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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
2.
Giacomo Puccini
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Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian opera composer who has been called the greatest composer of Italian opera after Verdi. Puccinis early work was rooted in traditional late-19th-century romantic Italian opera, later, he successfully developed his work in the realistic verismo style, of which he became one of the leading exponents. Puccinis most renowned works are La bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly, Puccini was born Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini in Lucca in Tuscany, in 1858. He was one of nine children of Michele Puccini and Albina Magi, the Puccini family was established in Lucca as a local musical dynasty by Puccinis great-great grandfather – also named Giacomo. This first Giacomo Puccini was maestro di cappella of the Cattedrale di San Martino in Lucca and he was succeeded in this position by his son, Antonio Puccini, and then by Antonios son Domenico, and Domenicos son Michele. Each of these men studied music at Bologna, and some additional musical studies elsewhere. Domenico Puccini studied for a time under Giovanni Paisiello, each composed music for the church. In addition, Domenico composed several operas, and Michele composed one opera, Puccinis father Michele enjoyed a reputation throughout northern Italy, and his funeral was an occasion of public mourning, at which the then-famed composer Giovanni Pacini conducted a Requiem. However, when Michele Puccini died in 1864, his son Giacomo was only six years old, as a child, he nevertheless participated in the musical life of the Cattedrale di San Martino, as a member of the boys choir and later as a substitute organist. Puccini was given an education at the seminary of San Michele in Lucca. One of Puccinis uncles, Fortunato Magi, supervised his musical education, Puccini got a diploma from the Pacini School of Music in Lucca in 1880, having studied there with his uncle Fortunato, and later with Carlo Angeloni, who had also instructed Alfredo Catalani. Puccini studied at the conservatory for three years, sharing a room with Pietro Mascagni, in 1880, at the age of 21, Puccini composed his Mass, which marks the culmination of his familys long association with church music in his native Lucca. Puccini wrote a piece called the Capriccio sinfonica as a thesis composition for the Milan Conservatory. Puccinis teachers Ponchielli and Bazzini were impressed by the work, and it was performed at a student concert at the conservatory on 14 July 1883, conducted by Franco Faccio. Puccinis work was reviewed in the Milanese publication Perseveranza. After the premiere of the Capriccio sinfonica, Ponchielli and Puccini discussed the possibility that Puccinis next work might be an opera, Ponchielli invited Puccini to stay at his villa, where Puccini was introduced to another young man named Fernando Fontana. Puccini and Fontana agreed to collaborate on an opera, for which Fontana would provide the libretto, the work, Le Villi, was entered into a competition sponsored by the Sozogno music publishing company in 1883. Although it did not win, Le Villi was later staged at the Teatro Dal Verme, G. Ricordi & Co. music publishers assisted with the premier by printing the libretto without charge
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Adolfo Hohenstein
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Adolfo Hohenstein was a German painter, advertiser, illustrator, set designer and costume designer. Hes considered the father of the Italian poster art and an exponent of the Stile Liberty, together with Leonetto Cappiello, Giovanni Mario Mataloni, Leopoldo Metlicovitz and Marcello Dudovich, hes considered one of the most important Italian poster designers. Adolfo Hohenstein was born in Saint Petersburg, the capital of Russian Empire, to German parents, Julius and his father was a forest engineer, whose career prompted him to travel extensively. Adolf moves to Vienna where he grows up and completes his studies and his travels take him to India, where he decorates the houses of the local nobility. In 1879, he settles down in Milan, Italy and he becomes a set and costume designer for La Scala and other theatres. There he meets the musical publisher Giulio Ricordi, and in 1889 begins to work for the Ricordi Graphical Workshops, where he shortly becomes the artistic director in charge of the graphical part. Hell create the posters for La Bohème and Tosca, as well as publicity for Campari, Buitoni and Corriere della Sera, numerous postcards, covers for scores, at Ricordis he has as colleague Giovanni Mario Mataloni and as students Leopoldo Metlicovitz and Marcello Dudovich. He will settle in Bonn in 1918, the German years see him engaged mostly as a painter and involved in the decoration of numerous buildings, among them one of the first in constructed reinforced concrete in Renania. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting, adolfo Hohenstein died in Bonn 12 April 1928. 1898 – Corriere della Sera 1898 – Cintura Calliano contro il mal di mare 1899 – Onoranze a Volta nel centenario della pila 1899 – Tosca 1899 – Cesare Urtis & Co, forniture electriche 1900 – Esposizione dIgiene 1900 – Monte Carlo. Tir aux pigeons 1900 – Monaco, dizionario Enciclopedico Bolaffi dei Pittori e degli Incisori Italiani – dallXI al XX secolo
4.
Luigi Illica
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Luigi Illica was an Italian librettist who wrote for Giacomo Puccini, Pietro Mascagni, Alfredo Catalani, Umberto Giordano, Baron Alberto Franchetti and other important Italian composers. His most famous opera libretti are those for La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and his personal life sometimes imitated his libretti. The reason he is photographed with his head slightly turned is because he lost his right ear in a duel over a woman. The Award is now awarded every two years and alternates with the Illica Opera Stage International Competition, which offers prizes and debut opportunities to young singers, the dates given are those of publication. Works by Luigi Illica at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Luigi Illica at Internet Archive
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Giuseppe Giacosa
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Giuseppe Giacosa was an Italian poet, playwright and librettist. He was born in Colleretto Parella, now Colleretto Giacosa, near Turin, Giuseppe went to the University of Turin, studying in the University of Turin, Faculty of Law. Though he gained a degree in law, he did not pursue a legal career and he gained initial fame for his play Una Partita a Scacchi in 1871. His main field was playwriting, which he accomplished with both insight and simplicity, using subjects set in Piedmont and themes addressing contemporary bourgeois values. He wrote La signora di Challant, based on a novella by Matteo Bandello, for noted French actress Sarah Bernhardt, produced in New York in 1891. Giacosa wrote the final polished version of the libretto for Giacomo Puccinis Manon Lescaut, which had begun by Ruggero Leoncavallo, Marco Praga, Domenico Oliva. He also wrote the librettos used by Puccini for La bohème, Tosca, Illica supplied the plot and dialogue, and Giacosa polished the libretto into verses. Scapigliatura Works by Giuseppe Giacosa at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Giuseppe Giacosa at Internet Archive
6.
Henri Murger
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Louis-Henri Murger, also known as Henri Murger and Henry Murger was a French novelist and poet. In his writing he combines instinct with pathos, humour and sadness, the book is the basis for the operas La bohème and La bohème, and, at greater removes, the zarzuela Bohemios, the operetta Das Veilchen vom Montmartre and the Broadway musical Rent. He wrote lyrics as well as novels and stories, the chief being La Chanson de Musette, a tear, says Gautier, Murger was born and died in Paris. He was the son of a Savoyard immigrant who worked as a tailor and janitor for an apartment building in the Rue Saint Georges and he had a scanty and fragmented education. After leaving school at 15 he worked in a variety of jobs before securing one in a lawyers office. While there he wrote poetry which came to the attention of the French writer Étienne de Jouy. De Jouys connections enabled him to secure the position of secretary to Count Tolstoi, murgers literary career began about 1841. At one point he edited a newspaper, Le Moniteur de la Mode. His position gradually improved when the French writer Champfleury, with whom he lived for a time and his first big success was Scènes de la vie de bohème. In 1851 Murger published a sequel, Scènes de la vie de jeunesse, several more works followed, but none of them brought him the same popular acclaim. He lived much of the ten years in a country house outside Paris, dogged by financial problems. In 1859 he received the Légion dhonneur but within two years he was almost penniless and dying in a Paris hospital, napoleon IIIs minister Count Walewski sent 500 francs to help pay his medical expenses, but it was too late. Henri Murger died on 28 January 1861 at the age of 38, the French government paid for his funeral, which from contemporary accounts in Le Figaro was a great public occasion attended by 250 luminaries from journalism, literature, theatre, and the arts. Le Figaro also started a fund to raise money for his monument, hundreds of people contributed and within two months it had raised over 6500 francs. After experimenting with other variations he eventually kept the former but dropped the latter, bibliography Seigel, Jerrold Bohemian Paris, Culture, Politics, and the Boundaries of Bourgeois Life, 1830-1930, JHU Press. ISBN 0-8018-6063-6 This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Wood, James. London and New York, Frederick Warne, the First Bohemian, The Life of Henry Murger. London, Chatto & Windus, pp. 170–196, cambridge, The Jenson Society, pp. 138–147
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Teatro Regio (Turin)
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The Teatro Regio is a prominent opera house and opera company in Turin, Italy. Its season runs from October to June with the presentation of eight or nine operas given from five to twelve performances of each, however, the cornerstone was not laid until the reign of Charles Emmanuel III in 1738 after Juvarras death. The work was supervised by Benedetto Alfieri until the theatre was completed, the Teatro Regio was inaugurated on 26 December 1740 with Francesco Feos Arsace. It was a sumptuously built facility, seating 1,500, however, the theatre was closed on royal order in 1792 and it became a warehouse. With the French occupation of Turin during the Napoleonic War the theatre was renamed the Teatro Nazionale and finally, after Napoleons ascent to Emperor, Napoleons fall in 1814 saw the theatre returned to its original name, the Regio. In the following years the house went through several periods of financial crisis. Other theatres were built and presented seasons of opera in Turin, among them was the restored Teatro Carignano in 1824. Even before it burnt down, discussions about whether to rebuild the Regio or create a new theatre preoccupied Turin in the early twentieth century. Two plans were presented and the one selected expanded the capacity to 2,415 by removing the fourth and fifth levels of boxes. Work was completed in 1905 but the theatre closed during the First World War, until February 1936, seasons of opera were presented until fire destroyed all but the facade of the Teatro Regio. It remained closed for thirty-seven years, arturo Toscanini was the conductor of the Turin Opera from 1895 to 1898, during which time several productions of the works of Wagner were given Italian premieres. Following the fire, a competition was launched to find an architect. However, due to the war and the financial situation. Even then, work did not start until September 1967 under architect Carlo Mollino, the new house seats 1,750 and is elliptical in shape with a large orchestra level and 37 boxes around its perimeter. An acoustic shell was added to improve its sound, lynn, Karyl Charna, Italian Opera Houses and Festivals, Lanham, Maryland, The Scarecrow Press, Inc.2005. ISBN 0-8108-5359-0 Plantamura, Carol, The Opera Lovers Guide to Europe, New York, ISBN 0-8065-1842-1 Teatro Regio Torino website Category, Opera world premieres at the Teatro Regio
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Turin
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Turin is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region and was the first capital city of Italy. The city is located mainly on the bank of the Po River, in front of Susa Valley and surrounded by the western Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 892,649 while the population of the area is estimated by Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants. The Turin metropolitan area is estimated by the OECD to have a population of 2.2 million, in 1997 a part of the historical center of Torino was inscribed in the World Heritage List under the name Residences of the Royal House of Savoy. Turin is well known for its Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neo-classical, many of Turins public squares, castles, gardens and elegant palazzi such as Palazzo Madama, were built between the 16th and 18th centuries. This was after the capital of the Duchy of Savoy was moved to Turin from Chambery as part of the urban expansion, the city used to be a major European political center. Turin was Italys first capital city in 1861 and home to the House of Savoy, from 1563, it was the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, then of the Kingdom of Sardinia ruled by the Royal House of Savoy and finally the first capital of the unified Italy. Turin is sometimes called the cradle of Italian liberty for having been the birthplace and home of notable politicians and people who contributed to the Risorgimento, such as Cavour. The city currently hosts some of Italys best universities, colleges, academies, lycea and gymnasia, such as the University of Turin, founded in the 15th century, in addition, the city is home to museums such as the Museo Egizio and the Mole Antonelliana. Turins attractions make it one of the worlds top 250 tourist destinations, Turin is ranked third in Italy, after Milan and Rome, for economic strength. With a GDP of $58 billion, Turin is the worlds 78th richest city by purchasing power, as of 2010, the city has been ranked by GaWC as a Gamma World city. Turin is also home to much of the Italian automotive industry, the Taurini were an ancient Celto-Ligurian Alpine people, who occupied the upper valley of the Po River, in the center of modern Piedmont. In 218 BC, they were attacked by Hannibal as he was allied with their long-standing enemies, the Taurini chief town was captured by Hannibals forces after a three-day siege. As a people they are mentioned in history. It is believed that a Roman colony was established in 27 BC under the name of Castra Taurinorum, both Livy and Strabo mention the Taurinis country as including one of the passes of the Alps, which points to a wider use of the name in earlier times. In the 1st century BC, the Romans created a military camp, the typical Roman street grid can still be seen in the modern city, especially in the neighborhood known as the Quadrilatero Romano. Via Garibaldi traces the path of the Roman citys decumanus which began at the Porta Decumani. The Porta Palatina, on the side of the current city centre, is still preserved in a park near the Cathedral
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Libretto
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A libretto is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term libretto is also used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as the Mass, requiem and sacred cantata. Libretto, from Italian, is the diminutive of the word libro, sometimes other language equivalents are used for libretti in that language, livret for French works and Textbuch for German. A libretto is distinct from a synopsis or scenario of the plot, in that the libretto contains all the words and stage directions, while a synopsis summarizes the plot. The relationship of the librettist to the composer in the creation of a work has varied over the centuries, as have the sources. In the context of a modern English language musical theatre piece, Libretti for operas, oratorios and cantatas in the 17th and 18th centuries generally were written by someone other than the composer, often a well-known poet. Metastasio was one of the most highly regarded librettists in Europe and his libretti were set many times by many different composers. Another noted 18th-century librettist was Lorenzo Da Ponte, who wrote the libretti for three of Mozarts greatest operas, as well as for other composers. Eugène Scribe was one of the most prolific librettists of the 19th century, providing the words for works by Meyerbeer, Auber, Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini and Verdi. The French writers duo Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote a number of opera and operetta libretti for the likes of Jacques Offenbach, Jules Massenet. Arrigo Boito, who wrote libretti for, among others, Giuseppe Verdi and Amilcare Ponchielli, the libretto is not always written before the music. Some composers wrote their own libretti, Richard Wagner is perhaps most famous in this regard, with his transformations of Germanic legends and events into epic subjects for his operas and music dramas. Hector Berlioz, too, wrote the libretti for two of his works, La Damnation de Faust and Les Troyens. Alban Berg adapted Georg Büchners play Woyzeck for the libretto of Wozzeck, sometimes the libretto is written in close collaboration with the composer, this can involve adaptation, as was the case with Rimsky-Korsakov and his librettist Belsky, or an entirely original work. In the case of musicals, the music, the lyrics, thus, a musical such as Fiddler on the Roof has a composer, a lyricist and the writer of the book. In rare cases, the composer writes everything except the dance arrangements - music, lyrics and libretto, Other matters in the process of developing a libretto parallel those of spoken dramas for stage or screen. A famous case of the latter is Wagners 1861 revision of the original 1845 Dresden version of his opera Tannhäuser for Paris, since the late 19th century some opera composers have written music to prose or free verse libretti. The libretto of a musical, on the hand, is almost always written in prose
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Arturo Toscanini
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Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and of the 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for detail and sonority. He was at times the music director of La Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Toscanini was born in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, and won a scholarship to the music conservatory. Living conditions at the conservatory were harsh, for example, his diet consisted almost completely of fish. When he became successful, he never ate anything that came from the sea and he joined the orchestra of an opera company, with which he toured South America in 1886. Carlo Superti and Aristide Venturi tried unsuccessfully to finish the work, in desperation, the singers suggested the name of their assistant Chorus Master, who knew the whole opera from memory. The public was taken by surprise, at first by the youth and sheer aplomb of this unknown conductor, for the rest of that season, Toscanini conducted eighteen operas, all with absolute success. Thus began his career as a conductor, at age 19, upon returning to Italy, Toscanini set out on a dual path for some time. He continued to conduct, his first appearance in Italy being at the Teatro Carignano in Turin, on November 4,1886, in the world premiere of the revised version of Alfredo Catalanis Edmea. This was the beginning of Toscaninis lifelong friendship and championing of Catalani, however, he also returned to his chair in the cello section, and participated as cellist in the world premiere of Verdis Otello under the composers supervision. The composer was impressed when Toscanini consulted him personally about Verdis Te Deum. Verdi said that he had left it out for fear that certain interpreters would have exaggerated the marking, gradually, Toscaninis reputation as an operatic conductor of unusual authority and skill supplanted his cello career. In the following decade, he consolidated his career in Italy, entrusted with the premieres of Puccinis La bohème. In 1896, Toscanini conducted his first symphonic concert and he exhibited a considerable capacity for hard work, conducting 43 concerts in Turin in 1898. By 1898, Toscanini was Principal Conductor at La Scala, where he remained until 1908, returning as Music Director and he brought the La Scala Orchestra to the United States on a concert tour in 1920/21, during which he made his first recordings. Outside Europe, Toscanini conducted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as well as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and he toured Europe with the New York Philharmonic in 1930. At each performance, he and the orchestra were acclaimed by critics, Toscanini was the first non-German conductor to appear at Bayreuth, and the New York Philharmonic was the first non-German orchestra to play there
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Bohemianism
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Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic, literary or spiritual pursuits. In this context, Bohemians may or may not be wanderers, adventurers, Bohemians were associated with unorthodox or anti-establishment political or social viewpoints, which often were expressed through free love, frugality, and—in some cases—voluntary poverty. A more economically privileged, wealthy, or even aristocratic bohemian circle is sometimes referred to as haute bohème, the term Bohemianism emerged in France in the early nineteenth century when artists and creators began to concentrate in the lower-rent, lower class, Romani neighborhoods. Literary Bohemians were associated in the French imagination with roving Romani people, outsiders apart from conventional society, the term carries a connotation of arcane enlightenment, and also carries a less frequently intended, pejorative connotation of carelessness about personal hygiene and marital fidelity. The title character in Carmen, a French opera set in the Spanish city of Seville, is referred to as a bohémienne in Meilhac and her signature aria declares love itself to be a gypsy child, going where it pleases and obeying no laws. Henri Murgers collection of short stories Scènes de la Vie de Bohème, published in 1845, was written to glorify, Murgers collection formed the basis of Giacomo Puccinis opera La bohème. In England, Bohemian in this sense initially was popularised in William Makepeace Thackerays novel, Vanity Fair, public perceptions of the alternative lifestyles supposedly led by artists were further molded by George du Mauriers highly romanticized best-selling novel of Bohemian culture Trilby. The novel outlines the fortunes of three expatriate English artists, their Irish model, and two very colorful Central European musicians, in the artist quarter of Paris. In Spanish literature, the Bohemian impulse can be seen in Ramón del Valle-Incláns play Luces de Bohemia, in his song La Bohème, Charles Aznavour described the Bohemian lifestyle in Montmartre. Also reflects the Bohemian lifestyle in Montmartre at the turn of the 20th century, in the 1850s, aesthetic bohemians began to arrive in the United States. In New York City in 1857, a group of some 15–20 young and this group gathered at a German bar on Broadway called Pffaffs beer cellar. Members included their leader Henry Clapp, Jr, walt Whitman, Fitz Hugh Ludlow, and actress Adah Isaacs Menken. Similar groups in cities were broken up as well by the Civil War. During the war, correspondents began to assume the title bohemian, Bohemian became synonymous with newspaper writer. Mark Twain included himself and Charles Warren Stoddard in the category in 1867. Club member and poet George Sterling responded to this redefinition, Any good mixer of convivial habits considers he has a right to be called a bohemian, but that is not a valid claim. There are two elements, at least, that are essential to Bohemianism, the first is devotion or addiction to one or more of the Seven Arts, the other is poverty. Despite his views, Sterling associated very closely with the Bohemian Club, canadian composer Oscar Ferdinand Telgmann and poet George Frederick Cameron wrote the song The Bohemian in the 1889 opera Leo, the Royal Cadet
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Ruggero Leoncavallo
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Ruggero Leoncavallo was an Italian opera composer and librettist. His other well-known works include the song Mattinata, popularized by Enrico Caruso, the son of a judge, Leoncavallo was born in Naples on 23 April 1857. As a child, he moved with his father to the town of Montalto Uffugo in Calabria where Leoncavallo lived during his adolescence. He later returned to Naples and was educated at the citys San Pietro a Majella Conservatory, in 1879 Leoncavallos uncle Giuseppe, director of the press department at the Foreign Ministry in Egypt, suggested that his young nephew come to Cairo to showcase his pianistic abilities. Arriving shortly after the deposition of Khedive Ismail, Leoncavallo eventually secured work as a piano teacher and his time in Egypt concluded abruptly in 1882 after revolts in Alexandria and Cairo led by ‘Urabi in which the composer quickly departed for France. In Paris, Leoncavallo found lodging in Montmartre, an agent located in the Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis secured Leoncavallo employment as an accompanist and instructor for artists who performed in Sunday concerts mostly at cafés. It was during this time that he met Berthe Rambaud a preferred student, increasingly inspired by the French romantics, particularly Alfred de Musset, Leoncavallo began work on a symphonic poem based on Mussets poetry entitled La nuit de mai. The work was completed in Paris in 1886 and premiered in April 1887 to critical acclaim, with this success and now with enough accumulated money Leoncavallo and Rambaud would return to Milan to begin his career as a composer of opera. Back in Italy, Leoncavallo spent some years teaching and attempting ineffectively to obtain the production of more than one opera, in 1890 he saw the enormous success of Pietro Mascagnis Cavalleria rusticana and wasted no time in producing his own verismo work, Pagliacci. Pagliacci was performed in Milan in 1892 with immediate success, today it is the work by Leoncavallo in the standard operatic repertory. Its most famous aria Vesti la giubba was recorded by Enrico Caruso, the next year his I Medici was also produced in Milan, but neither it nor Chatterton —both early works—obtained much lasting favour. Much of Chatterton, however, was recorded by the Gramophone Company as early as 1908, Leoncavallo himself conducts the performance or at very least supervises the production. It was not until Leoncavallos La bohème was performed in 1897 in Venice that his talent obtained public confirmation, however, it was outshone by Puccinis opera of the same name and on the same subject, which was premiered in 1896. Two tenor arias from Leoncavallos version are still performed, especially in Italy. Subsequent operas by Leoncavallo were in the 1900s, Zazà, in 1906 the composer brought singers and orchestral musicians from La Scala to perform concerts of his music in New York, as well as an extensive tour of the United States. The tour was, all in all, a qualified success and he had a brief success with Zingari which premiered in Italian in London in 1912, with a long run at the Hippodrome Theatre. Zingari also reached the United States but soon disappeared from the repertoire, after a series of operettas, Leoncavallo appeared to have tried for one last serious effort with Edipo re. It had always assumed that Leoncavallo had finished the work but had died before he could finish the orchestration
13.
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
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Teatro Comunale di Bologna
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The Teatro Comunale di Bologna is an opera house in Bologna, Italy, and is one of the most important opera venues in Italy. Typically, it presents eight operas with six performances during its November to April season, while there had been various theatres presenting opera in Bologna since the early 17th century, they had either fallen into disuse or burnt down. However, from the early 18th century, the Teatro Marsigli-Rossi had been presenting operatic works by composers of the day including Vivaldi, Gluck. However, much work remained unfinished, the facade in particular which was not completed until 1936, also, many of the backstage facilities which would allow for the presentations of operas were unfinished and only completed due to competition from another theatre in 1805. It was to be the first major house to be constructed with public funds. Various renovations were undertaken between 1818 and 1820 and also in 1853/54, after fire destroyed much of the stage area in 1931, the theatre was closed, and it did not re-open until 14 November 1935. By that date, the original bell-shaped auditorium had given way to a horseshoe-shaped one seating 1,034 people, the 19th century saw the presentation of twenty operas by Gioacchino Rossini, while seven of Vincenzo Bellinis ten operas were presented in the 1830s. Works by Giuseppe Verdi and, later in 1871, the Italian premiere of Richard Wagners Lohengrin, in fact, Bologna became the location for several other Wagner opera premieres in Italy, notably with the composer present for his Rienzi and the Parsifal premiere on 1 January 1914. Dottore Giulio Ferrario, ed. Storia e Descrizione de Principali Teatri Antichi e Moderni, tipografia del Dottor Giulio Ferrario, Contrada del Bocchetto N.2465. Lynn, Karyl Charna, Italian Opera Houses and Festivals, Lanham, Maryland, The Scarecrow Press, ISBN 0-8108-5359-0 Teatro Comunale of Bolognas website
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Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
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The Teatro dellOpera di Roma is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat Costanzi Theatre, it has several changes of name as well modifications. The Teatro dellOpera was originally known as the Teatro Costanzi after the contractor who built it and it was financed by Costanzi, who commissioned the Milanese architect Achille Sfondrini, a specialist in the building and renovation of theatres. Designing the theatre, Sfondrini paid particular attention to the acoustics, conceiving the interior structure as a resonance chamber, as is evident from the horseshoe shape in particular. With a seating capacity of 2,212, the house had three tiers of boxes, an amphitheatre and two galleries, surmounted by a dome adorned with splendid frescoes by Annibale Brugnoli. Costanzi was obliged to manage the theater himself, under his direction, and despite financial problems, the opera house held many world premieres of operas, including Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni on 17 May 1890. For a brief period the theatre was managed by Costanzis son, Enrico, who gained renown by organizing another great premiere, in 1907 the Teatro Costanzi was purchased by the impresario Walter Mocchi on behalf of the Società Teatrale Internazionale e Nazionale. In 1912 Mocchis wife, Emma Carelli, became the director of the new Impresa Costanzi, as the theatre was later known. During the fourteen years of her tenure, major works which had not been performed before in Rome were staged, in November 1926 the Costanzi was bought by the Rome City Council and its name changed to Teatro Reale dellOpera. A partial rebuilding ensued, led by architect Marcello Piacentini and lasting fifteen months, the house re-opened on 27 February 1928 with the opera Nerone by Arrigo Boito. Chief among several major changes was the entrance, from the street formerly known as Via del Teatro to the opposite side. In addition, the amphitheatre inside the theatre was replaced by a tier of boxes. The interior was embellished by new stuccowork, decorations, and furnishings, including a magnificent chandelier measuring six meters in diameter, the theaters legendary acoustics still bear comparison with any other auditorium in the world. The seating capacity is about 1,600, the house was retrofitted with air-conditioning subsequent to a restoration, which provided improvements to the interior. The stucco work was restored, the great proscenium arch strengthened. The post-war period saw celebrated productions, including Mozarts Le nozze di Figaro in 1964 and Verdis Don Carlos in 1965, from 2001 to 2010, the music director and chief conductor of the company was Gianluigi Gelmetti. Later, Muti assumed a similar to that of music director. Notable productions under Muti have included Glucks Iphigénie en Aulide, Verdis Nabucco, Simon Boccanegra, the name Teatro Costanzi remains officially in use, to refer to the main auditorium
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La Scala
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La Scala is an opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was known as the Nuovo Regio Ducale Teatro alla Scala. The premiere performance was Antonio Salieris Europa riconosciuta, most of Italys greatest operatic artists, and many of the finest singers from around the world, have appeared at La Scala during the past 200 years. The theatre is regarded as one of the opera and ballet theatres in the world and is home to the La Scala Theatre Chorus, La Scala Theatre Ballet. The theatre also has a school, known as the La Scala Theatre Academy. La Scalas season traditionally opens on 7 December, Saint Ambroses Day, all performances must end before midnight, and long operas start earlier in the evening when necessary. La Scala also hosts the Accademia dArti e Mestieri dello Spettacolo and its goal is to train a new generation of young musicians, technical staff, and dancers. A fire destroyed the theatre, the Teatro Regio Ducale, on 25 February 1776. The neoclassical architect Giuseppe Piermarini produced a design but it was rejected by Count Firmian. A second plan was accepted in 1776 by Empress Maria Theresa, the new theatre was built on the former location of the church of Santa Maria alla Scala, from which the theatre gets its name. The church was deconsecrated and demolished, and over a period of two years the theatre was completed by Pietro Marliani, Pietro Nosetti and Antonio and Giuseppe Fe. The theatre had a total of 3,000 or so seats organized into 678 pit-stalls and its stage is one of the largest in Italy. Building expenses were covered by the sale of palchi, which were decorated by their owners. La Scala soon became the preeminent meeting place for noble and wealthy Milanese people, in the tradition of the times, the platea had no chairs and spectators watched the shows standing up. The orchestra was in sight, as the golfo mistico had not yet been built. Above the boxes, La Scala has a gallery—called the loggione—where the less wealthy can watch the performances, the gallery is typically crowded with the most critical opera aficionados, known as the loggionisti, who can be ecstatic or merciless towards singers perceived successes or failures. As with most of the theatres at that time, La Scala was also a casino, conditions in the auditorium, too, could be frustrating for the opera lover, as Mary Shelley discovered in September 1840, At the Opera they were giving Otto Nicolais Templario. La Scala was originally illuminated with 84 oil lamps mounted on the palcoscenico, to prevent the risks of fire, several rooms were filled with hundreds of water buckets
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Fernando De Lucia
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Fernando De Lucia was an Italian opera tenor and singing teacher who enjoyed an international career. De Lucia was admired in his lifetime as an exponent of verismo parts — particularly Canio in Leoncavallos Pagliacci — and of certain roles written by Verdi. Since then, however, he has acquired a great reputation among record-collectors for something different. They hail him as the exemplar of a type of graceful, ornamental tenor singing which originated prior to verismo, especially valued are the recordings that De Lucia made of Almavivas arias and duets from Rossinis bel canto comic opera Il barbiere di Siviglia. De Lucia was born in Naples, where he studied at the Naples Music Conservatory with Vincenzo Lombardi and he made his debut at the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, as Gounods Faust in 1885. Over the next two or three years he sang in Spain, South America and in the smaller Italian opera houses, in Linda di Chamounix, Dinorah, Lelisir damore, Fra Diavolo and his Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia was described as truly detestable by The Times newspaper. On October 31,1891, De Lucia took part in the premiere of Lamico Fritz. The opera had been composed by the up-and-coming musician Pietro Mascagni, De Lucia capitalized on Europes Mascagni craze of the early 1890s. Accordingly, in November 1892, he was engaged by the Florence opera house to create the tenor lead in Mascagnis third opera, appearing with him in the work was the virtuoso baritone Mattia Battistini. De Lucias verismo-opera career continued apace with the first English performance, of Leoncavallos Pagliacci, opposite Nellie Melba, De Lucia sang the part of Canio, which had been created a year earlier in Milan by Fiorello Giraud. Klein describes an audience breathless with excitement, and De Lucias burning intensity in the role as a triumph of realism. Mascagni made his own London debut at Covent Garden, conducting Lamico Fritz on June 19,1893 with Calvé and, of course, De Lucia in the cast. Soon afterwards, again with Calvé, and accompanied by the song composer Paolo Tosti, De Lucia sang excerpts from Cavalleria rusticana for Queen Victoria at Windsor. On July 7 of that year, appearing in a cast which included soprano Nellie Melba, in 1893-94, De Lucia sang in New York City at the Metropolitan Opera. He repeated his Canio with Melba and Ancona, and this was esteemed and he did not repeat the experience. In London in 1894, he performed both Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci at Covent Garden, with Ancona in the baritone parts. Shaw admired the altogether exceptional dramatic force which their performances gave to the pair of works and that season he was also in a bilingual Faust, with Melba, Ancona and Bauermeister. Shaw thought the role of Faust too heavy for De Lucia, several times in the garden scene he found the right musical treatment with exceptional success
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La Fenice
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Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre, however, the third fire was the result of arson. It destroyed the house in 1996 leaving only the exterior walls, in 1774, the Teatro San Benedetto, which had been Venices leading opera house for more than forty years, burned to the ground. By 1789, with interest from a number of opera lovers who wanted a spectacular new house. The house would face on one side a campo, or small plaza, however, the process was not without controversy especially in regard to the aesthetics of the building. Some thirty responses were received and, as Romanelli accounts, Selvas was designated as the design to be constructed, the actual award for best design went to his chief rival, Pietro Bianchi. However, Selvas design and finished opera house appears to have been of high quality, construction began in June 1790, and by May 1792 the theatre was completed. It was named La Fenice, in reference to the survival, first of the fire. La Fenice was inaugurated on 16 May 1792, with an opera by Giovanni Paisiello entitled I giuochi dAgrigento set to a libretto by Alessandro Pepoli. But no sooner had the house been rebuilt than a legal dispute broke out between the company managing it and the owners, the Venier family. The issue was decided in favor of the Veniers, at the beginning of the 19th century, La Fenice acquired a European reputation. Rossini mounted two major productions there, Tancredi in 1813 and Semiramide in 1823, two of Bellinis operas were given their premieres there, I Capuleti e i Montecchi in March 1830 and Beatrice di Tenda in March 1833. Donizetti, fresh from his triumphs at La Scala in Milan and at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, returned to Venice in 1836 with his Belisario, in December 1836, disaster struck again when the theatre was destroyed by fire. However, it was rebuilt with a design provided by the architect-engineer team of the brothers, Tommaso. The interior displays a late-Empire luxury of gilt decorations, plushy extravagance, La Fenice once again rose from its ashes to open its doors on the evening of 26 December 1837. Giuseppe Verdis association with La Fenice began in 1844, with the performance of Ernani during the carnival season. Over the next 13 years, the premieres of Attila, Rigoletto, La traviata, during the First World War, La Fenice was closed, but it reopened to become the scene of much activity, attracting many of the worlds greatest singers and conductors. On 29 January 1996, La Fenice was completely destroyed by fire, only its acoustics were preserved, since Lamberto Tronchin, an Italian acoustician, had measured the acoustics two months earlier
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Teatro Regio (Parma)
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The Teatro Regio di Parma, originally constructed as the Nuovo Teatro Ducale, is an opera house and opera company in Parma, Italy. Also well known in Parma was the conductor Arturo Toscanini, was there in 1867. As has been noted by Lee Marshall, while not as known as La Scala in Milan or La Fenice in Venice. Initially Rossini had been invited to compose a work for the inauguration of the house, however, that inaugural season saw three Rossini operas staged, including Moïse et Pharaon, Semiramide, and Il barbiere di Siviglia. Today, the company stages about four operas each season from mid January to April and, since 2003, however, the Nuovo replaced another existing small and narrow Ducal Theatre dating from 1688, which had been located in the Palazzo di Riserva. After a performance of Rossinis Zelmira in 1828, it was closed, the newly built Nuovo Ducale was located on the site of the former Monastery of St. Alexander and it was located next to the Ducal Palace. Construction began in 1821 during the reign of Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma who, as Napoleon Is divorced second wife and she settled in Parma, ruling from 1816 to 1847, and under her patronage and financial support, secured the services of the architect Nicola Bettoli. Marie Louise oversaw the construction, assuring that the interior decoration reflected the sobriety of neoclassicism, in 1849 restoration was called for and then, four years later under the Bourbon Duke Carlo III, more opulent decoration took place. In addition, gas lighting in the house was installed, by 1907 the stage lighting was electrified, and that of the rest of house took place during the centennial of Verdis birth in 1913. The architecture of the Nuovo The façade of the theatre was built in the neoclassical style, the foyer is, as Martini describes it, a large square upheld by four pairs of imposing mottled marble Ionic columns on an attic base. The entire room is based on the square and on symmetry and it is decorated with a marble floor. After the 1853 restoration, which overall has been described as neobaroque, the chandelier, which was built in Paris and taken to Parma in 1854 when the theatre was adapted for gas, is 4.5 metres in height and weighs 1100 kg. Renaming the theatre After the reign of Duchess Marie Louise, the theatre was renamed, with the unification of Italy in 1861, the house took its present name, the Teatro Regio. His operas have had a place in the Regios programming after 17 April 1843. The 2001 centennial of the death resulted in a year-long celebration beginning with the Requiem. The bicententario year of 2013 prompted special celebrations which included concerts by the La Scala Orchestra, under Riccardo Chailly, providing insights into working with the Teatro and with Verdis music were singers Carlo Bergonzi, Mirella Freni, and Raina Kabaivanska as well as conductor Bruno Bartoletti. A concert by the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini on 10 October was something of a highlight of the celebrations and it included a concert version of act 2 of Aida. Other complete operas given during the month included I masnadieri, Falstaff, Festival Verdi In addition to its regular season, from the 1990s the company began to mount a Festival Verdi
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Solomiya Krushelnytska
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Solomiya Amvrosiivka Krushelnytska was one of the brightest soprano opera stars of the first half of the 20th century. In addition to Solomiya, the family included her mother Teodora Maria, sisters Olha/Olga, Osypa, Hanna/Anna, Emilia and Maria. As a teenager, Solomiya went on to secondary education courses in the town of Ternopil. In Ternopil, she befriended fellow musicians such as future composer Denys Sichynsky, in 1891, she entered the Lviv Conservatory, where she would study under the tutelage of Valery Wysocki. Following her debut, Solomiya went on to place Silver at her graduating concours, Solomiya Krushelnytska followed her 1893 professional debut with additional performances at the Lviv Opera. On the advice of Gemma Bellincioni, who witnessed Solomiyas talents in Lviv that summer, after her father took out a loan for her travels, Solomiya arrived in Milan where she would study under Fausta Crespi, while living with Bellincionis mother. It was under Crespis tutelage that Solomiya transitioned from her previous training as a mezzo-soprano to a lyric-dramatic soprano. For the following 3 years, she would divide her time between Milan and Lviv, returning regularly for engagements with the Lviv Opera in order to pay for her studies in Italy. Solomiya would go on to perform in Odessa, Warsaw, St Petersburg, the Paris Grand Opera, Naples, Cairo and Alexandria, in 1904, she famously became a savior of Puccinis Madama Butterfly. Her schedule, during her studies in Milan, included vocal lessons, acting lessons, learning new parts and her leisure time included visits to museums and historic sites, attendance at operatic and theatrical performances. She maintained active correspondence with friends and acquaintances, covering such issues as the fate of her native Ukraine, problems of culture, in addition, Krushelnytska regularly appeared in performances of the music and drama school LArmonia. On tours, she sang in four and five productions during a single week and she could learn a part in a new opera in two days, and develop the character of a role in another three or four. In the history of music, Krushelnytska is known as a promoter of the works of her contemporaries. In 1902 she starred in a production of Lohengrin in Paris. In 1906 she appeared to acclaim at Milans La Scala in Richard Strausss Salome and she also performed in other theatres across Europe, Egypt, Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and others. In 1910, Krushelnytska married Italian attorney and the mayor of Viareggio, in 1920, at the height of her career, she left the opera world, and three years later started concert tours, performing in Western Europe, Canada and the USA. Her knowledge of eight languages allowed her to include in her concert programs songs of many nations and she was a fervent promoter of Ukrainian folk songs and works by Ukrainian composers. In 1903, Solomiya purchased a building located on what is now Krushelnytska Street, built and designed by Jakub Kroch in 1884, the large building had several floors of living space, initially occupied by members of Krushelnytskas immediate family
21.
Paris Opera
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The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of France. Classical ballet as we know it today arose within the Paris Opera as the Paris Opera Ballet and has remained an integral, small scale and contemporary works are also staged in the 500-seat Amphitheatre under the Opéra Bastille. The companys annual budget is in the order of 200 million euros, with this money, the company runs the two houses and supports a large permanent staff, which includes the orchestra of 170, a chorus of 110 and the corps de ballet of 150. Each year, the Opéra presents about 380 performances of opera, ballet and other concerts, to an audience of about 800,000 people. In the 2012/13 season, the Opéra presented 18 opera titles,13 ballets,5 symphonic concerts, the companys training bodies are also active, with 7 concerts from the Atelier Lyrique and 4 programmes from the École de Danse. The poet Pierre Perrin began thinking and writing about the possibility of French opera in 1655 and he believed that the prevailing opinion of the time that the French language was fundamentally unmusical was completely incorrect. Seventeenth-century France offered Perrin essentially two types of organization for realizing his vision, an academy or a public theater. On 28 June 1669, Louis XIV signed the Privilège accordé au Sieur Perrin pour létablissement dune Académie dOpéra en musique and he was free to select business partners of his choice and to set the price of tickets. No one was to have the right of free entry including members of the royal court, although it was to be a public theatre, it retained its status as royal academy in which the authority of the king as the primary stakeholder was decisive. The monopoly, originally intended to protect the enterprise from competition during its phase, was renewed for subsequent recipients of the privilege up to the early French Revolution. As Victoria Johnson points out, the Opera was an organization by nature so luxurious and expensive in its productions that its survival depended on financial protection. His first opera Pomone with music by Robert Cambert opened on 3 March 1671, a second work, Les peines et les plaisirs de lamour, with a libretto by Gabriel Gilbert and music by Cambert, was performed in 1672. The institution was renamed the Académie Royale de Musique and came to be known in France simply as the Opéra. Because of legal difficulties Lully could not use the Salle de la Bouteille, during Lullys tenure, the only works performed were his own. The first productions were the pastorale Les fêtes de lAmour et de Bacchus, Lully greatly desired a better theatre and persuaded the king to let him use the one at the Palais-Royal free of charge. The Théâtre du Palais-Royal had been altered in 1660 and 1671, the first production in the new theatre was Alceste on 19 January 1674. The opera was bitterly attacked by those enraged at the restrictions that Lully had caused to be placed on the French, to mitigate the damage, Louis XIV arranged for new works to be premiered at the court, usually at the Chateau Vieux of the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. This had the advantage of subsidizing the cost of rehearsals, as well as most of the machinery, sets, and costumes
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Carl Rosa Opera Company
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The Carl Rosa Opera Company was founded in 1873 by Carl August Nicholas Rosa, a German-born musical impresario, to present opera in English in London and the British provinces. The company premiered many operas in the UK, employing a mix of established stars and young singers. It survived Rosas death in 1889, and continued to present opera in English on tour until 1960, the company was revived in 1997, presenting mostly lighter operatic works including Gilbert and Sullivan. The company was arguably the most influential opera company ever in the UK, Carl Rosa was born Karl August Nikolaus Rose in Hamburg, Germany, the son of a local businessman. A child violin prodigy, Rosa studied at the Conservatorium at Leipzig, in 1863 he was appointed Konzertmeister at Hamburg, where he had occasional opportunities to conduct. He soon had success as a conductor both in England and the United States. During an American tour in 1866–67 as conductor of a troupe that included the Scottish operatic soprano Euphrosyne Parepa, Rosa. From 1869 to 1872, Rosa and his wife toured their own opera company through America, with Parepa as the star and it brought opera to places that had never seen any, performing Italian operas in English, which made them more accessible to American audiences. In 1872, the Rosas returned to England and also visited Europe, in September the next year, they inaugurated the Carl Rosa Opera with a performance of William Vincent Wallaces Maritana in Manchester, on 1 September, and then toured England and Ireland. Rosas policy was to present operas in English, and that remained the companys practice, Parepa died in childbirth in January 1874, and Rosa married a second time in 1881, to Josephine, with whom he had four children. In November 1874, Carl Rosa Opera made its first of many visits to Scotland with a season at Glasgows Prince of Wales Theatre. The companys first London season opened at the Princesss Theatre in September 1875, playing Mozarts The Marriage of Figaro, with Charles Santley as Figaro and Rose Hersee as Susanna. In 1876, Rosa staged a second London season, which featured the first performance in English of Wagners The Flying Dutchman, with Santley in the title role. For the next fifteen years, the company prospered and earned good notices, with tours and London seasons. Such was the success of the company that at one point three Carl Rosa touring troupes were set up, in October 1892, Rosas Grand Opera Company received the royal accolade, with a command performance of Donizettis La fille du régiment at Balmoral Castle. The French-American soprano Zélie de Lussan sang the heroine, Marie, the company introduced many works of important opera repertoire to England for the first time, performing some 150 different operas over the years. Alberto Randegger served as director of the company from 1879 to 1885. The company also encouraged and supported new works by English composers, pauline in 1876, Esmeralda in 1883, Colomba in 1883 and The Troubabour, and The Canterbury Pilgrims in 1884 were five of the operas commissioned by the company
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Royal Opera House
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The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is referred to as simply Covent Garden. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, originally called the Theatre Royal, it served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented, a year later, Handels first season of operas began. Many of his operas and oratorios were written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there. The current building is the theatre on the site following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1856. The façade, foyer, and auditorium date from 1858, the main auditorium seats 2,256 people, making it the third largest in London, and consists of four tiers of boxes and balconies and the amphitheatre gallery. The proscenium is 12.20 m wide and 14.80 m high, the main auditorium is a Grade I listed building. The letters patent remained in the possession of the patentees heirs until the 19th century, in 1728, John Rich, actor-manager of the Dukes Company at Lincolns Inn Fields Theatre, commissioned The Beggars Opera from John Gay. In addition, a Royal Charter had created a fruit and vegetable market in the area, at its opening on 7 December 1732, Rich was carried by his actors in processional triumph into the theatre for its opening production of William Congreves The Way of the World. Despite the frequent interchangeability between the Covent Garden and Drury Lane companies, competition was intense, often presenting the plays at the same time. Rich introduced pantomime to the repertoire, himself performing and a tradition of seasonal pantomime continued at the modern theatre, in 1734, Covent Garden presented its first ballet, Pygmalion. Marie Sallé discarded tradition and her corset and danced in diaphanous robes, george Frideric Handel was named musical director of the company, at Lincolns Inn Fields, in 1719, but his first season of opera, at Covent Garden, was not presented until 1734. His first opera was Il pastor fido followed by Ariodante, the première of Alcina, there was a royal performance of Messiah in 1743, which was a success and began a tradition of Lenten oratorio performances. From 1735 until his death in 1759 he gave regular seasons there and he bequeathed his organ to John Rich, and it was placed in a prominent position on the stage, but was among many valuable items lost in a fire that destroyed the theatre on 20 September 1808. In 1792 the architect Henry Holland rebuilt the auditorium, within the shell of the building but deeper and wider than the old auditorium. Rebuilding began in December 1808, and the second Theatre Royal, the Old Price Riots lasted over two months, and the management was finally forced to accede to the audiences demands. During this time, entertainments were varied, opera and ballet were presented, kemble engaged a variety of acts, including the child performer Master Betty, the great clown Joseph Grimaldi made his name at Covent Garden
24.
Wallack's Theatre
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Four New York City theaters have borne the name Wallacks Theatre. Each has had other names before or after, or both, the last was one of the ten theaters which in the early 20th century made one block of 42nd Street internationally famous for its concentration of playhouses. The earlier three played an important part in the history of American theater, as the homes of the stock company managed by actors James W. Wallack and his son. During its 35-year lifetime, from 1852 to 1887, that company developed, James W. Actor-managers, such as the Wallacks, were members of their own company. Often, a manager leased a theater from its owner, and since the building was deemed an important part of the playgoer’s experience, sometimes a manager was able to have a theater built to his specifications, as did John Brougham. Earlier in 1850, he had built the new “Lecture Room” of Barnum’s American Museum, the performances at the new theater were principally burlesques and farces. Brougham was an actor, but this enterprise failed. After two seasons, James W. Wallack leased the house and, following custom, renamed it for himself, age 57, he was a well-known and well-respected British-American actor who had proved himself as a manager at the National Theater from 1837 until it burned down in 1839. After extensive renovation, he opened his new theater on September 8,1852, with The Way to Get Married and his sons, Lester, age 32, and Charles, were stage-manager and treasurer, respectively. Theodore Moss, who was to become an associate of the Wallacks, was assistant treasurer and later became treasurer. Admissions were fifty and twenty-five cents, English comedy and domestic dramas form the chief attractions at Wallack’s, and the house is generally full. The utmost order and decorum are maintained…and everything offensive to the most delicate taste carefully excluded from the stage. For the two seasons 1856–58 Wallack leased the house to William Stuart, who managed it with Lester Wallack as stage manager, Dion Boucicault as general director, Stuart, an Irishman whose real name was Edmund OFlaherty, had been a Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom. An alleged embezzler, he fled to New York in 1854 and he later managed the Winter Garden, and then the Park Theatre, on Broadway between 21st and 22nd Streets, and was widely popular socially. The elder Wallack performed October 20 through November 22,1856, Wallack did not perform during the 1857–58 season, and he resumed management of the theater in fall 1858. He managed the house for two more seasons, in 1861, Wallack moved his company. On April 1,1867, Wood transferred the lease to Barney Williams, the Broadway Theatre was soon torn down and replaced by the extant building comprising a store and lofts. As the city northward, James Wallack sought to follow
25.
Nellie Melba
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Dame Nellie Melba GBE, born Helen Porter Mitchell, was an Australian operatic soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and she was the first Australian to achieve international recognition as a classical musician. She took the pseudonym Melba from Melbourne, her home town, Melba studied singing in Melbourne and made a modest success in performances there. After a brief and unsuccessful marriage, she moved to Europe in search of a singing career, failing to find engagements in London in 1886, she studied in Paris and soon made a great success there and in Brussels. Returning to London she quickly established herself as the lyric soprano at Covent Garden from 1888. She soon achieved success in Paris and elsewhere in Europe. Her repertoire was small, in her career she sang no more than 25 roles and was closely identified with only ten. She was known for her performances in French and Italian opera, during the First World War, Melba raised large sums for war charities. She returned to Australia frequently during the 20th century, singing in opera and concerts and she was active in the teaching of singing at the Melbourne Conservatorium. Melba continued to sing until the last months of her life and her death, in Australia, was news across the English-speaking world, and her funeral was a major national event. Melba was born in Richmond, Victoria, the eldest of seven children of the builder David Mitchell, Mitchell, a Scot, had emigrated to Australia in 1852, becoming a successful builder. Melba was taught to play the piano and first sang in public around age six and she was educated at a local boarding school and then at the Presbyterian Ladies College. She studied singing with Mary Ellen Christian and Pietro Cecchi, an Italian tenor, in her teens, Melba continued to perform in amateur concerts in and around Melbourne, and she played the organ at church. Her father encouraged her in her studies, but he strongly disapproved of her taking up singing as a career. Melbas mother died suddenly in 1881 at Richmond, Melbas father moved the family to Mackay, Queensland, where he built a new sugar mill. Melba soon became popular in Mackay society for her singing and piano-playing, on 22 December 1882 in Brisbane, she married Charles Nesbitt Frederick Armstrong, the youngest son of Sir Andrew Armstrong. They had one child, a son, George, born on 16 October 1883, the marriage was not a success, Charles reportedly beat his wife more than once. The couple separated after just over a year, and Melba returned to Melbourne determined to pursue a singing career, debuting professionally in concerts in 1884
26.
Mario Ancona
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Mario Ancona, was a leading Italian baritone and master of bel canto singing. He appeared at some of the most important opera houses in Europe, Ancona was born into a middle-class Jewish family at Livorno, Tuscany, on 28 February 1860. After embarking on a career he decided to study voice with a local singing teacher named Matteini in his native city of Livorno. Later, he took lessons from Giuseppe Cima in Milan, not long afterwards, he appeared in another Massenet opera, Le Cid, at Italys principal theatre—La Scala, Milan. His arrival at La Scala so soon after his debut reflects the excellence of the grounding that he must have received as an amateur performer. On 21 May 1892, Ancona was asked to create the part of Silvio in the first performance of Leoncavallos Pagliacci, the next year, he appeared in the first London performance of Pagliacci at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. On this occasion, however, he sang the role of Tonio, Ancona would appear regularly at Covent Garden until 1901, being held in high esteem by London audiences. He also sang as a guest artist in Cairo, Lisbon, Madrid, Warsaw, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Chicago, Boston, the New York Metropolitan Opera first engaged him in 1893. He sang successfully at the Met until 1897, when he went back to Europe, in 1906–1908, he returned to New York—this time to join the Manhattan Opera Company, where he was paid a generous fee. He became a favourite of this company, which had been established by Oscar Hammerstein I in direct rivalry to the Met. His suave interpretation of Mozarts Don Giovanni was singled out for praise by newspaper reviewers. Ancona sang in Paris in 1908, and again in 1914, at the Sarah Bernhardt theatre, the illustrious French actress was not alone in her admiration for Anconas vocal artistry. Music critics on both sides of the Atlantic commended Ancona on his elegant singing style and beautiful voice, with its top register. Indeed, the great tenor Jean de Reszke called him the best-schooled Italian baritone of his era and his histrionic skills were less developed however, and he was not considered to be an especially imaginative or exciting interpretive artist. Physically, he was said to resemble King Edward VII of England because of his pointed beard and ample waistline. The fact that Ancona was able to establish himself as a singer in the face of intense competition from a host of other first-class baritones is a testament to his sheer quality as a vocalist. According to the critic Michael Scott, author of The Record of Singing, Anconas smooth, fluent and his style and technique were particularly well suited to the operas of Verdi, and to the bel canto works composed by Bellini and Donizetti. Anconas repertoire of Verdi parts included Germont, Di Luna, Rigoletto, Amonasro and Iago, Ancona also undertook roles composed by Leoncavallo, Puccini, Mascagni, Giordano, Mozart and Wagner
27.
Kroll Opera House
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The Kroll Opera House was an opera building in Berlin, Germany, located in the central Tiergarten district on the western edge of the Königsplatz square, facing the Reichstag building. It was built in 1844 as an entertainment venue for the restaurant owner Joseph Kroll, during its eventful history it was redeveloped as an opera house in 1851 and was used by various owners and directors for opera, operetta and drama. It was later operated by the Prussian state opera and drama companies, severely damaged by bombing and the Battle of Berlin in World War II, it was finally demolished in 1951. On 19 July 1940, the house was used to host the 1940 Field Marshal Ceremony. The Kroll story began in the Silesian capital Breslau, where the entrepreneur Joseph Kroll had opened the “Kroll Winter Garden” in 1837, the Breslau authorities chose this reputable establishment to entertain the new Prussian king Frederick William IV when he visited the city in 1841. The king was impressed by the splendid, flower-decorated rooms and suggested that something similar should be initiated in Berlin to become the hub for the nobility in the Prussian residence. The parade ground, which had stood since 1730, was outside of the city just to the north west of the Brandenburg Gate and it had long degenerated into a sandy field, and the Berliners therefore derisively called it the “Sahara”. Every step on the ground would kick up a cloud of dust on the square. When it rained, the soil would turn into a mass of dirty mud, yet Kroll took solace in the fact that the greenery of the Tiergarten park lay just beyond the property. After a construction period of ten months, Kroll’s enterprise opened on 15 February 1844. Forty waiters were to serve up to five thousand guests in the three halls, thirteen boxes for at least thirteen people each, and fourteen large rooms, the “Tunnel” was a special attraction and praised as a novelty for Berlin – a hall where one could smoke. A technical innovation was the newly implemented gas lighting, which “consisted of 400 flames”, during the first year Kroll had satisfactory results. Yet despite its uniqueness in Germany, as noted by the critics, on 15 April 1848, on his deathbed, Kroll regretted that his king had once had breakfast with him.1 Joseph Kroll’s successor was his eldest daughter, Auguste. The “National People’s Garden” was opened as soon as May 1848 as part of an expansion, great attractions were offered first in the garden and later in the great hall, such as performances with wild animals by their tamers and an extensive trade fair in 1849. In 1850 Auguste Kroll established a permanent summer theatre with open-air performances of operas, here, among others, Augustes protégé Albert Lortzing directed his operas Undine, Der Waffenschmied and Zar und Zimmermann. The operation of the new Theatre and Opera Company was suddenly disrupted on 1 February 1851, but Auguste Kroll didn’t let that stop her, she encashed the fire insurance sum and on 24 February 1852, the theatre already reopened in a completely new building. About a year later, Auguste married her capellmeister, the Hungarian violinist, conductor and they successfully expanded the “Kroll Opera Pool” and brought many new comic operas to the stage, but also enacted lengthy music dramas by Richard Wagner. But the couple could not prevent the business closing its doors on 1 April 1855
28.
National Theatre (Prague)
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The National Theatre in Prague is known as the alma mater of Czech opera, and as the national monument of Czech history and art. Today the National Theatre consists of three ensembles, opera, ballet and drama. They alternate in their performances in the building of the National Theatre, in the Theatre of the Estates. All three artistic ensembles select their repertoire both from classical heritage, and modern authors, the cornerstone of the National Theatre was laid on 16 May 1868, but the idea of building a theatre dates back to the autumn of 1844 at the gatherings of patriots in Prague. Simultaneously with the realization of this minimal programme asserted by F. L, rieger and the Provincial Committee, the young progressive advocates of the original ambitious concept of the building launched an offensive. He then came out on top in an open competition. On 16 May 1868, the stone was laid. In 1875 the new building reached its height and in 1877 the theatre was roofed over. As of 1873 there was a competition for the interior decoration of the building. On the one hand, the themes were in the spirit of the Neo-Renaissance concept of a classic building and they provided the fundamental ideology guiding artistic expression, which today is described as the art of the generation of the National Theatre. The National Theatre was opened for the first time on 11 June 1881, bedřich Smetanas opera Libuše was given its world premiere, conducted by Adolf Čech. Another 11 performances were presented after that, then the theatre was closed down to enable the completion of the finishing touches. While this work was under way a fire out on 12 August 1881, which destroyed the copper dome, the auditorium. The fire was seen as a catastrophe and was met with a mighty wave of determination to take up a new collection. This national enthusiasm, however, did not correspond to the battles that flared up following the catastrophe. Architect Josef Zítek was no longer in the running, and his pupil architect Josef Schulz was summoned to work on the reconstruction. He was the one to assert the expansion of the edifice to include the block of flats belonging to Dr. Polák that was situated behind the building of the Provisional Theatre. He made this building a part of the National Theatre and simultaneously changed somewhat the area of the auditorium to improve visibility
29.
La Monnaie
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The Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in French, or the Koninklijke Muntschouwburg in Dutch is a theatre in Brussels, Belgium. Both of its names translate as Royal Theatre of the Coin, today the National Opera of Belgium, a federal institution, takes the name of the theatre in which it is housed. Therefore, la Monnaie or de Munt refers both to the structure as well as the opera company, as Belgiums leading opera house it is one of the few cultural institutions which receives financial support from the federal government of Belgium. Other opera houses in Belgium, such as the Vlaamse Opera, the current edifice is the third theatre on the site. The façade dates from 1818 with major alterations made in 1856 and 1986, the foyer and auditorium date from 1856, but almost every other element of the present building was extensively renovated in the 1980s. It was built on the site of a building that had served to mint coins, the name of this site la Monnaie remained attached to the theatre for the centuries to come. The construction of the theatre had been ordered by Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, the Elector had charged his trésorier, the Italian Gio-Paolo Bombarda, with the task of financing and supervising the enterprise. The date of the first performance in 1700 remains unknown, the first performance mentioned in the local newspaper was Jean-Baptiste Lullys, Atys, which was given on 19 November 1700. Until the middle of the 19th century, plays were performed along with opera, ballet, by the 18th century la Monnaie was considered the second French-speaking stage after the most prominent theatres in Paris. Under the rule of Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, who acted as a generous patron of the arts. At that time it housed a company, a ballet. The splendour of the performances diminished during the last years of the Austrian rule, after 1795, when the French revolutionary forces occupied the Belgian provinces, the theatre became a French Departmental institution. Amongst other cuts in its expenses, the theatre had to abolish its Corps de Ballet, during this period many famous French actors and singers gave regular performances in the theatre during their tour of the provinces of the Empire. Still a consul, Napoleon on his visit to Brussels judged the old theatre too dilapidated for one of the most prestigious cities of his Empire and he ordered plans to replace the old building by a new and more monumental edifice, but nothing was done during the Napoleonic rule. Finally, the plans were carried out under the auspices of the new United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the old theatre was replaced by a new Neo-classical building designed by the French architect Louis Damesme. Unlike the Bombarda building, which was situated along the street and completely surrounded by other buildings, the new auditorium was inaugurated on 25 May 1819 with the opera La Caravane du Caire by the Belgian composer André Ernest Modeste Grétry. As the most important French theatre of the newly established United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the theatre came under the supervision of the city of Brussels, which had the right to appoint a director charged with the management its management. In this period famous actors like François Joseph Talma and singers like Maria Malibran performed at la Monnaie, the Corps de Ballet was reintroduced and came under the supervision of the dancer and choreographer Jean-Antoine Petipa, father of the famous Marius Petipa
30.
Metropolitan Opera
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The Metropolitan Opera, commonly referred to as The Met, is a company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager, the music director position is in transition as of 2016. The music director designate is Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the director emeritus is James Levine. The Met was founded in 1880 as an alternative to the previously established Academy of Music opera house, the Metropolitan Opera is the largest classical music organization in North America. It presents about 27 different operas each year in a season lasts from late September through May. The operas are presented in a rotating schedule with up to seven performances of four different works staged each week. Moving to the new Lincoln Center location in 1966, performances are given in the evening Monday through Saturday with a matinée on Saturday, several operas are presented in new productions each season. Sometimes these are borrowed from or shared with other opera houses, the rest of the years operas are given in revivals of productions from previous seasons. The 2015-16 season comprised 227 performances of 25 operas, the operas in the Mets repertoire consist of a wide range of works, from 18th-century Baroque and 19th-century Bel canto to the Minimalism of the late 20th century. These operas are presented in staged productions that range in style from those with elaborate traditional decors to others that feature modern conceptual designs, the Mets performing company consists of a large symphony-sized orchestra, a chorus, childrens choir, and many supporting and leading solo singers. The company also employs numerous free-lance dancers, actors, musicians, the Mets roster of singers includes both international and American artists, some of whose careers have been developed through the Mets young artists programs. The Metropolitan Opera Company was founded in 1880 to create an alternative to New Yorks old established Academy of Music opera house, the subscribers to the Academys limited number of private boxes represented the highest stratum in New York society. By 1880, these old families were loath to admit New Yorks newly wealthy industrialists into their long-established social circle. Frustrated with being excluded, the Metropolitan Operas founding subscribers determined to build a new house that would outshine the old Academy in every way. A group of some 22 men assembled at Delmonicos restaurant on April 28,1880 and they elected officers and established subscriptions for ownership in the new company. The first Met subscribers included members of the Morgan, Roosevelt, the new Metropolitan Opera House opened on October 22,1883, and was an immediate success, both socially and artistically. The Academy of Musics opera season folded just three years after the Met opened, in its early decades the Met did not produce the opera performances itself but hired prominent manager/impresarios to stage a season of opera at the new Metropolitan Opera House. Henry Abbey served as manager for the season, 1883–84
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