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
2.
Vincenzo Bellini
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Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer, who was known for his long-flowing melodic lines for which he was named the Swan of Catania. Other sources of information come from correspondence saved by other friends, C Bellini was the quintessential composer of the Italian bel canto era of the early 19th century, and his work has been summed up by the London critic Tim Ashley as. Also hugely influential, as much admired by composers as he was by the public. Verdi raved about his long, long, long melodies, wagner, who rarely liked anyone but himself, was spellbound by Bellinis almost uncanny ability to match music with text and psychology. Liszt and Chopin professed themselves fans, of the 19th-century giants, only Berlioz demurred. Those musicologists who consider Bellini to be merely a melancholic tunesmith are now in the minority, the genuine triumph of I puritani in January 1835 in Paris capped a significant career. Certainly, Capuleti, La sonnambula, Norma, and I puritani are regularly performed today, only nine months later, Bellini died in Puteaux, France at the age of 33. Born in Catania, at the part of the Kingdom of Sicily. His grandfather, Vincenzo Tobia Bellini, had studied at the conservatory in Naples and, in Catania from 1767 forward, had been an organist and teacher, as had Vincenzos father, by the age of five, he could apparently play marvelously. The document states that Bellinis first five pieces were composed when he was just six years old and at seven he was taught Latin, modern languages, rhetoric, and philosophy. Author Herbert Weinstock regards some of these accounts as no more than myths, not being supported from other, additionally, he makes the point in regard to Bellinis apparent knowledge of languages and philosophy, Bellini never became a well-educated man. After 1816, Bellini began living with his grandfather, from whom he received his first music lessons, soon after, the young composer began to write compositions. Among them were the nine Versetti da cantarsi il Venerdi Santo, by 1818, Bellini had independently completed several additional orchestral pieces. He was ready for further study, for well-off students, this would include moving to Naples. While his family wasnt wealthy enough to support that lifestyle, Bellinis growing reputation could not be overlooked and his break came when Stefano Notabartolo, the duca di San Martino e Montalbo and his duchess, became the new intendente of the province of Catania. They encouraged the man to petition the city fathers for a stipend to support his musical studies. This was successfully achieved in May 1819 with unanimous agreement for a pension to allow him to study at the Real Collegio di Musica di San Sebastiano in Naples. The young Bellini was to live in Naples for the eight years
3.
Felice Romani
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Felice Romani was an Italian poet and scholar of literature and mythology who wrote many librettos for the opera composers Donizetti and Bellini. Romani was considered the finest Italian librettist between Metastasio and Boito, born Giuseppe Felice Romani to a bourgeois family in Genoa, he studied law and literature in Pisa and Genoa. At the University of Genoa he translated French literature and, with a colleague, prepared a six-volume dictionary of mythology and antiquities, including the history of the Celts in Italy. Romanis expertise in French and antiquity is reflected in the libretti he wrote, after refusing a post at the University of Genoa, he appears to have travelled to France, Spain, Greece and Germany before returning to Milan in either 1812 or 1813. There he became friends with important figures in the literary and musical world and he turned down the post of court poet in Vienna, and began instead a career as opera librettist. He wrote two librettos for the composer Simon Mayr, which resulted in his appointment as the librettist for La Scala, Romani became the most highly regarded of all Italian librettists of his age, producing nearly one hundred. In spite of his interest in French literature, he refused to work in Paris and he also wrote a libretto that Verdi used for his early comedy Un giorno di regno. Romani was considered a match for Bellini, who is quoted as having said, Give me good verses. The two, however, had a falling out over missed deadlines for Beatrice di Tenda, after setting I puritani to a libretto by Carlo Pepoli, Bellini was determined not to compose any more Italian operas with anyone but Romani. I puritani was his last opera, he died less than a year after its première, Romani mourned him deeply and wrote an obituary in which he expressed his profound regrets over their disagreement. In 1834 Romani became editor of the Gazzetta Ufficiale Piemontese to which he contributed literary criticism and he retained the post, with a break 1849–1854, until his death, in Moneglia. A volume of his poems was published in 1841. For each libretto the composer/s are listed who set it to music, the date of the first performance, and the new title where applicable
4.
Alexandre Soumet
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Alexandre Soumet was a French poet. Alexandre Soumet was born at Castelnaudary, département of Aude and his love of poetry began at an early age. He was an admirer of Klopstock and Schiller, then known in France. Soumet moved to Paris in 1810 and wrote poems in honor of Napoleon that secured his nomination as auditeur of the Conseil dÉtat. His elegy La pauvre fille appeared in 1814, and two successful tragedies produced in 1822, Clytemnestre and Saül, secured his admission to the Academy in 1824, Jeanne dArc was his most critically acclaimed play. Elisabeth de France was an imitation of Schillers Don Carlos. A poem inspired by Klopstock, La divine épopée, describes the descent of Christ into Hades, under Louis XVIII he became librarian of Saint-Cloud, and subsequently was transferred to Rambouillet and to Compiègne. He died leaving an unfinished epic on Jeanne dArc and his daughter Gabrielle had collaborated with him in some of his later works
5.
La Scala
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La Scala is an opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was known as the Nuovo Regio Ducale Teatro alla Scala. The premiere performance was Antonio Salieris Europa riconosciuta, most of Italys greatest operatic artists, and many of the finest singers from around the world, have appeared at La Scala during the past 200 years. The theatre is regarded as one of the opera and ballet theatres in the world and is home to the La Scala Theatre Chorus, La Scala Theatre Ballet. The theatre also has a school, known as the La Scala Theatre Academy. La Scalas season traditionally opens on 7 December, Saint Ambroses Day, all performances must end before midnight, and long operas start earlier in the evening when necessary. La Scala also hosts the Accademia dArti e Mestieri dello Spettacolo and its goal is to train a new generation of young musicians, technical staff, and dancers. A fire destroyed the theatre, the Teatro Regio Ducale, on 25 February 1776. The neoclassical architect Giuseppe Piermarini produced a design but it was rejected by Count Firmian. A second plan was accepted in 1776 by Empress Maria Theresa, the new theatre was built on the former location of the church of Santa Maria alla Scala, from which the theatre gets its name. The church was deconsecrated and demolished, and over a period of two years the theatre was completed by Pietro Marliani, Pietro Nosetti and Antonio and Giuseppe Fe. The theatre had a total of 3,000 or so seats organized into 678 pit-stalls and its stage is one of the largest in Italy. Building expenses were covered by the sale of palchi, which were decorated by their owners. La Scala soon became the preeminent meeting place for noble and wealthy Milanese people, in the tradition of the times, the platea had no chairs and spectators watched the shows standing up. The orchestra was in sight, as the golfo mistico had not yet been built. Above the boxes, La Scala has a gallery—called the loggione—where the less wealthy can watch the performances, the gallery is typically crowded with the most critical opera aficionados, known as the loggionisti, who can be ecstatic or merciless towards singers perceived successes or failures. As with most of the theatres at that time, La Scala was also a casino, conditions in the auditorium, too, could be frustrating for the opera lover, as Mary Shelley discovered in September 1840, At the Opera they were giving Otto Nicolais Templario. La Scala was originally illuminated with 84 oil lamps mounted on the palcoscenico, to prevent the risks of fire, several rooms were filled with hundreds of water buckets
6.
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
7.
Infanticide
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Infanticide is the intentional killing of infants. Parental infanticide researchers have found that mothers are far more likely than fathers to be the perpetrator for neonaticide, in many past societies, certain forms of infanticide were considered permissible. In some countries, female infanticide is more common than the killing of male offspring, in China for example, the sex gap between males and females aged 0–19 year old was estimated to be 25 million in 2010 by the United Nations Population Fund. In English law infanticide is established as an offence by the Infanticide Acts. Defined as the killing of a child under 12 months of age by their mother, the practice of infanticide has taken many forms over time. Child sacrifice to supernatural figures or forces, such as that believed to have practiced in ancient Carthage. Rather than being an exception, then, it has been the rule, a frequent method of infanticide in ancient Europe and Asia was simply to abandon the infant, leaving it to die by exposure. Many Neolithic groups routinely resorted to infanticide in order to control their numbers so that their lands could support them. Joseph Birdsell believed that infanticide rates in prehistoric times were between 15% and 50% of the number of births, while Laila Williamson estimated a lower rate ranging from 15% to 20%. Both anthropologists believed that high rates of infanticide persisted until the development of agriculture during the Neolithic Revolution. Comparative anthropologists have calculated that 50% of female newborn babies were killed by their parents during the Paleolithic era, decapitated skeletons of hominid children have been found with evidence of cannibalism. Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of child sacrifice at several locations. Some of the best attested examples are the diverse rites which were part of the practices in Mesoamerica. Three thousand bones of children, with evidence of sacrificial rituals, have been found in Sardinia. Pelasgians offered a sacrifice of every tenth child during difficult times, syrians sacrificed children to Jupiter and Juno. Many remains of children have found in Gezer excavations with signs of sacrifice. Child skeletons with the marks of sacrifice have been also in Egypt dating 950-720 BCE. In Carthage sacrifice in the ancient world reached its infamous zenith, besides the Carthaginians, other Phoenicians, and the Canaanites, Moabites and Sepharvites offered their first-born as a sacrifice to their gods
8.
Milan
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Milan is a city in Italy, capital of the Lombardy region, and the most populous metropolitan area and the second most populous comune in Italy. The population of the city proper is 1,351,000, Milan has a population of about 8,500,000 people. It is the industrial and financial centre of Italy and one of global significance. In terms of GDP, it has the largest economy among European non-capital cities, Milan is considered part of the Blue Banana and lies at the heart of one of the Four Motors for Europe. Milan is an Alpha leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, services, research, and tourism. Its business district hosts Italys Stock Exchange and the headquarters of the largest national and international banks, the city is a major world fashion and design capital, well known for several international events and fairs, including Milan Fashion Week and the Milan Furniture Fair. The city hosts numerous cultural institutions, academies and universities, with 11% of the national total enrolled students, Milans museums, theatres and landmarks attract over 9 million visitors annually. Milan – after Naples – is the second Italian city with the highest number of accredited stars from the Michelin Guide, the city hosted the Universal Exposition in 1906 and 2015. Milan is home to two of Europes major football teams, A. C. Milan and F. C. Internazionale, the etymology of Milan is uncertain. One theory holds that the Latin name Mediolanum comes from the Latin words medio, however, some scholars believe lanum comes from the Celtic root lan, meaning an enclosure or demarcated territory in which Celtic communities used to build shrines. Hence, Mediolanum could signify the central town or sanctuary of a Celtic tribe, indeed, the name Mediolanum is borne by about sixty Gallo-Roman sites in France, e. g. Saintes and Évreux. Alciato credits Ambrose for his account, around 400 BC, the Celtic Insubres settled Milan and the surrounding region. In 222 BC, the Romans conquered the settlement, renaming it Mediolanum, Milan was eventually declared the capital of the Western Roman Empire by Emperor Diocletian in 286 AD. Diocletian chose to stay in the Eastern Roman Empire and his colleague Maximianus ruled the Western one, immediately Maximian built several monuments, such as a large circus 470 m ×85 m, the Thermae Herculeae, a large complex of imperial palaces and several other buildings. With the Edict of Milan of 313, Emperor Constantine I guaranteed freedom of religion for Christians, after the city was besieged by the Visigoths in 402, the imperial residence was moved to Ravenna. In 452, the Huns overran the city, in 539, the Ostrogoths conquered and destroyed Milan during the Gothic War against Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. In the summer of 569, a Teutonic tribe, the Lombards, conquered Milan, some Roman structures remained in use in Milan under Lombard rule. Milan surrendered to the Franks in 774 when Charlemagne took the title of King of the Lombards, the Iron Crown of Lombardy dates from this period
9.
Bel canto
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Bel canto, along with a number of similar constructions, is a term relating to Italian singing. It has several different meanings and is subject to a variety of interpretations. Nonetheless, neither musical nor general dictionaries saw fit to attempt definition until after 1900, the term remains vague and ambiguous in the 21st century and is often used to evoke a lost singing tradition. As generally understood today, the bel canto refers to the Italian-originated vocal style that prevailed throughout most of Europe during the 18th century. Operas received the most dramatic use of the techniques, but the bel canto style applies equally to oratorio, the da capo arias these works contained provided challenges for singers, as the repeat of the opening section prevented the story line from progressing. Nonetheless, singers needed to keep the emotional drama moving forward, Singers regularly embellished both arias and recitatives, but did so by tailoring their embellishments to the prevailing sentiments of the piece. Two famous 18th-century teachers of the style were Antonio Bernacchi and Nicola Porpora, a number of these teachers were castrati. In another application, the bel canto is sometimes attached to Italian operas written by Vincenzo Bellini. These composers wrote works for the stage during what musicologists sometimes call the bel canto era. The last important opera role for a castrato was written in 1824 by Giacomo Meyerbeer, wagner decried the Italian singing model, alleging that it was concerned merely with whether that G or A will come out roundly. He advocated a new, Germanic school of singing which would draw the spiritually energetic, interestingly enough, French musicians and composers never embraced the more florid extremes of the 18th-century Italian bel canto style. They disliked the voice and because they placed a premium on the clear enunciation of the texts of their vocal music. The popularity of the bel canto style as espoused by Rossini, Donizetti and it was overtaken by a heavier, more ardent, less embroidered approach to singing that was necessary in order to perform the innovative works of Giuseppe Verdi with maximum dramatic impact. Sopranos and baritones reacted in a fashion to their tenor colleagues when confronted with Verdis drama-filled compositions. To others, however, bel canto became the art of elegant. Rossini lamented in a conversation took place in Paris in 1858 that, Alas for us. Similarly, the so-called German style was as derided as much as it was heralded, in the late-19th century and early-20th century, the term bel canto was resurrected by singing teachers in Italy, among whom the retired Verdi baritone Antonio Cotogni was a pre-eminent figure. During the 1890s, the directors of the Bayreuth Festival initiated a particularly forceful style of Wagnerian singing that was totally at odds with the Italian ideals of bel canto
10.
Maria Callas
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Maria Callas, Commendatore OMRI, was a Greek-American soprano, and one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Many critics praised her bel canto technique, wide-ranging voice and dramatic interpretations and her musical and dramatic talents led to her being hailed as La Divina. Born in New York City and raised by a mother, she received her musical education in Greece. Forced to deal with the exigencies of wartime poverty and with myopia that left her nearly blind onstage, she endured struggles and scandal over the course of her career. She turned herself from a woman into a svelte and glamorous one after a mid-career weight loss, which might have contributed to her vocal decline. The press exulted in publicizing Callass temperamental behavior, her rivalry with Renata Tebaldi. Callass father had shortened the surname Kalogeropoulos first to Kalos and subsequently to Callas in order to make it more manageable, If you marry this man, I will never be able to help you. Evangelia had ignored his warning, but soon realized that her father was right, the situation was aggravated by Georges philandering and was improved neither by the birth of a daughter, named Yakinthi, in 1917 nor the birth of a son, named Vassilis, in 1920. Vassiliss death from meningitis in the summer of 1922 dealt another blow to the marriage, the family left for New York in July 1923, moving first into an apartment in Astoria, Queens. Evangelia was convinced that her child would be a boy. Maria was christened three years later at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in 1926, when Maria was 4, George Callas opened his own pharmacy, settling the family in Manhattan on 192nd Street in Washington Heights where Callas grew up. Around the age of three, Marias musical talent began to manifest itself, and after Evangelia discovered that her youngest daughter also had a voice, Callas later recalled, I was made to sing when I was only five, and I hated it. George was unhappy with his wife favoring their elder daughter, as well as the put upon young Mary to sing. The marriage continued to deteriorate and in 1937 Evangelia decided to return to Athens with her two daughters, I was the ugly duckling, fat and clumsy and unpopular. It is a thing to make a child feel ugly. Ill never forgive her for taking my childhood away, during all the years I should have been playing and growing up, I was singing or making money. Everything I did for them was good and everything they did to me was mostly bad. In 1957, she told Norman Ross, Children should have a wonderful childhood, I have not had it – I wish I had
11.
Joan Sutherland
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One of the most remarkable female opera singers of the 20th century, she was dubbed La Stupenda by a La Fenice audience in 1960 after a performance of the title role in Handels Alcina. Her friend Luciano Pavarotti once called Sutherland the Voice of the Century, Sutherland was the first Australian to win a Grammy Award, for Best Classical Performance – Vocal Soloist in 1962. Joan Sutherland was born to Scottish parents in Sydney, Australia, as a child, she listened to and imitated her mothers singing exercises. Her mother, a mezzo-soprano, had voice lessons but never considered making a career as a professional singer. Sutherland was 18 years old when she began studying voice with John. She made her debut in Sydney, as Dido in Purcells Dido and Aeneas. In 1951, she made her debut in Eugene Goossenss Judith. In 1951, after winning Australias most important competition, the Sun Aria in 1949 and she then went to London to further her studies at the Opera School of the Royal College of Music with Clive Carey. Being an admirer of Kirsten Flagstad in her career, she trained to be a Wagnerian dramatic soprano. In December 1952, she sang her first leading role at the Royal Opera House, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera. Other roles included Agathe in Der Freischütz, the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro, Desdemona in Otello, Gilda in Rigoletto, Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Sutherland married Australian conductor and pianist Richard Bonynge on 16 October 1954. Their son, Adam, was born in 1956, Bonynge gradually convinced her that Wagner might not be her Fach, and that since she could produce high notes and coloratura with great ease, she should perhaps explore the bel canto repertoire. She eventually settled in this Fach, spending most of her career singing dramatic coloratura soprano, the following year she sang Donna Anna in Don Giovanni in Vancouver. In 1958, at the Royal Opera House, after singing Let the bright Seraphim from Handels oratorio Samson, in 1959, Sutherland was invited to sing Lucia di Lammermoor at the Royal Opera House in a production conducted by Tullio Serafin and staged by Franco Zeffirelli. The role of Edgardo was sung by her fellow Australian Kenneth Neate and it was a breakthrough for Sutherlands career, and, upon the completion of the famous Mad Scene, she had become a star. The album, a collection consisting mainly of arias, displays her seemingly effortless coloratura ability, high notes and opulent tones. The album was added to the National Film and Sound Archives Sounds of Australia registry in 2011, by the beginning of the 1960s, Sutherland had already established a reputation as a diva with a voice out of the ordinary. She sang Lucia to great acclaim in Paris in 1960 and, in 1961, at La Scala, in 1960, she sang a superb Alcina at La Fenice, Venice, where she was nicknamed La Stupenda
12.
Cecilia Bartoli
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Cecilia Bartoli, Cavaliere OMRI is an Italian coloratura mezzo-soprano opera singer and recitalist. She is best known for her interpretations of the music of Mozart and Rossini, as well as for her performances of lesser-known Baroque and she is known for having the versatility to sing soprano and mezzo roles. Bartoli is considered a coloratura mezzo-soprano with an unusual timbre and she is one of the most popular opera singers of recent years. Her parents, Silvana Bazzoni and Pietro Angelo Bartoli, were both singers and gave her her first music lessons. Her first public performance was at age eight as the boy in Tosca. Bartoli later studied at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome, in contrast to most opera singers, Bartoli came to prominence in her early twenties, unusual in a profession where vocal maturity is typically not achieved until the thirties. She made her professional opera début in 1987 at the Arena di Verona, the following year she undertook the role of Rosina in Rossinis The Barber of Seville at the Cologne Opera, the Schwetzingen Festival and the Zurich Opera earning rave reviews. In 1990 she made her début at the Opéra Bastille as Cherubino in Mozarts Le nozze di Figaro and this was followed by her La Scala début as Isolier in Le comte Ory in 1991, a performance which solidified her reputation as one of the worlds leading Rossini singers. In 2000 she sang in another Mozart soprano role, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, in 2001 she made a long-awaited Royal Opera House début, taking the roles of Euridice and the Genio in the London stage première of Haydns Lanima del filosofo. In addition to Mozart and Rossini, Bartoli has spent much of her performing and recording baroque and early classical era music of such composers as Gluck, Vivaldi, Haydn. In early 2005, she sang Cleopatra in Handels Giulio Cesare, a written for a soprano. She often performs with the baroque Ensemble Il Giardino Armonico, the album Maria was released in September 2007. In May 2008, Bartoli played the role written for Malibran in a revival of Fromental Halévys 1828 opera Clari at the Zurich Opera. In June 2010 she sang the role of Bellinis Norma for the first time with conductor Thomas Hengelbrock in a concert in the Konzerthaus Dortmund. In March 2011, Bartoli toured five Australian cities with two programs, drawn from Sacrificium and Maria, in 2012 Bartoli became the artistic director of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival, an extension of the traditional Salzburg Festival, which produces performances during Whitsun weekend. In 2012, she sang Cleopatra in Handels Giulio Cesare, in 2013 the title role in Vincenzo Bellinis Norma, in 2011, Bartoli won a fifth Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance for Sacrificium. In 2012 she was voted into the magazines Gramophones Hall of Fame and she is a 2012 recipient of the Herbert von Karajan Music Prize. The couple married in 2011 after 12 years together, Bartoli lived in Monaco in the early 2010s
13.
La Fenice
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Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre, however, the third fire was the result of arson. It destroyed the house in 1996 leaving only the exterior walls, in 1774, the Teatro San Benedetto, which had been Venices leading opera house for more than forty years, burned to the ground. By 1789, with interest from a number of opera lovers who wanted a spectacular new house. The house would face on one side a campo, or small plaza, however, the process was not without controversy especially in regard to the aesthetics of the building. Some thirty responses were received and, as Romanelli accounts, Selvas was designated as the design to be constructed, the actual award for best design went to his chief rival, Pietro Bianchi. However, Selvas design and finished opera house appears to have been of high quality, construction began in June 1790, and by May 1792 the theatre was completed. It was named La Fenice, in reference to the survival, first of the fire. La Fenice was inaugurated on 16 May 1792, with an opera by Giovanni Paisiello entitled I giuochi dAgrigento set to a libretto by Alessandro Pepoli. But no sooner had the house been rebuilt than a legal dispute broke out between the company managing it and the owners, the Venier family. The issue was decided in favor of the Veniers, at the beginning of the 19th century, La Fenice acquired a European reputation. Rossini mounted two major productions there, Tancredi in 1813 and Semiramide in 1823, two of Bellinis operas were given their premieres there, I Capuleti e i Montecchi in March 1830 and Beatrice di Tenda in March 1833. Donizetti, fresh from his triumphs at La Scala in Milan and at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, returned to Venice in 1836 with his Belisario, in December 1836, disaster struck again when the theatre was destroyed by fire. However, it was rebuilt with a design provided by the architect-engineer team of the brothers, Tommaso. The interior displays a late-Empire luxury of gilt decorations, plushy extravagance, La Fenice once again rose from its ashes to open its doors on the evening of 26 December 1837. Giuseppe Verdis association with La Fenice began in 1844, with the performance of Ernani during the carnival season. Over the next 13 years, the premieres of Attila, Rigoletto, La traviata, during the First World War, La Fenice was closed, but it reopened to become the scene of much activity, attracting many of the worlds greatest singers and conductors. On 29 January 1996, La Fenice was completely destroyed by fire, only its acoustics were preserved, since Lamberto Tronchin, an Italian acoustician, had measured the acoustics two months earlier
14.
La sonnambula
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The ballet had premiered in Paris in September 1827 at the height of a fashion for stage works incorporating somnambulism. The first performance took place at the Teatro Carcano in Milan on 6 March 1831, non credea mirarti / Sì presto estinto, o fiore from Aminas final aria is inscribed on Bellinis tomb in the Catania Cathedral in Sicily. Writing to his uncle in Sicily, the composer reported that I shall earn almost twice as much as if I had composed. Then Bellini experienced the re-occurrence of an illness which had emerged in Venice due to pressure of work and the bad weather, the gastro-enteric condition—which he described as a tremendous inflammatory gastric bilious fever— resulted in his being cared for by friends. It was not until the summer, when he went to stay near Lake Como and that Pasta owned a house near Como and would be staying there over the summer was the reason that Felice Romani traveled to meet both her and Bellini. Bellini wrote that is now writing La sonnambula, ossia I Due Fidanzati svezzeri. It must go on stage on 20 February at the latest, during Bellinis lifetime another sfogato, Maria Malibran, was to become a notable exponent of the role of Amina. With its pastoral setting and story, La sonnambula was a success and is still regularly performed. The operas premiere took place on 6 March 1831, a little later than the original date. Its success was due to the differences between Romanis earlier libretti and this one, as well as the accumulation of operatic experience which both and Romani had brought to its creation. After its premiere, the opera was performed in London on 28 July 1831 at the King’s Theatre, Herbert Weinstock provides a comprehensive year-by-year listing of performances following the premiere and then, with some gaps, all the way up to 1900. Later, it was a vehicle for showcasing Jenny Lind, Emma Albani and—in the early 20th century—for Lina Pagliughi, weinsteins account of performances given charts those in the 20th century beginning from 1905. While not part of the repertory, La sonnambula is performed reasonably frequently in the 21st century. A production was mounted by The Royal Opera in London in 2011, by the Salzburger Landestheater in Salzburg 2015, the first mezzo-soprano to record the role was Frederica von Stade in 1980, followed by Cecilia Bartoli. As can be seen in the list in the Recordings section, live performances in the 1950s and from the 1990s have been recorded on CD and DVD. Sol per me non non vha contento / All is joy and merriment. She is consumed with jealousy for she had once been betrothed to Elvino and had abandoned by him in favour of Amina. The lovelorn Alessio arrives, but she rejects his advances, All assembled proclaim the beauty of Amina, In Elvezia non vha rosa / fresca e cara al par dAmina / In Switzerland there is no flower sweeter, dearer than Amina. Then Amina comes out of the mill with her foster-mother, Teresa and she is the owner of the mill and had adopted Amina many years before. Amina thanks her, also expressing her thanks to her friends for their kind wishes
15.
Giuditta Pasta
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Giuditta Angiola Maria Costanza Pasta, was an Italian soprano considered among the greatest of opera singers, to whom the 20th-century soprano Maria Callas was compared. Rutherford, continues by pointing out Pastas singularity on the opera stage and this notion is most aptly illustrated by the Italian attrice cantante Giuditta Pasta. Her career began in 1815 and spanned a little more than years, during its middle period, from 1822 to 1836. But it isnt merely fame that makes Pasta interesting, No other singer during that period attracted as much intellectual discussion, or was regarded as of such significance in the articulation of theories around operatic practices. For such reasons alone, Pasta is deserving of critical attention, Pasta studied in Milan with Giuseppe Scappa and Davide Banderali and later with Girolamo Crescentini and Ferdinando Paer among others. In 1816 she made her professional opera début in the world première of Scappas Le tre Eleonore at the Teatro degli Accademici Filodrammatici in Milan. Later that year she performed at the Théâtre Italien in Paris as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Giulietta in Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli’s Giulietta e Romeo, Pastas first appearance in London in 1817 was a failure. Further studies with Scappa were followed by a debut in Venice in 1819. She caused a sensation in Paris in 1821–22, where the range of her voice. She sang regularly in London, Paris, Milan and Naples between 1824 and 1837, in Milan she created three roles which were written for her voice. They were Donizettis Anna Bolena given at the Teatro Carcano in 1830, Pasta also taught singing in Italy. Among her notable pupils were contralto Emma Albertazzi and soprano Marianna Barbieri-Nini and she also records how when after her career was really over Pasta unwisely came to London for a charity concert. Kemble asked fellow-singer Pauline Viardot what she thought of her now and got the reply ‘It is a ruin. Another pupil was Carolina Ferni, herself a noted Norma, who in her turn taught the soprano Eugenia Burzio whose recordings are known for their passionate expression. After 1841 Pasta lived in retirement at her Lake Como villa and in Milan, devoting herself to advanced vocal instruction, Pasta died in Blevio, a town in the province of Como on 1 April 1865, at the age of 67. She commands two octaves, but two or three of the highest notes of this range are forced, and not agreeable and her middle tones are fine and full-bodied, but, occasionally, notes escape in the lowest half octave, which are husky and harsh. In point of cultivation and science, she possesses, first of all and we have not heard her once out of tune. Her voice type was what could be called a soprano sfogato, notes Sources Appoloni, Giorgio, Giuditta Pasta glory of Belcanto
16.
Giulia Grisi
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Giulia Grisi was an Italian opera singer. She performed widely in Europe, the United States and South America and is considered to be one of the leading sopranos of the 19th century. Her second husband was Giovanni Matteo Mario de Candia, scion of a family of the Kingdom of Sardinia. She is buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris and her grave is marked Juliette de Candia, using the de Candia name. Born in Milan, Giulia Grisi was the daughter of Gaetano Grisi, one of Napoleons Italian officers and she came from a musically-gifted family, her maternal aunt Giuseppina Grassini being a favourite opera singer both on the continent and in London. Her older sister, Giuditta and her cousin Carlotta were both artistes, the former as a singer and the latter as a ballet dancer, Giuditta was the creator of the pants role of Romeo in Bellinis I Capuleti e i Montecchi. Grisi was trained for a career, making her stage debut as Emma in Rossinis Zelmira in Bologna in 1828. Rossini and Bellini both took an interest in her, she was the first to play the part of Adalgisa in Bellinis Norma in Milan, in which the dramatic soprano Giuditta Pasta took the title role. In 1842, Donizetti wrote the parts of Norina and Ernesto in Don Pasquale for Grisi and Giovanni Matteo De Candia, usually known by his stage-name of Mario, who was to become the love of her life. Her voice was described as a dramatic soprano which, during her prime, was praised by critics for its exceptional beauty. Her career spanned 30 years in total and she was a noted actress, appearing regularly in London with such eminent singers as Luigi Lablache, Giovanni Battista Rubini and Antonio Tamburini, not to mention her husband, Mario. Indeed, the prickly press commentator Henry Chorley praised both her and Mario for their success in establishing Italian opera as an important component of the London music scene. In 1854, after they were married, Giulia and Mario undertook a tour of the United States of America. Grisi married Count Gérard de Melcy in 1836, the marriage was unhappy but he refused her a divorce for some years. In 1838, her husband discovered a letter written to her by Frederick Stewart, 4th Marquess of Londonderry, Lord Castlereagh was wounded in the wrist, the Count was uninjured. After the duel, Grisi left her husband and began an affair with Lord Castlereagh and their son, George Frederick Ormsby, was born in November 1838 and brought up by his father, who had no legitimate children by his wife. After Grisi and Lord Castlereaghs relationship ended, he brought their son to see her whenever she was in England, whilst living with Mario Count Giovanni de Candia before their marriage, Giulia and Mario kept homes in Paris and London. Eventually, Grisi obtained her divorce and married Mario, with whom she had six daughters, once married, they returned to Italy and lived at the Villa Salviati in Florence, a property Mario had purchased in 1849
17.
Giuditta Grisi
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Giuditta Grisi was an Italian operatic mezzo-soprano, sister of soprano Giulia Grisi and cousin of ballerina Carlotta Grisi. She was born and studied in Milan, and made her debut in Vienna, as Faliero in Bianca e Faliero, in 1826. She specialized in Rossini roles, which from 1827, she sang throughout Italy, also creating several roles in opera by composers such as Persiani, Coccia, Pacini, bellini wrote the role of Romeo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi for her in 1830. She appeared in London, and at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris, singing Romeo, La straniera, La donna del lago, superbly gifted, she suffered early from serious vocal problems, which necessitated considerable transposition and rewriting of the vocal line. She died prematurely aged only 34, at Lodi, Lombardy, mancini, Roland, Jean-Jacques Rouveroux, Le guide de lopéra, Paris, Fayard
18.
Domenico Donzelli
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Domenico Donzelli was an Italian tenor with a robust voice who enjoyed an important career in Paris, London and his native country during the 1808-1841 period. Donzelli made his debut in his town, in 1808. He soon moved to Naples and performed many roles there, including that of Cinna in a revival of Gaspare Spontinis La Vestale. His career made subsequent headway in major Italian theatres, in Paris and he appeared also in several premières of Donizetti operas, for instance, as Almuzir in Zoraide di Granata, Ugo, conte di Parigi in the opera of that name, and Don Ruiz in Maria Padilla. Donzelli retired from the stage in 1841 and he returned briefly in 1844/45 to sing in Naples, but his voice had irreparably deteriorated. He died in Bologna in 1873, at the age of 83, in Donzellis artistic career, it is possible to discern three separate periods. In the first he was mainly a comic opera tenorino, the second, more substantial period, was spent as a singer of the Rossini stamp, the third, Donzelli was in fact an old-fashioned baritone-type tenor in the traditional Italian manner, with a fairly narrow vocal range. In the central period of his career he could sing up to high C, but only in falsettone, a sort of head voice, but much more forceful and expressive than the proper falsetto). Little versed in coloratura, but decidedly powerful of voice, he had a dark timbre, a firm accent, great phrasing and passionate acting. He was the model for the founder of the latter category of singers, Gilbert Louis Duprez. In trying to match Donzellis performance during rehearsals, Sbigoli reputedly burst a blood vessel in his throat, appolonia, Giorgio, Le voci di Rossini, EDA, Torino 1992, pp. 225–241 Caruselli, Salvatore, Grande enciclopedia della musica lirica, Longanesi &C. Roma, ad nomen Warrack, John and West, Ewan, The Oxford Dictionary of Opera,782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5 This article is a substantial translation from Domenico Donzelli in the Italian Wikipedia
19.
Saverio Mercadante
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Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. Mercadante was born in Altamura, near Bari in Apulia, his date of birth has not been recorded. Mercadante studied flute, violin and composition at the conservatory in Naples, the opera composer Gioachino Rossini said to the conservatory Director, Niccolo Zingarelli, My compliments Maestro – your young pupil Mercadante begins where we finish. The encouragement of Rossini led him to compose for the opera and his next three operas are more or less forgotten, but an abridged recording of Maria Stuarda, Regina di Scozia was issued by Opera Rara in 2006. His next opera Elisa e Claudio was a success, and had occasional revivals in the 20th century. He worked for a time in Vienna, in Madrid, in Cadiz, and in Lisbon, while there, he had the opportunity to hear operas by Meyerbeer and Halévy, which imparted a strong influence on him, especially the latters La Juive. This influence took the form of stress on the dramatic side. The beginnings of the reform movement, of which Mercadante was part, arose from the publication of a manifesto by Giuseppe Mazzini which he wrote in 1836. In the period after 1831 he composed some of his most important works and these included Il giuramento which was premiered at La Scala in November 1837. One striking and innovative characteristic of this opera has been noted, by doing this, Mercadante sounded what was to be the death knell of the age of bel canto. Some of Mercadantes later works, especially Orazi e Curiazi, were quite successful. Many performances of his operas were given throughout the 19th century, from 1863 he was almost totally blind. Not all the concertos are for string orchestra, the Concerto in E minor, is, however, for flute and strings. Notes Sources Bryan, Karen M. Mercadantes Experiment in Form, The cabalettas of Elena da Feltre, Donizetti Society Journal Number 6, London. 13, No.3 Gianturco, Elio, Review of Saverio Mercadante, nella gloria e nella luce, in Notes, Music Library Association, Second Series, Vol.7, No. ISBN 0-333-73432-7 ISBN 1-56159-228-5 Summa, Matteo, Bravo Mercadante, Fasano Walker, Frank, Mercadante and Verdi, Music & Letters, Vol.33,4, pp. com List of performances of operas by Saverio Mercadante on Operabase
20.
Aria
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An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term became used almost exclusively to describe a piece for one voice, with or without orchestral accompaniment. The typical context for arias is opera, but vocal arias also feature in oratorios and cantatas, the term, which derives from the Greek and Latin aer first appeared in relation to music in the 14th century when it simply signified a manner or style of singing or playing. By the end of the 16th century, the term refers to an instrumental form. By the early 16th century it was in use as meaning a simple setting of strophic poetry, melodic madrigals. In the context of staged works and concert works, arias evolved from simple melodies into structured forms, the aria evolved typically in one of two forms. Binary form arias were in two sections, arias in ternary form were known as da capo arias, in the da capo aria the B episode would typically be in a different key – the dominant or relative major key. This version of form with ritornelli became a dominant feature of European opera throughout the 18th century. It is thought by some writers to be the origin of the forms of concerto. The ritornelli became essential to the structure of the aria – while the words determine the character of a melody the ritornello instruments often decided in terms it shall be presented. By the early 18th century, composers such as Alessandro Scarlatti had established the aria form and it offered balance and continuity, and yet gave scope for contrast. The very regularity of its conventional features enabled deviations from the normal to be exploited with telling effect. In the early years of the century, arias in the Italian style began to take over in French opera, giving rise eventually to the French genre of ariette, normally in a relatively simple ternary form. Types of operatic aria became known by a variety of terms according to their character – e. g. aria parlante, aria di bravura, aria buffa, and so on. By the end of this first vocal paragraph the music, if it were in a key as it usually was, had modulated to the dominant. The orchestra then played a second ritornello usually shorter than the first, the singer re-entered and sang the same words through a second time. The music of this paragraph was often slightly more elaborate than that of the first. There were more repeats of words and perhaps more florid vocalisations, the key worked its way back to the tonic for the final vocal cadence after which the orchestra rounded the section off with a final ritornello
21.
Francesco Florimo
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Francesco Florimo was an Italian librarian, musicologist, historian of music, and composer. Florimo was born in San Giorgio Morgeto in Calabria and enrolled at the age of 12 at the Naples Conservatory, there he studied with Nicola Antonio Zingarelli and Giacomo Tritto and met Vincenzo Bellini, a student companion who became a lifelong friend and the recipient of Florimos fervent devotion. Florimo later dedicated works to Bellini, including his Traslazione delle ceneri di Vincenzo Bellini, memorie e impressioni. These errors have caused difficulties for subsequent Bellini scholars. At the conservatory Florimo became an instructor and director of vocal concerts. His conservative Metodo di canto was influential and widely praised, in his youth Florimo composed cantatas and masses. Among his later compositions, most notable are the Sinfonia funebre per la morte di Bellini and his songs, several collections of his songs appeared in the series Collezione completa delle canzoncine nazionali napoletane and some songs were reprinted by Ricordi in Milan. These may contain genuine transcriptions of material, but to what degree. Florimos enlargement of this collection may be his most enduring and important legacy, upon sending the first volume to Verdi in 1869, Florimo wrote, Without being either a man of science or a man of letters, I have ventured to write a book. If the world only regards my good intentions, then it will have indulgence for me, despite Florimos significant shortcomings as a historian, much of his work remains unique and irreplaceable. He accomplished this in many places by simply adding the word not and he also attempted, unsuccessfully, to recruit Verdi as Mercadantes successor as director. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition, works by or about Francesco Florimo at Internet Archive Free scores by Francesco Florimo at the International Music Score Library Project Cenno storico sulla scuola musicale di Napoli. 2,1873 edition at Google Books, la scuola musicale di Napoli e i suoi conservatori. Vol.1 and vol.4 at Google Books, autographed copy of Vicenzo Bellini, biografia ed anedddoti at Google Books. Riccardo Wagner ed i wagneristi View at Google Books, playbill feature article on Golden Age, a play by Terrence McNally which has Bellini and Francesco Florimo as characters
22.
Claque
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A claque is an organized body of professional applauders in French theatres and opera houses. Members of a claque are called claqueurs, hiring people to applaud dramatic performances was common in classical times. For example, when the Emperor Nero acted, he had his performance greeted by an encomium chanted by five thousand of his soldiers and this inspired the 16th-century French poet Jean Daurat to develop the modern claque. Buying a number of tickets for a performance of one of his plays, in 1820 claques underwent serious systematization when an agency in Paris opened to manage and supply claqueurs. By 1830 the claque had become an institution, the manager of a theatre or opera house was able to send an order for any number of claqueurs. These were usually under a chef de claque, who judged where the efforts of the claqueurs were needed, there would be commissaires who learned the piece by heart and called the attention of their neighbors to its good points between the acts. Rieurs laughed loudly at the jokes, pleureurs, generally women, feigned tears, by holding their handkerchiefs to their eyes. Chatouilleurs kept the audience in a humor, while bisseurs simply clapped and cried Bis. The practice spread to Italy, Vienna, London and New York, claques were also used as a form of extortion, as singers were commonly contacted by the chef de claque before their debut and forced to pay a fee, in order not to get booed. Later Toscanini and Mahler discouraged claques, as a part of the development of concert etiquette, although the practice mostly died out in Europe during the mid-20th century, it has continued in Russia, most famously with the Bolshoi Ballet, and US presidential speaking engagements
23.
Giovanni Pacini
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Giovanni Pacini was an Italian composer, best known for his operas. Pacini was born in Catania, Sicily, the son of the buffo Luigi Pacini, the family was of Tuscan origin, and just happened to be in Catania when the composer was born. His first 25 or so operas were written when Gioachino Rossini dominated the Italian operatic stage, but Pacinis operas were rather superficial, a fact which, later, he candidly admitted in his Memoirs. For some years he held the post of director of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Pacinis work is largely forgotten today, although some recordings do exist. During his lifetime, Pacini wrote some 74 operas and this is less than earlier estimates, which ranged from 80 to 90, since it has now been ascertained that many were just alternate titles for other works. It has been noted that he bothered little about harmony and instrumentation, orchestration became heavier, coloratura was reduced, especially for mens voices, and more importance was placed on lyrical pathos. While there were exceptions, romantic leads were assigned to tenors, villains became basses or later baritones. Over time, far more emphasis was placed on the drama, the role that Pacini played in instituting these changes is only now beginning to be recognized. There is little doubt that Pacini and his contemporary Nicola Vaccai exerted an influence on Bellini than has been credited before. This change in attitude can be credited to the revival of two key works, Vaccais Giulietta e Romeo and Pacinis Lultimo giorno di Pompei, both composed in 1825 within a few weeks of each other. The success of many of Pacinis lighter operas especially Il Barone di Dolsheim, La sposa fedele and his position was greatly enhanced by the rapid-fire successes of Alessandro nelle Indie, Amazilia, and the previously mentioned LUltimo giorno di Pompei. Arabi nelle Gallie reached many of the worlds most important stages and was the first Pacini opera to be given in the United States. It was staged frequently in Italy, and it was not until 1830 that Bellinis first success, while this is not generally recognized, it was Pacini, rather than Donizetti, Mercadante or Bellini, who gave Rossini the stiffest competition in Italy during the 1820s. Many operas followed that are almost completely forgotten, however, one of these, Il corsaro was revived 173 years later, in 2004, albeit only with piano accompaniment. This work is different in many ways from Verdis later opera by the same name, the title role, Corrado, is a musico role for an alto, and the villainous Seid is a tenor. However, first Bellini and then Donizetti outstripped Pacini in fame, many of his later operas, such as Carlo di Borgogna of 1835, were failures, but this is one of the few Pacini operas currently available on CD, and it has received many warm reviews. Pacini himself was the first to recognize his apparent defeat noted in memoirs, Bellini, the divine Bellini, has surpassed me. Some years later, he resumed composing, and, after one more setback, after Saffo, Pacini entered into another period of prominence
24.
Zaira (opera)
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Zaira is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini set to a libretto by Felice Romani which was based on Voltaires 1732 tragedy, Zaïre. The story takes place in the time of the Crusades and the plot involves the heroine, Zaira. It was Bellinis fifth opera, following quickly after his February 1829 composition, Zaira received its first performance at the Nuovo Teatro Ducale in Parma on 16 May 1829. Although it had expressly written for the theatres inauguration, it was a failure at its premiere. The aggrieved librettist sums up Bellinis tastes in Romantic drama as follows, likes Romanticism and he declares that Classicism is cold and boring. He is entranced by unnatural meetings in forests, among graves, tombs, initially, Romani proposed that the opera should be Carlo di Borgogna, but composer and librettist eventually decided to tackle a drama so. hallowed as Voltaires Zaïre. However, this proved to be more challenging for Romani than first imagined. In fact, that date had to be changed due to the inability of Lalande to arrive in time for sufficient rehearsal. The later opposition, which arose after the first performance, focused on criticism that Bellini was seen too often on the streets before the premiere rather than writing the music for the opera. 19th century With this opera, Bellini encountered the first serious setback of a brilliant career. Several reason have been put forward, Lippmann and McGuire note, critical of his own work, the librettist stated, the style should have been more careful, and that here and there, certain repetitions of phrases and concepts should have been edited out. The general impression given by reports in the press was that, overall, the music was weak, although some numbers, except for the Florence revival of Zaira, no performances of it were given for 140 years. And again in September 1990 with Katia Ricciarelli and Ramón Vargas, There were presentations in 2006 at the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, and as a concert performance at the 2009 Festival de Radio France et Montpellier in France. Also, it was staged in Martina Franca, Italy in 2013 at the Festival della Valle dItria, scene 1, A gallery leading to the Sultans harem There is celebration in the Sultans court over the impending marriage between Sultan Orosmane and Zaira, the orphaned Christian slave girl. But some of his courtiers resent the marriage, seeing the installation of a Christian woman as sacrilegious, Corasmino, the Sultans vizier vows to seek a way that this will not happen. When the Sultan appears, each expresses their mutual love, the Frenchman Nerestano, a former slave, has returned from France to plead for the release of ten French knights still held captive. Orosmane quickly agrees to all the captives, who number around one hundred. Zaira pleads for Lusignano to be released from his death sentence, scene 2, A subterranean prison leading to the prisoners cells Nerestano and Zaira go down to the prisoners cells to see the French knights who are to be freed
25.
Il pirata
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Il pirata is an opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani which was based on a three-act mélodrame from 1826, Bertram, ou le Pirate by Charles Nodier and Raimonde. However, this play was based upon a French translation of the five-act verse tragedy Bertram. The original play has been compared with Bellinis opera and the influence of Il pirata on Gaetano Donizettis Lucia di Lammermoor has been noted, upon his arrival, he met Antonio Villa of La Scala and composer Saverio Mercadante whose new opera, Il Montanaro was in rehearsal. The latter introduced him to Francesco and Marianna Pollini who immediately took the man under their wing. that such Romantic characters were then an innovation on the operatic stage. Although Romani was known to treat composers poorly, he evidently had great respect for Bellini, for his part, Bellini admired the sonorous and elegance of the poets verses Creating Il pirata The collaboration began in May 1827 and, by August, the music was being written. By then, the composer was aware that he was to music for his favourite tenor Giovanni Battista Rubini. Both singers had starred in Bianca e Fernando in the original 1826 production, the strong cast also included Antonio Tamburini, a major bass-baritone of the time. The reviewer continued to declare that this duality had never expressed in other operas in which he had performed. 19th century The premiere, given on 17 October 1827, was an immediate and then an increasing, by Sunday, December 2, when the season ended, it had been sung to fifteen full houses. For Rubini, it marked the defining performance for the tenor, after its Milanese debut, the opera received very successful performances in Vienna in February 1828 and also in Naples three months later. By this time, Bellini had begun to achieve international fame and it was back in Milan in the summer of 1829 for 24 performances. Throughout 1830, the opera was given in Venice, Vicenza, Bologna, when Bellini was in Siciliy in February 1832, it was also given in Messina, and thereafter spread rapidly around Italy. Il pirata was given outside Italy for the first time in February 1828, Herbert Weinstock notes that in many of its presentations throughout Europe and North America, it was the first Bellini opera to be heard. These include the first UK performance in April 1830 and the first in the USA in December 1832, the soprano continued to appear in the role in December 1970 at the Gran Teatre del Liceu and recorded it in Rome that year. The Wexford Festival staged it in January 1973 and it was presented by the Festival della Valle dItria in Martina Franca in July 1987, nello Santi led performances at the Zürich Opera House in September 1992 with Mara Zampieri. A video recording exists of a performance in Saint-Etienne in May 1993 with Lucia Aliberti, mariella Devia sang the soprano role at the Teatro delle Muse in Ancona in January 2007. Place, Sicily Time, 13th century Scene 1, The seashore near Caldora Castle On a stormy sea-shore and they help the crew come ashore and among the survivors is Gualtiero, who recognises his old tutor Goffredo, now appearing dressed as a hermit. He explains that he has lost everything, Gualtiero tells him that, in spite of his hatred for his persecutor Ernesto, he drew strength from his continuing love for Imogene
26.
Richard Wagner
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Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is primarily known for his operas. Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works and he described this vision in a series of essays published between 1849 and 1852. Wagner realised these ideas most fully in the first half of the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen and his advances in musical language, such as extreme chromaticism and quickly shifting tonal centres, greatly influenced the development of classical music. His Tristan und Isolde is sometimes described as marking the start of modern music, Wagner had his own opera house built, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, which embodied many novel design features. The Ring and Parsifal were premiered here and his most important stage works continue to be performed at the annual Bayreuth Festival, until his final years, Wagners life was characterised by political exile, turbulent love affairs, poverty and repeated flight from his creditors. His controversial writings on music, drama and politics have attracted extensive comment, notably, since the late 20th century, where they express antisemitic sentiments. The effect of his ideas can be traced in many of the arts throughout the 20th century, his influence spread beyond composition into conducting, philosophy, literature, Richard Wagner was born to an ethnic German family in Leipzig, where his family lived at No. 3, the Brühl in the Jewish quarter and he was baptized at St. Thomas Church. He was the child of Carl Friedrich Wagner, who was a clerk in the Leipzig police service, and his wife, Johanna Rosine. Wagners father Carl died of typhus six months after Richards birth, afterwards his mother Johanna lived with Carls friend, the actor and playwright Ludwig Geyer. In August 1814 Johanna and Geyer probably married—although no documentation of this has found in the Leipzig church registers. She and her family moved to Geyers residence in Dresden, until he was fourteen, Wagner was known as Wilhelm Richard Geyer. He almost certainly thought that Geyer was his biological father, Geyers love of the theatre came to be shared by his stepson, and Wagner took part in his performances. In his autobiography Mein Leben Wagner recalled once playing the part of an angel, in late 1820, Wagner was enrolled at Pastor Wetzels school at Possendorf, near Dresden, where he received some piano instruction from his Latin teacher. He struggled to play a scale at the keyboard and preferred playing theatre overtures by ear. Following Geyers death in 1821, Richard was sent to the Kreuzschule, at the age of nine he was hugely impressed by the Gothic elements of Carl Maria von Webers opera Der Freischütz, which he saw Weber conduct. At this period Wagner entertained ambitions as a playwright and his first creative effort, listed in the Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis as WWV1, was a tragedy called Leubald. Begun when he was in school in 1826, the play was influenced by Shakespeare
27.
Riga
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Riga is the capital and the largest city of Latvia. With 696,593 inhabitants, Riga is the largest city in the Baltic states, the city lies on the Gulf of Riga, at the mouth of the Daugava. Rigas territory covers 307.17 square kilometres and lies one and ten metres above sea level, on a flat and sandy plain. Riga was founded in 1201 and is a former Hanseatic League member, Rigas historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, noted for its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture and 19th century wooden architecture. Riga was the European Capital of Culture during 2014, along with Umeå in Sweden, Riga hosted the 2006 NATO Summit, the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, and the 2006 IIHF Mens World Ice Hockey Championships. It is home to the European Unions office of European Regulators for Electronic Communications, Riga is served by Riga International Airport, the largest airport in the Baltic states. Riga is a member of Eurocities, the Union of the Baltic Cities, another theory could be that Riga was named after Riege, the German name for the River Rīdzene, a tributary of the Daugava. The river Daugava has been a trade route since antiquity, part of the Vikings Dvina-Dnieper navigation route to Byzantium. A sheltered natural harbour 15 km upriver from the mouth of the Daugava — the site of todays Riga — has been recorded, as Duna Urbs and it was settled by the Livs, an ancient Finnic tribe. Riga began to develop as a centre of Viking trade during the early Middle Ages, Rigas inhabitants occupied themselves mainly with fishing, animal husbandry, and trading, later developing crafts. German traders began visiting Riga, establishing a nearby outpost in 1158, along with German traders also arrived the monk Meinhard of Segeberg to convert the Livonian pagans to Christianity. Catholic and Orthodox Christianity had already arrived in Latvia more than a century earlier, Meinhard settled among the Livs, building a castle and church at Ikšķile, upstream from Riga, and established his bishopric there. The Livs, however, continued to practice paganism and Meinhard died in Ikšķile in 1196, in 1198, the Bishop Berthold arrived with a contingent of crusaders and commenced a campaign of forced Christianization. Berthold was killed soon afterwards and his forces defeated, pope Innocent III issued a bull declaring a crusade against the Livonians. Bishop Albert was proclaimed Bishop of Livonia by his uncle Hartwig of Uthlede, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, Albert landed in Riga in 1200 with 23 ships and 500 Westphalian crusaders. In 1201, he transferred the seat of the Livonian bishopric from Ikšķile to Riga, the year 1201 also marked the first arrival of German merchants in Novgorod, via the Dvina. To defend territory and trade, Albert established the Order of Livonian Brothers of the Sword in 1202, open to nobles, in 1207, Albert started on fortification of the town. Emperor Philip invested Albert with Livonia as a fief and principality of the Holy Roman Empire, until then, it had been customary for crusaders to serve for a year and then return home
28.
1837
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As of the start of 1837, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923. January 26 – Michigan becomes the 26th state admitted to the United States, February – Charles Dickenss Oliver Twist begins publication in serial form in London. February 4 – Seminoles attack Fort Foster in Florida, February 25 – In Philadelphia, the Institute for Colored Youth is founded as the first institution for the higher education of black people in the United States. March 4 Martin Van Buren is sworn in as President of the United States, the city of Chicago is incorporated. April 12- The conglomerate of Procter & Gamble has its origins when British-born businessmen William Procter and James Gamble begin selling their first manufactured goods in Cincinnati, may – W. F. Cooke and Charles Wheatstone patented a system of electrical telegraph. May 10 – The Panic of 1837 begins in New York City, june 5 – The city of Houston, is incorporated by the Republic of Texas. June 11 – The Broad Street Riot occurs in Boston, Massachusetts, june 20 – 18-year-old Queen Victoria accedes to the throne of the United Kingdom on the death of her uncle William IV without legitimate heirs. She will reign for more than 63 years, under Salic law, the Kingdom of Hanover passes to Williams brother, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, ending the personal union of Britain and Hanover which has persisted since 1714. July – Charles W. King sets sail on the American merchant ship Morrison, in the Morrison incident, he is turned away from Japanese ports with cannon fire. July 13 – Queen Victoria moves from Kensington Palace into Buckingham Palace, August 16 – The Dutch sack the fortress of Bonjol, ending the Padri War. September – Battle of Aranzueque, Liberal victory for the loyal to Queen Isabel II of Spain. September 28 – Samuel Morse files a caveat for a patent for the telegraph, October 10 – October 13 – The French army besieges and captures Constantine in French Algeria. October 22 – Henry David Thoreau makes his first journal entry at the suggestion of Ralph Waldo Emerson, november 7 – American abolitionist and newspaper editor Elijah Lovejoy is killed by a pro-slavery mob, at his warehouse in Alton, Illinois. November 8 – Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, later Mount Holyoke College, is founded in South Hadley, november–December – In the Canadas, William Lyon Mackenzie leads the Upper Canada Rebellion and Louis-Joseph Papineau leads the Lower Canada Rebellion. December 17 – Fire in the Winter Palace, Saint Petersburg, december 29 – The Caroline affair on the Niagara River, the basis for the Caroline test for anticipatory self-defence in international relations. At Le Mans, France, Father Basil Moreau, CSC, founds the Congregation of Holy Cross by joining the Brothers of St. Joseph, the 5th century BC Berlin Foundry Cup is acquired for the Antikensammlung Berlin in Germany. Sylvain Charles Valée and French troops capture Skikda, Algeria, January 2 – Mily Balakirev, Russian composer January 7 – Thomas Henry Ismay, English shipowner February 5 Dwight L. S. Lovejoy, American abolitionist undated - Mary Dixon Kies, the first recipient of a U. S. patent Chronicle of Events from August 1836 to September 1837, American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge
29.
Insertion aria
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An insertion aria is an aria sung in an opera for which it was not composed. It was a practice that began in the century and continued actively through the late 19th century. The insertion aria could replace an existing aria, or might be added to an opera, all insertions were planned in advance. They might be composed by the composer of the opera, or might have been written by a different composer. Most insertions were of arias, infrequently non-operatic songs were inserted, insertions could consist of arias, duets, ensembles, even entire scenes. Although men and women singers used insertion, women are the ones most remembered for the practice, the years 1800–1840 represent the apex of influence that women singers exerted over the operatic stage, influencing most aspects of opera performances, including insertions. The better they sang, after all, the more likely they were to large audiences to the box office. Insertions were expected and could be considered integral components of an operatic performance, contemporaries regarded aria insertion with particular interest as it was known to be a vehicle where singers should show off their best attributes. In that way, it would serve as a way to judge a singers taste, the insertion was specific to the venue or community. Poriss tells of the soprano Carolina Unghers decisions on which aria to insert at the entrance of Elena in Donizettis Marino Faliero, for her performance in Florence, May 1836, she inserted the aria Io talor piu nol rammento from Donizettis Sancia di Castiglia for her entrance. Later that year she inserted the aria Ah. quando in regio talamo from Donizettis Ugo, in the fall of 1837, she planned to insert Oh tu che desti ilfulmin from Donizettis Pia de Tolomei. Poriss argues that this shows a conscious effort to select an aria that would produce the best initial vocal impression. Yet it also shows the singer wanting to select an aria which best fit the style and stayed close to the dramatic. By 1830, a contract could have stipulated the number of insertions. Clauses in contracts limiting the number of insertions kept evolving through the nineteenth century, poriss suggests this represents a move away from authority of singers toward authority of composer. Philip Gossett, a Rossini specialist, has said, In living art, every situation is different, artists change, the same artists mature, instrumentalists have different characteristics from one pit orchestra to another. Sometimes there are situations in an opera which allow for insertion of arias. Operas such as The Barber of Seville contained lesson scenes, in which the singer sings a song as part of the plot, throughout much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a spurious myth positing a lost original justified the tendency to insert music into this scene
30.
Christoph Willibald Gluck
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Christoph Willibald Gluck was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. With a series of new works in the 1760s, among them Orfeo ed Euridice and Alceste. The strong influence of French opera in these works encouraged Gluck to move to Paris, fusing the traditions of Italian opera and the French national genre into a new synthesis, Gluck wrote eight operas for the Parisian stages. One of the last of these, Iphigénie en Tauride, was a success and is generally acknowledged to be his finest work. Gluck was born on 2 July 1714 in Erasbach near Neumarkt and his father Alexander was a forester in Erasbach, and after 1717 head forester in Reichstadt, Kreibitz and Eisenberg, all in northern Bohemia. According to some biographers, it was here, in the middle of Lusatian Mountains, in 1727 the family moved to Eisenberg, where his father was admitted to the service of Prince Philip Hyazinth von Lobkowitz. The Alsatian painter Johann Christian von Mannlich says it was as a Bohemian schoolboy that Gluck received his first musical training. Mannlich relates in his memoirs, written in French and published in 1810 and he quotes Gluck as saying, My father was forestmaster at M. in Bohemia and he planned that eventually I should succeed him. In my homeland everyone is musical, music is taught in the schools, as I was passionate about the art, I made rapid progress. I played several instruments and the schoolmaster, singling me out from the other pupils, I no longer thought and dreamt of anything but music, the art of forestry was neglected. Most now claim that the object of Glucks travels was not Vienna but Prague, at the time the University of Prague boasted a flourishing musical scene that included performances of both Italian opera and oratorio. Gluck eventually left Prague without taking a degree, and vanishes from the record until 1737. According to the music historian Daniel Heartz, there has been considerable controversy concerning Glucks native language, Glucks first biographer, Anton Schmid, accepted that Gluck spoke Czech, but thought Salieri incorrect, proposing instead that Gluck learned Czech in Prague. Heartz writes, More devious manoeuvres have been attempted by Glucks German biographers of this century, while the French ones have, without exception, hans Joachim Moser wanted a lyric work in Czech as proof. In fact, the music theorist Larent Garcin, writing in 1770 before Gluck arrived in Paris, in 1737 Gluck arrived in Milan, where he studied under G. B. Sammartini, who, according to Carpani, taught Gluck practical knowledge of all the instruments, apparently this relationship lasted for several years. Set to a libretto by Metastasio, the opera opened the Milanese Carnival of 1742, according to one anecdote, the public would not accept Glucks style until he inserted an aria in the lighter Milanese manner for contrast. Nearly all of his operas in this period were, like Artaserse, set to Metastasios texts, in 1745 Gluck accepted an invitation to become house composer at Londons Kings Theatre, probably travelling to England via Frankfurt and in the company of Georg Christian, Fürst von Lobkowitz
31.
Gaspare Spontini
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Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini was an Italian opera composer and conductor. Born in Maiolati, Papal State, he spent most of his career in Paris and Berlin, during the first two decades of the 19th century, Spontini was an important figure in French opera. As a youth, Spontini studied at the Conservatorio della Pietà de Turchini, working his way from Italian city to city, he got his first break in Rome, with his successful comedy Li puntigli delle donne. In 1803, he went to Paris, where, on February 11,1804, debuted his comic opera La finta filosofa and its premiere at the Opéra in Paris established Spontini as one of the greatest Italian composers of his age. His contemporaries Cherubini and Meyerbeer considered it a masterpiece, and later such as Berlioz. During the Peninsular War, Napoleon promoted works such as Gasparo Spontinis Fernand Cortez, in 1811 he married Celeste Erard, the niece of the Parisian maker of pianos and harps Sebastien Erard, it was a happy marriage, though childless. He was made a chevalier of Napoleons Legion of Honor, its Maltese cross hangs round his neck in the portrait by Nicolas-Eustache Maurin, there he became Kapellmeister and chief conductor at the Berlin Hofoper, and in this period he composed the Prussian National Anthem Borussia. There he also met the young Mendelssohn, and deprecated the 17 -year olds opera Die Hochzeit des Camacho, in 1842 the disillusioned Spontini, chagrined at the success of Giacomo Meyerbeer and others in Germany, returned to Italy, where he died in 1851. Perhaps the most famous production was the revival of La vestale with Maria Callas at La Scala at the opening of the 1954 season. The stage director was famed cinema director Luchino Visconti and that production was also the La Scala debut of tenor Franco Corelli. Callas recorded the arias Tu che invoco and O Nume tutelar from La vestale in 1955, in 1969, conductor Fernando Previtali revived the opera, with soprano Leyla Gencer and baritone Renato Bruson. In 1993, conductor Riccardo Muti recorded it in the original French language with Karen Huffstodt, Denyce Graves, Anthony Michaels-Moore, Fernand Cortez was revived in 1951, with a young Renata Tebaldi, at the San Carlo in Naples, conducted by Gabriele Santini. The premiere of the version of the work took place at the Erfurt opera house. Li puntigli delle donne was performed at the Putbus Festival 1998, Spontini, Gaspare, in Grove Music Online, accessed 13 September 2014. Silke Leopold, The Idea of National Opera, c.1800 in Unity and Diversity in European Culture c,1800, Tim Blanning and Hagen Schulze New York, Oxford University Press. Todd, R. Larry, Mendelssohn, A Life in Music, fondazione Pergolesi Spontini of Jesi Herbermann, Charles, ed. Gasparo Luigi Pacifico Spontini. Free scores by Gaspare Spontini at the International Music Score Library Project
32.
Italian unification
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The process began in 1815 with the Congress of Vienna and was completed in 1871 when Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. The memory of the Risorgimento is central to both Italian politics and Italian historiography, for short period is one of the most contested. Italian nationalism was based among intellectuals and political activists, often operating from exile, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Roman province of Italy remained united under the Ostrogothic Kingdom and later disputed between the Kingdom of the Lombards and the Byzantine Empire. Following conquest by the Frankish Empire, the title of King of Italy merged with the office of Holy Roman Emperor. However, the emperor was a foreigner who had little concern for the governance of Italy as a state, as a result. This situation persisted through the Renaissance but began to deteriorate with the rise of modern nation-states in the modern period. Italy, including the Papal States, then became the site of proxy wars between the powers, notably the Holy Roman Empire, Spain and France. Harbingers of national unity appeared in the treaty of the Italic League, in 1454, leading Renaissance Italian writers Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini expressed opposition to foreign domination. Petrarch stated that the ancient valour in Italian hearts is not yet dead in Italia Mia, Niccolò Machiavelli later quoted four verses from Italia Mia in The Prince, which looked forward to a political leader who would unite Italy to free her from the barbarians. I am an Italian, he explained, the French Republic spread republican principles, and the institutions of republican governments promoted citizenship over the rule of the Bourbons and Habsburgs and other dynasties. The reaction against any outside control challenged Napoleons choice of rulers, as Napoleons reign began to fail, the rulers he had installed tried to keep their thrones further feeding nationalistic sentiments. After Napoleon fell, the Congress of Vienna restored the pre-Napoleonic patchwork of independent governments, vincenzo Gioberti, a Piedmontese priest, had suggested a confederation of Italian states under leadership of the Pope in his 1842 book, Of the Moral and Civil Primacy of the Italians. Pope Pius IX at first appeared interested but he turned reactionary, Giuseppe Mazzini and Carlo Cattaneo wanted the unification of Italy under a federal republic. That proved too extreme for most nationalists, the middle position was proposed by Cesare Balbo as a confederation of separate Italian states led by Piedmont. One of the most influential revolutionary groups was the Carbonari, a political discussion group formed in Southern Italy early in the 19th century. After 1815, Freemasonry in Italy was repressed and discredited due to its French connections, a void was left that the Carbonari filled with a movement that closely resembled Freemasonry but with a commitment to Italian nationalism and no association with Napoleon and his government. The response came from middle class professionals and business men and some intellectuals, the Carbonari disowned Napoleon but nevertheless were inspired by the principles of the French Revolution regarding liberty, equality and fraternity. They developed their own rituals, and were strongly anticlerical, the Carbonari movement spread across Italy
33.
Sicily
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Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous Region of Italy, along with surrounding minor islands, Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula, from which it is separated by the narrow Strait of Messina. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, the island has a typical Mediterranean climate. The earliest archaeological evidence of activity on the island dates from as early as 12,000 BC. It became part of Italy in 1860 following the Expedition of the Thousand, a revolt led by Giuseppe Garibaldi during the Italian unification, Sicily was given special status as an autonomous region after the Italian constitutional referendum of 1946. Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine. It is also home to important archaeological and ancient sites, such as the Necropolis of Pantalica, the Valley of the Temples, Sicily has a roughly triangular shape, earning it the name Trinacria. To the east, it is separated from the Italian mainland by the Strait of Messina, about 3 km wide in the north, and about 16 km wide in the southern part. The northern and southern coasts are each about 280 km long measured as a line, while the eastern coast measures around 180 km. The total area of the island is 25,711 km2, the terrain of inland Sicily is mostly hilly and is intensively cultivated wherever possible. Along the northern coast, the ranges of Madonie,2,000 m, Nebrodi,1,800 m. The cone of Mount Etna dominates the eastern coast, in the southeast lie the lower Hyblaean Mountains,1,000 m. The mines of the Enna and Caltanissetta districts were part of a leading sulphur-producing area throughout the 19th century, Sicily and its surrounding small islands have some highly active volcanoes. Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and still casts black ash over the island with its ever-present eruptions and it currently stands 3,329 metres high, though this varies with summit eruptions, the mountain is 21 m lower now than it was in 1981. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps, Etna covers an area of 1,190 km2 with a basal circumference of 140 km. This makes it by far the largest of the three volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. In Greek Mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under the mountain by Zeus, Mount Etna is widely regarded as a cultural symbol and icon of Sicily. The Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, to the northeast of mainland Sicily form a volcanic complex, the three volcanoes of Vulcano, Vulcanello and Lipari are also currently active, although the latter is usually dormant
34.
House of Bourbon
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The House of Bourbon is a European royal house of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century, by the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma. Spain and Luxembourg currently have Bourbon monarchs, the royal Bourbons originated in 1268, when the heiress of the lordship of Bourbon married a younger son of King Louis IX. The house continued for three centuries as a branch, while more senior Capetians ruled France, until Henry IV became the first Bourbon king of France in 1589. Restored briefly in 1814 and definitively in 1815 after the fall of the First French Empire, a cadet Bourbon branch, the House of Orléans, then ruled for 18 years, until it too was overthrown. The Princes de Condé were a branch of the Bourbons descended from an uncle of Henry IV. Both houses were prominent in French affairs, even during exile in the French Revolution, until their respective extinctions in 1830 and 1814. When the Bourbons inherited the strongest claim to the Spanish throne, the claim was passed to a cadet Bourbon prince, a grandson of Louis XIV of France, who became Philip V of Spain. The Spanish House of Bourbon has been overthrown and restored several times, reigning 1700–1808, 1813–1868, 1875–1931, Bourbons ruled in Naples from 1734–1806 and in Sicily from 1734–1816, and in a unified Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from 1816–1860. They also ruled in Parma from 1731–1735, 1748–1802 and 1847–1859, all legitimate, living members of the House of Bourbon, including its cadet branches, are direct agnatic descendants of Henry IV. The term House of Bourbon is sometimes used to refer to this first house and the House of Bourbon-Dampierre, the second family to rule the seigneury. In 1268, Robert, Count of Clermont, sixth son of King Louis IX of France, married Beatrix of Bourbon, heiress to the lordship of Bourbon and their son Louis was made Duke of Bourbon in 1327. His descendant, the Constable of France Charles de Bourbon, was the last of the senior Bourbon line when he died in 1527. Because he chose to fight under the banner of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and lived in exile from France, the remaining line of Bourbons henceforth descended from James I, Count of La Marche, the younger son of Louis I, Duke of Bourbon. With the death of his grandson James II, Count of La Marche in 1438, all future Bourbons would descend from James IIs younger brother, Louis, who became the Count of Vendôme through his mothers inheritance. In 1514, Charles, Count of Vendôme had his title raised to Duke of Vendôme and his son Antoine became King of Navarre, on the northern side of the Pyrenees, by marriage in 1555. Two of Antoines younger brothers were Cardinal Archbishop Charles de Bourbon, Louis male-line, the Princes de Condé, survived until 1830. Finally, in 1589, the House of Valois died out and he was born on 13 December 1553 in the Kingdom of Navarre
35.
Palermo
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Palermo is a city of Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence, Palermo is located in the northwest of the island of Sicily, right by the Gulf of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The city was founded in 734 BC by the Phoenicians as Ziz, Palermo then became a possession of Carthage, before becoming part of the Roman Republic, the Roman Empire and eventually part of the Byzantine Empire, for over a thousand years. The Greeks named the city Panormus meaning complete port, from 831 to 1072 the city was under Arab rule during the Emirate of Sicily when the city first became a capital. The Arabs shifted the Greek name into Balarme, the root for Palermos present-day name, eventually Sicily would be united with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies until the Italian unification of 1860. The population of Palermo urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 855,285, in the central area, the city has a population of around 676,000 people. The inhabitants are known as Palermitani or, poetically, panormiti, the languages spoken by its inhabitants are the Italian language, Sicilian language and the Palermitano dialect. Palermo is Sicilys cultural, economic and touristic capital and it is a city rich in history, culture, art, music and food. Palermo is the main Sicilian industrial and commercial center, the industrial sectors include tourism, services, commerce. Palermo currently has an airport, and a significant underground economy. In fact, for cultural, artistic and economic reasons, Palermo was one of the largest cities in the Mediterranean and is now among the top tourist destinations in both Italy and Europe. It is the seat of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Arab-Norman Palermo. The city is going through careful redevelopment, preparing to become one of the major cities of the Euro-Mediterranean area. Roman Catholicism is highly important in Palermitano culture, the Patron Saint of Palermo is Santa Rosalia whose Feast Day is celebrated on 15 July. The area attracts significant numbers of each year and is widely known for its colourful fruit, vegetable and fish markets at the heart of Palermo, known as Vucciria, Ballarò. Palermo lies in a basin, formed by the Papireto, Kemonia, the basin was named the Conca dOro by the Arabs in the 9th century. The city is surrounded by a range which is named after the city itself. These mountains face the Tyrrhenian Sea, Palermo is home to a natural port and offers excellent views to the sea, especially from Monte Pellegrino
36.
Teatro Comunale Florence
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The Teatro Comunale di Firenze or Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is an opera house in Florence, Italy. It became the focus on life in the city. After closure caused by fire, it reopened in April 1864, by 1911 it had both electricity and heating. In 1930 the building was taken over by the city authorities who renamed it the Teatro Comunale, bombing during the Second World War damaged the building once again, and other problems closed it for three years in 1958. Finally, in May 1961, the theatre reopened with Verdis Don Carlo. List of opera houses Lynn, Karyl Charna, Italian Opera Houses and Festivals, Lanham, Maryland, The Scarecrow Press, ISBN 0-8108-5359-0 Plantamura, Carol, The Opera Lovers Guide to Europe, New York, Citadel Press,1996
37.
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
38.
Lyric Opera of Chicago
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Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name Lyric Theatre of Chicago by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callass American debut in Norma. The company was re-organized by Fox in 1956 under its present name and, after her 1981 departure, the Lyric is housed in the Civic Opera Building, which the company now owns. The first opera to be performed in Chicago was Bellinis La sonnambula, chicagos first opera house opened in 1865 but was destroyed in the Great Fire of Chicago in 1871. The second opera house, the Chicago Auditorium, opened in 1889, in 1929 the current Civic Opera House on 20 North Wacker Drive was opened, though the Chicago Civic Opera Company itself collapsed in the Great Depression. The old Auditorium continued to stage shows and musicals till it closed in 1941. Chicago had this first company for four seasons, then, after no season in 1914/15 and this lasted through 1921/22, when it became the Chicago Civic Opera from 1922 until 1932. After no season in 1932/33, the company was re-formed and again named the Chicago Grand Opera Company from 1933 to 1935, from 1936 to 1939, the company was called Chicago City Opera Company, and finally from 1940 to 1946 opera was presented by the Chicago Opera Company. There were no seasons from 1947 until 1953, so opera was presented by other companies on tour, Lyric Opera was formed in 1954 and has continued uninterrupted except for 1967. However, when she realized that performance was not to be in her future, she decided that it lay in bringing the performances of the worlds finest artists to her home town of Chicago. Her success can be measured in one statistic regarding the filling of the Lyrics Civic Opera House, in 1954, the Italian composer Pino Donati was her artistic director. Bruno Bartoletti was principal conductor, but other conductors included Tullio Serafin, Dimitri Mitropoulos, christoph von Dohnányi and Sir Georg Solti chose the Lyric for their American operatic debuts. Franco Zeffirelli staged operas as did Harold Prince, because of her illnesses and her refusal to lower her artistic standards despite the Lyrics dire financial state in 1980, her resignation was sought and given. Carol Fox died a few later, survived by a daughter Victoria. Anna Moffo also chose the Lyric for her American debut, Carol Fox was succeeded at the Lyric by her longtime assistant manager, Ardis Krainik, after whom the opera house was named, and then by William Mason. Anthony Freud took over in October 2011, Sir Andrew Davis is Lyrics music director and principal conductor, a post he has occupied since in September 2000. He led three complete cycles of Der Ring des Nibelungen in the 2004/05 season to mark the companys 50th anniversary, philip David Morehead was head of music staff until his retirement in 2015. In addition to the operatic repertoire, Lyric also presents contemporary works
39.
Nicola Rescigno
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Nicola Rescigno was an Italian-American conductor, particularly associated with the Italian opera repertory. Vigorous musical integrity, idiomatic style and unfailing support of his singers were the hallmarks of his performances throughout his distinguished career, born into a musical family in New York City, he studied with Pizzetti, Giannini and Polacco. He made his debut in 1943, conducting La traviata, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music for Alfredo Salmaggis opera company and he then toured the United States with the San Carlo Opera Company, serving as the companys music director from 1944-1947. He then took music director posts with the Connecticut Opera and Havana Opera and he made his conducting debut with the San Francisco Opera in 1950 conducting Lily Pons in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Dorothy Kirsten in Madama Butterfly. For the companys inaugural performance he conducted Maria Callas in her American debut in the role of Bellinis Norma. He went on to collaborate with the famous soprano several more times, including conducting her only appearances as Cio-Cio-San. In 1957, Rescigno co-founded the Dallas Opera with Kelly after the two left Chicago following a dispute with the Lyric board and he served as artistic director and principal conductor of the Dallas Opera from 1957 to 1990. He also worked with Callas in Dallas and he also conducted the world premieres of Virgil Thomsons Fantasy in Homage to an Earlier England and Dominick Argentos The Aspern Papers. He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1978, conducting Don Pasquale, followed by Lelisir damore, Litaliana in Algeri, and La traviata. His close association with Maria Callas, having one of her favourite conductors, resulted in several album recordings of operatic arias made for EMI. He also recorded an album of Verdi arias with Robert Weede, excerpts from Francesca da Rimini, also available, on DVD, are a 1959 concert from Hamburg with Callas, and a 1981 performance of Lelisir damore from the Met, with Judith Blegen and Luciano Pavarotti. Nicola Rescigno was the uncle of conductor Joseph Rescigno and he died at the age of 92 in a hospital in Viterbo, Italy, while awaiting surgery on his broken femur. Grove Music Online, Cori Ellison, June 2008, the New York Times Nicola Rescigno conducting an excerpt from Il pirata, with Maria Callas on YouTube Obituary
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Metropolitan Opera
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The Metropolitan Opera, commonly referred to as The Met, is a company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager, the music director position is in transition as of 2016. The music director designate is Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the director emeritus is James Levine. The Met was founded in 1880 as an alternative to the previously established Academy of Music opera house, the Metropolitan Opera is the largest classical music organization in North America. It presents about 27 different operas each year in a season lasts from late September through May. The operas are presented in a rotating schedule with up to seven performances of four different works staged each week. Moving to the new Lincoln Center location in 1966, performances are given in the evening Monday through Saturday with a matinée on Saturday, several operas are presented in new productions each season. Sometimes these are borrowed from or shared with other opera houses, the rest of the years operas are given in revivals of productions from previous seasons. The 2015-16 season comprised 227 performances of 25 operas, the operas in the Mets repertoire consist of a wide range of works, from 18th-century Baroque and 19th-century Bel canto to the Minimalism of the late 20th century. These operas are presented in staged productions that range in style from those with elaborate traditional decors to others that feature modern conceptual designs, the Mets performing company consists of a large symphony-sized orchestra, a chorus, childrens choir, and many supporting and leading solo singers. The company also employs numerous free-lance dancers, actors, musicians, the Mets roster of singers includes both international and American artists, some of whose careers have been developed through the Mets young artists programs. The Metropolitan Opera Company was founded in 1880 to create an alternative to New Yorks old established Academy of Music opera house, the subscribers to the Academys limited number of private boxes represented the highest stratum in New York society. By 1880, these old families were loath to admit New Yorks newly wealthy industrialists into their long-established social circle. Frustrated with being excluded, the Metropolitan Operas founding subscribers determined to build a new house that would outshine the old Academy in every way. A group of some 22 men assembled at Delmonicos restaurant on April 28,1880 and they elected officers and established subscriptions for ownership in the new company. The first Met subscribers included members of the Morgan, Roosevelt, the new Metropolitan Opera House opened on October 22,1883, and was an immediate success, both socially and artistically. The Academy of Musics opera season folded just three years after the Met opened, in its early decades the Met did not produce the opera performances itself but hired prominent manager/impresarios to stage a season of opera at the new Metropolitan Opera House. Henry Abbey served as manager for the season, 1883–84
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Greece
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Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically also known as Hellas, is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine regions, Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Thrace, Crete. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands, eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming a part of the Roman Empire and its successor. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World, falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greeces rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe, Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the member to join the European Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. Greeces unique cultural heritage, large industry, prominent shipping sector. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor, the names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures. The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, all three stages of the stone age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries and these civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC and this ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, in 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the worlds first democratic system of government in Athens
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Greek National Opera
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The Greek National Opera is the countrys state lyric opera company, located in the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center at the south suburb of Athens, Palaio Faliro. It is a corporation under the supervision of the Greek Ministry of Culture and administered by the Board of Trustees and its Artistic Director. The GNO has created and now organizes a national archive of music, a music library, the company tours both within Greece and internationally. The performances of the Greek National Opera are presented on four stages, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, with its Opera auditorium, is the location for opera. Olympia Theatre, with its Maria Callas Central Stage, primarily presents opera, acropol Theatre, with the New Stage and the Children’s Stage, primarily presents operetta and opera for children. The Lyric Stage is a studio theatre. In its new home, GNO is a destination for music lovers. The new 28,000 m² auditorium is a jewel, designed to enhance the opera experience for patrons. It was in 1939 that the Greek National Opera was formally established under the management of Kostis Bastias, on 5 March 1940 the company had its first official opening with the Johann Strauss operetta, Die Fledermaus. Two days prior to the declaration of the Second World War, in 1960, she sang Norma in the Bellini opera, and in 1961 took the role of Medea in Cherubini’s Medea. Other important singers have included Elena Souliotis, Kostas Paskalis, recent Festival productions at the Herodion Ancient Theatre have included many of the standard operatic works, with Kostas Paskalis featuring in major roles. The Chorus of the Greek National Opera, in existence since 1939, is composed of professional singers, in addition to the standard classic and romantic repertory, contemporary dance by Greek and foreign professionals is established as a feature. With help from the state, the Ballet acquired its own fuller rehearsal studio for training purposes, particularly important in her contribution to the development of ballet at the National Opera was Tatiana Mamaki. Tatiana Mamaki Athens Concert Hall Greek National Opera official website, in English The Stavros Niarchos Foundation
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Soprano
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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
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