1.
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
Opera
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The performers from the Atlanta Opera sing the finale of
Lucia di Lammermoor. The
opera orchestra is visible in the lowered area in front of the stage.
Opera
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The
Palais Garnier of the
Paris Opéra, one of the world's most famous
opera houses.
Opera
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Claudio Monteverdi
Opera
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George Frideric Handel, 1733
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
Giacomo Puccini
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Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
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Puccini's birthplace, seen in 1984
Giacomo Puccini
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Original poster for Puccini's
Tosca
Giacomo Puccini
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Puccini photographed in 1908
3.
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
Adolfo Hohenstein
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Adolfo Hohenstein: 1899 advertising poster
Adolfo Hohenstein
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Adolfo Hohenstein: poster for
Corriere della Sera newspaper (1898).
Adolfo Hohenstein
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Adolfo Hohenstein: poster for
Tosca by
Giacomo Puccini (1899).
Adolfo Hohenstein
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Adolfo Hohenstein: poster for
Madama Butterfly by
Giacomo Puccini (1904).
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
Luigi Illica
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Luigi Illica
Luigi Illica
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Bust of Luigi Illica at Castell'Arquato
5.
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
Giuseppe Giacosa
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Giuseppe Giacosa
6.
John Luther Long
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Born in Hanover, Pennsylvania, Long had been admitted to the bar in Philadelphia on October 29,1881, and become a practicing lawyer. On January 17,1882, he married Mary Jane Sprenkle and he died at age 66 on October 31,1927 having spent the last two months of his life at a sanatorium in Clifton Springs, New York. The obituary in The New York Times of November 1,1927 quoted his own interpretation of himself as a sentimentalist, and his one act play Dolce was staged at the Manhattan Theater on April 24,1906, starring Minnie Maddern Fiske. Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin, John Luther Long, An Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center. Madame Butterfly, The Century Volume 55 Issue 3 pp. 374–393 Madame Butterfly 1903 Grosset, yarnall Abbott David Belascos Play Madame Butterfly, A Tragedy of Japan John Luther Long, American Studies at The University of Virginia. Works by John Luther Long at Project Gutenberg Works by or about John Luther Long at Internet Archive Works by John Luther Long at LibriVox
John Luther Long
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John Luther Long.
7.
Madame Butterfly (short story)
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Madame Butterfly is a short story by American lawyer and writer John Luther Long. It is based on the recollections of Longs sister, Jennie Correll, who had been to Japan with her husband—a Methodist missionary and it was published in Century Magazine in 1898, together with some of Longs other short fiction. An American naval officer, Lieutenant Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton, arrives in Japan to take up his duties on a ship docked in Nagasaki, on the suggestion of his friend Sayre, he takes a Japanese wife and house for the duration of his stay there. His young bride, Cho-Cho-San, is a geisha whose family were strongly in favor of the marriage until Pinkerton forbade them from visiting, when they learned that they would not be allowed to visit they disowned Cho-Cho-San. Pinkertons ship eventually sets sail from Japan, in his absence and unbeknownst to him, she gives birth to their child, a son whom she names Trouble. As time goes by, Cho-Cho-San is still convinced that Pinkerton will return to her some day, but her maid, Suzuki, becomes increasingly skeptical. Then Goro, a broker, arrives and proposes that she divorce Pinkerton, telling her that even if he does come back, he will leave her. He proposes a Japanese husband to look after her—Yamadori, a prince who had lived a time in America. Although she has no intention of going through with Goros plan, instead, his marriage proposal offered her the possibility of reconciling with her family and keeping her baby. Angry and upset at what she hears, she has Suzuki turn Yamadori and she then visits the American consul in Nagasaki, Mr. Sharpless, in an attempt to allay her fears and ask his help in getting Pinkerton to return. As her story unfolds, Sharpless feels increasing contempt for Pinkerton and she asks him to write Pinkerton and tell him that she is marrying Yamadori and will take their son with her if he does not return. However, she says that she has no intention of doing this. Sharpless gently tells her that he could not take part in such a deception and he encourages her to accept Yamadoris offer and reconcile with her family. Weeks pass with Cho-Cho-San anxiously scanning the horizon for the arrival of Pinkertons ship, finally, she sees it coming into the harbor and is overcome with emotion. She and Suzuki prepare the house with flowers to welcome him, Cho-Cho-San dresses in her finest kimono. Then she, Suzuki and the baby hide behind a shoji screen intending to surprise him when he arrives and they wait all night, but Pinkerton never comes. A week later, they see a passenger steamer in the harbor, on the deck is Pinkerton with a young blonde woman. Again she and Suzuki wait all night for him in vain, the next morning his warship is gone from the harbor
Madame Butterfly (short story)
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Cover of the 1903 edition
Madame Butterfly (short story)
8.
Teatro alla 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
Teatro alla Scala
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Exterior of La Scala in 1976
Teatro alla Scala
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Official logo
Teatro alla Scala
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The Teatro alla Scala in Milan, by night
Teatro alla Scala
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A nineteenth-century depiction of the Teatro alla Scala
9.
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
Libretto
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Cover of a 1921 libretto for Giordano's
Andrea Chénier
Libretto
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The composer of
Cavalleria rusticana,
Pietro Mascagni, flanked by his librettists,
Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and
Guido Menasci.
Libretto
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Pages from an 1859 libretto for
Ernani, with the original Italian lyrics, English translation and musical notation for one of the arias.
Libretto
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Henry Purcell (1659–1695) whose operas were written to English libretti.
10.
Pierre Loti
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Pierre Loti was a French naval officer and novelist, known for his exotic novels. Born to a Protestant family, Lotis education began in his birthplace, Rochefort, at age 17 he entered the naval school in Brest and studied at Le Borda. He gradually rose in his profession, attaining the rank of captain in 1906, in January 1910 he went on the reserve list. In 1876 fellow naval officers persuaded him to turn into a novel passages in his dealing with some curious experiences at Istanbul. The result was the anonymously published Aziyadé, part romance, part autobiography, like the work of his admirer, Marcel Proust, after him. Loti proceeded to the South Seas as part of his training, living in Papeete. Several years later he published the Polynesian idyll originally titled Rarahu, which was reprinted as Le Mariage de Loti and his narrator explains that the name Loti was bestowed on him by the natives, after his mispronunciation of roti. The book inspired the 1883 opera Lakmé by Léo Delibes, Loti Bain, a shallow pool at the base of the Fautaua Falls, is named for Loti. This was followed by Le Roman dun spahi, a record of the adventures of a soldier in Senegal. In 1882, Loti issued a collection of four shorter pieces, in 1883 Loti achieved a wider public spotlight. He was threatened with suspension from the service for this indiscretion, in 1884 his friend Émile Pouvillon dedicated his novel LInnocent to Loti. In 1886 Loti published a novel of life among the Breton fisherfolk, called Pêcheur dIslande and it shows Loti adapting some of the Impressionist techniques of contemporary painters, especially Monet, to prose, and is a classic of French literature. Madame Chrysanthème, a novel of Japanese manners that is a precursor to Madama Butterfly, a collection of strangely confidential and sentimental reminiscences, called Le Livre de la pitié et de la mort was published in 1891. Loti was aboard ship at the port of Algiers when news reached him of his election, on 21 May 1891, in 1892 he published Fantôme dorient, a short novel derived from a subsequent trip to Istanbul, less a continuation of Aziyadé than a commentary on it. In 1898 he collected his essays as Figures et Choses qui passaient. In 1899 and 1900 Loti visited British India, with the view of describing what he saw, during the autumn of 1900 he went to China as part of the international expedition sent to combat the Boxer Rebellion. He described what he saw there after the siege of Beijing in Les Derniers Jours de Pékin, Les Désenchantées, which concerned women of the Turkish harem, was based like many of Lotis books, on fact. It has, however, become clear that Loti was in fact the victim of a hoax by three prosperous Turkish women
Pierre Loti
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Pierre Loti on the day of his reception at the Académie Française, April 7, 1892
Pierre Loti
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Loti (right) with "Chrysanthème" and friend Yves in Japan, 1885.
Pierre Loti
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Loti caricatured by Guth for
Vanity Fair, 1895
Pierre Loti
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Portrait of Pierre Loti by
Henri Rousseau, 1891
11.
David Belasco
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David Belasco was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story Madame Butterfly for the stage, Belasco pioneered many innovative new forms of stage lighting and special effects in order to create realism and naturalism. He began working in a San Francisco theatre doing a variety of jobs, such as call boy. He received his first experience as a stage manager while on the road and he said, We used to play in any place we could hire or get into—a hall, a big dining room, an empty barn, any place that would take us. He said that there, seeing people die under such peculiar circumstances made him all the more particular in regard to the psychology of dying on the stage. I think I was one of the first to bring naturalness to bear in death scenes, later I was to go deeper into such studies. By March 1874, he was back at work in San Francisco and his recollections of that time were published in Hearsts Magazine in 1914. He eventually was given the opportunity to act and serve as a stage manager, a gifted playwright, Belasco went to New York City in 1882 where he worked as stage manager for the Madison Square Theatre, and then the old Lyceum Theatre while writing plays. By 1895, he was so successful that he set himself up as an independent producer and he also helped establish careers for dozens of notable stage performers, many of whom went on to work in films. Among them were Leslie Carter, dubbed The American Sarah Bernhardt, whose association with Belasco skyrocketed her to fame after her roles in Zaza. Ina Claires lead in Polly with a Past and The Gold Diggers, Belasco wrote a lead part for 18-year-old Maude Adams, in his new play, Men and Women, which ran for 200 performances. Other stars whose careers he helped launch included Jeanne Eagels, who would achieve immortality as Sadie Thompson in Rain. Belasco discovered and managed the careers of Lenore Ulric and David Warfield and he launched the career of Barbara Stanwyck, which included changing her name. More than forty motion pictures have been made from the plays he authored. Many prominent performers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries sought the opportunity to work with Belasco, among them were D. W. Griffith, Helen Hayes, Lillian Gish, Mary Pickford and Cecil B. DeMilles father had close friends with Belasco, and after DeMille graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. DeMilles later methods of handling actors, using lighting and directing films, was modeled after Belascos staging techniques. Pickford appeared in his plays The Warrens of Virginia at the first Belasco Theatre in 1907, the two remained in touch after Pickford began working in Hollywood, Belasco appeared with her in the 1914 film adaptation of A Good Little Devil
David Belasco
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Between 1898 and 1916.
David Belasco
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Poster for
The Heart of Maryland with
Maurice Barrymore and
Mrs. Leslie Carter
12.
Madame Butterfly (play)
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Madame Butterfly, A Tragedy of Japan is a play in one act by David Belasco adapted from John Luther Longs 1898 short story Madame Butterfly. It premiered on March 5,1900, at the Herald Square Theatre in New York City, the play and Longs short story served as the basis for the libretto of Puccinis 1904 opera, Madama Butterfly. The title role was played in New York and London by Blanche Bates, in 1900–01 in New York by Valerie Bergere. Madame Butterfly was first performed March 5,1900, at the Herald Square Theatre in New York City, the play was written and produced by David Belasco, with scenic design by Ernest Gros. Blanche Bates as Cho-Cho-San Claude Gillingwater as Mr. Sharpless Frank Worthing as Lieut, E. P. Wilks as Nakado Mary Barker as Suzuki Katharine Black as Kate Little Kittle as Trouble Clapp, John Bouvé and Edgett, Edwin Francis. Dunlap Society, pp. 165–167 Girardi, Michele, David Henry Hwang and the Revenge of Madame Butterfly in Asian Voices in English, Roy Harris. Hong Kong University Press, pp. 119–130, Madame Butterfly, Japonisme, Puccini, & the Search for the Real Cho-Cho-San
Madame Butterfly (play)
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Valerie Bergere as Cho Cho San (ca. 1902).
13.
Rosina Storchio
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Rosina Storchio was an Italian lyric soprano who starred in the world premieres of operas by Puccini, Leoncavallo, Mascagni and Giordano. Born in Venice, Storchio studied at the Milan Conservatory before making her debut as Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen at Milans Teatro Dal Verme in 1892. Three years later, she debuted at Italys most famous house, La Scala, Milan. She sang Violetta at La Scala in 1906, the first performance of the opera in contemporary dress. Milan became her base from then on, but she also appeared during the pre-World War I period at theatres in other key Italian cities, including Rome. She toured South America and Spain, too, and undertook singing engagements in Paris and Moscow, in 1921, by which time her voice was in marked decline, she sang in Chicago and New York City. Her final public performance was as Cio-Cio San in Puccinis Madama Butterfly in Barcelona in 1923, Storchio died in Milan near the end of World War II. She left a legacy of 78-rpm gramophone recordings made during the early years of the 20th century. These recordings include extracts from verismo opera—the repertoire with which she was most closely associated and she did, however, also appear on stage in a few French operas and works by Verdi, most notably Falstaff. So anchio la virtù magica on YouTube from Donizettis Don Pasquale Gazoldo degli Ippoliti – Inaugurazione del museo lirico Rosina Storicho, by G. Baratti, mincioedintorni. com,3 February 2016
Rosina Storchio
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Rosina Storchio... an operatic soprano famed for her lively personality and histrionic powers.
14.
Giovanni Zenatello
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Giovanni Zenatello was an Italian opera singer. Born in Verona, he enjoyed a career as a dramatic tenor of the first rank. Otello became his most famous operatic role but he sang a wide repertoire, in 1904, he created the part of Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly. Zenatello showed musical promise from a young age and his singing teacher in Verona originally trained him as a baritone but he never felt comfortable in this range and later switched to the higher tenor register. Nonetheless, it was as a baritone that he made his debut at Belluno in 1898. His tenor debut—as Canio—did not come until the year, at Naples. La Scala was Italys leading opera house, and he remained a member of its company of singers until 1907. He was a member of the Boston Opera Company from 1909 to 1914 and sang often, too, in South America and Mexico and in various cities of continental Europe. Zenatellos voice had matured into that of a dramatic tenor during his La Scala years. He performed this extremely taxing role more than 300 times, beginning in 1908, Zenatello returned to Covent Garden in 1926, singing Otello in a series of performances which were partly recorded live by HMV. After a final appearance in 1933, he retired from opera and taught singing. The coloratura soprano Lily Pons was a discovery of Zenatellos in the twilight of his on-stage career. He took Pons under his wing and arranged for her an audition before the Mets general manager, as to his private life, Zenatello lived with the Spanish mezzo-soprano Maria Gay from 1906 until her death in 1943. They were often described as husband and wife although they may never have actually married and he and Gay performed opposite each other on many occasions and settled down together in Manhattan in 1936. Back in 1913, Zenatello had been instrumental in having the Verona Arena, built originally by the ancient Romans and that same year the arena was used to mount a grand production of Aida, marking the centenary of Verdis birth. In 1947, Zenatello arranged for a young soprano named Maria Callas to appear at the arenas Summer Festival in Amilcare Ponchiellis opera La Gioconda. This appearance would give Callas invaluable exposure in Italy and help set her on the path to future stardom, Zenatello died of natural causes in New York City in 1949, aged 73. Zenatello left an important musical legacy in the form of a number of commercial recordings of his voice
Giovanni Zenatello
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Giovanni Zenatello circa 1905
Giovanni Zenatello
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Zenatello (left) performing
Giuseppe Verdi 's
Requiem at the
Polo Grounds in New York City in 1916, along with Lucile Lawrence,
Maria Gay, and
Léon Rothier;
Louis Koemmenich conducting
15.
Giuseppe De Luca
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Giuseppe De Luca, was an Italian baritone who achieved his greatest triumphs at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. He notably created roles in the premieres of two operas by Giacomo Puccini, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly and the title role in Gianni Schicchi. De Luca was born on Christmas Day,25 December 1876 in Rome and he sang in church choirs as a boy. After his voice broke, a wealthy patron paid for him to have singing lessons at the Rome Conservatory and he made his operatic debut at Piacenza in 1897, singing Valentin in Gounods Faust. His debut proved a success and he was invited to sing at a string of more important venues. He appeared at Italys foremost opera house, La Scala, Milan, from 1902 to 1910, subsequently, De Luca moved to America where he became a leading baritone at the Metropolitan Opera for 20 years, from 1915 to 1935. His first appearance at that house was on 25 November 1915, as Figaro in The Barber of Seville with Frieda Hempel as Rosina and Giacomo Damacco as Count Almaviva, after his retirement, he taught voice at the Juilliard School. He died at Columbus Hospital in New York City on 26 August 1950 at the age of 73, De Luca is notable for creating two important Puccini roles, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly and the title role in Gianni Schicchi. He also created the Marquess in Massenets Grisélidis, Michonnet in Cileas Adriana Lecouvreur, Gleby in Giordanos Siberia, the illustrious conductor Arturo Toscanini is reputed to have once called De Luca, absolutely the best baritone I ever heard. Certainly, he was praised by critics and audiences alike in a range of operatic roles, ranging from buffo and bel canto parts through to the core Verdi. He even made some forays into Wagner during his days at La Scala. De Lucas elegant vocalism is preserved on numerous recordings which he made for the Gramophone, Fonotipia and Victor companies in Italy, CD reissues of his recordings are widely available today. Film clips of him performing also exist, De Luca was renowned as a master of lyric, smooth-toned legato singing and his recordings confirm his excellence in this regard. A small man, De Luca lacked a voice of huge dimensions, during De Lucas best years his voice also possessed exceptional beauty of tone, in the middle register particularly. He was a clever and versatile actor, too, and was considered to be memorable in ebullient comic roles. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music, the Grand Tradition,70 years of Singing on Record
Giuseppe De Luca
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Giuseppe de Luca in 1917
Giuseppe De Luca
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De Luca in 1920s
16.
Brescia
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Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometres from the lakes Garda, with a population of 196,480, it is the second largest city in the region and the fourth of northwest Italy. The urban area of Brescia extends beyond the city limits and has a population of 672,822. The city is the capital of the Province of Brescia, one of the largest in Italy. Founded over 3,200 years ago, Brescia has been an important regional centre since pre-Roman times, Brescia is considered the industrial capital of Italy. The metallurgy and the production of tools and firearms are of particular economic significance, along with mechanical. In addition, Brescia is the setting for most of the action in Alessandro Manzonis 1822 play Adelchi, Brescia and its territory will be the European Region of Gastronomy in 2017. Various myths relate to the founding of Brescia, one assigns it to Hercules while another attributes its foundation as Altilia by a fugitive from the siege of Troy. According to another myth, the founder was the king of the Ligures, Cidnus, colle Cidneo was named after that version, and it is the site of the medieval castle. Others scholars attribute the founding of Brescia to the Etruscans, the Gallic Cenomani, allies of the Insubres, invaded in the 7th century BC, and used the town as their capital. The city became Roman in 225 BC, when the Cenomani submitted to the Romans, during the Carthaginian Wars, Brixia was allied with the Romans. During a Celtic alliance against the city remained fateful to the Romans, with their Roman allies the city remain and attacked and destroyed the Insubres by surprise. Subsequently, the city and the tribe entered the Roman world peacefully as faithful allies, in 89 BC, Brixia was recognized as civitas and in 41 BC, its inhabitants received Roman citizenship. Augustus founded a colony there in 27 BC, and he. Roman Brixia had at least three temples, an aqueduct, a theatre, a forum with another temple built under Vespasianus, when Constantine advanced against Maxentius in 312, an engagement took place at Brixia in which the enemy was forced to retreat as far as Verona. In 402, the city was ravaged by the Visigoths of Alaric I, during the 452 invasion of the Huns under Attila, the city was besieged and sacked. Forty years later, it was one of the first conquests by the Gothic general Theoderic the Great in his war against Odoacer, in 568, Brescia was taken from the Byzantines by the Lombards, who made it the capital of one of their semi-independent duchies. The first duke was Alachis, who died in 573, later dukes included the future kings of the Lombards Rothari and Rodoald, and Alachis II, a fervent anti-Catholic who was killed in battle at Cornate dAdda in 688
Brescia
Brescia
Brescia
Brescia
17.
Tosca
–
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900 and it contains depictions of torture, murder and suicide, as well as some of Puccinis best-known lyrical arias. Puccini saw Sardous play when it was touring Italy in 1889 and, after some vacillation, turning the wordy French play into a succinct Italian opera took four years, during which the composer repeatedly argued with his librettists and publisher. Tosca premiered at a time of unrest in Rome, and its first performance was delayed for a day for fear of disturbances, despite indifferent reviews from the critics, the opera was an immediate success with the public. Musically, Tosca is structured as a work, with arias, recitative, choruses. Puccini used Wagnerian leitmotifs to identify characters, objects and ideas, the dramatic force of Tosca and its characters continues to fascinate both performers and audiences, and the work remains one of the most frequently performed operas. Many recordings of the work have been issued, both of studio and live performances, the French playwright Victorien Sardou wrote more than 70 plays, almost all of them successful, and none of them performed today. In the early 1880s Sardou began a collaboration with actress Sarah Bernhardt, Puccini had seen La Tosca at least twice, in Milan and Turin. Ricordi sent his agent in Paris, Emanuele Muzio, to negotiate with Sardou and he complained about the reception La Tosca had received in Italy, particularly in Milan, and warned that other composers were interested in the piece. Nonetheless, Ricordi reached terms with Sardou and assigned the librettist Luigi Illica to write a scenario for an adaptation, in 1891, Illica advised Puccini against the project, most likely because he felt the play could not be successfully adapted to a musical form. When Sardou expressed his unease at entrusting his most successful work to a new composer whose music he did not like. He withdrew from the agreement, which Ricordi then assigned to Alberto Franchetti, Illica wrote a libretto for Franchetti, who was never at ease with the assignment. There are several versions of how Ricordi got Franchetti to surrender the rights so he could recommission Puccini, by some accounts, Ricordi convinced Franchetti that the work was too violent to be successfully staged. Franchetti family tradition holds that Franchetti gave the work back as a gesture, saying. American scholar Deborah Burton contends that Franchetti gave it up simply because he saw merit in it. Franchetti surrendered the rights in May 1895, and in August Puccini signed a contract to control of the project. According to the libretto, the action of Tosca occurs in Rome in June 1800, Sardou, in his play, dates it more precisely, La Tosca takes place in the afternoon, evening, and early morning of 17 and 18 June 1800. Italy had long divided into a number of small states
Tosca
–
Giacomo Puccini
Tosca
–
Punch cartoon depicting the end of Sardou's La Tosca, 1888
Tosca
–
The Battle of Marengo, as painted by
Louis-François Lejeune
Tosca
–
The Te Deum scene which concludes act 1; Scarpia stands to left. Photograph of a pre-1914 production at the old
Metropolitan Opera House, New York
18.
Geraldine Farrar
–
Geraldine Farrar was an American soprano opera singer and film actress, noted for her beauty, acting ability, and the intimate timbre of her voice. She had a following among young women, who were nicknamed Gerry-flappers. Farrar was born Alice Geraldine Farrar in Melrose, Massachusetts, the daughter of baseball player Sidney Farrar, at 5 she began studying music in Boston and by 14 was giving recitals. Later she studied voice with the American soprano Emma Thursby in New York City, in Paris and she appeared in the title roles of Ambroise Thomas Mignon and Jules Massenets Manon, as well as Juliette in Gounods Roméo et Juliette. Her admirers in Berlin included Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany, with whom she is believed to have had a beginning in 1903. After three years with the Monte Carlo Opera, she made her debut at the New York Metropolitan Opera in Romeo et Juliette on November 26,1906. She appeared in the first Met performance of Giacomo Puccinis Madama Butterfly in 1907 and remained a member of the company until her retirement in 1922 and she developed a great popular following, especially among New Yorks young female opera-goers, who were known as Gerry-flappers. According to a New York Tribune review of the first performance and she recorded extensively for the Victor Talking Machine Company and was often featured prominently in that firms advertisements. She was one of the first performers to make a radio broadcast and she also appeared in silent movies, which were filmed between opera seasons. Farrar starred in more than a dozen films from 1915 to 1920, De Milles 1915 adaptation of Georges Bizets opera Carmen, for which she was extensively praised. Miss Farrars Carmen in the films is the greatest triumph the motion picture has yet achieved over the speaking stage, for her performance, she came in fourth place in the 1916 Screen Masterpiece contest held by Motion Picture Magazine, ahead of any other actress. Theda Baras performance of the same role received 9,150 votes, one of her other notable screen roles was as Joan of Arc in the 1917 film Joan the Woman. According to her biographer, In 1960 Farrar was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in the music and film categories. However, the Los Angeles Times, which has documented and photographed every star as part of its ongoing Hollywood Star Walk project, was unable to locate the star honoring her film career, Farrar had a seven-year love affair with the Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini. Her ultimatum, that he leave his wife and children and marry her, Farrar was close friends with the star tenor Enrico Caruso and there has been speculation that they too had a love affair, but no conclusive evidence of this has surfaced. It is said that Caruso coined her motto, Farrar farà and her marriage to cinema actor Lou Tellegen on February 8,1916 was the source of considerable scandal. The marriage ended, as a result of her husbands numerous affairs, the circumstances of the divorce were brought again to public recollection by Tellegens bizarre 1934 suicide in Hollywood. Farrar reportedly said Why should that interest me, Farrar retired from opera in 1922 at the age of 40
Geraldine Farrar
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Farrar in
Julien in 1914
Geraldine Farrar
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Geraldine Farrar
Geraldine Farrar
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Geraldine Farrar as the Goosegirl,
Metropolitan Opera, 1910. Farrar trained her own flock of live geese for the World Premiere, expressing hope that future performers would do the same.
Geraldine Farrar
–
Farrar as
Manon
19.
Henry Wilson Savage
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Henry Wilson Savage was an American theatrical manager. Savage was born in New York City and graduated from Harvard in 1880 and he became president of the Henry W. Savage Company, Inc. and of the Castle Square Opera Company of Boston, and director of the National Association of Theatrical Producing Managers of America. His more notable productions include The Prince of Pilsen, The Girl of the Golden West, The Merry Widow, The College Widow, The County Chairman, The Chocolate Soldier, Everywoman, savages last production in New York was Lass OLaughter starring Flora Le Breton in 1925. Savage died in Boston on November 29,1927, in the 1953 memoir Bring On the Girls. He is depicted as a manipulative and money-grubbing entrepreneur. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Gilman. Thurston, H. T. Colby, F. M. eds. article name needed, Works by Henry Wilson Savage at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Henry Wilson Savage at Internet Archive Henry Wilson Savage at the Internet Broadway Database
Henry Wilson Savage
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Ad for the Savage produced musical Pom-Pom (1916) starring Mitzi Hajos
20.
Metropolitan Opera
–
The Metropolitan Opera, commonly referred to as The Met, is a company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager, the music director position is in transition as of 2016. The music director designate is Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the director emeritus is James Levine. The Met was founded in 1880 as an alternative to the previously established Academy of Music opera house, the Metropolitan Opera is the largest classical music organization in North America. It presents about 27 different operas each year in a season lasts from late September through May. The operas are presented in a rotating schedule with up to seven performances of four different works staged each week. Moving to the new Lincoln Center location in 1966, performances are given in the evening Monday through Saturday with a matinée on Saturday, several operas are presented in new productions each season. Sometimes these are borrowed from or shared with other opera houses, the rest of the years operas are given in revivals of productions from previous seasons. The 2015-16 season comprised 227 performances of 25 operas, the operas in the Mets repertoire consist of a wide range of works, from 18th-century Baroque and 19th-century Bel canto to the Minimalism of the late 20th century. These operas are presented in staged productions that range in style from those with elaborate traditional decors to others that feature modern conceptual designs, the Mets performing company consists of a large symphony-sized orchestra, a chorus, childrens choir, and many supporting and leading solo singers. The company also employs numerous free-lance dancers, actors, musicians, the Mets roster of singers includes both international and American artists, some of whose careers have been developed through the Mets young artists programs. The Metropolitan Opera Company was founded in 1880 to create an alternative to New Yorks old established Academy of Music opera house, the subscribers to the Academys limited number of private boxes represented the highest stratum in New York society. By 1880, these old families were loath to admit New Yorks newly wealthy industrialists into their long-established social circle. Frustrated with being excluded, the Metropolitan Operas founding subscribers determined to build a new house that would outshine the old Academy in every way. A group of some 22 men assembled at Delmonicos restaurant on April 28,1880 and they elected officers and established subscriptions for ownership in the new company. The first Met subscribers included members of the Morgan, Roosevelt, the new Metropolitan Opera House opened on October 22,1883, and was an immediate success, both socially and artistically. The Academy of Musics opera season folded just three years after the Met opened, in its early decades the Met did not produce the opera performances itself but hired prominent manager/impresarios to stage a season of opera at the new Metropolitan Opera House. Henry Abbey served as manager for the season, 1883–84
Metropolitan Opera
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The
Metropolitan Opera House at
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, home of the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
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A full house at the old Metropolitan Opera House, seen from the rear of the stage, at a concert by pianist
Josef Hofmann, November 28, 1937
Metropolitan Opera
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Auditorium of the Metropolitan Opera House at
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Metropolitan Opera
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The gold curtain in the auditorium
21.
Riccardo Chailly
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Riccardo Chailly, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian conductor. He started his career as a conductor and gradually extended his repertoire to encompass symphonic music. Chailly was born in Milan into a family of Romagnol. He studied composition with his father, Luciano Chailly and his sister is harpist Cecilia Chailly. Chailly studied at the conservatories in Perugia and Milan. He later studied conducting with Franco Ferrara, in his youth, Chailly also played the drums in a rhythm-and-blues band. At age 20, Chailly became assistant conductor to Claudio Abbado at La Scala, from 1982 to 1988, Chailly was chief conductor of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and from 1983 to 1986 principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1986 to 1993, he led the Teatro Comunale of Bologna, Chailly made his debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam in 1985. Among notable projects, Chailly led the 1995 Mahler Festival that celebrated the 100th anniversary of Mahlers first concert at the Concertgebouw. One report stated that Chailly decided in 2002 to leave the RCO when, at his last contract negotiations, in 1986, Chailly conducted the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig for the first time, at the Salzburg Festival, after Herbert von Karajan had introduced Chailly to the orchestra. His next guest-conducting appearance with the Leipzig orchestra was in 2001, in August 2005, he officially became the chief conductor of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and general music director of Oper Leipzig. His initial Leipzig contract was to run through to 2010, in May 2008, he extended his contract with the Gewandhausorchester to 2015. However, he resigned as GMD of the Oper Leipzig. In June 2013, the Gewandhausorchester and Chailly agreed on an extension of his contract through 2020. His projects in Leipzig have included an international Mahler festival in May 2011, Chailly became the first music director of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi in 1999, and held the post until 2005. He now has the title of Conductor Laureate with La Verdi, in December 2013, La Scala announced the appointment of Chailly as its next music director, effective 1 January 2017 through 31 December 2022. Chailly is scheduled to take the title of conductor of La Scala as of 1 January 2015. In August 2015, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra announced the appointment of Chailly as its music director, effective with the 2016 Lucerne Festival
Riccardo Chailly
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Riccardo Chailly (1986)
22.
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
Arturo Toscanini
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Toscanini's family tomb at the
Monumental Cemetery of Milan in 2015
Arturo Toscanini
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Toscanini in 1908.
Arturo Toscanini
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Arturo Toscanini poses on a ship's deck.
Arturo Toscanini
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Toscanini lifts his hat for the camera on a ship's deck.
23.
Royal Opera House
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The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is referred to as simply Covent Garden. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, originally called the Theatre Royal, it served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented, a year later, Handels first season of operas began. Many of his operas and oratorios were written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there. The current building is the theatre on the site following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1856. The façade, foyer, and auditorium date from 1858, the main auditorium seats 2,256 people, making it the third largest in London, and consists of four tiers of boxes and balconies and the amphitheatre gallery. The proscenium is 12.20 m wide and 14.80 m high, the main auditorium is a Grade I listed building. The letters patent remained in the possession of the patentees heirs until the 19th century, in 1728, John Rich, actor-manager of the Dukes Company at Lincolns Inn Fields Theatre, commissioned The Beggars Opera from John Gay. In addition, a Royal Charter had created a fruit and vegetable market in the area, at its opening on 7 December 1732, Rich was carried by his actors in processional triumph into the theatre for its opening production of William Congreves The Way of the World. Despite the frequent interchangeability between the Covent Garden and Drury Lane companies, competition was intense, often presenting the plays at the same time. Rich introduced pantomime to the repertoire, himself performing and a tradition of seasonal pantomime continued at the modern theatre, in 1734, Covent Garden presented its first ballet, Pygmalion. Marie Sallé discarded tradition and her corset and danced in diaphanous robes, george Frideric Handel was named musical director of the company, at Lincolns Inn Fields, in 1719, but his first season of opera, at Covent Garden, was not presented until 1734. His first opera was Il pastor fido followed by Ariodante, the première of Alcina, there was a royal performance of Messiah in 1743, which was a success and began a tradition of Lenten oratorio performances. From 1735 until his death in 1759 he gave regular seasons there and he bequeathed his organ to John Rich, and it was placed in a prominent position on the stage, but was among many valuable items lost in a fire that destroyed the theatre on 20 September 1808. In 1792 the architect Henry Holland rebuilt the auditorium, within the shell of the building but deeper and wider than the old auditorium. Rebuilding began in December 1808, and the second Theatre Royal, the Old Price Riots lasted over two months, and the management was finally forced to accede to the audiences demands. During this time, entertainments were varied, opera and ballet were presented, kemble engaged a variety of acts, including the child performer Master Betty, the great clown Joseph Grimaldi made his name at Covent Garden
Royal Opera House
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The Royal Opera House, Bow Street frontage with
Plazzotta 's statue, Young Dancer, in the foreground
Royal Opera House
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"Rich's Glory": John Rich takes over (seemingly invades) his new Covent Garden Theatre. (A caricature by
William Hogarth)
Royal Opera House
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A satirical drawing from 1811 of the "Pigeon Holes" that flanked the upper gallery at Covent Garden
Royal Opera House
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A picture of the first theatre drawn shortly before it burned down in 1808
24.
Enrico Caruso
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Enrico Caruso was an Italian operatic tenor. He sang to acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe. Caruso also made approximately 260 commercially released recordings from 1902 to 1920, all of these recordings, which span most of his stage career, remain available today on CDs and as downloads and digital streams. Enrico Caruso came from a poor but not destitute background, born in Naples in the Via San Giovannello agli Ottocalli 7 on 25 February 1873, he was baptised the next day in the adjacent Church of San Giovanni e Paolo. His parents originally came from Piedimonte dAlife in the Province of Benevento, in the Province of Caserta in Campania, called Errico in accordance with the Neapolitan language, he would later adopt the formal Italian version of his given name, Enrico. This change came at the suggestion of a singing teacher, Caruso was the third of seven children and one of only three to survive infancy. There is a story of Carusos parents having had 21 children,18 of whom died in infancy. However, on the basis of research, biographers Pierre Key, Francis Robinson. Caruso himself and his brother Giovanni may have been the source of the exaggerated number, Carusos widow Dorothy also included the story in a memoir that she wrote about her husband. She quotes the tenor, speaking of his mother, Anna Caruso, twenty boys and one girl – too many. Carusos father, Marcellino, was a mechanic and foundry worker, initially, Marcellino thought his son should adopt the same trade, and at the age of 11, the boy was apprenticed to a mechanical engineer who constructed public water fountains. Caruso later worked alongside his father at the Meuricoffre factory in Naples, at his mothers insistence, he also attended school for a time, receiving a basic education under the tutelage of a local priest. He learned to write in a script and studied technical draftsmanship. During this period he sang in his church choir, and his voice showed enough promise for him to contemplate a career in music. Caruso was encouraged in his musical ambitions by his mother. To raise cash for his family, he work as a street singer in Naples. Aged 18, he used the fees he had earned by singing at an Italian resort to buy his first pair of new shoes and his progress as a paid entertainer was interrupted, however, by 45 days of compulsory military service. He completed this in 1894, resuming his voice lessons upon discharge from the army
Enrico Caruso
–
The medal that Enrico Caruso gave to
Pasquale Simonelli, his New York City impresario Obverse: Caruso facing left. Lower right: Salanto, medal maker's signature.
Enrico Caruso
–
Enrico Caruso, c. 1907
Enrico Caruso
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Reverse:
Muse of music with lyre over PER RICORDO (memento). Around the rim:
TIFFANY & Co. 24 CARAT GOLD Y (27 mm).
Enrico Caruso
–
Enrico Caruso, c. 1910
25.
Louise Homer
–
Louise Homer was an American operatic contralto who had an active international career in concert halls and opera houses from 1895 until her retirement in 1932. After a brief stint as an entertainer in New England. She then became a member of the Metropolitan Opera from 1900 to 1919 and she was also active as an opera singer in Boston, Chicago, and California. She recorded extensively for Victor Records and Columbia Records in the decades of the 20th century. She was married to composer Sidney Homer for 52 years, Homer sang a broad repertoire which encompassed works from the French, German, and Italian repertoires. She enjoyed particular success in the operas of Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner and she often stated in interviews that her favorite role to perform was Amneris in Verdis Aida. At the Met she sang in several United States premieres and created roles in two world premieres, the witch in Engelbert Humperdincks Königskinder and the role in Horatio Parkers Mona. Soprano Nellie Melba once hailed her as the worlds most beautiful voice, in 1923 and 1924 she was listed as one of the 12 greatest living women by the National League of Women Voters. Homer was born Louise Dilworth Beatty in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on April 30,1871 and her father, Reverend William Trimble Beatty, was a Presbyterian minister who founded Pennsylvania Female College. Her father initially expressed concerns over his daughters desired singing career for religious reasons and she began her vocal training in Philadelphia, but ultimately ended up in Boston. In Boston Homer met composer Sidney Homer whom she married in 1895 and they remained married until her death more than five decades later and had six children together, including authors Joy Homer and Anne Homer, as well as Louise Homer, a soprano. Just months before her marriage, Homer made her debut in January 1895 in a vaudeville production at Keiths Opera House in Providence. While further honing her craft, she spent the few years performing periodically at functions organized by members of the elite society of Boston. In 1898 Homer went to France to pursue studies in Paris with Fidèle König and she made her professional operatic debut as Léonore in Donizettis La favorite at Vichy in 1898. The following year she performed at the Royal Opera House in London before going to Brussels where she was engaged at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie for eight months. Homer made her American opera debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1900 singing Amneris in Verdis Aida and she sang at the Met for 19 consecutive seasons, often singing opposite such acclaimed singers as Enrico Caruso, Geraldine Farrar, and Ernestine Schumann-Heink. At the Met, she created roles in two world premieres, the witch in Engelbert Humperdincks Königskinder and the role in Horatio Parkers Mona. She also sang in the American premieres of Ignacy Jan Paderewskis Manru, Richard Wagners Parsifal, Christoph Willibald Glucks Armide and she also sang Suzuki in the Met premiere of Puccinis Madama Butterfly in the presence of the composer on February 11,1907
Louise Homer
–
Louise Homer
Louise Homer
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Louise Homer early in her career
Louise Homer
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Louise Homer, on March 19, 1913, as Marina in
Boris Godunov
Louise Homer
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Louise Homer as Amneris in
Aida
26.
Antonio Scotti
–
Antonio Scotti was an Italian baritone. He was a principal artist of the New York Metropolitan Opera for more than 33 seasons, but also sang with success at Londons Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Antonio Scotti was born in Naples, Italy and his family wanted him to enter the priesthood but he embarked instead on a career in opera. He received his vocal training from Esther Trifari-Paganini and Vincenzo Lombardi. According to most sources, he made his debut at Maltas Theatre Royal in 1889 and this now seems a surprising choice of role for Scotti because his subsequent career did not encompass the operas of Richard Wagner. Scottis American debut took place in the autumn of 1899, when he sang in Chicago, on 27 December 1899 he made his first appearance in New York City at the Metropolitan Opera, undertaking the title role in Mozarts Don Giovanni. Scotti appeared at Covent Garden in London for the first time in 1899 and he would return to London on many occasions prior to World War I. At the Met in 1901, Scotti became the first artist to sing the role of Scarpia in Giacomo Puccinis Tosca in America. He often performed opposite his close friend Enrico Caruso and appeared with the illustrious tenor when he made his Met debut as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto in 1903, Scotti partnered 15 different Toscas over the course of his long career at the house. In 1912, Scottis arrival in the United States with Pasquale Amato and he performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on a regular basis until 1910, with additional appearances in the 1913–1914 season. During this period, he not only Londons first Scarpia but also its first Sharpless in Puccinis Madama Butterfly. In 1917, he was elected a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. Scotti performed in Paris at the Opéra Comique singing Tosca, in 1910 at Theatre du Châtelet with the Metropolitan ensemble, Scotti sung Falstaff with Toscanini and at the Opera, in a gala performance, the third act of La bohème with Caruso and Farrar. In 1908, he sang at Salzburg in Don Giovanni, with Lilli Lehmann, Johanna Gadsky, Geraldine Farrar and he formed his own troupe of singers in 1919, calling it, naturally enough, the Scotti Opera Company. He managed it for several seasons while touring the United States, Scotti celebrated his 25th anniversary with the Met on 1 January 1924 in a gala performance of Tosca. By the 1930s, Scottis voice had declined considerably but he retained his place on the Mets roster of singers due to his outstanding histrionic ability and his final Met appearance occurred on 20 January 1933, when he sang Chim-Fen in LOracolo, he had created the role in 1905. Scotti returned to Italy to spend his retirement and he died in poverty in Naples in 1936, aged 70. Scotti can be heard singing snatches of Scarpias music in part of an exciting performance of Tosca that was recorded live at the Met on faint
Antonio Scotti
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Antonio Scotti
Antonio Scotti
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Antonio Scotti,
Pasquale Amato, and William Hinshaw aboard the
SS George Washington on 29 October 1912
Antonio Scotti
–
Scotti in 1915
27.
Arturo Vigna
–
Arturo Vigna was an Italian opera conductor who was particularly associated with the operas of Giuseppe Verdi. Born in Turin, Vigna was trained at the Turin Conservatory and he served as music director of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo from 1895 to 1903. He then worked as a conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City where he conducted nearly 250 performances from 1903-1907, at the Met, he notably conducted the United States premieres of Umberto Giordanos Fedora and Hector Berliozs La damnation de Faust in 1906. He also led performances of new productions of Verdis Aida, Donizettis Don Pasquale, Ponchiellis La Gioconda, Bellinis La sonnambula, Meyerbeers LAfricaine, from 1917-1922 Vigna was a conductor with the Paris Opera. He also conducted operas in Bergamo, Berlin, Dresden, Madrid, Prague and he died at the age of 63 in Milan
Arturo Vigna
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Arturo Vigna, 1905
28.
Tamaki Miura
–
Tamaki Miura was a Japanese opera singer who performed as Cio-Cio-San in Puccinis Madama Butterfly. She was born on February 22,1884 in Japan, Miura made her operatic debut in Tokyo in 1911 and the same year went to Europe to perform and study. She was first cast as Cio-Cio-San by the innovative director Vladimir Rosing as part of his Allied Opera Season held in May, in the autumn of 1915, she performed the role in America for the first time in Chicago with the Boston Opera Company. She also sang in St. Louis, Missouri, in October that year, positive reviews led to further performances in both Madama Butterfly and Mascagnis Iris in New York City, San Francisco and Chicago, before returning to London to work with the Beecham company. In 1918 she returned to the United States where for two seasons she performed both Madama Butterfly and André Messagers Madame Chrysanthème, the latter was not well-received, being viewed as a warmed-over Butterfly. In 1920 she was a guest performer at opera houses in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Florence, upon her return to Japan from this tour, she stopped in Nagasaki in 1922 to see places connected with the opera and to give a concert. In 1924, Miura returned to the United States to perform with the San Carlo Opera Company, two years later she again went to Chicago to create the title role in Aldo Franchettis Namiko-San. After this she took part in tours and sang in Italy before returning to Japan in 1932. She died on May 26,1946 in Japan and her statue, with that of Puccini, can be seen in Nagasakis Glover Garden. While being highly praised for the authenticity of her performance of Cio-Cio-San, Miuras voice has been described variously as somewhat thin and unsupported and rather small, general New Grove Dictionary of Opera Vol.3, NY, Macmillan 1972. Michael Scott, The Record of Singing, Vol.2 1914-1925, London, Tamaki Miura at the Internet Movie Database Gino DellIra, Il Firmamento Lirico Pisano, Grafica Zannini Pisa, Italia 1983 pg 82 Specific Tamaki Miura at Find a Grave
Tamaki Miura
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Tamaki Miura, 1916.
Tamaki Miura
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Statue of Tamaki Miura at Glover Garden
29.
Glover Garden
–
Glover Garden is a park in Nagasaki, Japan built for Thomas Blake Glover, a Scottish merchant who contributed to the modernization of Japan in shipbuilding, coal mining, and other fields. In it stands the Glover Residence, the oldest Western style house surviving in Japan and it is located on the Minamiyamate hillside overlooking Nagasaki harbor. It was built by Hidenoshin Koyama of Amakusa island and completed in 1863 and it has been designated as an Important Cultural Asset. As the house and its surroundings are reminiscent of Puccinis opera, statues of Puccini and diva Miura Tamaki, famed for her role as Cio-Cio-san, stand in the park near the house. This house was also the venue of Glovers meetings with rebel samurai particularly from the Chōshū, the Glover Residence is noted for its blend of Western and Japanese elements and is an example of treaty port building. This type of architecture closely resembles one-story bungalows used by foreigners in Hong Kong or Shanghai, rather than following contemporary Victorian styles, this type of building more closely reflects the Georgian aesthetic popular in Britain during the previous generation. The roof was modified by adding unmistakably British chimneys, the house was built by a Japanese carpenter, Koyama Hidenoshin. The plan for the house, which is preserved, is unsigned. It is interesting to note that the plan uses feet instead of Japanese measurements, the basic construction of the house is Japanese, despite its foreign elements. It consists of traditional Japanese roof supports and post-and-beam frames set down on boulders, the park also includes Ringer House and Alt House. The correct treatment of the Tuscan pillars and pediment at the Alt House suggest that building was designed by a Western architect. The pediment is often incorporated into Masonic temples, and might have been employed here in the same manner as a Masonic symbol. Furthermore, the gate of the Nagasaki Masonic Lodge is preserved in Glover Garden. The founding members were all British, but during the years, men of various nationalities and religions became members and participated in regular meetings. The lodge moved to a new building at No.47 Oura in June 1887, the Freemasons contributed to the Nagasaki community until disbanding in the early Showa Period due to a lack of members. Today, the graves of several former Freemasons can be found in Nagasaki s international cemeteries, the park is open to the public and attracts nearly 2 million visitors a year. Meiji Revisited, The Sites of Victorian Japan Weatherhill
Glover Garden
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Glover House known as Ipponmatsu (Single Pine Tree) from a drawing of 1863. The tree was chopped down in the early 20th century
Glover Garden
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Koi pond in front of the Glover residence
Glover Garden
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Overlooking Nagasaki harbor
Glover Garden
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The garden
30.
Nagasaki
–
Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Part of Nagasaki was home to a major Imperial Japanese Navy base during the First Sino-Japanese War, during World War II, the American atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made Nagasaki the second and, to date, last city in the world to experience a nuclear attack. As of 1 January 2009, the city has an population of 446,007. The total area is 406.35 km², a small fishing village set in a secluded harbor, Nagasaki had little historical significance until contact with Portuguese explorers in 1543. An early visitor was Fernão Mendes Pinto, who came on a Portuguese ship which landed nearby in Tanegashima and his followers who remained behind converted a number of daimyōs. The most notable among them was Ōmura Sumitada, the little harbor village quickly grew into a diverse port city, and Portuguese products imported through Nagasaki were assimilated into popular Japanese culture. The Portuguese also brought them many goods from China. Thus, for a period after 1580, the city of Nagasaki was a Jesuit colony, under their administrative. It was administered by the captain of the Portuguese black ship, the highest representative of the Portuguese Crown and it became a refuge for Christians escaping maltreatment in other regions of Japan. In 1587, however, Toyotomi Hideyoshis campaign to unify the country arrived in Kyūshū, however, the expulsion order went largely unenforced, and the fact remained that most of Nagasakis population remained openly practicing Catholic. In 1596, the Spanish ship San Felipe was wrecked off the coast of Shikoku, in response, Hideyoshi ordered the crucifixions of twenty-six Catholics in Nagasaki on February 5 of that year. Portuguese traders were not ostracized, however, and so the city continued to thrive, in 1602, Augustinian missionaries also arrived in Japan, and when Tokugawa Ieyasu took power in 1603, Catholicism was still tolerated. Many Catholic daimyōs had been allies at the Battle of Sekigahara. Once Osaka Castle had been taken and Toyotomi Hideyoshis offspring killed, though, in addition, the Dutch and English presence allowed trade without religious strings attached. Thus, in 1614, Catholicism was officially banned and all missionaries ordered to leave, most Catholic daimyo apostatized, and forced their subjects to do so, although a few would not renounce the religion and left the country for Macau, Luzon and Japantowns in Southeast Asia. A brutal campaign of persecution followed, with thousands of converts across Kyūshū and other parts of Japan killed, tortured, catholicisms last gasp as an open religion and the last major military action in Japan until the Meiji Restoration was the Shimabara Rebellion of 1637. Consequently, in Tokugawa society the word Shimabara solidified the connection between Christianity and disloyalty, constantly used again and again in Tokugawa propaganda, the Shimabara Rebellion also convinced many policy-makers that foreign influences were more trouble than they were worth, leading to the national isolation policy. The Great Fire of Nagasaki destroyed much of the city in 1663, including the Mazu shrine at the Kofukuji Temple patronized by the Chinese sailors, in 1720 the ban on Dutch books was lifted, causing hundreds of scholars to flood into Nagasaki to study European science and art
Nagasaki
Nagasaki
Nagasaki
Nagasaki
31.
Stereotypes of East Asians in the United States
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Stereotypes of East Asians, like other ethnic stereotypes, are often portrayed in the popular press, literature, film, and other creative expressions. Media portrayals of East Asians often reflect an Americentric perception rather than realistic and authentic depictions of cultures, customs. East Asians have experienced discrimination and have been victims of crimes related to their ethnic stereotypes. According to Edward Said, orientalism refers to the manner in which West interprets or comes to terms with their experiences and encounters with the foreign, unfamiliar Orient, or the East. Said claimed that the Orient was a European invention to denote East Asia as a place of exoticism, romance, while Western cultures are perceived or believed capable of change and modernization, East Asian cultures are often considered ancient in contrast. East Asians have been portrayed as immature, childlike, and not to be taken seriously. As John Cho says, theres this belief that Asian babies are really cute, and it got me thinking that our race is infantilized to some degree. You infantilize a woman, and she becomes eroticized and you infantilize a man, and he becomes emasculated. You infantilize a baby —and its possible, it appears that you can infantilize a baby even more, the babies need to be cuter than white babies. And it’s just a thing that I felt like said something about mainstream Americas relationship to Asians in general. This infantilization results in Asians having less social autonomy and they are often perceived as polite and quiet, and less threatening than people of other races. Because Asians are seen like children, the perception is that they have power, access. The term has referred to the belief and fear that East Asian societies would invade and attack Western societies, wage wars with them. The American Immigration Act of 1924 limited the number of Asians because they were considered an undesirable race, Australia had similar fears and introduced a White Australia policy, restricting immigration between 1901 and 1973, with some elements of the policies persisting to the 1980s. On 12 February 2002, Helen Clark, then minister of New Zealand apologized to those Chinese people who had paid the poll tax and suffered other discrimination. Similarly, Canada had in place a tax on East Asian immigrants to Canada in the early 20th century. There is a perception that Asian Americans are not American but are instead perpetual foreigners. Asian Americans often report being asked the question, Where are you really from, by other Americans, regardless of how long they or their ancestors have lived in United States and been a part of its society
Stereotypes of East Asians in the United States
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1899 editorial cartoon with caption: "The Yellow Terror in all his glory."
Stereotypes of East Asians in the United States
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Modern twist on Fu Manchu
Stereotypes of East Asians in the United States
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Warner Oland, a Swedish-American actor portraying Charlie Chan, a Chinese Hawaiian detective.
Stereotypes of East Asians in the United States
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American anti-Japanese propaganda poster from World War II depicting a Japanese soldier threatening a white woman
32.
Yellowface
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Yellowface is a form of theatrical makeup used by white performers to represent an East Asian person. It is similar to the practice of blackface used to represent black performers, Yellow face has been historically prevalent throughout Hollywood films, and continues to be used in the present day. Lee Tung Foo was a known singer due to his performances in vaudeville around the 1910s. Around the same time, Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa began appearing in films, signed to Paramount Pictures, he had roles in more than 20 silent films including The Wrath of the Gods and The Typhoon, and was considered to be a Hollywood sex symbol. When Hayakawas contract with Paramount expired in 1918, the studio still wanted him to star in an upcoming movie and he was at the height of his popularity during that time. His career in the United States suffered a bit due to the advent of talkies and he became unemployable during the World War II era due to anti-Japanese prejudice. He experienced a revival beginning in 1949 in World War II-themed films. Interviewed by Doris Mackie for Film Weekly in 1933, Wong complained about her Hollywood roles and she commented, There seems little for me in Hollywood, because, rather than real Chinese, producers prefer Hungarians, Mexicans, American Indians for Chinese roles. In 1935, she was considered for the role in The Good Earth. Wong refused the role of the villainess, the stereotypical Oriental Dragon Lady, korean-American actor Philip Ahn, after rejection for speaking English too well, braved death threats after playing Japanese villains. Ahn would go on to have a career, however. Some Asian-American actors nonetheless attempted to start careers, merle Oberon, a mixed-race Anglo-Indian, was able to get starring roles after concocting a phony story about her origins and using skin whitening make-up. Maurice Liu, Rudy Robles, Teru Shimada, Willie Fung, Toshia Mori and Wing Foo, with the number of Asian-American actors available, actor Robert Ito wrote an article that described that job protection for Caucasian actors was one reason Asians were portrayed by Caucasians. With the relatively small percentage of actors that support themselves by acting, when the script called for a larger Asian role, it was almost inevitably given to a white actor. In 1767, Arthur Murphys theatrical work The Orphan of China was presented in Philadelphia, in this early production, the actors and the audiences had never seen an Asian. On screen, Mary Pickford, a white Canadian, played Cio-Cio San in Madame Butterfly in, Asian Americans formed advocacy groups such as the East West Players and Media Action Network for Asian Americans to counter the practice. It was originally known as the Hays Code, after its creator. With these guidelines, portrayals of miscegenation were forbidden, anti-miscegenation laws, also known as miscegenation laws, were laws that banned interracial marriage and sometimes sex between members of two different races
Yellowface
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undue weight to certain ideas, incidents, or controversies. Please help to create a more balanced presentation.
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33.
Voice type
–
Other considerations are physical characteristics, speech level, scientific testing, and vocal register. A singers voice type is identified by a known as voice classification, by which the human voice is evaluated. The discipline of voice classification developed within European classical music and is not generally applicable to other forms of singing, voice classification is often used within opera to associate possible roles with potential voices. Voice classification is a tool for singers, composers, venues, while useful, voice classification systems have been used too rigidly, i. e. a house assigning a singer to a specific type and only casting him or her in roles they consider belonging to this category. A singer will choose a repertoire that suits his or her instrument, many different voice types are used in vocal pedagogy in a variety of voice classification systems. Most of these types, however, are grouped into seven major categories that are, for the most part. Women are typically divided into three groups, soprano, mezzo-soprano, and alto, men are usually divided into four groups, countertenor, tenor, baritone, and bass. Some women fall into the tenor or baritone groups, while men identified as countertenors can be grouped as contralto, mezzo-soprano, when considering the pre-pubescent voice, an eighth term, treble, is applied. Within each of these categories, subcategories identify specific vocal qualities such as coloratura facility. The vocal range of classical performance covers about five octaves, from a low G1 to a high G6, any individuals voice can perform over a range of one and a half to more than two octaves. Vocal ranges are grouped into overlapping types that each span two octaves. Many singers fall between groups and can perform some parts in either type, soprano range, The soprano is the highest singing voice. The typical soprano voice lies between C4 and C6, the low extreme for sopranos is roughly A3. Most soprano roles do not extend above C6 although there are several standard soprano roles that call for D6, at the highest extreme, some coloratura soprano roles may reach to F6. Soprano tessitura, The tessitura of the soprano voice lies higher than all the other voices except the sopranino, in particular, the coloratura soprano has the highest tessitura of all the soprano subtypes. Soprano subtypes, As with all types, sopranos are often divided into different subcategories based on range, vocal color or timbre, the weight of voice. Sopranos are often broken down into five subcategories, coloratura soprano, soubrette, lyric soprano, spinto soprano, two types of soprano especially dear to the French are the Dugazon and the Falcon, which are intermediate voice types between the soprano and the mezzo soprano. A Dugazon is a darker-colored soubrette, a Falcon a darker-colored soprano drammatico
Voice type
–
Soprano voice range (C4–C6) indicated on piano keyboard in green with dot marking middle C.
34.
Cleofonte Campanini
–
Cleofonte Campanini was an Italian Conductor. His brother was the tenor Italo Campanini and he was born in Parma, Italy on 1 September 1860. Campanini studied music at that citys conservatory, making his debut with a performance of Carmen, also in Parma and that year he was invited to New York City during the inaugural season of the Metropolitan Opera, and was offered a position as assistant conductor with the company. Five years later he returned to the United States to lead the American premiere of Giuseppe Verdis Otello at the Academy of Music, desdemona was sung by Eva Tetrazzini, who Campanini had married in 1887. Campanini conducted at La Scala for three years, where he conducted the premiere of Puccinis Madama Butterfly in 1904, in 1906 he was appointed artistic director of the newly formed Manhattan Opera Company. He stayed there for three years before resigning over disagreements with the companys manager, Oscar Hammerstein I. He was initiated as a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity in 1917. From 1915 to his death in 1919, Campanini was artistic director, Campanini died at St. Lukes Hospital in Chicago, Illinois on 19 December 1919 of pneumonia. Francisco Fonseca Benevides, O Real Thetro de S. Carlos de Lisboa 1883 -1902, lisbon, Typographia e Lithografia de Ricardo Souza & Salles,1902 David Ewen, Encyclopedia of the Opera, New Enlarged Edition. New York, Hill and Wang,1963, works by or about Cleofonte Campanini at Internet Archive Media related to Cleofonte Campanini at Wikimedia Commons
Cleofonte Campanini
–
Cleofonte Campanini
35.
Soprano
–
A soprano is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The sopranos vocal range is from approximately middle C =261 Hz to high A =880 Hz in choral music, in four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody. The soprano voice type is divided into the coloratura, soubrette, lyric, spinto. The lyric soprano is the most common female singing voice, the word soprano comes from the Italian word sopra, as the soprano is the highest pitch human voice, often given to the leading female roles in operas. The term soprano is also based on the Latin word superius which, like soprano, the word superius was especially used in choral and other multi-part vocal music between the 13th and 16th centuries. The soprano has the highest vocal range of all voice types, a soprano and a mezzo-soprano have a similar range, but their tessituras will lie in different parts of that range. The low extreme for sopranos is roughly A3 or B♭3, within opera, the lowest demanded note for sopranos is F3. Often low notes in higher voices will project less, lack timbre, however, rarely is a soprano simply unable to sing a low note in a song within a soprano role. The high extreme, at a minimum, for non-coloratura sopranos is soprano C, a couple of roles have optional E♭6s, as well. In the coloratura repertoire several roles call for E♭6 on up to F6, in rare cases, some coloratura roles go as high as G6 or G♯6, such as Mozarts concert aria Popoli di Tessaglia. Or the title role of Jules Massenets opera Esclarmonde, while not necessarily within the tessitura, a good soprano will be able to sing her top notes full-throated, with timbre and dynamic control. In opera, the tessitura, vocal weight, and timbre of voices, a singers tessitura is where the voice has the best timbre, easy volume, and most comfort. Within the soprano voice type category are five generally recognized subcategories, coloratura soprano, soubrette, lyric soprano, spinto soprano, the coloratura soprano may be a lyric coloratura or a dramatic coloratura. The lyric coloratura soprano is a very agile light voice with a high upper extension capable of fast vocal coloratura, Light coloraturas have a range of approximately middle C to high F with some coloratura sopranos being able to sing somewhat higher or lower. Dramatic coloraturas have a range of approximately low B to high F with some coloratura sopranos being able to sing higher or lower. In classical music and opera, a soubrette soprano refers to both a type and a particular type of opera role. A soubrette voice is light with a bright, sweet timbre, a tessitura in the mid-range, the soubrette voice is not a weak voice, for it must carry over an orchestra without a microphone like all voices in opera. The voice, however, has a lighter weight than other soprano voices with a brighter timbre
Soprano
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Soprano voice range (C4–C6) indicated in sheet music (left) and on piano keyboard in green with dot marking middle C.
36.
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
Solomiya Krushelnytska
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Solomiya Krushelnytska.
Solomiya Krushelnytska
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Solomiya Krushelnytska, painting in the
Berezhany town museum.
Solomiya Krushelnytska
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The tombstone to Krushelnytska at
Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv.
Solomiya Krushelnytska
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Stamp of
Ukraine, Solomiya Krushelnytska, 1997 (Michel № 219).
37.
Mezzo-soprano
–
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-sopranos vocal range extends from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above. In the lower and upper extremes, some mezzo-sopranos may extend down to the F below middle C, the mezzo-soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic mezzo-soprano. Mezzo-sopranos are well represented in music, early music. Some roles designated for lighter soubrette sopranos are sung by mezzo-sopranos, such roles include Despina in Mozarts Così fan tutte and Zerlina in his Don Giovanni. Mezzos sometimes play dramatic soprano roles such as Santuzza in Mascagnis Cavalleria rusticana, Lady Macbeth in Verdis Macbeth, the vocal range of the mezzo-sopranos lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. Mezzo-sopranos generally have a heavier, darker tone than sopranos, the mezzo-soprano voice resonates in a higher range than that of a contralto. The terms Dugazon and Galli-Marié are sometimes used to refer to light mezzo-sopranos, usually men singing within the female range are called countertenors since there is a lighter more breathy tonal quality difference. Within the mezzo-soprano voice type category are three generally recognized subcategories, coloratura mezzo-soprano, lyric mezzo-soprano, and dramatic mezzo-soprano, a coloratura mezzo-soprano has a warm lower register and an agile high register. The roles they sing often demand not only the use of the register but also leaps into the upper tessitura with highly ornamented. They have a range from approximately the G below middle C to the B two octaves above middle C, some coloratura mezzo-sopranos can sing up to high C or high D, but this is very rare. What distinguishes these voices from being called sopranos is their extension into the register and warmer vocal quality. Although coloratura mezzo-sopranos have impressive and at times thrilling high notes, they are most comfortable singing in the middle of their range, many of the hero roles in the operas of Handel and Monteverdi, originally sung by male castrati, can be successfully sung today by coloratura mezzo-sopranos. Rossini demanded similar qualities for his heroines, and Vivaldi wrote roles frequently for this voice as well. Coloratura mezzo-sopranos also often sing lyric-mezzo-soprano roles or soubrette roles, coloratura mezzo-soprano roles in operas, The lyric mezzo-soprano has a range from approximately the G below middle C to the A two octaves above middle C. This voice has a smooth, sensitive and at times lachrymose quality. Lyric mezzo-sopranos do not have the agility of the coloratura mezzo-soprano or the size of the dramatic mezzo-soprano. The lyric mezzo-soprano is ideal for most trouser roles and this voice has less vocal facility than the coloratura mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano
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Mezzo-soprano voice range (A3–A5) indicated in sheet music (left) and on piano keyboard in green with dot marking middle C (C4).
38.
Tenor
–
Tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is one of the highest of the male voice types. The tenors vocal range lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, and A4, the A above middle C, in solo work, this range extends up to C5, or tenor high C. The low extreme for tenors is roughly A♭2, at the highest extreme, some tenors can sing up to two Fs above middle C. The tenor voice type is divided into the leggero tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor. The name tenor derives from the Latin word tenere, which means to hold, in medieval and Renaissance polyphony between about 1250 and 1500, the tenor was the structurally fundamental voice, vocal or instrumental. All other voices were normally calculated in relation to the tenor, until the late 16th century introduction of the contratenor singers, the tenor was usually the highest voice, assuming the role of providing a foundation. It was also in the 18th century that tenor came to signify the male voice that sang such parts, thus, for earlier repertoire, a line marked tenor indicated the parts role, and not the required voice type. Indeed, even as late as the century, partbooks labelled tenor might contain parts for a range of voice types. The vocal range of the tenor is one of the highest of the voice types. Within opera, the lowest note in the tenor repertoire is probably A♭2 in Rossinis rarely performed La donna del lago in the role of Rodrigo di Dhu. Within more frequently performed repertoire, Mime and Herod both call for an A2, a few tenor roles in the standard repertoire call for a tenor C. Some of the few top Cs in the operatic repertoire are either optional or interpolated by tradition. However, the highest demanded note in the standard operatic repertoire is D5. Some operatic roles for tenors require a darker timbre and fewer high notes, in the leggero repertoire, the highest note is F5, therefore, very few tenors can, given the raising of concert pitch since its composition, have this role in their repertoire without transposition. Within the tenor voice type category are seven generally recognized subcategories, leggero tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor, Mozart tenor, Also known as the tenore di grazia, the leggero tenor is essentially the male equivalent of a lyric coloratura. This voice is light, agile, and capable of executing difficult passages of fioritura, the typical leggero tenor possesses a range spanning from approximately C3 to E♭5, with a few being able to sing up to F5 or higher in full voice. In some cases, the chest register of the leggero tenor may extend below C3, voices of this type are utilized frequently in the operas of Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini and in music dating from the Baroque period. Leggero tenor roles in operas, The lyric tenor is a warm voice with a bright, full timbre that is strong but not heavy
Tenor
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Tenor voice range (C3–C5) indicated in sheet music (left) and on piano keyboard in green with dot marking middle C (C4).
39.
Baritone
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A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice types. It is the most common male voice, the baritone voice type is generally divided into the baryton-Martin baritone, lyric baritone, Kavalierbariton, Verdi baritone, dramatic baritone, baryton-noble baritone, and the bass-baritone. The first use of the term baritone emerged as baritonans, late in the 15th century, at this early stage it was frequently used as the lowest of the voices, but in 17th-century Italy the term was all-encompassing and used to describe the average male choral voice. Baritones took roughly the range as it is today at the beginning of the 18th century. Indeed, many works of the 18th century have roles marked as bass that in reality are low baritone roles. Examples of this are to be found, for instance, in the operas, the greatest and most enduring parts for baritones in 18th-century operatic music were composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. They include Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Papageno in The Magic Flute and these included the likes of Filippo Galli, Giovanni Inchindi, and Henri-Bernard Dabadie. The basse-taille and the bass were commonly confused because their roles were sometimes sung by singers of either actual voice part. The bel canto style of vocalism which arose in Italy in the early 19th century supplanted the castrato-dominated opera seria of the previous century and it led to the baritone being viewed as a separate voice category from the bass. More often than not, however, baritones found themselves portraying villains, the principal composers of bel canto opera are considered to be, Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, Vincenzo Bellini, Giacomo Meyerbeer, and the young Giuseppe Verdi. Figaro in Il barbiere is often called the first true baritone role, however, Donizetti and Verdi in their vocal writing went on to emphasize the top fifth of the baritone voice, rather than its lower notes—thus generating a more brilliant sound. The major international baritone of the first half of the 19th century was the Italian Antonio Tamburini and he was a famous Don Giovanni in Mozarts eponymous opera as well as being a Bellini and Donizetti specialist. Commentators praised his voice for its beauty, flexibility and smooth tonal emission, Tamburinis range, however, was probably closer to that of a bass-baritone than to that of a modern Verdi baritone. His French equivalent was Henri-Bernard Dabadie, who was a mainstay of the Paris Opera between 1819 and 1836 and the creator of several major Rossinian baritone roles, including Guillaume Tell. Dabadie sang in Italy, too, where he originated the role of Belcore in Lelisir damore in 1832, the most important of Tamburinis Italianate successors were all Verdians. In France, Paul Barroilhet succeeded Dabadie as the Paris operas best known baritone, like Dabadie, he also sang in Italy and created an important Donizetti role, in his case, Alphonse in La favorite. Antonio Pini-Corsi was the standout Italian buffo baritone in the period between about 1880 and World War I, reveling in comic roles by Rossini, Donizetti and Paer. In 1893, he created the part of Ford in Verdis last opera, notable among their contemporaries were the cultured and technically adroit French baritones Jean Lassalle, Victor Maurel, Paul Lhérie, and Maurice Renaud
Baritone
–
Baritone voice range (A2–A4) indicated in sheet music (left) and on piano keyboard in green with dot marking middle C (C4).
40.
Bhikkhu
–
A bhikkhu is an ordained male monastic in Buddhism. Male and female monastics (nun, bhikkhuni are members of the Buddhist community, the lives of all Buddhist monastics are governed by a set of rules called the prātimokṣa or pātimokkha. Their lifestyles are shaped to support their practice, to live a simple and meditative life. A person under the age of 20 cannot be ordained as a bhikkhu or bhikkhuni, bhikkhu literally means beggar or one who lives by alms. The historical Buddha, Prince Siddhartha, having abandoned a life of pleasure and status and those of his more serious students who abandoned their lives as householders and came to study full-time under his supervision also adopted this lifestyle. In the Dhammapada commentary of Buddhaghosa, a bhikkhu is defined as the person who sees danger and he therefore seeks ordination to obtain release from it. The Dhammapada states, He is not a monk just because he lives on others alms, not by adopting outward form does one become a true monk. Whoever here lives a life, transcending both merit and demerit, and walks with understanding in this world — he is truly called a monk. In English literature before the century, Buddhist monks were often referred to by the term bonze, particularly when describing monks from East Asia. This term is derived Portuguese and French from Japanese bonsō, meaning priest and it is rare in modern literature. Buddhist monks were also called talapoy or talapoin from French talapoin, itself from Portuguese talapão, ultimately from Mon tala pōi. Having no tie, which unites their interests with those of the people, they are ready, at all times, with spiritual arms, the talapoin is a monkey named after Buddhist monks just as the capuchin monkey is named after the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. Theravada monasticism is organized around the guidelines found within a division of the Pāli Canon called the Vinaya Pitaka, Laypeople undergo ordination as a novitiate in a rite known as the going forth. Sāmaneras are subject to the Ten Precepts, from there full ordination may take place. Bhikkhus are subject to a longer set of rules known. In the Mahayana monasticism is part of the system of vows of individual liberation and these vows are taken by monks and nuns from the ordinary sangha, in order to develop personal ethical discipline. In Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, the term sangha is, in principle, often understood to refer particularly to the aryasangha and these, however, need not be monks and nuns. The vows of individual liberation are taken in four steps, a lay person may take the five Upāsaka and Upāsikā vows
Bhikkhu
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Buddhist monks in Thailand
Bhikkhu
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Tibetan monks engaging in a traditional monastic debate.
Bhikkhu
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Theravada Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka
Bhikkhu
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A
Cambodian monk in his robes
41.
Bass (voice type)
–
A bass is a type of classical male singing voice and has the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C. Its tessitura, or comfortable range, is defined by the outermost lines of the bass clef. Categories of bass voices vary according to style and classification system. Italians favour subdividing basses into the basso cantante, basso buffo, the American system identifies the bass-baritone, comic bass, lyric bass, and dramatic bass. The German fach system offers further distinctions, Spielbaß, Schwerer Spielbaß, Charakterbaß, rare is the performer who embodies a single fach without also touching repertoire from another category. Cultural influence and individual variation create a variation in range. Many British composers such as Benjamin Britten have written parts for bass that center far higher than the bass tessitura as implied by the clef, the Harvard Dictionary of Music defines the range as being from the E below low C to middle C. The bass has the lowest vocal range of all voice types, the low extreme for basses is generally C2. However, several extreme bass singers, referred to as basso profondos, within opera, the lowest note in the standard bass repertoire is D2, sung by the character Osmin in Mozarts Die Entführung aus dem Serail, but few roles fall below F2. The high extreme, a few roles in the standard repertoire call for a high F♯ or G. In the operatic repertoire, the highest notes are a G♯4 and, in the aria Fra lombre e glorrori in Handels serenata Aci. Basso cantante is a higher, more lyrical voice and it is produced using a more Italianate vocal production, and possesses a faster vibrato, than its closest Germanic/Anglo-Saxon equivalent, the bass-baritone. Hoher Bass or high bass or often a dramatic bass-baritone, jugendlicher Bass denotes the role of a young man sung by a bass, regardless of the age of the singer. They are usually the blustering antagonist of the hero/heroine or the fool in bel canto operas. English equivalent, dramatic bass Basso profondo is the lowest bass voice type, steane in Voices, Singers & Critics, the basso profondo voice derives from a method of tone-production that eliminates the more Italian quick vibrato. In its place is a kind of tonal solidity, a front, which may nevertheless prove susceptible to the other kind of vibrato. Dramatic basso profondo is a basso profondo voice
Bass (voice type)
–
Bass voice range (E2–E4) indicated in sheet music (left) and on piano keyboard in green with dot marking middle C (C4).
42.
Seppuku
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Seppuku, sometimes metathesized as harakiri which is a native Japanese kun reading, is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai, if the cut, done with a movement, is done deep enough, it sections, cuts, the descending Aorta, inducing a massive blood loss inside the abdomen, with very fast death. A Japanese form of suicide, the term seppuku derives from the two Sino-Japanese roots setsu 切 and puku 腹. It is also known as harakiri, a more widely familiar outside Japan, and which is written with the same kanji as seppuku. In Japanese, the more formal seppuku, a Chinese onyomi reading, is used in writing, while harakiri. Ross notes, It is commonly pointed out that hara-kiri is a vulgarism, hara-kiri is a Japanese reading or Kun-yomi of the characters, as it became customary to prefer Chinese readings in official announcements, only the term seppuku was ever used in writing. So hara-kiri is a term, but only to commoners and seppuku a written term. The practice of committing seppuku at the death of ones master, known as oibara or tsuifuku, the word jigai means suicide in Japanese. The usual modern word for suicide is jisatsu, in some popular western texts, such as martial arts magazines, the term is associated with suicide of samurai wives. The term was introduced into English by Lafcadio Hearn in his Japan, An Attempt at Interpretation, joshua S. Mostow notes that Hearn misunderstood the term jigai to be the female equivalent of seppuku. The first recorded act of seppuku was performed by Minamoto no Yorimasa during the Battle of Uji in the year 1180. Seppuku eventually became a key part of bushido, the code of the warriors, it was used by warriors to avoid falling into enemy hands. Samurai could also be ordered by their daimyo to carry out seppuku, later, disgraced warriors were sometimes allowed to carry out seppuku rather than be executed in the normal manner. This way the head could, both metaphorically and literally, rest in its owners hands and those who did not belong to the samurai caste were never ordered or expected to carry out seppuku. Samurai generally could carry out the act only with permission, sometimes a daimyo was called upon to perform seppuku as the basis of a peace agreement. This would weaken the defeated clan so that resistance would effectively cease, toyotomi Hideyoshi used an enemys suicide in this way on several occasions, the most dramatic of which effectively ended a dynasty of daimyo. Until this practice became more standardized during the 17th century, the ritual of seppuku was less formalized. In the 12th and 13th centuries, such as with the seppuku of Minamoto no Yorimasa, seppukus defining characteristic was plunging either the Tachi, Wakizashi or Tanto into the gut and slicing the abdomen horizontally
Seppuku
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Illustration from Sketches of Japanese Manners and Customs, by J. M. W. Silver, Illustrated by Native Drawings, Reproduced in Facsimile by Means of
Chromolithography, London, 1867
Seppuku
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Seppuku with ritual attire and second (staged)
Seppuku
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A
tantō prepared for seppuku
Seppuku
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General Akashi Gidayu preparing to carry out Seppuku after losing a battle for his master in 1582. He had just written his death poem, which is also visible in the upper right corner. By
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi around 1890.
43.
The Star-Spangled Banner
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The Star-Spangled Banner is the national anthem of the United States of America. Key was inspired by the large American flag, the Star-Spangled Banner, the poem was set to the tune of a popular British song written by John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Society, a mens social club in London. To Anacreon in Heaven, with lyrics, was already popular in the United States. Set to Keys poem and renamed The Star-Spangled Banner, it became a well-known American patriotic song. With a range of one octave and one fifth, it is known for being difficult to sing, although the poem has four stanzas, only the first is commonly sung today. Before 1931, other songs served as the hymns of American officialdom, hail, Columbia served this purpose at official functions for most of the 19th century. My Country, Tis of Thee, whose melody is identical to God Save the Queen, following the War of 1812 and subsequent American wars, other songs emerged to compete for popularity at public events, among them The Star-Spangled Banner, as well as America the Beautiful. Beanes was accused of aiding the arrest of British soldiers, because Key and Skinner had heard details of the plans for the attack on Baltimore, they were held captive until after the battle, first aboard HMS Surprise and later back on HMS Minden. On the morning of September 14, the flag had been lowered. During the bombardment, HMS Terror and HMS Meteor provided some of the bombs bursting in air, Key was inspired by the American victory and the sight of the large American flag flying triumphantly above the fort. This flag, with fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, had made by Mary Young Pickersgill together with other workers in her home on Baltimores Pratt Street. The flag later came to be known as the Star-Spangled Banner and is today on display in the National Museum of American History and it was restored in 1914 by Amelia Fowler, and again in 1998 as part of an ongoing conservation program. Aboard the ship the day, Key wrote a poem on the back of a letter he had kept in his pocket. At twilight on September 16, he and Skinner were released in Baltimore and he completed the poem at the Indian Queen Hotel, where he was staying, and titled it Defence of Fort MHenry. Much of the idea of the poem, including the flag imagery and some of the wording, is derived from a song by Key. The song, known as When the Warrior Returns, was written in honor of Stephen Decatur, absent elaboration by Francis Scott Key prior to his death in 1843, some have speculated in modern times about the meaning of phrases or verses. Professor Mark Clague has stated that the two verses of Keys lyric vilify the British enemy in the War of 1812 and in no way glorifies or celebrates slavery. Clague asserts that the used to refer to British professional soldiers but also the Corps of Colonial Marines which Key viewed as scoundrels
The Star-Spangled Banner
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One of two surviving copies of the 1814 broadside printing of the "Defence of Fort McHenry", a poem that later became the lyrics of the national anthem of the United States.
The Star-Spangled Banner
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Francis Scott Key 's original manuscript copy of his "Star-Spangled Banner" poem. It is now on display at the
Maryland Historical Society.
The Star-Spangled Banner
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An artist's rendering of the battle at
Fort McHenry
The Star-Spangled Banner
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The 15-star, 15-stripe "
Star-Spangled Banner " which inspired the poem
44.
Frances Alda
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Frances Alda was a New Zealand-born, Australian-raised operatic soprano. Alda was born Fanny Jane Davis in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1879 and her father David, wanted her mother, Leonore, to settle down. But Leonore, a singer from a musical family, had other ideas. Fanny spent her early years traveling with her mother on her operatic tours, after false starts in Australasia, she took Fanny and her younger brother to San Francisco in 1883. Leonore Davis remarried but died of peritonitis in San Francisco on 29 December 1884, shortly after remarrying, after her mothers death, Alda was sent to live with her maternal grandparents, Martin and Fanny Simonsen, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. After receiving lessons in Paris from the renowned teacher Mathilde Marchesi and she appeared at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in 1906, and at La Scala, Milan, during the 1906-08 seasons. In 1908, the former La Scala impresario Giulio Gatti-Casazza became director of the Metropolitan Opera, on 7 December 1908 Alda made her debut at the Met. On 4 April 1910, Alda and Gatti-Casazza married, according to American Art News, Adolfo Müller-Ury was painting Alda just before her marriage. It was in New York that Alda furthered her career, appearing to acclaim in such operas as Martha, Manon Lescaut, Otello, Faust, Mefistofele. She began recording for the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1908 and she created the title roles in Victor Herberts Madeleine and Henry Hadleys Cleopatras Night as well as Roxane in Walter Damroschs Cyrano. She also sang regularly with Enrico Caruso, Alda toured Australia and New Zealand in 1927. She and Gatti-Casazza separated the year and then divorced. In 1929, she left the Met but continued to concerts, make radio broadcasts. Aldas 1937 autobiography was titled Men, Women, & Tenors, on 14 April 1941, at Charleston, South Carolina, she remarried, to New York advertising executive Ray Vir Den, a decade her junior. She would have an affluent retirement in Long Island, and traveling and she died of a stroke on 18 September 1952 in Venice, Italy, aged 73. Media related to Frances Alda at Wikimedia Commons Profile of Frances Alda, New Zealands most famous daughter Melba versus Alda Madame Frances Alda
Frances Alda
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Frances Alda photographed on board a passenger liner during the 1920s
Frances Alda
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Frances Alda relaxing away from the stage, 1909
45.
Rosa Ponselle
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Rosa Ponselle, was an American operatic soprano with a large, opulent voice. She sang mainly at the New York Metropolitan Opera and is considered by music critics to have been one of the greatest sopranos of the past 100 years. She was born Rosa Ponzillo on January 22,1897, in Meriden, Connecticut and her parents were Italian immigrants from Caiazzo, near Caserta. Ponselle had an exceptionally mature voice at an age and, at least in her early years, sang on natural endowment with little, if any. Instead, her prowess as a piano student, seemed to incline Rosa to instrumental rather than vocal music. By 1914, her reputation as a singer led to an engagement at the San Carlino theater, one of the largest movie houses in New Haven. By then, Carmela was already a singer in vaudeville after her debut in The Girl from Brighton. Three years later, in 1915, Carmela brought Rosa to audition for her vaudeville agent, in spite of being markedly overweight, Rosa impressed with her voice, and she was hired to perform with Carmela as a sister act. Between 1915 and 1918, the Ponzillo Sisters became an act on the Keith Vaudeville Circuit, appearing in all the major Keith theaters. The sisters act consisted of ballads, popular Italian songs. In 1918, Carmela and Rosa demanded a fee increase from the Keith Vaudeville Circuit. At the time, Carmela was studying in New York with a well-connected voice teacher/agent named William Thorner, Thorner auditioned Rosa, and agreed to give her lessons. Soon afterward, Thorner persuaded the great tenor Enrico Caruso, star of the Metropolitan Opera, to his studio to hear Carmela, Caruso was usually wary of amateur singers, but was deeply impressed with Rosas voice. He arranged an audition for the Mets general manager, Giulio Gatti-Casazza, Rosa Ponselle made her Metropolitan Opera debut on November 15,1918, just a few days after the Great War had finished, as Leonora in Verdis La forza del destino, opposite Caruso. It was her first performance on any opera stage and she was quite intimidated for being in the presence of Caruso, and in spite of an almost paralyzing case of nervousness, she scored a tremendous success, both with the public and with the critics. New York Times critic James Huneker wrote. what a promising debut, in addition to Leonora, Ponselles roles in the 1918/19 season included Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana, Rezia in Webers Oberon, and Carmelita in the world premiere of Joseph Carl Breils The Legend. In addition to her activities, which were centered at the Met. Outside the USA, Ponselle sang only at Covent Garden in London, in 1929, Ponselle made her European debut in London, at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden
Rosa Ponselle
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Rosa Ponselle at the
NBC Radio microphone, 1936
Rosa Ponselle
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Rosa Ponzillo (1918)
Rosa Ponselle
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Rosa Ponselle at the Metropolitan Opera as Leonora falling back into the arms of Enrico Caruso as Don Alvaro in La forza del destino.
46.
The Mikado
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The Mikado, or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations. Before the end of 1885, it was estimated that, in Europe and America, the Mikado remains the most frequently performed Savoy Opera, and it is especially popular with amateur and school productions. The work has translated into numerous languages and is one of the most frequently played musical theatre pieces in history. Setting the opera in Japan, a locale far away from Britain, allowed Gilbert to satirise British politics. Gilbert and Sullivans opera immediately preceding The Mikado was Princess Ida, which ran for nine months, on 22 March 1884, Carte gave Gilbert and Sullivan contractual notice that a new opera would be required within six months. Sullivans close friend, the conductor Frederic Clay, had suffered a stroke in December 1883 that effectively ended his career. Gilbert, who had started work on a new libretto in which people fall in love against their wills after taking a magic lozenge, was surprised to hear of Sullivans hesitation. Gilbert was much hurt, but Sullivan insisted that he could not set the lozenge plot, in addition to the improbability of it, it was too similar to the plot of their 1877 opera, The Sorcerer. Sullivan returned to London, and, as April wore on, Gilbert tried to rewrite his plot, but he could not satisfy Sullivan. However, by 8 May 1884, Gilbert was ready to back down, writing, am I to understand that if I construct another plot in which no element occurs. A consistent plot, free from anachronisms, constructed in perfect good faith & to the best of my ability, the stalemate was broken, and on 20 May, Gilbert sent Sullivan a sketch of the plot to The Mikado. It would take ten months for The Mikado to reach the stage. A revised version of their 1877 work, The Sorcerer, coupled with their one-act piece Trial by Jury, played at the Savoy while Carte, Gilbert eventually found a place for his lozenge plot in The Mountebanks, written with Alfred Cellier in 1892. A trifling accident inspired him with an idea, One day an old Japanese sword that, for years, had been hanging on the wall of his study, fell from its place. This incident directed his attention to Japan, Just at that time a company of Japanese had arrived in England and set up a little village of their own in Knightsbridge. The story is an one, but it is largely fictional. Gilbert was interviewed twice about his inspiration for The Mikado, in both interviews the sword was mentioned, and in one of them he said it was the inspiration for the opera, although he never said that the sword had fallen. Gilbert scholar Brian Jones, in his article The Sword that Never Fell, notes that the further removed in time the writer is from the incident and it suggested the broad idea, as he said later
The Mikado
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Theatre poster for The Mikado
The Mikado
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Cover of vocal score, c. 1895
The Mikado
–
Photo at the
Japanese village taken by WS Gilbert
The Mikado
–
Durward Lely as Nanki-Poo
47.
La Scala
–
La Scala is an opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was known as the Nuovo Regio Ducale Teatro alla Scala. The premiere performance was Antonio Salieris Europa riconosciuta, most of Italys greatest operatic artists, and many of the finest singers from around the world, have appeared at La Scala during the past 200 years. The theatre is regarded as one of the opera and ballet theatres in the world and is home to the La Scala Theatre Chorus, La Scala Theatre Ballet. The theatre also has a school, known as the La Scala Theatre Academy. La Scalas season traditionally opens on 7 December, Saint Ambroses Day, all performances must end before midnight, and long operas start earlier in the evening when necessary. La Scala also hosts the Accademia dArti e Mestieri dello Spettacolo and its goal is to train a new generation of young musicians, technical staff, and dancers. A fire destroyed the theatre, the Teatro Regio Ducale, on 25 February 1776. The neoclassical architect Giuseppe Piermarini produced a design but it was rejected by Count Firmian. A second plan was accepted in 1776 by Empress Maria Theresa, the new theatre was built on the former location of the church of Santa Maria alla Scala, from which the theatre gets its name. The church was deconsecrated and demolished, and over a period of two years the theatre was completed by Pietro Marliani, Pietro Nosetti and Antonio and Giuseppe Fe. The theatre had a total of 3,000 or so seats organized into 678 pit-stalls and its stage is one of the largest in Italy. Building expenses were covered by the sale of palchi, which were decorated by their owners. La Scala soon became the preeminent meeting place for noble and wealthy Milanese people, in the tradition of the times, the platea had no chairs and spectators watched the shows standing up. The orchestra was in sight, as the golfo mistico had not yet been built. Above the boxes, La Scala has a gallery—called the loggione—where the less wealthy can watch the performances, the gallery is typically crowded with the most critical opera aficionados, known as the loggionisti, who can be ecstatic or merciless towards singers perceived successes or failures. As with most of the theatres at that time, La Scala was also a casino, conditions in the auditorium, too, could be frustrating for the opera lover, as Mary Shelley discovered in September 1840, At the Opera they were giving Otto Nicolais Templario. La Scala was originally illuminated with 84 oil lamps mounted on the palcoscenico, to prevent the risks of fire, several rooms were filled with hundreds of water buckets
La Scala
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Exterior of La Scala in 1976
La Scala
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The Teatro alla Scala in Milan, by night
La Scala
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A nineteenth-century depiction of the Teatro alla Scala
La Scala
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Interior of the opera house in 1900
48.
Anna May Wong
–
Anna May Wong was an American actress. She is considered to be the first Chinese American movie star and her long and varied career spanned silent film, sound film, television, stage and radio. Born in Los Angeles to second-generation Chinese-American parents, Wong became infatuated with the movies, during the silent film era, she acted in The Toll of the Sea, one of the first movies made in color and Douglas Fairbanks The Thief of Bagdad. Wong became an icon and had achieved international stardom in 1924. She spent the first half of the 1930s traveling between the United States and Europe for film and stage work. Wong was featured in films of the sound era, such as Daughter of the Dragon and Daughter of Shanghai. Bucks The Good Earth, choosing instead the German actress Luise Rainer to play the leading role, Wong spent the next year touring China, visiting her familys ancestral village and studying Chinese culture. In the late 1930s, she starred in several B movies for Paramount Pictures and she paid less attention to her film career during World War II, when she devoted her time and money to helping the Chinese cause against Japan. Wong returned to the eye in the 1950s in several television appearances. In 1951, Ms. Wong made history with her TV show The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong and she had been planning to return to film in Flower Drum Song when she died in 1961, at the age of 56. For decades after her death, Wong was remembered principally for the stereotypical Dragon Lady and her life and career were re-evaluated in the years around the centennial of her birth, in three major literary works and film retrospectives. Interest in her story continues and another biography, Shining Star. Anna May Wong was born Wong Liu Tsong on January 3,1905, on Flower Street in Los Angeles, one north of Chinatown, in an integrated community of Chinese, Irish, German. She was the second of seven born to Wong Sam Sing, owner of the Sam Kee Laundry in Los Angeles. Anna May Wongs parents were second-generation Chinese Americans, her maternal and paternal grandparents had resided in the U. S. since at least 1855. Her paternal grandfather, A Wong Wong, was a merchant who owned two stores in Michigan Hills, an area in Placer County. He had come from Chang On, a village near Taishan, Guangdong Province, Anna Mays father spent his youth traveling between the U. S. and China, where he married his first wife and fathered a son in 1890. He returned to the U. S. in the late 1890s and in 1901, while continuing to support his family in China, he married a second wife, Anna Mays mother
Anna May Wong
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Paramount Pictures publicity photo of Anna May Wong circa 1935
Anna May Wong
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Anna May Wong seated in her mother's lap, c. 1905.
Anna May Wong
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Anna May Wong in the early
Technicolor film
The Toll of the Sea (1922)
Anna May Wong
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Wong's role as the daughter of Fu Manchu in
Daughter of the Dragon was the final stereotypical role she played.
49.
The Toll of the Sea
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The film was written by Frances Marion and directed by Chester M. Franklin, with the lead roles played by Wong and Kenneth Harlan. The plot was a variation of the Madama Butterfly story, set in China instead of Japan, the film was the second Technicolor feature, the first color feature made in Hollywood, and the first Technicolor color feature anywhere that did not require a special projector to be shown. The film premiered on 26 November 1922 at the Rialto Theatre in New York City, when young Chinese woman Lotus Flower sees an unconscious man floating in the water at the seashore, she quickly gets help for him. The man is Allen Carver, an American, soon the two have fallen in love, and they get married Chinese fashion. Carver promises to take her with him when he returns home, Lotus Flowers friends warn her that he will leave without her, and one states she has been forgotten by four American husbands, but she does not believe them. However, Carvers friends discourage him from fulfilling his promise, Lotus Flower has a young son, whom she names Allen after his father. When the older Allen finally returns to China, Lotus Flower is at first overjoyed and she dresses in her elaborate Chinese bridal gown to greet him. However, he is accompanied by his American wife, Elsie, Allen has told Elsie about Lotus Flower, and it is Elsie who persuaded her husband to tell Lotus Flower the real situation. When the boy is brought to see his father, Lotus Flower pretends he is the child of her American neighbors, later, though, she confides the truth to Elsie and asks her to take the boy to America. She tells the child that Elsie is his real mother, after Elsie takes the boy away with her, Lotus Flower says, Oh, Sea, now that life has been emptied I come to pay my great debt to you. The sun is shown setting over the water. All scenes of The Toll of the Sea were shot under natural light and outdoors, the film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists,2003, AFIs 100 Years. As the final two reels were missing, Gitt and Dayton used an original two-color Technicolor camera to shoot a sunset on a California beach, much as the original closing must have looked. The restored version is available as one of the titles included in the 4-DVD box-set Treasures from American Film Archives,50 Preserved Films
The Toll of the Sea
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Lotus Flower holds her son, as Elsie Carver watches on
50.
Madame Butterfly (1915 film)
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Madame Butterfly is a 1915 silent film directed by Sidney Olcott. The film is based upon a John Luther Long short story, reportedly, leading actress Mary Pickford fought constantly with Sidney Olcott about the character. Olcott wanted Pickford to be reserved and thought she was too Americanized to play a Japanese. The film takes place in Japan in 1904, Lieutenant Pinkerton marries Cho-Cho-San Butterfly, a 15-year-old Japanese geisha. Cho-Cho-San is lucky with her new husband and takes the marriage very seriously, pinkterton, however, regards it as entertainment. He is not in love with her and plans to break off the wedding in a month, the American Consul begs him to break off the wedding as soon as possible, to avoid hurting her feelings. After Pinkerton forces Cho-Cho-San to end their wedding early, her disapproving family disowns her. When Pinkerton is ordered to return to America, he promises Cho-Cho-San he will return before he leaves, Cho-Cho-San, now a mother, still believes Pinkerton will return someday, while he is engaged to an American woman. He sends her a letter to announce he will marry another woman, meanwhile, The Prince of Japan takes interest in Cho-Cho-San, but she refuses his company and claims she is still waiting for her husband. Sometime later, Pinkerton returns to Japan but he hands the American Consul some money as compensation for Cho-Cho-San, when Cho-Cho-San comes to ask about her husband, she runs into Pinkertons new American wife. The American woman asks Cho-Cho-San to give them her child, as he will be better opportunities. Cho-Cho-San is crushed but complies and hands over her child and she kills herself in the final scene by walking into a river and drowning. Mary Pickford - Cho-Cho-San Marshall Neilan - Lieutenant Pinkerton Olive West - Suzuki Jane Hall - Adelaide Lawrence Wood - Cho-Cho-Sans father Caroline Harris - Cho-Cho-Sans mother M. W. Madame Butterfly at the Internet Movie Database Madame Butterfly stats at silentera. com Madame Butterfly website dedicated to Sidney Olcott
Madame Butterfly (1915 film)
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Theatrical poster
