1.
Venice
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Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is situated across a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and these are located in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay that lies between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Parts of Venice are renowned for the beauty of their settings, their architecture, the lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a World Heritage Site. In 2014,264,579 people resided in Comune di Venezia, together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, with a total population of 2.6 million. PATREVE is a metropolitan area without any degree of autonomy. The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC, the city was historically the capital of the Republic of Venice. Venice has been known as the La Dominante, Serenissima, Queen of the Adriatic, City of Water, City of Masks, City of Bridges, The Floating City, and City of Canals. The City State of Venice is considered to have been the first real international financial center which gradually emerged from the 9th century to its peak in the 14th century and this made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history. It is also known for its several important artistic movements, especially the Renaissance period, Venice has played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music, and it is the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi. Venice has been ranked the most beautiful city in the world as of 2016, the name Venetia, however, derives from the Roman name for the people known as the Veneti, and called by the Greeks Eneti. The meaning of the word is uncertain, although there are other Indo-European tribes with similar-sounding names, such as the Celtic Veneti, Baltic Veneti, and the Slavic Wends. Linguists suggest that the name is based on an Indo-European root *wen, so that *wenetoi would mean beloved, lovable, a connection with the Latin word venetus, meaning the color sea-blue, is also possible. The alternative obsolete form is Vinegia, some late Roman sources reveal the existence of fishermen on the islands in the original marshy lagoons. They were referred to as incolae lacunae, the traditional founding is identified with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo on the islet of Rialto — said to have taken place at the stroke of noon on 25 March 421. Beginning as early as AD166 to 168, the Quadi and Marcomanni destroyed the center in the area. The Roman defences were again overthrown in the early 5th century by the Visigoths and, some 50 years later, New ports were built, including those at Malamocco and Torcello in the Venetian lagoon. The tribuni maiores, the earliest central standing governing committee of the islands in the Lagoon, the traditional first doge of Venice, Paolo Lucio Anafesto, was actually Exarch Paul, and his successor, Marcello Tegalliano, was Pauls magister militum. In 726 the soldiers and citizens of the Exarchate rose in a rebellion over the controversy at the urging of Pope Gregory II
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
Seating capacity
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Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats hundreds of thousands of people. The International Fire Code, portions of which have adopted by many jurisdictions, is directed more towards the use of a facility than the construction. It specifies, For areas having fixed seating without dividing arms and it also requires that every public venue submit a detailed site plan to the local fire code official, including details of the means of egress, seating capacity, arrangement of the seating. Once safety considerations have been satisfied, determinations of seating capacity turn on the size of the venue. For sports venues, the decision on maximum seating capacity is determined by several factors, chief among these are the primary sports program and the size of the market area. Seating capacity of venues also plays a role in what media they are able to provide, in contracting to permit performers to use a theatre or other performing space, the seating capacity of the performance facility must be disclosed. Seating capacity may influence the kind of contract to be used, the seating capacity must also be disclosed to the copyright owner in seeking a license for the copyrighted work to be performed in that venue. Venues that may be leased for private functions such as ballrooms and auditoriums generally advertise their seating capacity, seating capacity is also an important consideration in the construction and use of sports venues such as stadiums and arenas. The seating capacity for restaurants is reported as covers, a restaurant that can seat 99 is said to have 99 covers, seating capacity differs from total capacity, which describes the total number of people who can fit in a venue or in a vehicle either sitting or standing. Use of the term public capacity indicates that a venue is allowed to more people than it can actually seat. Again, the total number of people can refer to either the physical space available or limitations set by law
4.
Phoenix (mythology)
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In Greek mythology, a phoenix is a long-lived bird that is cyclically regenerated or reborn. Associated with the Sun, a phoenix obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. According to some sources, the dies in a show of flames and combustion, although there are other sources that claim that the legendary bird dies. According to some texts, the phoenix could live over 1,400 years before rebirth. Herodotus, Lucan, Pliny the Elder, Pope Clement I, Lactantius, Ovid, the modern English noun phoenix derives from Middle English phenix, itself from Old English fēnix. Old English fēnix was borrowed from Medieval Latin phenix, which is derived from Classical Latin phoenīx, the Classical Latin phoenīx represents Greek φοῖνιξ phoinīx. In ancient Greece and Rome, the bird, φοῖνιξ, was associated with the similar-sounding Phoenicia. A late antique etymology offered by the 6th- and 7th-century CE archbishop Isidore of Seville accordingly derives the name of the phoenix from its allegedly purple-red hue. Because the costly purple dye from Phoenicia was associated with the classes in antiquity and, later, with royalty. Classical discourse on the subject of the points to a potential origin of the phoenix in Ancient Egypt. However, the Egyptian sources regarding the bennu are often problematic, some of these sources may have actually been influenced by Greek notions of the phoenix, rather than the other way around. Herodotus, writing in the 5th century BC, gives a somewhat skeptical account of the phoenix, have another sacred bird called the phoenix which I myself have never seen. Indeed it is a rarity, even in Egypt, only coming there once in five hundred years. Its size and appearance, if it is like the pictures, are as follow, - The plumage is partly red, partly golden, while the general make, such is the story they tell of the doings of this bird. The phoenix is sometimes pictured in ancient and medieval literature and medieval art as endowed with a nimbus, in the oldest images of phoenixes on record these nimbuses often have seven rays, like Helios. Pliny the Elder also describes the bird as having a crest of feathers on its head, although the phoenix was generally believed to be colorful and vibrant, there is no clear consensus about its coloration. Tacitus claims that its made it stand out from all other birds. Some thought that the bird had peacock-like coloring, and Herodotuss claim of red, scholars have observed analogues to the phoenix in a variety of cultures
5.
Opera house
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An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building. While some venues are constructed specifically for operas, other houses are part of larger performing arts centers. In contrast, there was no house in London when Henry Purcell was composing. Early United States opera houses served a variety of functions in towns and cities, hosting community dances, fairs, plays, with the rise of bourgeois and capitalist social forms in the 19th century, European culture moved away from its patronage system to a publicly supported system. In the 2000s, most opera and theatre companies raise funds from a combination of government and institutional grants, ticket sales, the Teatro San Carlo in Naples introduces the plant horseshoe, the oldest in the world, a model for the Italian theater. On this model were built following theaters of Italy and Europe, among others, the theater of the Palace of Caserta. Given the popularity of opera in 18th and 19th century Europe, opera houses are large, with generally more than 1,000 seats. Modern opera houses of the century such as New Yorks Metropolitan Opera. Many operas are better suited to being presented in smaller theatres, in a traditional opera house, the auditorium is U-shaped, with the length of the sides determining the audience capacity. Around this are tiers of balconies, and often, nearer to the stage, are boxes and this is especially true of Wagners Bayreuth Festspielhaus where the pit is almost completely covered. The size of an opera orchestra varies, but for some operas, oratorios and other works, it may be large, for some romantic period works. Similarly, an opera may have a large cast of characters, chorus, dancers, therefore, a major opera house will have extensive dressing room facilities. Opera houses often have on-premises set and costume building shops and facilities for storage of costumes, make-up, masks, and stage properties, major opera houses throughout the world often have highly mechanized stages, with large stage elevators permitting heavy sets to be changed rapidly. At the Metropolitan Opera, for instance, sets are changed during the action, as the audience watches. This occurs in the Mets productions of such as Aida. Much the same happened in the remodeling of Milans La Scala opera house between 2002 and 2004, since the 1990s, however, many opera houses have begun using a subtle form of sound reinforcement called acoustic enhancement. Often, operas are presented in their languages, which may be different from the first language of the audience. For example, a Wagnerian opera presented in London may be in German, therefore, since the 1980s modern opera houses have assisted the audience by providing translated supertitles, projections of the words above or near to the stage
6.
Opera
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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
7.
Bel canto
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Bel canto, along with a number of similar constructions, is a term relating to Italian singing. It has several different meanings and is subject to a variety of interpretations. Nonetheless, neither musical nor general dictionaries saw fit to attempt definition until after 1900, the term remains vague and ambiguous in the 21st century and is often used to evoke a lost singing tradition. As generally understood today, the bel canto refers to the Italian-originated vocal style that prevailed throughout most of Europe during the 18th century. Operas received the most dramatic use of the techniques, but the bel canto style applies equally to oratorio, the da capo arias these works contained provided challenges for singers, as the repeat of the opening section prevented the story line from progressing. Nonetheless, singers needed to keep the emotional drama moving forward, Singers regularly embellished both arias and recitatives, but did so by tailoring their embellishments to the prevailing sentiments of the piece. Two famous 18th-century teachers of the style were Antonio Bernacchi and Nicola Porpora, a number of these teachers were castrati. In another application, the bel canto is sometimes attached to Italian operas written by Vincenzo Bellini. These composers wrote works for the stage during what musicologists sometimes call the bel canto era. The last important opera role for a castrato was written in 1824 by Giacomo Meyerbeer, wagner decried the Italian singing model, alleging that it was concerned merely with whether that G or A will come out roundly. He advocated a new, Germanic school of singing which would draw the spiritually energetic, interestingly enough, French musicians and composers never embraced the more florid extremes of the 18th-century Italian bel canto style. They disliked the voice and because they placed a premium on the clear enunciation of the texts of their vocal music. The popularity of the bel canto style as espoused by Rossini, Donizetti and it was overtaken by a heavier, more ardent, less embroidered approach to singing that was necessary in order to perform the innovative works of Giuseppe Verdi with maximum dramatic impact. Sopranos and baritones reacted in a fashion to their tenor colleagues when confronted with Verdis drama-filled compositions. To others, however, bel canto became the art of elegant. Rossini lamented in a conversation took place in Paris in 1858 that, Alas for us. Similarly, the so-called German style was as derided as much as it was heralded, in the late-19th century and early-20th century, the term bel canto was resurrected by singing teachers in Italy, among whom the retired Verdi baritone Antonio Cotogni was a pre-eminent figure. During the 1890s, the directors of the Bayreuth Festival initiated a particularly forceful style of Wagnerian singing that was totally at odds with the Italian ideals of bel canto
8.
Gioachino Rossini
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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
9.
Vincenzo Bellini
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Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer, who was known for his long-flowing melodic lines for which he was named the Swan of Catania. Other sources of information come from correspondence saved by other friends, C Bellini was the quintessential composer of the Italian bel canto era of the early 19th century, and his work has been summed up by the London critic Tim Ashley as. Also hugely influential, as much admired by composers as he was by the public. Verdi raved about his long, long, long melodies, wagner, who rarely liked anyone but himself, was spellbound by Bellinis almost uncanny ability to match music with text and psychology. Liszt and Chopin professed themselves fans, of the 19th-century giants, only Berlioz demurred. Those musicologists who consider Bellini to be merely a melancholic tunesmith are now in the minority, the genuine triumph of I puritani in January 1835 in Paris capped a significant career. Certainly, Capuleti, La sonnambula, Norma, and I puritani are regularly performed today, only nine months later, Bellini died in Puteaux, France at the age of 33. Born in Catania, at the part of the Kingdom of Sicily. His grandfather, Vincenzo Tobia Bellini, had studied at the conservatory in Naples and, in Catania from 1767 forward, had been an organist and teacher, as had Vincenzos father, by the age of five, he could apparently play marvelously. The document states that Bellinis first five pieces were composed when he was just six years old and at seven he was taught Latin, modern languages, rhetoric, and philosophy. Author Herbert Weinstock regards some of these accounts as no more than myths, not being supported from other, additionally, he makes the point in regard to Bellinis apparent knowledge of languages and philosophy, Bellini never became a well-educated man. After 1816, Bellini began living with his grandfather, from whom he received his first music lessons, soon after, the young composer began to write compositions. Among them were the nine Versetti da cantarsi il Venerdi Santo, by 1818, Bellini had independently completed several additional orchestral pieces. He was ready for further study, for well-off students, this would include moving to Naples. While his family wasnt wealthy enough to support that lifestyle, Bellinis growing reputation could not be overlooked and his break came when Stefano Notabartolo, the duca di San Martino e Montalbo and his duchess, became the new intendente of the province of Catania. They encouraged the man to petition the city fathers for a stipend to support his musical studies. This was successfully achieved in May 1819 with unanimous agreement for a pension to allow him to study at the Real Collegio di Musica di San Sebastiano in Naples. The young Bellini was to live in Naples for the eight years
10.
Gaetano Donizetti
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Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, Donizetti was a composer of the bel canto opera style during the first half of the nineteenth century. Donizettis close association with the bel canto style was undoubtedly an influence on composers such as Giuseppe Verdi. Donizetti was born in Bergamo in Lombardy, there he received detailed training in the arts of fugue and counterpoint. Over the course of his career, Donizetti wrote almost 70 operas, in all, Naples presented 51 of Donizettis operas. Before 1830, success came primarily with his operas, the serious ones failing to attract significant audiences. However, his first notable success came with an opera seria, Zoraida di Granata, significant historical dramas did appear and became successful, they included Lucia di Lammermoor given in Naples in 1835, and one of the most successful Neapolitan operas, Roberto Devereux in 1837. Up to that point, all of his operas had been set to Italian libretti, Donizetti found himself increasingly chafing against the censorial limitations which existed in Italy. From about 1836, he interested in working in Paris. The first opera was a French version of the then-unperformed Poliuto which, two new operas were also given in Paris at that time. As the 1840s progressed, Donizetti moved regularly between Naples, Rome, Paris, and Vienna continuing to compose and stage his own operas as well as those of other composers, but from around 1843, severe illness began to take hold and to limit his activities. Eventually, by early 1846 he was obliged to be confined to an institution for the ill and, by late 1847, friends had him moved back to Bergamo. The youngest of three sons, Donizetti was born in 1797 in Bergamos Borgo Canale quarter located just outside the city walls and his family was very poor and had no tradition of music, his father Andrea being the caretaker of the town pawnshop. Simone Mayr, a German composer of internationally successful operas, had become maestro di cappella at Bergamos principal church in 1802, in 1807, Andrea Donizetti attempted to enroll both his sons, but the elder, Giuseppe, was considered too old. He remained there for nine years, until 1815, however, as Donizetti scholar William Ashbrook notes, in 1809 he was threatened with having to leave because his voice was changing. In 1810 he applied for and was accepted by the art school, the Academia Carrara. Then, in 1811, Mayr once again intervened, as Ashbrook states, this was nothing less than Mayrs argument that Donizetti be allowed to continue his musical studies. The piece was performed on 13 September 1811 and included the character stating the following, Ah, by Bacchus
11.
Giuseppe Verdi
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Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian opera composer. Verdi was born near Busseto to a family of moderate means. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini, whose works influenced him. In his early operas Verdi demonstrated a sympathy with the Risorgimento movement which sought the unification of Italy and he also participated briefly as an elected politician. He surprised the world by returning, after his success with the opera Aida. The baptismal register, prepared on 11 October 1813, lists his parents Carlo, additionally, it lists Verdi as being born yesterday, but since days were often considered to begin at sunset, this could have meant either 9 or 10 October. Verdi himself, following his mother, always celebrated his birthday on 9 October, Verdi had a younger sister, Giuseppa, who died aged 17 in 1833. From the age of four, Verdi was given lessons in Latin and Italian by the village schoolmaster, Baistrocchi. After learning to play the organ, he showed so much interest in music that his parents provided him with a spinet. Verdis gift for music was apparent by 1820–21 when he began his association with the local church, serving in the choir, acting as an altar boy for a while. After Baistrocchis death, Verdi, at the age of eight, Carlo Verdi was energetic in furthering his sons education. something which Verdi tended to hide in later life. He picture emerges of youthful precocity eagerly nurtured by a father and of a sustained, sophisticated. Verdi returned to Busseto regularly to play the organ on Sundays, at age 11, Verdi received schooling in Italian, Latin, the humanities, and rhetoric. By the time he was 12, he began lessons with Ferdinando Provesi, maestro di cappella at San Bartolomeo, director of the music school. This information comes from the Autobiographical Sketch which Verdi dictated to the publisher Giulio Ricordi late in life, in 1879, written, understandably, with the benefit of hindsight, it is not always reliable when dealing with issues more contentious than those of his childhood. The other director of the Philharmonic Society was Antonio Barezzi, a grocer and distiller. The young Verdi did not immediately become involved with the Philharmonic, by June 1827, he had graduated with honours from the Ginnasio and was able to focus solely on music under Provesi. By 1829–30, Verdi had established himself as a leader of the Philharmonic, none of us could rival him reported the secretary of the organisation, Giuseppe Demaldè
12.
Gian Antonio Selva
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Gian Antonio Selva was an Italian neoclassical architect. He was born in Venice, the son of scientist Lorenzo Selva and he studied architecture in Venice, and was a pupil of Tommaso Temanza. Selva visited Rome, London, Paris, and also travelled to Belgium and he died in Venice in 1819
13.
Aldo Rossi
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Aldo Rossi was an Italian architect and designer who accomplished the unusual feat of achieving international recognition in four distinct areas, theory, drawing, architecture and product design. He was the first Italian to receive the Pritzker Prize for architecture and he was born in Milan, Italy. After early education by the Somascan Religious Order and then at Alessandro Volta College in Lecco and his thesis advisor was Piero Portaluppi and he graduated in 1959. In 1955 he had started writing for, and from 1959 was one of the editors of, Rossi left in 1964, when the chief editorship went to Gian Antonio Bernasconi. Rossi went on to work for Società magazine and Il_contemporaneo, making Rossi one of the most active participants in the fervent cultural debate of the time and he married the Swiss actress Sonia Gessner, who introduced him to the world of film and theater. Culture and his family became central to his life and his son Fausto was active in movie-making both in front of and behind the camera and his daughter Vera was involved with theatre. He began his career at the studio of Ignazio Gardella in 1956. In 1963 also he began teaching, firstly as an assistant to Ludovico Quaroni at the school of urban planning in Arezzo, then to Carlo Aymonino at the Institute of Architecture in Venice. In 1965 he was appointed lecturer at the Polytechnic University of Milan, in 1971 he won the design competition for the extension of the San Cataldo Cemetery in Modena, which made him internationally famous. After suspension from teaching in Italy in those troubled times, he moved to ETH Zurich. In 1975, Rossi returned to the profession in Italy. In 1979 he was made a member of the prestigious Academy of Saint Luke, meanwhile, there was international interest in his skills. He taught at universities in the United States, including Cooper Union in New York City. In 1981 he published his autobiography, A scientific autobiography, in this work the author, in discrete disorder, brings back memories, objects, places, forms, literature notes, quotes, and insights and tries to. Go over things or impressions, describe, or look for ways to describe, in the same year he won first prize at the international competition for the design of an apartment block on the corner of Kochstraße and Wilhelmstraße in central Berlin. In 1984 together with Ignazio Gardella and Fabio Reinhart, he won the competition for the renovation of the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, which was not fully completed until 1991. In 1985 and 1986 Rossi was director of the 3rd International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale including further away display spaces such as Villa Farsetti in Santa Maria di Sala. In 1987 he won two competitions, one for a site at the Parc de la Villette in Paris, the other for the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin
14.
Neoclassicism
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The main Neoclassical movement coincided with the 18th-century Age of Enlightenment, and continued into the early 19th century, laterally competing with Romanticism. In architecture, the style continued throughout the 19th, 20th, European Neoclassicism in the visual arts began c.1760 in opposition to the then-dominant Baroque and Rococo styles. Each neo-classicism selects some models among the range of classics that are available to it. They ignored both Archaic Greek art and the works of Late Antiquity, the Rococo art of ancient Palmyra came as a revelation, through engravings in Woods The Ruins of Palmyra. While the movement is described as the opposed counterpart of Romanticism. The case of the main champion of late Neoclassicism, Ingres, demonstrates this especially well. The revival can be traced to the establishment of formal archaeology, the writings of Johann Joachim Winckelmann were important in shaping this movement in both architecture and the visual arts. With the advent of the Grand Tour, a fad of collecting antiquities began that laid the foundations of many great collections spreading a Neoclassical revival throughout Europe, Neoclassicism in each art implies a particular canon of a classical model. In English, the term Neoclassicism is used primarily of the arts, the similar movement in English literature. This, which had been dominant for decades, was beginning to decline by the time Neoclassicism in the visual arts became fashionable. Though terms differ, the situation in French literature was similar, in music, the period saw the rise of classical music, and Neoclassicism is used of 20th-century developments. Ingress coronation portrait of Napoleon even borrowed from Late Antique consular diptychs and their Carolingian revival, much Neoclassical painting is more classicizing in subject matter than in anything else. A fierce, but often very badly informed, dispute raged for decades over the merits of Greek and Roman art, with Winckelmann. The work of artists, who could not easily be described as insipid, combined aspects of Romanticism with a generally Neoclassical style. Unlike Carstens unrealized schemes, the etchings of Giovanni Battista Piranesi were numerous and profitable and his main subject matter was the buildings and ruins of Rome, and he was more stimulated by the ancient than the modern. Neoclassicism in painting gained a new sense of direction with the success of Jacques-Louis Davids Oath of the Horatii at the Paris Salon of 1785. Despite its evocation of republican virtues, this was a commission by the royal government, David managed to combine an idealist style with drama and forcefulness. David rapidly became the leader of French art, and after the French Revolution became a politician with control of government patronage in art
15.
Giovanni Paisiello
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Giovanni Paisiello was an Italian composer of the Classical era. Paisiello was born in Taranto and educated by the Jesuits there and he became known for his beautiful singing voice and in 1754 was sent to the Conservatorio di S. Onofrio at Naples, where he studied under Francesco Durante, and eventually became assistant master. In 1772 Paisiello began to write music, and composed a requiem for Gennara di Borbone. In the same year he married Cecilia Pallini, and the marriage was a happy one, when, in 1816, Gioachino Rossini set a revised version of the libretto to music, under the title of Almaviva ossia la inutil precauzione the fans of Paisiello stormed the stage. Paisiello left Russia in 1784, and, after producing Il Re Teodoro at Vienna, entered the service of Ferdinand IV of Naples, the power of the Bonaparte family was tottering to its fall, and Paisiellos fortunes fell with it. The death of his wife in 1815 tried him severely and his health failed rapidly, and constitutional jealousy of the popularity of others was a source of worry and vexation. Paisiello is known to have composed 94 operas, which are known for their beautiful melodies. Perhaps the best-known tune he wrote is Nel cor più non mi sento from La Molinara. Paisiello also wrote a great deal of music, including eight masses, as well as fifty-one instrumental compositions. He also composed the Inno al Re, the anthem of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Manuscript scores of many of his operas were presented to the library of the British Museum by Domenico Dragonetti, the Concise Grove Dictionary of Music notes that Paisiello was one of the most successful and influential opera composers of his time. Most of his over 80 operas are comic and use a simple, direct and spirited style, latterly with sharper characterization, more colorful scoring and his serious operas have less than the conventional amount of virtuoso vocal writing, those for Russia are the closest to Glucks reform approach. Paisiello was primarily an opera composer and his instrumental works are therefore imbued with a similar vocally conceived melodic line, granted they may be lacking in the sophisticated counterpoint and motivic work of Haydn and Mozarts music. This characterization, however, does not do justice to the extreme drama, essentially he had mastered all the techniques which made for good opera, and this made his works widely popular and admired throughout Europe. Parma, Loca del Cairo Edizioni Musicali,2006 and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Paisiello, Giovanni. A Dictionary of Music and Musicians, free scores by Giovanni Paisiello at the International Music Score Library Project Robinson, Michael F. Paisiello, Giovanni. Free scores by Giovanni Paisiello in the Choral Public Domain Library
16.
Tancredi
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Tancredi is a melodramma eroico in two acts by composer Gioachino Rossini and librettist Gaetano Rossi, based on Voltaires play Tancrède. The overture, borrowed from La pietra del paragone, is an example of Rossinis characteristic style and is regularly performed in concert. Richard Osborne proclaims it to be his fully fledged opera seria and it established him, more of less instantly, as Italys leading composer of contemporary opera. In this new ending, presented at the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara on 21 March 1813, Tancredi wins the battle but is mortally wounded, Argirio marries the lovers in time for Tancredi to die in his wifes arms. As has been stated by Philip Gossett and Patricia Brauner, it was the rediscovery of the score of this ending in 1974 that resulted in the version which is performed today. Other comedies had preceded Loccasione, but its success ensured a fifth opera for that house, other treatments of the Tancredi story had been prepared, the most recent being that of Stefano Pavesi in 1812. However, many of Rossinis formal inventions, seen in his earlier operas, are here incorporated with great effect. As Gossett notes The opera established a new synthesis, new compositional models, with, through. The revised ending for Ferrara, March,1813 This revised version of the opera, presented a month after its Venice premiere, the music for this ending was withdrawn, it disappeared, and was not discovered until 1976. Act 2 finale, Having come to find Tancredi, the knights of Syracuse enter along with Argirio, angrilly, Tancredi orders Amenaide to go to Solamirs camp, upset that she has come to disturb him. He leaves to go into battle, and shortly Argirio returns to report that the Syracusans have been victorious and he is carried in and learns from Argirio the truth about Amenaide just in time for Argirio to marry them. He then dies in her arms, according to Richard Osborne, the 1813 re-workings for Ferrara were not a success and Rossini withdrew the revision and, as was his habit, redistributed some of the music in later work. Following the discovery, the preparation of the edition for the Fondazione Rossini by Philip Gossett. 19th century Tancredi premiered in February 1813 at La Fenice in Venice with Adelaide Malanotte in the title role, the first two performances suffered because of vocal problems from its two female principals, but its success was assured over six performances into the following month. Philip Gossetts research in 1971 states that until about 1825 the musical text was rather fluid, the first Ricordi edition, which differs significantly from the later ones, corresponds to the Milanese version. But many other Italian cities saw the opera, including Florence, Padua, Livorno, Vicenza, Macerata, Camerino, Viterbo, Milan, outside of Italy, it was given in Corfù, Lisbon, and Geneva. The opera was first performed in England at the Kings Theatre in London on 4 May 1820 with Fanny Corri-Paltoni as Amenaide and its French premiere was given by the Théâtre-Lyrique Italien at the Salle Louvois in Paris on 23 April 1822 with Giuditta Pasta in the title role. It was seen in Portugal for the first time at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos on 18 September 1822 and was given its La Scala premiere on 8 November 1823 with Brigida Lorenzani as Tancredi
17.
Semiramide
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Semiramide is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaires tragedy Semiramis, the opera was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on 3 February 1823. Semiramide was Rossinis final Italian opera and according to Richard Osborne, as in Tancredi, Rossis libretto was based on a Voltaire tragedy. The music took the form of a return to vocal traditions of Rossinis youth, the ensemble-scenes and choruses are of a high order, as is the orchestral writing, which makes full use of a large pit. After this splendid work, one of his finest in the genre, Rossini turned his back on Italy and moved to Paris. Apart from Il viaggio a Reims, which is still in Italian, after making his mark with a number of brilliant comic operas, Rossini turned more and more to serious opera. During the years 1813 until 1822 he wrote a series of them, mostly for the Teatro di San Carlo. One reason for his new interest in the genre was his connection with the great dramatic soprano Isabella Colbran. Work began with the librettist in October 1822, composer and librettist taking Voltaires story, actual composition took Rossini 33 days to complete the score. It reached London on 15 July 1824, was given its US premiere at the St. Charles Theatre in New Orleans on 1 May 1837, for 25 years after 1830, Giulia Grisi triumphed in the role notably in St Petersburg in 1849 and New York in 1854. By the late 1800s, the opera had virtually disappeared from the repertoire, the Metropolitan Opera revived Semiramide in 1892,1894, and 1895. 20th century and beyond It took until 1932 until the opera was revived in Rostock. Although the overture is one of several of Rossinis to be widely recorded and it starred Marilyn Horne as Arsace. In 2004, the opera was mounted in concert form by the Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vienna, time, Antiquity or Some 2,000 Years before the Christian era Place, Babylon Overture Semiramide has its own overture, which was almost certainly composed last. Unlike many operatic overtures of the day, it borrowed musical ideas from the opera itself, temple of Baal, Babylon The High Priest Oroe invites all to enter the temple, and Babylonians do so carrying offerings to Baal. Assur states that the day has come for the Queen to choose a successor, Idreno expresses surprise at Assurs aspirations and all express their individual concerns and fears. Semiramide enters to the acclaim of all, but Idreno and Assur individually speculate as to who will be chosen. They press the queen to announce her decision, but at the same time Semiramide herself is fearful about making that decision, suddenly, the temple is plunged into darkness and there is general consternation amidst fears of its imminent collapse
18.
I Capuleti e i Montecchi
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I Capuleti e i Montecchi is an Italian opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini. The theme was popular in Italy, there were earlier libretti by Luzzi for Luigi Marescalchi, Foppa for Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli. The first Italian libretto explicitly based on Shakespeare’s play did not appear until 1865, it was by M. M. Marcello, for Filippo Marchetti’s Romeo e Giulietta given in Trieste. Bellini was persuaded to write the opera for the 1830 Carnival season at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, with only a month and he succeeded by appropriating a large amount of music previously written for his unsuccessful opera Zaira. The first performance of I Capuleti e i Montecchi took place on 11 March 1830, after Zaira Following the poor reception which Zaira received in Parma, Bellini returned to Milan by the end of June 1829 with no contract for another opera in sight. He accepted both offers, but the La Fenice impresario, Alessandro Lanari, included a proviso that if he were to be unable to fulfill the Venice contract, then it would be transferred to Bellini. A firm offer of a contract for a new opera for Venice appeared in the autumn, by mid-December Bellini was in Venice where he heard the same singers who were to perform in Pirata, they were Giuditta Grisi, the tenor Lorenzo Bonfigli, and Giulio Pellegrini. The two men set to work, but with the weather in Venice becoming increasingly bad, Bellini fell ill, however. He also took Giulietta’s Oh quante volte and Nelly’s romanza from Adelson e Salvini, the Giulietta was to be sung by Rosalbina Caradori-Allan. Composition In Venice to prepare the local première of Il pirata with Giuditta Grisi as Imogene, Bellini wrote I Capuleti in a month and her presence, together with a relatively weak male singers in the company, may have conditioned the choice of subject. Giulietta was sung by Maria Caterina Rosalbina Caradori-Allan, Tebaldo by Lorenzo Bonfigli and Lorenzo by Ranieri Pocchini Cavalieri. Bellini had intended the part of Lorenzo for a bass, but in act 1 of the score he transposed it for tenor. Although these changes were possibly for Senigallia who sang the role in the summer of 1830, Cavalieri, the singer at the première, appears to have been a tenor. However, published scores and most performances assign the role to a bass, Bellini thoroughly reworked nine melodies from his unsuccessful Zaira into I Capuleti e i Montecchi, he explained that Zaira, hissed at Parma, was avenged by I Capuleti. In addition, Giulietta’s Oh quante volte in act 1 uses Nelly’s romanza, Dopo l’oscuro nembo from Adelson e Salvini, 19th century At the premiere of I Capuleti e i Montecchi on 11 March 1830 success for Bellini returned. Weinstock describes the premiere as an unclouded and immediate success but it was able to be performed eight times before the La Fenice season closed on 21 March. A local newspaper, I Teatri, reported that all things considered, this opera by Bellini has aroused as much enthusiasm in Venice as La straniera aroused in Milan from the first evening on. By this time, Bellini knew that he had achieved fame, writing on 28 March, he stated that, My style is now heard in the most important theatres in the world. and with the greatest enthusiasm
19.
Beatrice di Tenda
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Beatrice di Tenda is a tragic opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini, from a libretto by Felice Romani, after the play of the same name by Carlo Tedaldi Fores. Initially, a play by Alexandre Dumas was chosen as the subject for the opera, Romani, who had his own concerns, the principal one being the close parallels with the story told in Donizettis Anna Bolena, an opera which had established that composers success in 1830. Against his better judgment, he agreed, although he failed to provide verses for many months. Although unsuccessful at its premiere in Venice in 1833, Bellini felt that he had counteracted the horror of its story by means of the music, colouring it now tremendously and now sadly. Later, after hearing of the success in Palermo, Bellini wrote to his Neapolitan friend Francesco Florimo. Also, it was Pastas performances in the role that overcame the publics hostility to the piece. The opera was Bellinis penultimate work, coming between Norma and I puritani and it was the one of his operas to be published in full score in his lifetime. With the leading role requiring a strong character to be written for Pasta, composer. However, within a month, Bellini had changed his mind and he was writing to Pasta stating that the subject has been changed, I had a hard time persuading Romani, but persuade him I did, and with good reasons. Knowing that the subject pleases you, as you told me the evening when you saw the ballet and he is a man of good will, and I want him to show it also in wanting to prepare at least the first act for me swiftly. Bellinis expectation that he would receive the first act turned out to be a mistake. In spite of Romanis contract deadlines, no progress towards the preparation of the libretto for Beatrice took place in November, Bellini announced that he would arrive in Venice in early December, but after the 10th, he became preoccupied with rehearsals for his stagings of Norma. However, the lack of any verses—for an opera which was supposed to be given its premiere in the half of February—caused him to have to take action against Romani. He lodged a complaint with the governor of Venice who then contacted the governor of Milan, the librettist finally arrived in Venice on 1 January 1833. He holed up to write Bellinis libretto, but, at the same time, when Norma opened on 26 December, it was a success but only because of Pasta, the other singers were not well received. This caused Bellini to fear for how Beatrice would turn out, writing to his friend Santocanale in Palermo on 12 January, the composer was in despair, complaining of the short time to write his opera, whose fault is that. That of my usual and original poet, the God of Sloth and their relationship quickly began to deteriorate, greetings including tu gave way to voi and they lived in different parts of Venice, unusual when they were working together outside their home city. However, by 14 February, Bellini was reporting that he had another three pieces of the opera to do
20.
La Scala
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La Scala is an opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was known as the Nuovo Regio Ducale Teatro alla Scala. The premiere performance was Antonio Salieris Europa riconosciuta, most of Italys greatest operatic artists, and many of the finest singers from around the world, have appeared at La Scala during the past 200 years. The theatre is regarded as one of the opera and ballet theatres in the world and is home to the La Scala Theatre Chorus, La Scala Theatre Ballet. The theatre also has a school, known as the La Scala Theatre Academy. La Scalas season traditionally opens on 7 December, Saint Ambroses Day, all performances must end before midnight, and long operas start earlier in the evening when necessary. La Scala also hosts the Accademia dArti e Mestieri dello Spettacolo and its goal is to train a new generation of young musicians, technical staff, and dancers. A fire destroyed the theatre, the Teatro Regio Ducale, on 25 February 1776. The neoclassical architect Giuseppe Piermarini produced a design but it was rejected by Count Firmian. A second plan was accepted in 1776 by Empress Maria Theresa, the new theatre was built on the former location of the church of Santa Maria alla Scala, from which the theatre gets its name. The church was deconsecrated and demolished, and over a period of two years the theatre was completed by Pietro Marliani, Pietro Nosetti and Antonio and Giuseppe Fe. The theatre had a total of 3,000 or so seats organized into 678 pit-stalls and its stage is one of the largest in Italy. Building expenses were covered by the sale of palchi, which were decorated by their owners. La Scala soon became the preeminent meeting place for noble and wealthy Milanese people, in the tradition of the times, the platea had no chairs and spectators watched the shows standing up. The orchestra was in sight, as the golfo mistico had not yet been built. Above the boxes, La Scala has a gallery—called the loggione—where the less wealthy can watch the performances, the gallery is typically crowded with the most critical opera aficionados, known as the loggionisti, who can be ecstatic or merciless towards singers perceived successes or failures. As with most of the theatres at that time, La Scala was also a casino, conditions in the auditorium, too, could be frustrating for the opera lover, as Mary Shelley discovered in September 1840, At the Opera they were giving Otto Nicolais Templario. La Scala was originally illuminated with 84 oil lamps mounted on the palcoscenico, to prevent the risks of fire, several rooms were filled with hundreds of water buckets
21.
Teatro di San Carlo
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The Real Teatro di San Carlo, its original name under the Bourbon monarchy but known today as simply the Teatro di San Carlo, is an opera house in Naples, Italy. It is located adjacent to the central Piazza del Plebiscito, and it is the oldest continuously active venue for public opera in the world, opening in 1737, decades before both the Milans La Scala and Venices La Fenice theatres. The opera season runs from late January to May, with the season taking place from April to early June. The house once had a capacity of 3,285. Given its size, structure and antiquity was the model for the theatres in Europe. As was customary, the role of Achilles was played by a woman, Vittoria Tesi, called Moretta, sarro also conducted the orchestra in two ballets as intermezzi, created by Gaetano Grossatesta, with scenes designed by Pietro Righini. The first seasons highlighted the royal preference for numbers. The new opera house was designed by Giovanni Antonio Medrano, an architect, and Angelo Carasale. The horseshoe-shaped auditorium is the oldest in the world and it was built at a cost of 75,000 ducats. Including standing room, the theatre could hold over 3,000 people, military movements of infantry and cavalry, battles, and storms at sea can be represented here without falling into the ludicrous. But for opera, itself, the house is too large, although the singers, Signora Isabella Colbran, and the Signori Nozzari, Benedetti, etc. have very strong voices, only their highest and most stentorian tones could be heard. Any kind of tender utterance was lost, much admired for its architecture, its gold decorations, and the sumptuous blue upholstery, the San Carlo was now the biggest opera house in the world. In 1809 Domenico Barbaia was appointed manager of the opera houses in Naples. He soon established a reputation for innovative and dazzling productions, which attracted both the public and leading singers to the opera house, on 13 February 1816 a fire broke out during a dress-rehearsal for a ballet performance and quickly spread to destroy a part of building. On the orders of King Ferdinand IV, another Bourbon monarch and son of Charles III and it was rebuilt as a traditional horseshoe-shaped auditorium with 1,444 seats, and a proscenium,33. 5m wide and 30m high. Niccolini embellished in the inner of the bas-relief depicting Time and the Hour, the central frescoed ceiling painting of Apollo presenting to Minerva the greatest poets of the world was painted by Antonio, Giuseppe e Giovanni Cammarano. On 12 January 1817, the theatre was inaugurated with Johann Simon Mayrs Il sogno di Partenope. Stendhal attended the night of the inauguration and wrote, There is nothing in all Europe, I won’t say comparable to this theatre
22.
Belisario
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Belisario is a tragedia lirica in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto after Luigi Marchionnis adaptation of Eduard von Schenks play, Belisarius, first staged in Munich in 1820, the plot is loosely based on the life of the famous general Belisarius of the 6th century Byzantine Empire. However, in spite of its short term success and critical reaction. By April 1836, even the composer himself recognized that the work stood below Lucia in accomplishment, with the success of Lucia di Lammermoor in September 1835, Donizetti moved on to stagings of Maria Stuarda, the first under that name at La Scala in late 1835. There followed discussions with impresario Natale Fabbrici about employing a Venetian librettist, of greater concern to Donizetti was the singers who were to be engaged. Primarily, he was concerned about the identity of the tenor, Until I know for sure, I cannot compose duets, finales and trios. In a review of a 2011 London performance, some of the strengths of Donizettis score are outlined, The central couple are played by bass and soprano, but Donizettis score has none of Verdis furious compression, and dramatically we are in very different territory. Belisario and Antonina, the latter more Regan than Lady Macbeth, are at each others throats rather than united by desire for power and her machinations lead to his being blinded then expelled from Byzantium into the natural world beyond. 19th century The operas popularity continued through the 19th century, with stagings in 31 cities both in Europe and America. Its first performance in London took place on 1 April 1837, after an 1899 performance in Coblenz, the opera disappeared. 20th century and beyond Modern productions have been rare, revivals took place in 1969 at La Fenice, in 1970 at Bergamo, in 1972 in London, in 1973 in Naples, in 1981 in Buenos Aires, and in 1990 at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Most notable amongst performers in the female role has been Leyla Gencer. The opera was presented in January 2005 by the North Carolina School for Arts using a then brand-new performance score prepared by Ottavio Sbragia, the same year saw stagings by Turkish State Opera and Ballet in Istambul. The cast recorded the opera for Opera Rara, place, Byzantium and the Haemus mountains. Time, sixth century A. D. Il Trionfo The hall in the emperors palace Irene, the Emperor Justinian greets his commander and grants his prayer for the release of the prisoners. The captive, Alamiro, who adores Belisarius, refuses to leave him, the general adopts him in place of his long lost son. LEsilio Before the prison Alamiro and his friends lament the fate of Belisarius, whose eyes have been put out by his enemies, Irene clad as a youth arrives to act as guide to her father, who is about to be released from prison. La Morte In the mountains As the clang of weapons is heard, Alamiro now leads the army of the Alanni against Byzantium to avenge Belisarius
23.
Ernani
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Ernani is an operatic dramma lirico in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Hernani by Victor Hugo. As musicologist Roger Parker notes, the composer intervened on several important points, Ernani was first performed on 9 March 1844 and it was immensely popular, and was revived countless times during its early years. It became Verdis most popular opera until it was superseded by Il trovatore after 1853, in 1904 it became the first opera to be recorded completely. Following the success of both Nabucco and I Lombardi, Verdi was approached by many companies wanting to commission him to write an opera for their houses. However, the composer was only willing to accept the terms which he proposed,12,000 Austrian lire to be paid after the first performance, in addition, he had the right to choose the singers from the assembled company for that season. Several subjects came to Verdis attention, for example, Byrons The Corsair was considered, However, both of these subjects were to become later Verdi operas, Il corsaro and I due Foscari. An unsolicited manuscript from the unknown Francesco Piave proposed an opera, Cromwell, based on Victor Hugos play, the idea for Hernani The Cromwell libretto arrived from Piave in pieces, and Verdi put it away until he had the complete version to work from. However, when the composer and La Fenices president met in Venice in late August and he continues, But oh, if only we could do Hernani instead that would be tremendous. I know that it would mean a great deal of trouble for the poet but my first task would be to try, all he would have to do would be to condense and tighten up, the action is already there ready made, and its all immensely good theatre. Tomorrow Ill write at length to Piave setting out all the scenes from Hernani which seem to me suitable, at this point he continues with suggestions for the poet. Setting the play as the opera, Ernani However, Piave was not at all pleased by this turn of events and felt that an opera based on Hernani could not be staged for reasons of censorship. For instance, the Kings first appearance in the play is from a cupboard where he has been hiding since some time after his arrival, thus he overhears much of the interaction between Elvira and Ernani before finally revealing himself. Verdi must have realized that no king would ever be allowed to hide in a cupboard, but the La Fenice directorate did approve the concept and the librettist was offered compensation, although he saved his Allan Cameron in reserve in case of mishap. For Budden, this marks a new outlook in Italian opera, because this would never have occurred to either Rossini or Donizetti, for whom plots were interchangeable. Although Verdi had agreed to try to accommodate the contralto Carolina Vietti when the opera was Allan Cameron, thus it became a comprimario role, one to be sung by a second-rung singer in the company. But, as Budden notes, Verdis difficulties with singers were not yet over, the season opened with I Lombardi in December 1843. It was a disaster, with singing from the tenor Domenico Conti. Two other operas early in the 1843/44 season were equally poorly received, Verdi then engaged a member of the chorus, the bass Antonio Selva who went on to a distinguished career
24.
Carnival
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Carnival is a Western Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide. Carnival typically involves a public celebration and/or parade combining some elements of a circus, masks, people wear masks and costumes during many such celebrations, allowing them to lose their everyday individuality and experience a heightened sense of social unity. Excessive consumption of alcohol, meat, and other foods proscribed during Lent is extremely common, the term Carnival is traditionally used in areas with a large Catholic presence. However, the Philippines, a predominantly Roman Catholic country, does not celebrate Carnival anymore since the dissolution of the Manila Carnival after 1939, in Slavic Eastern Orthodox nations, Maslenitsa is celebrated during the last week before Great Lent. In German-speaking Europe and the Netherlands, the Carnival season traditionally opens on 11/11 and this dates back to celebrations before the Advent season or with harvest celebrations of St. Martins Day. Rio de Janeiro in Brazil is the biggest in the world, followed jointly by Barranquilla, Colombia, alternative names are used for regional and local celebrations. The origin may be from the Italian word carne or carrus, the former suggests an origin within Christianity, while the alternative links to earlier religions. Folk etymologies state that the word comes from the Late Latin expression carne vale, the word carne may also be translated as flesh, producing a farewell to the flesh, a phrase embraced by certain carnival celebrants to embolden the festivals carefree spirit. However, this interpretation is not supported by philological evidence, the Italian carne levare is one possible origin, meaning to remove meat, since meat is prohibited during Lent. Other scholars argue for the origin from the Roman name for the festival of the Navigium Isidis, the festival consisted of a parade of masks following an adorned wooden boat, possibly source of the floats. From the anthropological point of view, carnival is a ritual, in which social roles are reversed. Winter was thought of as the reign of the winter spirits, Carnival can thus be regarded as a rite of passage from darkness to light, from winter to summer, a fertility celebration, the first spring festival of the new year. Traditionally, a carnival feast was the last opportunity for people to eat well. Until spring produce was available, people were limited to the necessary meals during this period. On what nowadays is called vastenavond, all the winter stores of lard, butter. The selected livestock had already been slaughtered in November and the meat would be no longer preservable, all the food that had survived the winter had to be eaten to assure that everyone was fed enough to survive until the coming spring would provide new food sources. Several Germanic tribes celebrated the returning of the daylight, the winter would be driven out, to make sure that fertility could return in spring
25.
Attila (opera)
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Attila is an opera in a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the 1809 play Attila, König der Hunnen by Zacharias Werner. The opera received its first performance at La Fenice in Venice on 17 March 1846, other contemporary comment praised the work as suitable for the political education of the people, while, in contrast, others criticised the opera as Teutonic in nature. Verdi had read the play in April 1844, probably introduced to it by his friend Andrea Maffei who had written a synopsis. He continues, It is an extraordinary Teutonic farrago to have appealed to Verdi, Soleras approach to the project was to emphasize an appeal to Italian, specifically Venetian, patriotism, while ignoring many of the elements of the play. These included reversing the order of key scenes and, in the case of the scene showing the foundation of Venice. But the pace began to slow as, firstly, illness limited the ability to do much work. Verdi returns to Piave As things turned out, Verdi returned to Piave for the completion of act 3 - with Soleras blessing, yet they dont contain a band. 19th Century Overall, the reception from the press on opening night was not as positive as that from the audience present. As Budden notes, the Italian public had taken Attila to their hearts and he adds that the Roman general Ezios aria - Avrai tu luniverso, resta lItalia a me - brought forth spontaneous cheers. One production in Como is recorded to have taken place in 1875, after which the opera appears to have disappeared in Italy, at least. Attila was first produced in London in 1848 by Benjamin Lumley who, in his 1864 autobiography he notes that none perhaps of Verdis works had kindled more enthusiasm in Italy or crowned the fortunate composer with more abundant laurels than Attila. The Attila premiere featured Sophie Cruvelli, Italo Gardoni, Velletti, the opera was first given in New York City in 1850. There was a Rome revival a year later, then productions in Trieste in, in Buenos Aires in, in Berlin in, on 21 December 1980, the Vienna State Opera presented a new production conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli, and staged by Giulio Chazalettes. The cast included Nicolai Ghiaurov as Attila, Piero Cappuccilli as Ezio, Mara Zampieri as Odabella, Ramey again appeared in the title role in a production staged by La Scala in 1986 and filmed for DVD release. In February 2000 a concert performance was given by the Opera Orchestra of New York, in 2007, it was included as part of the Sarasota Operas Verdi Cycle. Attila received a performance on 8 September 2007 at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, with Ildar Abdrazakov, Hasmik Papian, Paolo Gavanelli. Jaap van Zweden conducted, a recording and broadcast followed, the Metropolitan Opera mounted its first production directed by Pierre Audi on 23 February 2010 conducted by Riccardo Muti, who was making his house debut. Ildar Abdrazakov sang the role, with Violeta Urmana as Odabella, Ramón Vargas as Foresto, Giovanni Meoni as Ezio
26.
Rigoletto
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Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi samuse by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had control over northern Italian theatres at the time and it is considered by many to be the first of the operatic masterpieces of Verdis middle-to-late career. Its tragic story revolves around the licentious Duke of Mantua, his court jester Rigoletto. The operas original title, La maledizione, refers to the placed on both the Duke and Rigoletto by a courtier whose daughter had been seduced by the Duke with Rigolettos encouragement. The curse comes to fruition when Gilda likewise falls in love with the Duke, Verdi was commissioned to write a new opera by the La Fenice opera house in Venice in 1850. By this time he was already a composer and had a degree of freedom in choosing the works he would prefer to set to music. He then asked Francesco Maria Piave to examine the play Kean by Alexandre Dumas, père, Verdi soon stumbled upon Victor Hugos five-act play Le roi samuse. He later explained that The subject is grand, immense, and there is a character that is one of the greatest creations that the theatre can boast of, in any country and in all history. It was a controversial subject, and Hugo himself had already had trouble with censorship in France. As Austria at that time controlled much of Northern Italy. Hugos play depicted a king as an immoral and cynical womanizer, from the beginning, Verdi was aware of the risks, as was Piave. In a letter which Verdi wrote to Piave, Use four legs, run through the town, correspondence between a prudent Piave and an already committed Verdi followed, but the two underestimated the power and the intentions of Austrians and remained at risk. Even the friendly Guglielmo Brenna, secretary of La Fenice, who had promised them that they would not have problems with the censors, was wrong, at the beginning of the summer of 1850, rumours started to spread that Austrian censorship was going to forbid the production. The censors considered the Hugo work to verge on lèse majesté, in August, Verdi and Piave prudently retired to Busseto, Verdis hometown, to continue the composition and prepare a defensive scheme. They wrote to the theatre, assuring them that the doubts about the morality of the work were not justified but since very little time was left. Verdi was completely against this solution and preferred instead to have direct negotiations with censors, arguing over each. At this point, Brenna, La Fenices secretary, showed the Austrians some letters and articles depicting the bad character but the value of the artist
27.
La traviata
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La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La Dame aux Camélias, an adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas. The opera was originally titled Violetta, after the main character and it was first performed on 6 March 1853 at the La Fenice opera house in Venice. Piave and Verdi wanted to follow Dumas in giving the opera a contemporary setting and it was not until the 1880s that the composer and librettists original wishes were carried out and realistic productions were staged. For Verdi, the years 1851 to 1853 were filled with operatic activity, in addition, personal affairs in his home town limited his activities that spring, but after Rigolettos success in Venice, an additional commission was offered by Brenna, the secretary of La Fenice. After Verdis return from Paris a contract was signed in May 1852, with performances scheduled for March 1853, Verdi sees The Lady of the Camellias play Verdi and Giuseppina Strepponi had visited Paris from late 1851 and into March 1852. In February the couple attended a performance of Alexander Dumas filss The Lady of the Camellias, as a result of this, Verdi biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz reports, the composer immediately began to compose music for what would later become La traviata. Writing to Piave, he added that I dont want any of those subjects that one can find by the hundreds. But at the time, the composer expressed concern about censorship in Venice. As the months dragged on into October, it was agreed that Piave would come to SantAgata, one subject was chosen, Piave set to work, and then Verdi threw in another idea, which may have been La traviata. However, within a time, a synopsis was dispatched to Venice under the title of Amore e morte. However, as Budden reveals, Verdi writes to his friend De Sanctis telling him that for Venice Im doing La Dame aux camélias which will probably be called La traviata, a subject for our own age. Although still bogged down at SantAgata, Piave was sanguine, Everything will turn out fine, Verdi was filled with premonitions of disaster upon his arrival in Venice on 21 February for rehearsals and he made his unhappiness clear to the singers. 19th century The audience jeered at times during the premiere, directing some of their scorn at the casting of soprano Fanny Salvini-Donatelli in the role of Violetta. Though she was a singer, they considered her to be too old. The next day, Verdi wrote to his friend Emanuele Muzio in what has now become perhaps his most famous letter, was the fault mine or the singers. Coincidentally, as Philips-Matz points out, an Italian translation of the play La Dame aux camélias was being presented just a short distance from La Fenice. As Budden notes, it came to be Venice that made an honest woman of Violetta when Verdi allowed a performance at the Teatro San Benedetto, then it was a fiasco, now it has created a furore
28.
Simon Boccanegra
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Simon Boccanegra was first performed at Teatro La Fenice in Venice on 12 March 1857. Given the complications of the plot and the generally poor popular response - although the critical one was more encouraging - the opera dropped out of favour after 1866. The revised version of Simon Boccanegra, with the now-famous Council Chamber scene, was first performed at La Scala in Milan on 24 March 1881 and it is this version which is the one most frequently performed today. He responded, the obstacle is my unshakable determination not to bind myself anymore to a definite period for either the composition or the production. The only project for which there was forward motion was towards accomplishing his long-planned Re Lear, Budden also presumes that the translation had been done by Strepponi, because she had been the translator of Gutiérrez other play which had become Il trovatore. The somewhat convoluted plot of Simon Boccanegra is hard to follow, Budden notes, All the characters define themselves against an ingeniously shifting pattern of intrigue such as can be highly effective in a play but well-nigh impossible to follow in an opera. He pushed harder, stating that I plan to compose music for a prose libretto, what do you think of that. In the end, there was a version and all was well, it was accepted by the opera house. Piave was informed that Verdis stay would need to be lengthened, however, Verdis dissatisfaction with some of the librettists work led him to find a local collaborator to help revise some of the sections. Accordingly, he called upon an Italian exile in Paris, the politician, former professor of law, poet and writer Giuseppe Montanelli, to do this. Piave learned nothing of the revisions until he received a note from Verdi, Here is the libretto and you can put your name to or it, just as you please. However, he learned nothing of the anonymous collaborator either. After the premiere of Le trouvère on 12 January 1857, Verdi and Strepponi left Paris to return to Italy, persisting with further attempts to convince the composer, Ricordi had also broached the idea of a collaboration with Arrigo Boito for a new opera based on Shakespeares Othello. His principal concern was how to make changes to the 1857 and this idea of an Italian fatherland at this time was quite sublime. Although he had confidence in the young librettists abilities, Verdi did caution Boito that he appeared to be aiming at a perfection impossible here. I aim lower and am more optimistic than you and I dont despair, in essence and it would have been far more work than the composer wished to be involved in at the time. And, as Budden puts it, Simone rises to spiritual greatness, for the first time, his moral authority puts forth all its strength. Positively as in the appeal for peace, and Verdi himself was fairly blunt in his assessment, Ive had a fiasco in Venice almost as great as that of La traviata he reported to Clara Maffei
29.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
30.
Venice Biennale
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The Venice Biennale is an arts organization based in Venice, and also the original and principal exhibition it organizes. The organization changed its name to the Biennale Foundation in 2009, while the exhibition is called the Art Biennale to distinguish it from the organisation. The Art Biennale, a visual art exhibition, is so called as it is held biennially. A year later, the council decreed to adopt a by invitation system, to reserve a section of the Exhibition for foreign artists too, to works by uninvited Italian artists. The first Biennale, I Esposizione Internazionale dArte della Città di Venezia was opened on April 30,1895 by the Italian King and Queen, Umberto I, the first exhibition was seen by 224,000 visitors. In 1910 the first internationally well-known artists were displayed- a room dedicated to Gustav Klimt, a show for Renoir. A work by Picasso was removed from the Spanish salon in the central Palazzo because it was feared that its novelty might shock the public, by 1914 seven pavilions had been established, Belgium, Hungary, Germany, Great Britain, France, and Russia. During World War I, the 1916 and 1918 events were cancelled, in 1920 the post of mayor of Venice and president of the Biennale was split. The new secretary general, Vittorio Pica brought about the first presence of avant-garde art,1922 saw an exhibition of sculpture by African artists. Between the two World Wars, many important modern artists had their work exhibited there, in 1928 the Istituto Storico dArte Contemporanea opened, which was the first nucleus of archival collections of the Biennale. In 1930 its name was changed into Historical Archive of Contemporary Art, in 1933 the Biennale organised an exhibition of Italian art abroad. From 1938, Grand Prizes were awarded in the art exhibition section, during World War II, the activities of the Biennale were interrupted,1942 saw the last edition of the events. The Film Festival restarted in 1946, the Music and Theatre festivals were resumed in 1947, the Art Biennale was resumed in 1948 with a major exhibition of a recapitulatory nature. Peggy Guggenheim was invited to exhibit her famous New York collection,1949 saw the beginning of renewed attention to avant-garde movements in European—and later worldwide—movements in contemporary art. Abstract expressionism was introduced in the 1950s, and the Biennale is credited with importing Pop Art into the canon of art history by awarding the top prize to Robert Rauschenberg in 1964. From 1948 to 1972, Italian architect Carlo Scarpa did a series of interventions in the Biennales exhibition spaces. In 1954 the island San Giorgio Maggiore provided the venue for the first Japanese Noh theatre shows in Europe,1956 saw the selection of films following an artistic selection and no longer based upon the designation of the participating country. The 1957 Golden Lion went to Satyajit Rays Aparajito which introduced Indian cinema to the West,1962 included Arte Informale at the Art Exhibition with Jean Fautrier, Hans Hartung, Emilio Vedova, and Pietro Consagra
31.
Igor Stravinsky
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Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was a Russian-born composer, pianist, and conductor. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century, Stravinskys compositional career was notable for its stylistic diversity. His Russian phase which continued with such as Renard, The Soldiers Tale. The works from this tended to make use of traditional musical forms, drawing on earlier styles. In the 1950s, Stravinsky adopted serial procedures, Stravinsky was born on 17 June 1882 in Oranienbaum, a suburb of Saint Petersburg, the Russian imperial capital, and was brought up in Saint Petersburg. It is believed that Stravinsky’s ancestry is traceable back to the 17th and 18th centuries, to the bearers of the Soulima, ivan Sulima, was a famous Ukrainian hetman 1628–1635. Stravinskys family branch most likely came from Stravinskas, polonized Lithuanian land owners and it is still unclear to when exactly the Soulima part of the surname was dropped. Stravinsky recalled his schooldays as being lonely, later saying that I never came across anyone who had any attraction for me. Stravinsky began piano lessons as a boy, studying music theory. In 1890, he saw a performance of Tchaikovskys ballet The Sleeping Beauty at the Mariinsky Theatre, despite his enthusiasm for music, his parents expected him to study law. Stravinsky enrolled at the University of Saint Petersburg in 1901, Stravinskys father died of cancer that year, by which time his son had already begun spending more time on his musical studies than on law. Thereafter, he concentrated on studying music, in 1905, he began to take twice-weekly private lessons from Rimsky-Korsakov, whom he came to regard as a second father. These lessons continued until Rimsky-Korsakovs death in 1908, in 1905 Stravinsky was betrothed to his cousin Katherine Gavrylivna Nosenko, whom he had known since early childhood. Diaghilev was sufficiently impressed by Fireworks to commission Stravinsky to carry out some orchestrations and then to compose a ballet score. The early period of Igor Stravinsky’s work would be incomplete without a research of his life while in Ukraine. From approximately 1890 till 1914 the composer was frequently visiting Ustyluh, town in Volyn Oblast and he spent most of his summers there and that’s where he met his cousin, Katherine Nosenko who he married in 1906. In 1907 Stravinsky designed and built his own house in Ustyluh where his own family stayed often during summer times until 1914 and his new Ukrainian home he called “My heavenly place”. In this house Igor Stravinsky worked on his seventeen early compositions, among which were orchestral fantasy Fireworks, ballets Firebird, Petrushka, currently, after its renovation this house is the only composers house-museum opened to the public
32.
Benjamin Britten
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Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten OM CH was an English composer, conductor and pianist. He was a figure of 20th-century British classical music, with a range of works including opera, other vocal music, orchestral. His best-known works include the opera Peter Grimes, the War Requiem, Born in Suffolk, the son of a dentist, Britten showed talent from an early age. He studied at the Royal College of Music in London and privately with the composer Frank Bridge, Britten first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy was Born in 1934. With the premiere of Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to international fame, over the next 28 years, he wrote 14 more operas, establishing himself as one of the leading 20th-century composers in the genre. In addition to large-scale operas for Sadlers Wells and Covent Garden, he wrote operas for small forces. Among the best known of these is The Turn of the Screw, recurring themes in his operas include the struggle of an outsider against a hostile society and the corruption of innocence. Brittens other works range from orchestral to choral, solo vocal, chamber and he took a great interest in writing music for children and amateur performers, including the opera Noyes Fludde, a Missa Brevis, and the song collection Friday Afternoons. He often composed with particular performers in mind, Britten was a celebrated pianist and conductor, performing many of his own works in concert and on record. He also performed and recorded works by others, such as Bachs Brandenburg concertos, Mozart symphonies, in his last year, he was the first composer to be given a life peerage. Britten was born in the port of Lowestoft in Suffolk, on the east coast of England on 22 November 1913. He was the youngest of four children of Robert Victor Britten and his wife Edith Rhoda, Robert Brittens youthful ambition to become a farmer had been thwarted by lack of capital, and he had instead trained as a dentist, a profession he practised successfully but without pleasure. While studying at Charing Cross Hospital in London he met Edith Hockey and they were married in September 1901 at St Johns, Smith Square, London. The consensus among biographers of Britten is that his father was a loving but somewhat stern, Britten, according to his sister Beth, got on well with him and shared his wry sense of humour, dedication to work and capacity for taking pains. Edith Britten was an amateur musician and secretary of the Lowestoft Musical Society. In the English provinces of the early 20th century, distinctions of class were taken very seriously. Music was the means by which Edith Britten strove to maintain the familys social standing, inviting the pillars of the local community to musical soirées at the house. When Britten was three months old he contracted pneumonia and nearly died, the illness left him with a damaged heart, and doctors warned his parents that he would probably never be able to lead a normal life
33.
Luciano Berio
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Luciano Berio, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian composer. He is noted for his work and also for his pioneering work in electronic music. He was taught the piano by his father and grandfather who were both organists, during World War II he was conscripted into the army, but on his first day, he injured his hand while learning how a gun worked, and spent time in a military hospital. Following the war, Berio studied at the Milan Conservatory under Giulio Cesare Paribeni and he was unable to continue studying the piano because of his injured hand, so instead concentrated on composition. In 1947 came the first public performance of one of his works, Berio made a living at this time accompanying singing classes, and it was in doing this that he met the American mezzo-soprano Cathy Berberian, whom he married shortly after graduating. Berio wrote a number of pieces which exploit her distinctive voice, in 1952, Berio went to the United States to study with Luigi Dallapiccola at Tanglewood, from whom he gained an interest in serialism. He later attended the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik at Darmstadt and he became interested in electronic music, co-founding the Studio di fonologia musicale, an electronic music studio in Milan, with Bruno Maderna in 1955. He invited a number of significant composers to work there, among them Henri Pousseur and he also produced an electronic music periodical, Incontri Musicali. In 1960, Berio returned to Tanglewood, this time as Composer in Residence, from 1960 to 1962 Berio also taught at the Dartington International Summer School. In 1965 he began to teach at the Juilliard School, and there he founded the Juilliard Ensemble, in 1966, he again married, this time to the noted philosopher of science Susan Oyama. His students included Louis Andriessen, Steven Gellman, Dina Koston, Steve Reich, Luca Francesconi, Giulio Castagnoli, Flavio Emilio Scogna, William Schimmel, all this time Berio had been steadily composing and building a reputation, winning the Prix Italia in 1966 for Laborintus II. His reputation was cemented when his Sinfonia was premiered in 1968, in 1972, Berio returned to Italy. From 1974 to 1980 he was director of the division of IRCAM in Paris. In 1987 he opened Tempo Reale, a centre for musical research, in 1988 he was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music, London. In 1989 he received the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize and he was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1994. The same year, he became Distinguished Composer in Residence at Harvard University, in 1993–94 he gave the Charles Eliot Norton lectures at Harvard, later published as Remembering the Future. He was active as a conductor and continued to compose to the end of his life, in 2000, he became Presidente and Sovrintendente at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. Luciano Berio died in 2003 in a hospital in Rome, Berios electronic work dates for the most part from his time at Milans Studio di Fonologia
34.
Luigi Nono
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Luigi Nono was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music and remains one of the most prominent composers of the 20th century. Born in Venice, Nono was a member of an artistic family. Nono began music lessons with Gian Francesco Malipiero in 1941 at the Venice Conservatory where he acquired knowledge of the Renaissance madrigal tradition, after graduating with a degree in law from the University of Padua, he was given encouragement in composition by Bruno Maderna. Through Maderna, he acquainted with Hermann Scherchen—then Madernas conducting teacher—who gave Nono further tutelage and was an early mentor. It was Scherchen who presented Nonos first acknowledged work, the Variazioni canoniche sulla serie dellop,41 di A. Schönberg in 1950, at the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik Darmstadt. Nono had been a member of the Italian Resistance during the Second World War, nevertheless, it was with Boulez and Stockhausen that Nono became one of the leaders of the New Music during the 1950s. The Liebeslied was written for Nonos wife-to-be, Nuria Schoenberg, whom he met at the 1953 world première of Moses und Aron in Hamburg, an atheist, Nono had enrolled as a member of the Italian Communist Party in 1952. The world première of Il canto sospeso for solo voices, chorus, if any evidence exists that Weberns work does not mark the esoteric expiry of Western music in a pianissimo of aphoristic shreds, then it is provided by Luigi Nonos Il Canto Sospeso. The 32-year-old composer has proved himself to be the most powerful of Weberns successors, Nono himself emphasized his lyrical intentions in an interview with Hansjörg Pauli, and a connection to Schoenbergs Survivor from Warsaw is postulated by Guerrero 2006. In sections II, VI, IX and in parts of III, he turns speech into sounds, the texts are not delivered, but rather concealed in such a regardlessly strict and dense musical form that they are hardly comprehensible when performed. Why, then, texts at all, and why these texts and he rather reduces speech to its sounds and makes music with them. Permutations of vowel-sounds, a, ä, e, i, o, u, should he not have chosen texts so rich in meaning in the first place, but rather sounds. At least for the sections where only the properties of speech are dealt with. And from this relationship between the words as a phonetic-semantic entirety and the music as the expression of the words. And it is nonsense to conclude, from the analytic treatment of the sound shape of the text. Nono was to return to such anti-fascist subject matter again, as in Diario polacco,2, whose background included a journey through the Nazi concentration camps, and the azione scenica Intolleranza 1960, which caused a riot at its première in Venice, on 13 April 1961. He likened their significance to the Bauhaus in the visual arts, Intolleranza 1960 may be viewed as the culmination of the composers early style and aesthetics. The riot at the première in Venice was significantly due to the presence of both left- and right-wing political factions in the audience, neo-nazis had attempted to disrupt proceedings with stink-bombs, nonetheless failing to prevent the performance ending triumphantly for Nono
35.
Lamberto Tronchin
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Lamberto Tronchin is an Italian acoustician, engineer, theorist, musician and professor of musical acoustics and environmental physics at the University of Bologna. Afterwards, he obtained the PhD in room acoustics in 1995 and was enrolled as assistant professor in 1999 at University of Bologna and he teaches musical acoustics at University of Bologna. He made the unique acoustic measurements in the former Teatro La Fenice, in Venice and his researches were reported in a number of articles and lectures, including TV programs in the Arté television broadcasting company. His researches about non linearity on musical acoustics allowed to release a patent about the emulation of non linear behavior of musical instruments, Acoustics of the former theatre -La Fenice- Venice. Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, farina, Angelo, Langhoff, Andreas, Tronchin, Lamberto. Acoustic characterisation of virtual instruments, using MLS technique on ancient violins. On the Virtual Reconstruction of Sound Quality of Trumpets, modal analysis and Intensity of Acoustic Radiation of the kettledrum. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, measurements and reproduction of spatial sound characteristics of auditoria. Athanasius KircherS PHONURGIA NOVA, the world of sound during the 17th Century. The Emulation of Nonlinear Time-Invariant Audio Systems with Memory by Means of Volterra Series, Journal of the Audio Engineering Society. Francesco Milizia and the Acoustics of his Teatro Ideale, 3D Sound Characterisation in Theatres Employing Microphone Arrays
36.
Luchino Visconti
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Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo, was an Italian theatre, opera and cinema director, as well as a screenwriter. He is best known for his films The Leopard and Death in Venice, Luchino Visconti was born into a prominent noble family in Milan, one of seven children of Giuseppe Visconti di Modrone, Duke of Grazzano Visconti and Count of Lonate Pozzolo, and his wife Carla. He was formally known as Count don Luchino Visconti di Modrone, during World War II, Visconti joined the Italian Communist Party. Visconti made no secret of his homosexuality and his last partner was the Austrian actor Helmut Berger, who played Martin in Viscontis film The Damned. Berger also appeared in Viscontis Ludwig in 1972 and Conversation Piece in 1974, Visconti suffered a stroke in 1972, but continued to smoke heavily. He died in Rome of another stroke at the age of 69, there is a museum dedicated to the directors work in Ischia. He began his career as an assistant director on Jean Renoirs Toni and Partie de campagne, thanks to the intercession of their common friend. Together with Roberto Rossellini, Visconti joined the salotto of Vittorio Mussolini, here he presumably also met Federico Fellini. In 1948, he wrote and directed La terra trema, based on the novel I Malavoglia by Giovanni Verga, Visconti continued working throughout the 1950s, although he veered away from the neorealist path with his 1954 film, Senso, shot in colour. Based on the novella by Camillo Boito, it is set in Austrian-occupied Venice in 1866, in this film, Visconti combines realism and romanticism as a way to break away from neorealism. However, as one biographer notes, Visconti without neorealism is like Lang without expressionism and he describes the film as the most Viscontian of all Viscontis films. Visconti returned to once more with Rocco e i suoi fratelli. In 1961, he was a member of the jury at the 2nd Moscow International Film Festival, throughout the 1960s, Viscontis films became more personal. Il Gattopardo, is based on Lampedusas novel of the name about the decline of the Sicilian aristocracy at the time of the Risorgimento. It starred American actor Burt Lancaster in the role of Prince Don Fabrizio and this film was distributed in America and Britain by Twentieth-Century Fox, which deleted important scenes. Visconti repudiated the Twentieth-Century Fox version and it was not until The Damned that Visconti received a nomination for an Academy Award, for Best Screenplay. The film, one of Viscontis best-known works, concerns a German industrialists family which slowly begins to disintegrate during the Nazi consolidation of power in the 30s and its decadence and lavish beauty are characteristic of Viscontis aesthetic. Viscontis final film was The Innocent, in which he returns to his recurring interest in infidelity, Visconti was also a celebrated theatre and opera director
37.
Senso (film)
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Both Franco Zeffirelli and Francesco Rosi, later accomplished film and theater directors in their own right, worked as Viscontis assistants on the picture. The story opens in the La Fenice opera house in Venice during a performance of Il Trovatore, at the close of Manricos rousing aria Di quella pira, the opera is interrupted by a boisterous protest by Italian Nationalists against the occupying Austrian troops present in the theater. During the commotion, she meets a dashing young Austrian Officer named Franz Mahler, the two begin a secret love affair. Despite the fact that Franz was responsible for sending Roberto into exile for his radical behavior, but soon, Franz begins failing to show up for their trysts and Livia becomes consumed by jealousy and paranoia. The war finally forces the lovers apart, with Livias husband taking her away to their villa in the country in order to avoid the carnage, late one night, Franz arrives on the estate, and secrets himself into Livias bedroom. Livias betrayal leads to tragic consequences, the Austrians overwhelm the under-equipped Italians, eventually, Livia is almost driven mad by the fact that shes unable to see Franz, but rejoices when a letter from him finally arrives. In the letter, Franz thanks Livia for the support that helped him stay away from the front. He advises Livia not to look for him, but she not listen. As soon as possible, Livia, still grasping the letter, boards a carriage, once there, Livia makes her way to the apartment, which she herself has rented for Franz. What she finds is a drunken, self-loathing rogue, in the company of a young prostitute, after forcing her to sit and drink with the prostitute, Franz brutally throws Livia out of his rooms. She finds herself in the streets, filled with drunken, amorous Austrian soldiers, Livia realizes that she still has Franzs letter, but nothing remains now except mutual self-destruction. Her sanity slipping, Livia heads to the headquarters of the Austrian Army, although the General sees that Livia is acting out of spite for being cuckolded, he is forced to comply and Franz is executed by firing squad. Livia, now insane, runs off into the night, crying out her lovers name, the novella is written in the form of a private diary, narrated in first person by Countess Livia. At the present time she is courted on and off by a lawyer, Gino, narration switches back and forth between this subplot and the main plot, which take place 16 years apart. As Livia recollects her story, its much like Viscontis film adaptation. Visconti focused on the plot, deleting the diary subplot. In the film, Livia gives his money to her lover, leading to a massacre of the Italian partisans. Theres also a connection with the films opening, set in an opera, the scene does not feature in Boitos novella
38.
Ludwig van Beethoven
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Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he one of the most famous. His best-known compositions include 9 symphonies,5 piano concertos,1 violin concerto,32 piano sonatas,16 string quartets, his great Mass the Missa solemnis, and one opera, Fidelio. At the age of 21 he moved to Vienna, where he began studying composition with Joseph Haydn and he lived in Vienna until his death. By his late 20s his hearing began to deteriorate, and by the last decade of his life he was almost completely deaf. In 1811 he gave up conducting and performing in public but continued to compose, many of his most admired works come from these last 15 years of his life. Beethoven was the grandson of Ludwig van Beethoven, a musician from the town of Mechelen in the Duchy of Brabant in the Flemish region of what is now Belgium, who at the age of twenty moved to Bonn. Ludwig was employed as a singer at the court of the Elector of Cologne, eventually rising to become, in 1761. The portrait he commissioned of himself towards the end of his life remained proudly displayed in his grandsons rooms as a talisman of his musical heritage. Ludwig had one son, Johann, who worked as a tenor in the musical establishment and gave keyboard. Johann married Maria Magdalena Keverich in 1767, she was the daughter of Johann Heinrich Keverich, Beethoven was born of this marriage in Bonn. There is no record of the date of his birth, however. Of the seven children born to Johann van Beethoven, only Ludwig, the second-born, caspar Anton Carl was born on 8 April 1774, and Nikolaus Johann, the youngest, was born on 2 October 1776. Beethovens first music teacher was his father and he later had other local teachers, the court organist Gilles van den Eeden, Tobias Friedrich Pfeiffer, and Franz Rovantini. Beethovens musical talent was obvious at a young age, some time after 1779, Beethoven began his studies with his most important teacher in Bonn, Christian Gottlob Neefe, who was appointed the Courts Organist in that year. Neefe taught Beethoven composition, and by March 1783 had helped him write his first published composition, Beethoven soon began working with Neefe as assistant organist, at first unpaid, and then as a paid employee of the court chapel conducted by the Kapellmeister Andrea Luchesi. His first three piano sonatas, named Kurfürst for their dedication to the Elector Maximilian Friedrich, were published in 1783, Maximilian Frederick noticed Beethovens talent early, and subsidised and encouraged the young mans musical studies. Maximilian Fredericks successor as the Elector of Bonn was Maximilian Francis, the youngest son of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, echoing changes made in Vienna by his brother Joseph, he introduced reforms based on Enlightenment philosophy, with increased support for education and the arts
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Richard Wagner
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Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is primarily known for his operas. Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works and he described this vision in a series of essays published between 1849 and 1852. Wagner realised these ideas most fully in the first half of the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen and his advances in musical language, such as extreme chromaticism and quickly shifting tonal centres, greatly influenced the development of classical music. His Tristan und Isolde is sometimes described as marking the start of modern music, Wagner had his own opera house built, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, which embodied many novel design features. The Ring and Parsifal were premiered here and his most important stage works continue to be performed at the annual Bayreuth Festival, until his final years, Wagners life was characterised by political exile, turbulent love affairs, poverty and repeated flight from his creditors. His controversial writings on music, drama and politics have attracted extensive comment, notably, since the late 20th century, where they express antisemitic sentiments. The effect of his ideas can be traced in many of the arts throughout the 20th century, his influence spread beyond composition into conducting, philosophy, literature, Richard Wagner was born to an ethnic German family in Leipzig, where his family lived at No. 3, the Brühl in the Jewish quarter and he was baptized at St. Thomas Church. He was the child of Carl Friedrich Wagner, who was a clerk in the Leipzig police service, and his wife, Johanna Rosine. Wagners father Carl died of typhus six months after Richards birth, afterwards his mother Johanna lived with Carls friend, the actor and playwright Ludwig Geyer. In August 1814 Johanna and Geyer probably married—although no documentation of this has found in the Leipzig church registers. She and her family moved to Geyers residence in Dresden, until he was fourteen, Wagner was known as Wilhelm Richard Geyer. He almost certainly thought that Geyer was his biological father, Geyers love of the theatre came to be shared by his stepson, and Wagner took part in his performances. In his autobiography Mein Leben Wagner recalled once playing the part of an angel, in late 1820, Wagner was enrolled at Pastor Wetzels school at Possendorf, near Dresden, where he received some piano instruction from his Latin teacher. He struggled to play a scale at the keyboard and preferred playing theatre overtures by ear. Following Geyers death in 1821, Richard was sent to the Kreuzschule, at the age of nine he was hugely impressed by the Gothic elements of Carl Maria von Webers opera Der Freischütz, which he saw Weber conduct. At this period Wagner entertained ambitions as a playwright and his first creative effort, listed in the Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis as WWV1, was a tragedy called Leubald. Begun when he was in school in 1826, the play was influenced by Shakespeare
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Il Tempo
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Il Tempo is a daily Italian newspaper published in Rome, Italy. Il Tempo was founded in Rome by Renato Angiolillo in 1944, at the initial phase the newspaper was a conservative publication and had an anti-communist stance. The paper publishes the Rome edition and other five local editions, in 1996 the former owner, Caltagirone Editore, sold the newspaper to the Italian builder Domenico Bonifaci. On 4 October 2007 the paper switched from broadsheet format to Berliner, Domenico Fisichella, an Italian academic and politician, is among the contributors of the daily. The 2008 circulation of Il Tempo was 50,651 copies
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La Repubblica
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La Repubblica is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale LEspresso led by Eugenio Scalfari and Carlo Caracciolo, born as a radical leftist newspaper, it has since moderated to a milder centre-left political stance. It lately assumed a position and a generally supporting view of Democrat Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. La Repubblica was founded by Eugenio Scalfari, also director of the weekly magazine LEspresso, the publisher Carlo Caracciolo and Mondadori had invested 2.3 billion lire and a break-even point was calculated at 150,000 copies. Scalfari invited a few trusted colleagues, Gianni Rocca, then Giorgio Bocca, Sandro Viola, Mario Pirani, Miriam Mafai, Barbara Spinelli, Natalia Aspesi, the cartoons were the prerogative of Giorgio Forattini until 1999. The newspaper first went on sale on 14 January 1976 and it was presented as the first Italian tabloid with some sections such as sports and business intentionally left out. When it was founded, it was intended to be a newspaper, with only major news at the national level. It was composed of 20 pages and was published from Tuesday to Sunday, the paper defined itself as a “giornale-partito” in its initial stage. During the first two years, it built up a core-audience identified as members of the centre-left and the Italian Communist Party, in 1977, Scalfari decided to cater to the university student movement, so la Repubblica began its expansion. The strength of the newspaper lay particularly in the comments section. In the meantime, Giampaolo Pansa from Corriere della Sera became Deputy Director, alongside Rocca, in early 1978, average sales amounted to 114,000 copies. The papers stance proved popular and, by the end of the year, in 1979, with an average print run of 180,000 copies, it achieved a break-even point. The size of the newspaper increased with page count growing from 20 to 24, the newspaper decided to cover sports for the first time and veteran reporter Gianni Brera was added. In 1981, the Corriere della Sera was hit by a scandal when chief editor Franco Di Bella was outed as a member of the masonic lodge Propaganda Due. This allowed La Repubblica to win extra readers and recruit a number of commentators such as Enzo Biagi. Aiming to gain top circulation in Italy, chief editor Scalfari launched new reader-friendly initiatives, there were now 40 pages, including news sections, entertainment and sport. The newspaper was pitched as an omnibus newspaper and this seemed to pay off as in 1985 la Repubblica sold an average of 372,940 copies, about 150,000 more than in 1981. 1986 marked the tenth birthday
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Kitsch
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Kitsch is art, objects, or design considered to be in poor taste because of excessive garishness or sentimentality, but sometimes appreciated in an ironic or knowing way. Hence, kitsch art is associated with sentimental art. Kitsch is also related to the concept of camp, because of its humorous, the chocolate box artist Thomas Kinkade, whose idyllic landscape scenes were often lampooned by art critics as maudlin and schmaltzy, is considered a leading example of contemporary kitsch. The term is sometimes applied to music or literature. As a descriptive term, kitsch originated in the art markets of Munich in the 1860s and the 1870s, describing cheap, popular, in Das Buch vom Kitsch, Hans Reimann defines it as a professional expression born in a painters studio. The study of kitsch was done almost exclusively in German until the 1970s, modernist writer Hermann Broch argues that the essence of kitsch is imitation, kitsch mimics its immediate predecessor with no regard to ethics—it aims to copy the beautiful, not the good. Kitsch is less about the thing observed than about the observer, according to Roger Scruton, Kitsch is fake art, expressing fake emotions, whose purpose is to deceive the consumer into thinking he feels something deep and serious. Cliché Lowbrow Museum of Bad Art Poshlost Prolefeed Notable examples Dogs Playing Poker Velvet Elvis Adorno, wabi and Kitsch, Two Japanese Paradigms in Æ, Canadian Aesthetics Journal 15. Faszination und Herausforderung des Banalen und Trivialen, cheetham, Mark A. Kant, Art and Art History, moments of discipline. Kitsch, The World of Bad Taste, Universe Books, the Kitsch Style and the Age of Kitsch, in J. Goudsblom and S. Mennell The Norbert Elias Reader. Vermehrte und verbesserte Auflage München, Wilhelm Fink Verlag, frankfurt am Main, S. Fischer Verlag. Incredible Tretchikoff, Life of an artist and adventurer, ISBN 0-8070-6681-8 Holliday, Ruth and Potts, Tracey Kitsch. Cultural Politics and Taste, Manchester University Press, eine Studie über die Entartung der Kunst. The Modern System of the Arts, psychologie du Kitsch, Lart du Bonheur, Denoël-Gonthier Nerdrum, Odd. The Artificial Kingdom, On the Kitsch Experience, University of Minnesota ISBN 0-8166-4117-X Reimann, Hans. Balsam für Herz und Seele, ISBN 978-3-7630-2493-3, Kitsch in Sync, A Consumers Guide to Bad Taste, Plexus Publishing. In John Walkers Glossary of art, architecture & design since 1945, avant-Garde and Kitsch – essay by Clement Greenberg Kitsch and the Modern Predicament – essay by Roger Scruton Why Dictators Love Kitsch by Eric Gibson, The Wall Street Journal, August 10,2009
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Melpomene
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Melpomene, initially the Muse of Chorus, she then became the Muse of Tragedy, for which she is best known now. Her name was derived from the Greek verb melpô or melpomai meaning to celebrate with dance and she is often represented with a tragic mask and wearing the cothurnus, boots traditionally worn by tragic actors. Often, she holds a knife or club in one hand. Melpomene is the daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne and her sisters include Calliope, Clio, Euterpe, Terpsichore, Erato, Thalia, Polyhymnia, and Urania. She is also the mother of several of the Sirens, the divine handmaidens of Kore who were cursed by her mother, Demeter/Ceres, in Roman and Greek poetry, it was traditional to invoke the goddess Melpomene so that one might create beautiful lyrical phrases
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Terpsichore
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In Greek mythology, Terpsichore delight in dancing was one of the nine Muses and goddess of dance and chorus. She lends her name to the word terpsichorean which means of or relating to dance and she is usually depicted sitting down, holding a lyre, accompanying the ballerinas choirs with her music. Her name comes from the Greek words τέρπω and χoρός and she is also a mother of the sirens and Parthenope. The British 32-gun frigate HMS Terpsichore commanded by Captain Bowen participated in the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Terpsichore is also the name of a street in New Orleans historic neighborhoods of Faubourg Lafayette and the Lower Garden District. It runs alongside Euterpe and Melpomene streets, also named for Greek muses, Terpsichorean is also the name of the Choreography Society of Hans Raj College, University of Delhi. Terpsichore figures among her sisters in Hesiods Theogony, when The Histories of Herodotus were divided by later editors into nine books, each book was named after a Muse. Terpsichore was the name of the fifth book, the character of Wilkins Micawber, Esq, Jr. is described as a votary of Terpsichore, in an Australian newspaper brought to London by Dan Peggotty in 1850 novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. T. S. Eliot in the poem Jellicle Cats from Old Possums Book of Practical Cats, terpischore Choral Dance is the name of a chapter in Theresa Chas Dictee. Some Terpsichore is the title of a story in a 2014 book, Thunderstruck and Other Stories. The Chaos is a poem where Terpsichore is mentioned in a line, Terpsichore is also found in François Couperins Second Ordre from the Pièces de clavecin, and in the third version of Handels opera Il pastor fido. This opera is sometimes referred to as Terpsicore and Il pastor fido, the Jimmy Van Heusen/Sammy Cahn song Come Dance with Me includes the lyric what an evening for some Terpsichore. However it is sung as a word with the chore component pronounced like core rather than curry. The Russian singer Origa sings a song, Tersicore, canadian punk band Gob has a song called Terpsichore on their album Apt. The eighteenth century French dancer and courtesan Marie-Madeleine Guimard named the private theater in her private palace the Temple of Terpsichore, Terpsichore in Sneakers is the title of a 1980 study of postmodern dance by dance historian and critic Sally Banes. The song Terpsichora is included on J-Pop singer Akiko Shikatas 2007 album Istoria, the album Cool by Bob James and Earl Klugh features a track called Terpsichore. He then proceeds to take a lesson with Penny, culminating in a paired tap routine. In the 1947 film Down To Earth, Rita Hayworth plays Terpsichore, in the 1948 Musical Comedy film April Showers, starring Jack Carson and Ann Sothern, Carson plays a Victorian Era vaudevillian. While performing an act with his son, Buster, Buster asks Shall we dance Mr. Lovejoy, Carson replies by saying Terpsichore Mr. Gay
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Comedy
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In a modern sense, comedy refers to any discourse or work generally intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, television, film, and stand-up comedy. The origins of the term are found in Ancient Greece, in the Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced by the political satire performed by the comic poets at the theaters. The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a performance which pits two groups or societies against each other in an amusing agon or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a Society of Youth and a Society of the Old, a revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions that pose obstacles to his hopes. Satire and political satire use comedy to portray persons or social institutions as ridiculous or corrupt, parody subverts popular genres and forms, critiquing those forms without necessarily condemning them. Similarly scatological humour, sexual humour, and race humour create comedy by violating social conventions or taboos in comic ways, a comedy of manners typically takes as its subject a particular part of society and uses humor to parody or satirize the behaviour and mannerisms of its members. Romantic comedy is a genre that depicts burgeoning romance in humorous terms. The adjective comic, which means that which relates to comedy is, in modern usage. Of this, the word came into usage through the Latin comoedia and Italian commedia and has, over time. The Greeks and Romans confined their use of the comedy to descriptions of stage-plays with happy endings. Aristotle defined comedy as an imitation of men worse than the average, however, the characters portrayed in comedies were not worse than average in every way, only insofar as they are Ridiculous, which is a species of the Ugly. The Ridiculous may be defined as a mistake or deformity not productive of pain or harm to others, the mask, for instance, in the Middle Ages, the term expanded to include narrative poems with happy endings. It is in this sense that Dante used the term in the title of his poem, as time progressed, the word came more and more to be associated with any sort of performance intended to cause laughter. During the Middle Ages, the comedy became synonymous with satire. They disassociated comedy from Greek dramatic representation and instead identified it with Arabic poetic themes and forms and they viewed comedy as simply the art of reprehension, and made no reference to light and cheerful events, or to the troubling beginnings and happy endings associated with classical Greek comedy. After the Latin translations of the 12th century, the term gained a more general meaning in medieval literature. Starting from 425 BCE, Aristophanes, a playwright and satirical author of the Ancient Greek Theater wrote 40 comedies,11 of which survive. Aristophanes developed his type of comedy from the satyr plays
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Tragedy
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Tragedy is a form of drama based on human suffering that invokes an accompanying catharsis or pleasure in audiences. In the wake of Aristotles Poetics, tragedy has been used to make genre distinctions, in the modern era, tragedy has also been defined against drama, melodrama, the tragicomic, and epic theatre. Drama, in the sense, cuts across the traditional division between comedy and tragedy in an anti- or a-generic deterritorialisation from the mid-19th century onwards. Both Bertolt Brecht and Augusto Boal define their epic theatre projects against models of tragedy, taxidou, however, reads epic theatre as an incorporation of tragic functions and its treatments of mourning and speculation. The word tragedy appears to have used to describe different phenomena at different times. It derives from Classical Greek τραγῳδία, contracted from trag-aoidiā = goat song, scholars suspect this may be traced to a time when a goat was either the prize in a competition of choral dancing or was that around which a chorus danced prior to the animals ritual sacrifice. In another view on the etymology, Athenaeus of Naucratis says that the form of the word was trygodia from trygos and ode. There is some dissent to the origins of tragedy, mostly based on the differences between the shapes of their choruses and styles of dancing. A common descent from pre-Hellenic fertility and burial rites has been suggested, friedrich Nietzsche discussed the origins of Greek tragedy in his early book The Birth of Tragedy. Here, he suggests the name originates in the use of a chorus of goat-like satyrs in the original dithyrambs from which the genre developed. Scott Scullion writes, There is abundant evidence for tragoidia understood as song for the prize goat, and as prize was established the billy goat, the clearest is Eustathius 1769.45, They called those competing tragedians, clearly because of the song over the billy goat. Athenian tragedy—the oldest surviving form of tragedy—is a type of dance-drama that formed an important part of the culture of the city-state. Having emerged sometime during the 6th century BCE, it flowered during the 5th century BCE, no tragedies from the 6th century and only 32 of the more than a thousand that were performed in the 5th century have survived. We have complete texts extant by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, Athenian tragedies were performed in late March/early April at an annual state religious festival in honor of Dionysus. The presentations took the form of a contest between three playwrights, who presented their works on three successive days, each playwright offered a tetralogy consisting of three tragedies and a concluding comic piece called a satyr play. The four plays sometimes featured linked stories, only one complete trilogy of tragedies has survived, the Oresteia of Aeschylus. The Greek theatre was in the air, on the side of a hill. Performances were apparently open to all citizens, including women, the theatre of Dionysus at Athens probably held around 12,000 people
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