious concert music, most of Celliers early works for the theatre, however, including Topsyturveydom, The Tower of London, Nell Gwynne, Two Foster Brothers, and Bella Donna, had only modest success. In December 1877 Cellier joined the DOyly Carte company as director at the Opera Comique in London. There he conducted The Sorcerer, H. M. S, Pinafore, Trial by Jury, George Grossmiths Cups and Saucers, and three of his own one-act works, Doras Dream, The Spectre Knight, and After All. His brother, François, succeeded him as director at the Opera Comique in 1879. Alfred Cellier was a conductor of a series of concerts at the Queens Theatre, Long Acre and, in 1878–1879 he was joint conductor, with Sullivan. In 1879, he travelled with Gilbert, Sullivan, and Carte to America, Cellier prepared the overture to Pirates using Sullivans music from the rest of the score. Back in London in July 1880, he directed the music at the Opera Comique for Pirates and another of his own pieces with Desprez, in April 1881, he left the DOyly Carte company, ceding the baton to his brother. Cellier composed a grand opera, Pandora, a version of Longfellows The Masque of Pandora that was presented in Boston in 1881
35.
Hawes Craven
–
Henry Hawes Craven Green was an English theatre scene-painter. He collaborated with Henry Irving, Richard DOyly Carte and Herbert Beerbohm Tree and he was regarded as the finest scene-painter of his day and was the last major scenic designer in the ultra-realistic tradition. Craven was born in Leeds, the son of theatrical parents and his father, James Green, was a comedian and pantomimist, who had previously been an innkeeper. His mother, Elizabeth, née Craven, was an actress, who left the stage and he performed with his father as a youth, shortening his name to Hawes Craven. However, his aptitude for painting led him to apply for a place at the Government School of Design at Marlborough House and he studied there from 1851 to 1853, winning many prizes. On leaving, he was a taken on as an apprentice by John Gray, scene-painter of the Britannia Theatre, when Gray moved to the Olympic Theatre, Craven moved with him. In 1857 he had his first success, when Gray was ill and he worked from a painting by a well-known seascape artist, Clarkson Stanfield, with such fidelity that Stanfield presented him with the original painting. In the late 1850s and early 1860s, Craven worked at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on pantomimes and his first post as chief scene-painter was at the Theatre Royal, Dublin, from 1862 to 1864. In London, during the rest of the 1860s, Craven was an assistant at the Lyceum, Olympic, in June 1866 he married a dancer, Mary Elizabeth Watson Tees. There were three sons and three daughters of the marriage, in 1871 Craven became principal scene-painter at the Lyceum Theatre, a role he held for the next thirty years, first as an employee and later as a freelance artist. At first he worked under the management of H. L. Bateman, Craven, with Irvings support, carried scenic realism and stage illusion to new levels. For some productions, Irving commissioned designs from well-known painters, which Craven would then re-create as scenery and these artists included Ford Madox Brown, Edward Burne-Jones and Lawrence Alma-Tadema. For other productions, Craven created the designs as well as executing them. For his scenes in Irvings 1888 production of Faust, he visited Nuremberg, Irving became well known for his Shakespeare productions, for which Craven painted strongly naturalistic scenery, which won critical applause and occasionally threatened to outshine the performers. His productions included Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, King Henry VIII, King Lear, Cymbeline, by the mid-1880s, Craven was recognised as among the élite of his art. The theatrical newspaper The Era wrote, In the art of scene painting England stands paramount, neither Paris, not Germany, nor New York can commence to approach, let alone rival, the work of the men who furnish London with its stage scenery. Such men as … Hawes Craven … are artists in the truest and best sense of the word, for Richard DOyly Carte, Craven painted the scenery for seven of the Savoy operas. Cartes new theatre, the Savoy, built in 1881, was lit by electricity, unlike the Lyceum, Craven adjusted his techniques to match the stronger light produced by electric bulbs
36.
Supernumerary actor
–
Supernumerary actors are usually amateur character actors in opera and ballet performances who train under professional direction to create a believable scene. The terms original use, from the Latin supernumerarius, meant someone paid to appear on stage in crowd scenes or in the case of opera as non-singing small parts, the word can still be found used for such in theatre and opera. It is the equivalent of extra in the picture industry. Any established opera company will have a core of artists to enhance the opera experience. The Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Washington National Opera are known for the high profile, the WNO saw its supernumerary golden age under the direction of English actress Jennifer Crier Johnston, who was supernumerary director for eight years. Ms. Johnston appeared in classic Hollywood movies such as My Fair Lady, The Unsinkable Mollie Brown, The Americanization of Emily, and The Sound of Music. The Washington Times ran an article on supernumeraries in November 2002. Other long time famed supernumeraries include Fernando Varisco, Karl Moeller, Patrizia DiZebba, Harry Spence, Peter Whitten, Alex Riley, Gary Nooger, supernumeraries are usually amateur character artists who train under professional direction to create a believable scene. They almost become part of the props and give a sense of credibility to scenes where crowds, court assistants, lackeys, ms. Rehearsals can last from 2 weeks to several months depending on the complexity of the performances. Some operas require over 50 supernumeraries, work is assigned according to the ability to look the part and in many cases by the costume size since many of the productions are borrowed from other major opera houses. The Varisco-Johnston style of supering emphasizes an understated performance that doesnt steal focus from the actors but it is still vibrant. Other styles have evolved like the acting of Yager and Walker. The repertory at any established opera house certainly includes operas with lots of supernumeraries, setting a record, with 227 supers, was a new production of Prokofievs War and Peace, which had its last performance of the season on March 19,2006. Other operas at the Met and other opera houses awash in supers include Aida and Puccinis La Bohème, according to François Giuliani. But the chance of being a super is pretty much limited to those with experience and people who can take direction, said Bob Diamond and we dont take people off the street, he added. It is commonly accepted that an opera will use 10 men as extras for every woman, thats opera, and we have no control, Mr. Diamond said. Supernumerary work keeps evolving as operas evolve, there has been a merger of techniques used in Broadway, movies and opera. Having said this, directors sometimes take too many liberties with some operas
37.
Percy Anderson
–
Beginning with The Yeomen of the Guard, Anderson designed the costumes for all the original productions of the Savoy Operas. He continued to design costumes for DOyly Carte revivals in the twentieth century, including for Trial by Jury. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, Patience, Iolanthe, Princess Ida, Ruddigore, The Yeomen of the Guard and he designed the costumes for Henry James’s ill-fated theatrical effort, Guy Domville, The Times was not impressed by either the play or the costumes. He designed the costumes for the hit musical San Toy in 1899, The Duchess of Dantzic in 1903, the Royal Opera House also commissioned Anderson to design costumes in 1900. Andersons designs were used in a number of Broadway productions. Described as a dainty, naughty, rococo man, Anderson had private means, and for a time roomed with Morton Fullerton and he was part of a circle of rich, artistic homosexual men, who included Lord Ronald Gower, the courtier Alec Yorke and Hamilton Aïdé. In the 1910s, Anderson was closely associated with the young novelist Hugh Walpole, as a painter, Anderson achieved a modest success, and his portraits hang in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, the Louvre, and the British Museum. He illustrated the 1907 book, Costume, Fanciful, Historical and Theatrical, Anderson died in Kings College Hospital, London, in 1928, aged 76 or 77. Hugh Walpole Sutton Publishing, Stroud, ISBN 0-7509-1491-2 Mainwaring, Marion, mysteries of Paris, the Quest for Morton Fullerton, University of New England Press,2001 Rollins, Cyril and R. John Witts. The DOyly Carte Opera Company in Gilbert and Sullivan Operas London, Michael Joseph Ltd
38.
Ernest Ford
–
Albert Ernest Alsor Clair Ford was an English composer of operas and ballet music and a conductor. Ford was born in Warminster, Wiltshire, England, the son of Edward Ford, from 1868 to 1873, he sang in the chorus at Salisbury Cathedral. He studied under Arthur Sullivan at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Ford studied in Paris under Édouard Lalo and also toured America. There, his motet, a setting of the Psalm Domine Deus, was performed at a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of Harvard University, during the 1880s, Ford was the official accompanist at the Saturday Popular Concerts at St Jamess Hall, London. He also wrote a number of operas and operettas in the 1880s and early 1890s, including Daniel O Rourke, Nydia, Joan, Ford became the assistant musical director for the DOyly Carte Opera Company at the Savoy Theatre in 1888, serving in this position for five years. In 1891, Ford and François Cellier conducted Sullivans grand opera, Ivanhoe, Ford also arranged the piano score for Ivanhoe. While serving as director at the Savoy, Ford wrote the music for a one-act curtain raiser, Mr. Jericho. The piece has a libretto by Harry Greenbank, in May of the same year, Ford supplied the music for the full-length J. M. Barrie and Arthur Conan Doyle comic opera, Jane Annie, a flop that nevertheless toured until September of that year. Later, Ford became musical director of the Trafalgar Theatre in London, there, he revised and rewrote the music for the comic opera The Wedding Eve. He also composed much of the music for ballets produced at the Empire Theatre between 1894 and 1897, including La Frolique, Brighton Pier, Faust and La Danse and he became conductor of the Royal Amateur Orchestral Society in 1897. Ford also composed a volume of settings of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley, many songs and chamber music, an Elegy for violin and orchestra. By 1911, Ford was teaching singing as a Professor of Music at the Guildhall School of Music, as a writer, he published A Short History of Music in England. In 1903 he contributed a chapter to H. Saxe Wyndhams biography of Sullivan, Ford married Alice Maria Philp in 1896 at St. James church in Muswell Hill. They had two daughters, Frances Lily Helen Dixon Ford and Eileen Carlota Ford and he died in Marylebone in London at the age of 61. In his will he left £976 8s 10d to his widow
39.
Tenor
–
Tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is one of the highest of the male voice types. The tenors vocal range lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, and A4, the A above middle C, in solo work, this range extends up to C5, or tenor high C. The low extreme for tenors is roughly A♭2, at the highest extreme, some tenors can sing up to two Fs above middle C. The tenor voice type is divided into the leggero tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor. The name tenor derives from the Latin word tenere, which means to hold, in medieval and Renaissance polyphony between about 1250 and 1500, the tenor was the structurally fundamental voice, vocal or instrumental. All other voices were normally calculated in relation to the tenor, until the late 16th century introduction of the contratenor singers, the tenor was usually the highest voice, assuming the role of providing a foundation. It was also in the 18th century that tenor came to signify the male voice that sang such parts, thus, for earlier repertoire, a line marked tenor indicated the parts role, and not the required voice type. Indeed, even as late as the century, partbooks labelled tenor might contain parts for a range of voice types. The vocal range of the tenor is one of the highest of the voice types. Within opera, the lowest note in the tenor repertoire is probably A♭2 in Rossinis rarely performed La donna del lago in the role of Rodrigo di Dhu. Within more frequently performed repertoire, Mime and Herod both call for an A2, a few tenor roles in the standard repertoire call for a tenor C. Some of the few top Cs in the operatic repertoire are either optional or interpolated by tradition. However, the highest demanded note in the standard operatic repertoire is D5. Some operatic roles for tenors require a darker timbre and fewer high notes, in the leggero repertoire, the highest note is F5, therefore, very few tenors can, given the raising of concert pitch since its composition, have this role in their repertoire without transposition. Within the tenor voice type category are seven generally recognized subcategories, leggero tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor, Mozart tenor, Also known as the tenore di grazia, the leggero tenor is essentially the male equivalent of a lyric coloratura. This voice is light, agile, and capable of executing difficult passages of fioritura, the typical leggero tenor possesses a range spanning from approximately C3 to E♭5, with a few being able to sing up to F5 or higher in full voice. In some cases, the chest register of the leggero tenor may extend below C3, voices of this type are utilized frequently in the operas of Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini and in music dating from the Baroque period. Leggero tenor roles in operas, The lyric tenor is a warm voice with a bright, full timbre that is strong but not heavy
40.
Joseph O'Mara
–
Joseph OMara was an Irish opera singer of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. After studying opera in Milan, Italy, he made his London stage debut in 1891 in the title role of the opera Ivanhoe by Arthur Sullivan. In 1894 he first appeared at Covent Garden Theatre, for three years, he was the principal tenor at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, also appearing in the pantomime there and elsewhere. In 1896, he created the lead, Mike Murphy, in Charles Villiers Stanfords opera Shamus OBrien, also playing the role on tour. After a series of engagements in London, OMara travelled again to America to create the tenor lead in Reginald De Kovens The Highwayman. He was a tenor with the Moody-Manners Opera Company in London from 1902 to 1908. OMara was granted the Freedom of the City of Limerick in 1908, in 1908, in Patrick Bidwells musical Peggy Machree on Broadway in New York City. In 1909, OMara returned to Britain and joined the Thomas Beecham Company, singing tenor leads over the few years. In 1912, he founded OMaras Travelling Opera Company, in which he was the principal tenor until his performance as Lohengrin in 1926. In all, OMara sang 67 tenor roles, in 1926, he was the first tenor to broadcast in Ireland. Born at Limerick, Ireland, OMara was the second youngest of thirteen children, born to James OMara and his mother died when OMara was a teenager. He was educated at a Jesuit school, the Crescent College, as a boy, he sang as a chorister in St Johns Cathedral, Limerick. At eighteen he sailed for a year aboard an ocean liner travelling between Dundee and Calcutta before returning to his fathers business, totally cured of the desire to live a life at sea and he also sang in the choir of St. Michaels Church in Limerick. OMaras family was prominent in Limerick, producing a number of mayors of the city, including his nephew Stephen OMara, encouraged by his friend J. F. This was followed by La Basoche at the opera house. In 1894 he first appeared at Covent Garden Theatre, for three years, OMara was the principal tenor at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, also appearing in the pantomime of Jack and the Beanstalk there. He then played in the pantomime Aladdin at the Prince of Wales Theatre, in 1896, he created the tenor lead, Mike Murphy, in Charles Villiers Stanfords opera Shamus OBrien, with Henry Wood conducting. After a tour of Britain and Ireland in Shamus OBrien, the Harris company brought the opera to America in 1897, where, with his new wife, throughout the rest of his career, Mike Murphy would remain one of OMaras signature roles
41.
R. Scott Fishe
–
Robert Scott Fishe was an English operatic baritone and actor best remembered for creating roles in the 1890s with the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company. As a boy, Fishe was a chorister with the Chapel Royal, after beginning his professional stage career, he was hired in 1891 by Richard DOyly Carte for the chorus of Arthur Sullivans grand opera Ivanhoe. He soon toured in South America with other DOyly Carte artistes, performing in comic operas, in 1892, Fishe played leading roles with the DOyly Carte Opera Company and in other West End companies, but from spring 1893, he performed exclusively with DOyly Carte. He played the role in several revivals of The Mikado. In 1896, he travelled to South Africa for a DOyly Carte tour, there, he fell ill again, but he was able to return to the stage briefly at the end of 1897, after which run his health deteriorated. After several attempts to recuperate, Fishe gave up all hope of recovery, bob Fishe was born in Stanhope Street in St Pancras, London, to Jane and Robert Fishe, an ironmonger. Although his mother went by the name Fishe, she did not marry his father until 1874, on their banns entry, Robert Fishe is listed as a widower, and his bride as a spinster, they were living at the same address. Later in 1891, still only twenty years old, Fishe and other DOyly Carte regulars, including Leonora Braham, there they performed in Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Valparaiso, Lima, Rio de Janeiro, and other cities. Fishe had roles in The Pirates of Penzance, Patience, The Mikado, The Sorcerer, Dorothy, Pepita and Erminie, the Company was shipwrecked off the coast of Chile in the middle of the tour, losing most of their possessions, but no lives were lost. Some of the company, including Fishe, made their way on horseback across the Andes to Argentina and they returned to England in March 1892. Fishe was then engaged by the DOyly Carte Opera Company, immediately performing the role of Thomas Merton in The Vicar of Bray at the Savoy Theatre. At the end of the run, he left the Savoy to star in George Dance and Ivan Carylls Ma Mie Rosette at the Globe Theatre and then at the Prince of Wales Theatre from November 1892 to February 1893. Fishe began to suffer from tuberculosis, perhaps as early as on the South America tour, after Ma Mie Rosette, he travelled to Switzerland to convalesce. In the spring of 1893, Fishe returned to the Savoy Theatre to create roles in several more Savoy Operas and these began with the role of Jack in the short-lived Jane Annie, which opened in May 1893. In December 1894 he created the role of Ferdinand de Roxas in Burnand, in April 1895 Fishe joined a DOyly Carte touring company, appearing in his old roles of Tommy Merton, Mr. Goldbury, Gerard de Montigny, and Ferdinand de Roxas. When Princess Ida was added to the repertoire, Fishe appeared as Florian, Fishe returned to the Savoy Theatre in November to play the title role in the revival of The Mikado. In December 1896, Fishe travelled to South Africa together with Emmie Owen, there he appeared as the Mikado of Japan in The Mikado and Giuseppe in The Gondoliers. However, he fell ill again during the tour and returned to England in early 1897, after another convalescence, in December 1897 he returned to the Savoy Theatre, playing Colonel Macrobrunner in the The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein, after which run his health deteriorated
42.
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
–
The company was revived for short seasons and tours from 1988 to 2003, and with Scottish Opera it later co-produced two productions. In 1875, Richard DOyly Carte asked the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, when that work, Trial by Jury, became a success, Carte put together a syndicate to produce a full-length Gilbert and Sullivan work, The Sorcerer, followed by H. M. S. After Pinafore became a sensation, Carte jettisoned his difficult investors and formed a new partnership with Gilbert. The company produced the succeeding ten Gilbert and Sullivan operas and many operas and companion pieces at the Savoy Theatre in London. The company also mounted tours in Britain, New York and elsewhere, Cartes able assistant, Helen Lenoir, became his wife in 1888 and, after his death in 1901, she ran the company until her own death in 1913. By this time, it had become a year-round Gilbert and Sullivan touring repertory company, Cartes son Rupert inherited the company. Beginning in 1919, he mounted new seasons in London with new set and costume designs, while continuing the year-round tours in Britain, with the help of the director J. M. Gordon and the conductor Isidore Godfrey, Carte ran the company for 35 years. He redesigned the Savoy Theatre in 1928 and sponsored a series of recordings over the years that helped to keep the operas popular, after Ruperts death in 1948, his daughter Bridget DOyly Carte inherited the company and hired Frederic Lloyd as general manager. The company continued to tour for 35 weeks each year, issue new recordings and play London seasons of Gilbert and it re-formed in 1988 with a legacy left by Bridget DOyly Carte, played short tours and London seasons, and issued some popular recordings. Denied significant funding from the English Arts Council, it suspended productions in 2003, with Scottish Opera, it co-produced The Pirates of Penzance 2013 and The Mikado in 2016. Some of the performers, over the decades, became stars of their day. The company licensed the operas for performance in Australasia and to numerous amateur troupes in Britain and elsewhere, providing orchestra parts and prompt books for hire. The company kept the Savoy operas in the eye for over a century and left an enduring legacy of production styles. By 1874, Richard DOyly Carte, a musician and ambitious young impresario, had begun producing operettas in London. He announced his ambitions on the front of the programme for one of his productions that year, in early 1875, Carte was managing Londons Royalty Theatre. Needing a short piece to round out an evenings entertainment featuring the popular Offenbach operetta La Périchole he brought W. S. Gilbert, on tour in 1871, Carte had conducted Arthur Sullivans one-act comic opera Cox and Box, which received an 1874 London revival. In 1873, W. S. Gilbert had offered a libretto to Carte about an English courtroom, but at the time Carte knew of no composer available to set it to music. At the Theatre Royal, in Dublin, Ireland in September 1875, while managing the first tour of Trial by Jury, Carte met a young Scottish actress
43.
John Alexander Fuller Maitland
–
John Alexander Fuller Maitland was an influential British music critic and scholar from the 1880s to the 1920s. He encouraged the rediscovery of English music of the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly Henry Purcells music and he also propounded the notion of an English Musical Renaissance in the second half of the 19th century, particularly praising Charles Villiers Stanford and Hubert Parry. He was also slow to recognise the worth of contemporary composers from mainland Europe such as Claude Debussy, Fuller Maitland was born at 90 Gloucester Place, Portman Square, London, the son of John Fuller Maitland and his wife Marianne. He attended Westminster School for three terms, but for most of his childhood he was educated privately, including musical instruction, starting in 1875, he studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was active in the Cambridge University Musical Society. There he became friends with Charles Villiers Stanford and William Barclay Squire and he had intended to follow a career in the Church of England but decided to instead to pursue a career in music. After leaving Cambridge he studied the piano with Edward Dannreuther and other aspects of music with W. S. Rockstro, Fuller Maitland became a musical journalist, as a critic for the Pall Mall Gazette from 1882, later for The Guardian and The Times. He also wrote many entries for Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians and was appointed editor of the second edition, more than a hundred of his articles survive, in revised form, in the online version of Grove available in 2010. In pioneering the revival of the virginals, Fuller Maitland published an edition of the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book and he was a member of the editorial committee of the Purcell Society, for which he edited several of Purcells works. With his relative Lucy Broadwood, he edited the collection English County Songs, at a time when music lovers generally admired either Richard Wagner or Johannes Brahms but not both, Fuller Maitland, according to the obituary notice in The Times, worshipped both Wagner and Brahms. His book English Music in the XIXth Century is subdivided into two parts, Book I, Before the Renaissance, and Book II, The Renaissance. He used the phrase English music to include that of the Irish Stanford, Stanford and Parry were both upper-middle-class Oxbridge graduates, like Fuller Maitland, and both were professors at music colleges. The writer Meirion Hughes describes Fuller Maitlands world as one of insiders and outsiders, Fuller Maitland rejected British composers who did not conform to his template. Sullivans frequent forays into what was viewed as the realm of operetta removed him from the equation at once. Elgar was never a contender, with his unacademic, lower-middle-class background coupled with progressive tendencies, the same writer suggests that Fuller Maitlands aversion to Sir Frederic Cowen was due to anti-Semitism. Fuller Maitlands integrity as a critic came under scrutiny, notably by Elgar in a lecture in 1905, Fuller Maitland had published a denigrating obituary of Sullivan in the Cornhill Magazine, which Elgar alluded to as the shady side of musical criticism … this foul, unforgettable episode. Later, it was shown that Fuller Maitland had falsified the facts, inventing a banal lyric, passing it off as genuine, Fuller Maitland gave up journalism in 1911, retiring to Borwick Hall near Carnforth in Lancashire. He continued to write books, including an autobiography, A Door-Keeper of Music and his aversion to modern music abated in his later years, and he recognised the importance of composers such as Richard Strauss and Claude Debussy. He received an honorary DLitt from Durham University in 1928, Fuller Maitlands wife died in 1931
44.
La Basoche
–
La Basoche is an opéra comique in three acts, with music by André Messager and a French libretto by Albert Carré. The opera debuted at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1890 and was mounted in Brussels in 1890, Geneva in 1891, London in 1891–1892, since then it has been revived in France and elsewhere. The title of the operetta refers to the old Parisian guild of law clerks that was abolished with the French revolution in the 18th century, La Basoche was first performed at the Opéra-Comique, Paris, on 30 May 1890 and was initially given on 51 nights. It was revived there up to the Second World War and given at least another 150 performances, with Jean Périer, André Baugé playing Clément Marot and Lucien Fugère repeating the role of the duke. Messager himself conducted the 1900,1902 and 1919 productions at the Opéra-Comique, while later revivals were conducted by Gustave Cloëz and Albert Wolff. In 1908 the work entered the repertoire of the Théâtre de la Gaîté in Paris and it was presented at the Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin in 1934 under the management of Maurice Lehmann with Baugé and Yvonne Brothier. La Basoche was given French-language productions in Brussels in 1890 and Geneva in 1891 and it was presented in London in 1891 in an English translation by Augustus Harris and Eugène Oudin at Richard DOyly Cartes Royal English Opera House, running from 3 November 1891 to 16 January 1892. Carré and Messager were present at the night and took curtain calls along with the conductor. The piece earned high critical praise, Cartes faith in the composer led to his producing Messagers Mirette in 1894. The action takes place in Paris in 1514, in 1303, King Philippe IV of France had permitted the students of Paris to form a guild called La Basoche. The guild continued for five hundred years. The head of La Basoche, elected annually, assumed the title of King and wore the royal crown, in the opera, the student Clement Marot is elected King of the Basoche and is mistaken for Louis XII, King of France. A square near the Châtelet, on the right the tavern du Plat d’Etain, the day of the election of the king of the Basoche. The poet Clément Marot puts himself forward against the pedant Roland, as the king of the basochians is required to be a bachelor, he hides the existence of a wife, Colette, whom he has left behind in Chevreuse. When she arrives in Paris he pretends not to know her – and she gets herself taken on at the tavern, where the next day the widowed Louis XII will receive his new young wife, Mary of England, the sister of Henry VIII. The same Mary now arrives incognito, disguised as a Norman, when the procession of the king of the Basoche comes along, Colette takes Marot to be the real king, while Mary thinks that the man is her husband. Evening – a large room in the Plat d’Etain tavern, while clerks party, and Roland hopes to unmask Marot and his wife, Colette, at work, dreams of her future life as a queen. In a duet, both Marie and Colette declare their love for the king
45.
David Bispham
–
David Scull Bispham was an American operatic baritone. Bispham was born on January 5,1857 in Philadelphia, the child of William Danforth Bispham. Both of Bisphams parents were members of the Society of Friends, in 1867, the family relocated to Moorestown Township, New Jersey. In 1872, Bispham entered Haverford College, from which he was graduated in 1876, after graduation, Bispham entered the wool business with his mothers brothers, all the while continuing to develop his musical talents as an amateur. Bispham appeared in musical performances in his childhood despite having no formal musical training. In 1885, Bispham married Caroline Russell, the daughter of General Charles Sawyer Russell and they would go on to have four children, Jeanette, Vida, Leonie, and David. The Bisphams honeymooned in Europe, and when returned to Philadelphia. While employed with the railroad, Bispham spent his time singing with local clubs. At twenty-eight he went to Europe, studying singing in Florence with Luigi Vannuccini and he was engaged by the Royal Opera at Covent Garden to sing the part of Beckmesser in Wagners Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in June 1892. This production was also to feature Jean de Reszke, Emma Albani, de Reszke fell ill during rehearsals, and the production had to be cancelled. On the day of the cancellation, however, Bispham was asked to substitute on the day as Kurwenal in Richard Wagners Tristan und Isolde. This was Bisphams first Wagner role, according to his memoir, referred to below, Bispham had previously learned that role and several others following the advice of a medium at a seance. His success there brought him a contract for Covent Garden, where he appeared, primarily in Wagnerian roles, for all but two of the next ten seasons. He remained with the company until 1903, singing mainly Wagnerian roles, he appeared in the American premieres of Ignace Paderewskis Manru. Bispham was influential in establishing the career of Carrie Jacobs-Bond as in 1901 he gave a recital exclusively featuring her songs in Chicagos Studebaker Theatre, after 1903 Bisphams operatic appearances were few, and he devoted most of his time to recitals, with which he had much success. He made a point of singing English versions of songs by composers as Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert. In 1916 he appeared in an English-language version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozarts Der Schauspieldirektor in New York. The performance was such a success that it led to the formation of the Society of American Singers, the company, with Bisphams inspiration, gave three seasons of light operas in English
.jpg)
Media related to Ivanhoe (opera) at Wikimedia Commons