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.
Leeds
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Leeds /liːdz/ is a city in West Yorkshire, England. Historically in Yorkshires West Riding, the history of Leeds can be traced to the 5th century when the name referred to an area of the Kingdom of Elmet. The name has applied to many administrative entities over the centuries. It changed from being the appellation of a small borough in the 13th century, through several incarnations. In the 17th and 18th centuries Leeds became a centre for the production. During the Industrial Revolution, Leeds developed into a mill town, wool was the dominant industry but flax, engineering, iron foundries, printing. From being a market town in the valley of the River Aire in the 16th century Leeds expanded and absorbed the surrounding villages to become a populous urban centre by the mid-20th century. The city has the third largest jobs total by local authority area with 480,000 in employment and self-employment at the beginning of 2015. Leeds is also ranked as a world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Leeds is served by four universities, and has the fourth largest student population in the country and has the fourth largest urban economy. After London, Leeds is the largest legal and financial centre in the UK, with over 30 national and international banks located in the city. Leeds is also the UKs third largest manufacturing centre with around 1,800 firms and 39,000 employees, the largest sub-sectors are engineering, printing and publishing, food and drink, chemicals and medical technology. Outside of London, Leeds has the third busiest railway station, Public transport, rail and road communications networks in the region are focused on Leeds and there are a number of twinning arrangements with towns and cities in other countries. The name Leeds derives from the old Brythonic word Ladenses meaning people of the fast-flowing river and this name originally referred to the forested area covering most of the Brythonic kingdom of Elmet, which existed during the 5th century into the early 7th century. An inhabitant of Leeds is locally known as a Loiner, a word of uncertain origin, the term Leodensian is also used, from the citys Latin name. Leeds developed as a town in the Middle Ages as part of the local agricultural economy. Before the Industrial Revolution it became a centre for the manufacture of woollen cloth. Leeds handled one sixth of Englands export trade in 1770, growth, initially in textiles, was accelerated by the building of the Aire and Calder Navigation in 1699 and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in 1816
3.
Grand Theatre, Leeds
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The Grand Theatre is a theatre and Opera house in the centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was designed by James Robinson Watson, chief assistant in the office of Leeds-based architect George Corson, the exterior is in a mixture of Romanesque and Scottish baronial styles, while the interior has such Gothic motifs as fan-vaulting and clustered columns. The theatre is a Grade II* listed building, the theatre is home to Opera North and is regularly visited by Northern Ballet. It has hosted many touring productions, musical artists and comedians, the theatre closed at the end of May 2005 for a major refurbishment, entitled transformation, and reopened on 7 October 2006 with a production of Verdis Rigoletto. The Centre includes two new stage-sized rehearsal spaces and increased office space, the cost of the refurbishment has been estimated at £31.5 million. The Assembly Rooms opened in 1879 and functioned as the Plaza Cinema between 1912 and 1978 and subsequently as a room for Opera North. Since the transformation at the theatre, particularly after a state of the art automated flying system was introduced, productions at the theatre have included, The Phantom Of The Opera, Dirty Dancing, Shrek The Musical, Oliver, We Will Rock You and Wicked. Grand Memories, The Life and Times of the Grand Theatre and Opera House, Grand Theatre website Howard Assembly Room website Leeds City Council page on the theatre Historic England
4.
Theatre Royal, Nottingham
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The Theatre Royal attracts major touring dramas, opera, ballet, West End musicals and an annual pantomime. The Theatre Royal was completed in 1865, after six months of work and costing the clients, lace manufacturers John, the Classic façade and Corinthian columns designed by Charles J. Phipps are still a major Nottingham landmark. The Theatre Royal opened on Monday,25 September 1865 with Sheridan’s The School for Scandal, baroness Orczy’s The Scarlet Pimpernel was first produced at the Theatre Royal by Fred Terry and Julia Neilson before being published as a novel. Although initially the play was met with success, the novel is credited with influencing the mystery genre. On October 6,1952, the theatre made history with the premiere of The Mousetrap. The play has gone on to be the theatrical production in the world. In 1969 the city bought the theatre and began restoring it at a cost of £4 million in the day. It was in need of restoration and had earned a reputation as one of the worst theatres for backstage conditions in the country and it was officially reopened 6 June 1978 by Princess Anne who was “impressed and delighted” and said “…what an improvement on the old place. All you had there was the smell of gas. ”Inside she met with “…City Council leader Coun, Jack Green…” and unveiled a plaque in the foyer. The elegant portico, with its six Corinthian columns of Ancaster stone, indeed, the orientation of the portico was designed to afford maximum effect, closing a new street from the Great Market Place, Market Street. The Theatre Royal was closed between the end of April and September 1897 for remodelling, the works included building new dressing rooms at the rear to clear part of the site for the Empire. Matcham also refashioned the existing auditorium, Frank Matcham pioneered the use of cantilevered steel in his designs, and patented his design. This allowed balconies to be built without the use of supporting pillars, without pillars, lowering the stage and increasing the rake of the tiers, sight lines were much improved and the audience capacity increased to around 3,000. The theatre has four tiers of seating, the stalls, dress circle, upper circle and it has seven fully licensed bars including The Green Room Cafe Bar on the ground floor and The Restaurant on the dress circle level. The theatre is served by the adjacent Royal Centre tram stop on the Nottingham Express Transit, the theatre has an annual pantomime, usually starring local or national celebrities. Some of them include,2016 Jack and the Beanstalk with the Chuckle Brothers,2015 Aladdin with Christopher Biggins, Simon Webbe & Ben Nickless 2014 Snow White with Lesley Joseph 2013 Peter Pan with David Hasselhoff. 2011 Sleeping Beauty with Joe Pasquale,2010 Aladdin with Stephen Mulhern and Gray OBrien. 2009 Jack and the Beanstalk with Nigel Havers and Jenna-Louise Coleman,2007 Peter Pan with Debra Stephenson and John Challis
5.
The Lowry
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The Lowry is a theatre and gallery complex situated on Pier 8 at Salford Quays, in Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is named after the early 20th century painter L. S. Lowry, the complex was officially opened on 12 October 2000 by Queen Elizabeth II. The initial proposals were for two theatres and an art gallery on a prominent site on Pier 8, between 1990 and 1991 a competition was launched and architects James Stirling Michael Wilford Associates was selected. After the death of James Stirling in June 1992 Michael Wilford continued the project, the city council bid for Millennium and other British and European funds and private sector finance to progress the project. Funding was secured in 1996 and The Lowry Trust became responsible for the project which comprised The Lowry Centre, the plaza, a footbridge, the National Lottery provided over £21 million of funding towards its construction. The project was completed in 1999 at a cost of £106 million, the Lowry name was adopted in honour of the local artist, L. S. Lowry. The complex is close to the Imperial War Museum North and the Old Trafford football stadium and it is served by the MediaCityUK stop on the Metrolink tram network. In 2010 and 2011 it was Greater Manchesters most visited tourist attraction, a sting operation by the Salford Star in 2006 attempted to demonstrate intolerance towards unaccompanied teenagers in hoodies entering the complex. The complex was designed by Michael Wilford with structural engineer Buro Happold, groundbreaking took place on 19 June 1997. The Lowry is built on a site at the end of Pier 8 and has a triangular plan. A promenade encircling the building provides views of the Manchester Ship Canal, MediaCityUK, the foyer faces the public plaza, where there is a large aerofoil canopy at the entrance clad with perforated steel and illuminated from inside at night. Much of the building is clad in steel and glass. The Lowry was described as not quite Salfords Guggenheim and it is ultimately too small and too well behaved. Although there are obvious shared aims, a reference to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Lowry footbridge spanning the ship canal was designed and project managed by Parkman, with design support from Carlos Fernandez Casado. It is a bridge with a clear span of 100 metres. The bridge span is an arch and the towers are constructed in tubular steelwork to provide an open aspect to view the lifting counterweight. In November 2015, the Lowry opened a new bar and restaurant, called Pier 8, after a 12 week closure on the original bar and restaurant. The new space cost £3m to develop and is part of an ongoing £5m investment programme to improve facilities, the new features include a zinc topped curving bar with room to seat 150 people for casual dining
6.
Salford Quays
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Salford Quays is an area of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, near the end of the Manchester Ship Canal. Previously the site of Manchester Docks, it one of the first and largest urban regeneration projects in the United Kingdom following the closure of the dockyards in 1982. Built by the Manchester Ship Canal Company, Salford Docks was the larger of two sections made up Manchester Docks, the other being Pomona Docks to the east. They were opened in 1894 by Queen Victoria and spanned 120 acres of water and 1,000 acres of land and they closed in 1982, resulting in the loss of 3000 jobs. In 1983 Salford City Council acquired parts of the docks covering 220 acres from the Manchester Ship Canal Company with the aid of a land grant. The area was rebranded as Salford Quays and redevelopment by Urban Waterside began in 1985 under the Salford Quays Development Plan, within two years the quality was sufficient to introduce 12,000 coarse fish, which have thrived in the environment. Between 1986 and 1990 the infrastructure of the docks was modified to create a waterway network. Roads and bridges were built and a promenade along the waterfront constructed and landscaped, moorings and watersports facilities were provided and a railway swing bridge moved to cross Dock 9. A hotel, cinema, housing, offices were built on Piers 5 and 6 followed by developments on Pier 7. Public funding and private investment totalled around £280 million by the early 1990s and it had secured £64 million in funding by 22 February 1996. The Lowry stands at the end of Pier 8, largely surrounded by the waters of the Manchester Ship Canal. Designed by James Stirling and Michael Wilford, it opened on 28 April 2000 and houses the 1,730 seat Lyric theatre, there are cafes, bars and a restaurant at the south-western end of the building. The centre is associated with L. S. Lowry, the Imperial War Museum North, on Trafford Wharf Road in Trafford Park, overlooks the Manchester Ship Canal on the opposite bank to the Lowry and MediaCityUK. The area was bombed during the Manchester Blitz in December 1940. The museum, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, opened in July 2002 and its structure was designed to be a metaphor for a world shattered by war with sloping walls and ceilings. Three areas, the Air, Earth and Water Shards house exhibition and gallery space, public areas, at the moment, the exhibition is dedicated to Medicine Through Time. The museum also currently has an artifact from the New York 9/11 Twin Tower disaster. MediaCityUK is a 200-acre mixed-use property development on Pier 9 of the Quays with a focus on creative industries and it was developed by the Peel Group
7.
Theatre Royal, Newcastle
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The Theatre Royal is a Grade I listed building situated on Grey Street in Newcastle upon Tyne. One of the first managers here was Thomas Ternan who employed his wife, following a performance of William Shakespeares play Macbeth, a huge fire destroyed the interior of the building in 1899. It had its interior redesigned by Frank Matcham and reopened on 31 December 1901, externally, the building is exactly as it was when it was first built. It underwent a refurbishment and restoration in the latter part of the 1980s. The Theatre Royal went dark on 14 March 2011 due to a restoration of the auditorium, box office, bars. The restoration restored the theatre to the original 1901 Frank Matcham Edwardian interior, the whole interior was stripped apart from the original plasterwork which was carefully preserved. The proscenium arch, tiers and boxes were gold leafed and the plasterwork restored, on all levels the seats were replaced with Edwardian-style theatre seats in keeping with the restoration. The amphitheatre which was removed during previous renovations was restored to offer more leg room and this took the theatre to five distinct seating areas, the stalls, grand circle, upper circle, amphitheatre and gallery. Wheelchair spaces were installed on levels which had previously been inaccessible, as well as the boxes near the stage, boxes at the rear of the grand and upper circles were also restored taking the total number of boxes up to ten. The stage lift and orchestra pit were replaced to better facilities for opera. A new ventilation system was put in place to improve comfort levels in the theatre, new frescos for the lobby and upper circle were commissioned and put in place. This £4. 75m project introduced higher standards of comfort and improved energy, the Theatre Royal reopened on 12 September 2011 with Alan Bennett’s epic period drama The Madness of George III, George III was in fact the monarch who gave the Theatre Royal its charter. The theatre currently hosts a variety of shows, including ballet, contemporary dance, drama, musicals, almost all of the shows that come to the Theatre Royal are part of national British tours, and in a typical year the theatre will have 30 to 35 visiting shows. For the annual pantomime, and any visiting musicals and opera performances, the stage itself is also of substantial size, and can house 50 singers, dancers, actors and musicians. Newcastles original Theatre Royal opened on 21 January 1788 and its location on Mosley Street obstructed plans for the redevelopment of the city centre, so it was demolished to make way for the present building. One of the theatres most successful managers at this time was Stephen Kemble of the famous Kemble family, the original theatres final performance was on 25 June 1836. The current theatre has a stage, and accommodates a variable orchestra pit on 2 lifts - which reduces the stall seating. The audience is seated on four levels, stalls, grand circle, upper circle, project A is a one-year actor training programme led by an artistic director and supported by leading industry specialists
8.
Arts Council England
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Arts Council England was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales. It is a public body of the Department of Culture, Media. Arts Council England is a body dedicated to promoting the performing, visual. Since 1994, Arts Council England has been responsible for distributing lottery funding and this investment has helped to transform the building stock of arts organisations and to create lots of additional high quality arts activity. Since October 2011, Arts Council England has been responsible for supporting and developing museums, at the same time, the National Lottery was established and the Arts Council of England became one of the distribution bodies. This increased responsibility saw the Arts Council of England grow back in size to the point where it was larger than before the 1987 restructure, Arts Council England has a national council of 15 members, including the Chair. The national council meets ten times a year and is made up of representatives of the community with five of the members also representing the area councils. Each area council has a board of 15 members made up of representatives of their arts community and local government. There are five area councils, The appointment of the Arts Council England Chief Executive is made by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, each area council has an Executive Director and each art form has a specialist advisor. She developed over 40 permanent artistic commissions integrated into the Olympic Park Arts Council England supports a number of museums as Major Partnership Museums. 16 single museums or consortia were supported 2012-2015, and a further five were added for 2015-2018 bringing the total to 21, there was also a series of costly capital projects such as the Royal Opera House and the Lowry Centre that required additional funding. In the case of the Royal Opera House the select committee found the Arts Council had broken its own procedures, in 2005 it was announced that the Arts Council Englands budget was capped resulting in an effective £30m reduction in its budget. The Arts Council of England funds a controversial cultural festival, the Festival of Muslim Cultures, Arts Council Englands music policy was controversial within the jazz world. Chris Hodgkins, in his 1998 paper Jazz in the UK, pointed out more than 90% of its music budget went on opera while jazz, with an equivalent audience size. The funding landscape has improved since with funding for NWJazzworks and Manchester Jazz Festival 2012, among other areas funding has diversified into youth music such as National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, National Youth Jazz Collective and South Asian Music Youth Orchestra etc. More recently it was raised in the House of Lords by Lord Colwyn on 11 May 2006 as documented in the Lords Hansard Columns. Creative Partnerships Community art Artsmark State planning Arts Council England consultation website Arts Council England Artists taking the lead Arts energy Arts jobs Own art Take it away
9.
Leeds City Council
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Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is a district council, one of five in West Yorkshire and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England. Since 1 April 2014 it has been a constituent council of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, the leader was an alderman, the first holder being Sir John Savile. In 1893 Leeds became a city and in 1897 the leader became Lord Mayor, the modern city council was established in 1974, with the first elections being held in advance in 1973. The new Leeds district was one of five districts in West Yorkshire. It was granted a borough and city status to become the City of Leeds, until 1986 the city council was a second-tier authority, with West Yorkshire County Council providing many key services. Leeds City Council is responsible for providing all local authority services in Leeds. This includes education, housing, planning, transport and highways, social services, libraries, leisure and recreation, waste collection, waste disposal, environmental health, the council is one of the largest employers in West Yorkshire, with around 33,000 employees. By the Summer of 2016, Leeds City Council have plans to create the biggest skateboarding park in Europe, the location will be in hyde Park. Education Leeds was set up in 2001 as a non-profit making company wholly owned by Leeds City Council to provide support services for the council. For its first five years it operated as a partnership between the Council and Capita. The senior councillors of the councils Executive Board voted in March 2010 to stop using Education Leeds to provide services from 31 March 2011, until 1 October 2013, Leeds City Councils housing stock was managed and operated by three Arms Length Management Organisations since 2007. They were wholly owned by the Council but operated as autonomous, at this point, the ALMOs ceased to exist. Management of more than 2000 homes in Belle Isle is carried out by Belle Isle Tenant Management Organisation, in September 2012 the Council announced its intention to introduce a bring your own device policy as part of cost saving measures. In 2012 the Council was fined £95,000 by the Information Commissioners Office after it sent confidential, commenting on Leeds and other authorities who had made similar data protection breaches, the ICO said It would be far too easy to consider these breaches as simple human error. The reality is that they are caused by councils treating sensitive personal data in the same way they would deal with more general correspondence. Far too often in cases, the councils do not appear to have acknowledged that the data they are handling is about real people. The council operates a Leader and Cabinet executive as defined under section 11 of the Local Government Act 2000, the Executive Board of the Council currently consists of eight executive members with portfolio responsibilities from the ruling Labour group, and the leaders the two biggest opposition groups
10.
West Yorkshire
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West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in England. It is an inland and in relative terms upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in moors of the Pennines and has a population of 2.2 million, West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. West Yorkshire consists of five boroughs and shares borders with the counties of Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire. In the heart of the county is Leeds Bradford International Airport, West Yorkshire County Council was abolished in 1986 so its five districts became effectively unitary authorities. However, the county, which covers an area of 2,029 square kilometres, continues to exist in law. West Yorkshire includes the West Yorkshire Urban Area, which is the most built-up, West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council inherited the use of West Riding County Hall at Wakefield, opened in 1898, from the West Riding County Council in 1974. Since 1987 it has been the headquarters of Wakefield City Council, the county initially had a two-tier structure of local government with a strategic-level county council and five districts providing most services. In 1986, throughout England the metropolitan county councils were abolished, the functions of the county council were devolved to the boroughs, joint-boards covering fire, police and public transport, and to other special joint arrangements. Organisations such as the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive continue to operate on this basis, although the county council was abolished, West Yorkshire continues to form a metropolitan and ceremonial county with a Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire and a High Sheriff. Wakefields Parish Church was raised to cathedral status in 1888 and after the elevation of Wakefield to diocese, Wakefield Council immediately sought city status and this was granted in July 1888. However the industrial revolution, which changed West and South Yorkshire significantly, led to the growth of Leeds and Bradford, Leeds was granted city status in 1893 and Bradford in 1897. The name of Leeds Town Hall reflects the fact that at its opening in 1858 Leeds was not yet a city, the county borders, going anticlockwise from the west, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Derbyshire, South Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. It lies almost entirely on rocks of carboniferous age which form the southern Pennine fringes in the west, in the extreme east of the metropolitan county there are younger deposits of magnesian limestone. The Bradford and Calderdale areas are dominated by the scenery of the slopes of the Pennines, dropping from upland in the west down to the east. There is a conjunction of large scale industry, urban areas. The dense network of roads, canals and railways and urban development, the carboniferous rocks of the Yorkshire coalfield further east have produced a rolling landscape with hills, escarpments and broad valleys. In this landscape there is evidence of both current and former industrial activity. There are numerous derelict or converted mine buildings and recently landscaped former spoil heaps, the scenery is a mixture of built up areas, industrial land with some dereliction, and farmed open country
11.
East Riding of Yorkshire
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The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county of England. It is located in the region of Yorkshire and the Humber, the modern East Riding of Yorkshire, was formed in 1996 from the northern part of the non-metropolitan county of Humberside. The East Riding of Yorkshire may also refer to the riding of Yorkshire. The historic riding covered an area than the modern county, it included some areas now in North Yorkshire, but did not include the area of Goole. At the 2011 Census the Unitary Authority population was 334,179, the landscape consists of a crescent of low chalk hills, the Yorkshire Wolds, surrounded by the low-lying fertile plains of Holderness and the Vale of York. The Humber Estuary and North Sea mark its southern and eastern limits, archaeological investigations have revealed artefacts and structures from all historical periods since the last ice age. There are few settlements and no industrial centres. The area is administered from the ancient market and ecclesiastical town of Beverley, Christianity is the religion with the largest following in the area and there is a higher than average percentage of retired people in residence. The economy is based on agriculture and this, along with tourism, has contributed to the rural. These aspects are also reflected in the places of interest to visitors and major landmarks, which include buildings, nature reserves. The open and maritime aspects and lack of urban developments have also led to the county being allocated relatively high targets for the generation of energy from renewable sources. Bishop Burton is the site of a college, and Hull provides the regions only university. On the southern border, close to Hull, the Humber Bridge spans the Humber Estuary to enable the A15 to link Hessle with Barton-upon-Humber in North Lincolnshire. When the last glacial period ended, the hunter gatherers of the Palaeolithic period followed the herds across the land between continental Europe and Britain. Until about 6,000 BC, Mesolithic people appear to have exploited their environment as they found it, as communities came to rely on a smaller territorial range and as population levels increased, attempts began to be made to modify or control the natural world. In the Great Wold Valley, pollen samples of Mesolithic date indicate that the forest cover in the area was being disturbed and altered by man, the Yorkshire Wolds became a major focus for human settlement during the Neolithic period as they had a wide range of natural resources. The oldest monuments found on the Wolds are the Neolithic long barrows, two earthen long barrows in the region are found at Fordon, on Willerby Wold, and at Kilham, both of which have radiocarbon dates of around 3700 BC. From around 2000 to 800 BC, the people of the Bronze Age built the 1,400 Bronze Age round barrows that are known to exist on the Yorkshire Wolds and these are found both in isolation and grouped together to form cemeteries
12.
English National Opera
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English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martins Lane. It is one of the two opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera, Covent Garden. ENOs productions are sung in English, Baylis subsequently built up both the opera and the theatre companies, and later added a ballet company, these evolved into ENO, the Royal National Theatre and The Royal Ballet, respectively. Baylis acquired and rebuilt the Sadlers Wells theatre in north London, the opera company grew there into a permanent ensemble in the 1930s. During the Second World War, the theatre was closed and the company toured British towns, after the war, the company returned to its home, but it continued to expand and improve. By the 1960s, a theatre was needed. In 1968, the moved to the London Coliseum and adopted its present name in 1974. Among the conductors associated with the company have been Colin Davis, Reginald Goodall, Charles Mackerras, Mark Elder, the current music director of ENO is Martyn Brabbins. Noted directors who have staged productions at ENO have included David Pountney, Jonathan Miller, Nicholas Hytner, Phyllida Lloyd, ENOs current artistic director is Daniel Kramer. In addition to the operatic repertoire, the company has presented a wide range of works, from early operas by Monteverdi to new commissions, operetta. In 1889, Emma Cons, a Victorian philanthropist who ran the Old Vic theatre in a area of London. Although the theatre licensing laws of the day prevented full costumed performances, Cons presented condensed versions of well-known operas, among the performers were noted singers such as Charles Santley. These operatic evenings quickly became more popular than the dramas that Cons had been staging separately, in 1898, she recruited her niece Lilian Baylis to help run the theatre. At the same time she appointed Charles Corri as the Old Vics musical director, Baylis and Corri, despite many disagreements, shared a passionate belief in popularising opera, hitherto generally the preserve of the rich and fashionable. They worked on a budget, with an amateur chorus. By the early years of the 20th century, the Old Vic was able to present semi-staged versions of Wagner operas, Emma Cons died in 1912, leaving her estate, including the Old Vic, to Baylis, who dreamed of transforming the theatre into a peoples opera house. In the same year, Baylis obtained a licence to allow the Old Vic to stage performances of operas. In the 1914–1915 season, Baylis staged 16 operas and 16 plays, the opera, however, remained her first priority
13.
Samson and Delilah (opera)
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Samson and Delilah, Op.47, is a grand opera in three acts and four scenes by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire. It was first performed in Weimar at the Grossherzogliches Theater on 2 December 1877 in a German translation, the opera is based on the Biblical tale of Samson and Delilah found in Chapter 16 of the Book of Judges in the Old Testament. It is the opera by Saint-Saëns that is regularly performed. The second act love scene in Delilahs tent is one of the set pieces that define French opera, the composer began work on the theme in 1867, just two years after completing his first opera, Le timbre dargent. Saint-Saëns later wrote, A young relative of mine had married a young man who wrote verse on the side. I realized that he was gifted and had in fact real talent, I asked him to work with me on an oratorio on a biblical subject. He said, no, lets make it an opera, and he began to dig through the Bible while I outlined the plan of the work, even sketching scenes, and leaving him only the versification to do. For some reason I began the music with Act 2, and I played it at home to an audience who could make nothing of it at all. From the very beginning, the work was conceived as a duet between Samson and Dalila set off against the approaching tempest. Composer Augusta Holmès, painter Henri Regnault, and Romain Bussine rendered their roles from part books, in spite of many precedents, the French public reacted negatively to Saint-Saënss intention of putting a Biblical subject on the stage. The alarm on the part of the public caused him to working further on the opera for the next two years. Encouraged, Saint-Saëns began composing act 1 in late 1872 and worked on it sporadically for the few years. He wrote a large amount of act 1 and completed it during a trip to Algiers in 1874, upon returning to France in 1875, Saint-Saëns presented act 1 in Paris at the Théâtre du Châtelet in a similar format as the 1870 performance of act 2. The work was received by music critics and failed to gain the publics interest. Viardot was an admirer of the work and she hoped that this private performance would encourage Halanzier. Although Saint-Saëns completed the score in 1876, no houses in France displayed any desire to stage Samson et Dalila. Liszts sustained support however led to the work being mounted in Weimar in 1877, although Liszt was no longer the musical director in Weimar, he still exerted a powerful influence at the Weimar court. The libretto was translated into German for the production and the operas first performance was given on 2 December 1877 at the Grossherzogliches Theatre
14.
Elgar Howarth
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Elgar Howarth, is an English conductor, composer and trumpeter. Howarth was born at Cannock, Staffordshire, together they formed New Music Manchester, a group dedicated to the performance of new music. He has worked with all leading British orchestras, as well as many orchestras worldwide and he played the opening bars of Tippetts King Priam at its Coventry premiere in 1962. He was Principal Guest Conductor of Opera North from 1985 to 1988, as a composer and former trumpet player, he writes mainly for brass instruments. Swedish trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger has premiered several of his works on cornet, including his Cornet Concerto, Canto and he has written arrangements such as The Carnival of Venice Variations for brass ensemble and Modest Mussorgskys Pictures At An Exhibition arranged for brass band. Composer Roy Newsome remarks that Howarths masterly rendition of Mussorgskys Pictures at an Exhibition dwarfed all previous transcriptions and he was brought up in a brass band family and has maintained his interest in the art form. Howarth has made a contribution to the modern repertoire of brass band music. Many of his works are recorded, most notably by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band and he also was one of the trumpeters who performed with The Beatles on the song Magical Mystery Tour. A number of copies of works he has conducted are catalogued at the University of East Anglias School of Music
15.
Steven Sloane
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Steven Sloane is an American conductor, currently based in Germany. Born in Los Angeles, California, Sloane developed an interest in conducting at age 16 and he graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in music. Separately, he took conducting lessons with Eugene Ormandy, Franco Ferrara. Sloane lived and worked for much of the 1980s in Israel, from 1989 to 1994, Sloane was First Kapellmeister at the Frankfurt Opera. He has been director of the Bochum Symphony Orchestra since 1994. During that time he was also a big supporter for the decision to build the new Anneliese Brost Musikforum Ruhr, Sloane was Music Director of Opera North from 1999 to 2002. He was principal conductor of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra from 2007 to 2013, in the USA, Sloane was music director of the Spoleto Festival USA from 1996 to 2000. In November 2000, Sloane was named director of the American Composers Orchestra. Sloane did not conduct the orchestra for the first time until March 2002 and he formally began his tenure with the orchestra in November 2002. and concluded his tenure with the orchestra in 2006. Sloane is married to the violist Tabea Zimmermann, the couple have a daughter, Maya, born in 2003. Karsten Witt agency page on Steven Sloane Opus 3 Artists agency page on Steven Sloane Steven Sloane blir ny sjefdirigent i Stavanger, Norsk musikkinformasjon,23 May 2006
16.
Der Ring des Nibelungen
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Der Ring des Nibelungen, WWV86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas, the composer termed the cycle a Bühnenfestspiel, structured in three days preceded by a Vorabend. It is often referred to as the Ring Cycle, Wagners Ring, Wagner wrote the libretto and music over the course of about twenty-six years, from 1848 to 1874. The first performance as an opened the first Bayreuth Festival in 1876, beginning with Das Rheingold on 13 August. Wagners title is most literally rendered in English as The Ring of the Nibelung, the Nibelung of the title is the dwarf Alberich, and the ring in question is the one he fashions from the Rhine Gold. The title therefore denotes Alberichs Ring, Nibelungen is occasionally mistaken as a plural, but the Ring of the Nibelungs is incorrect. The cycle is a work of extraordinary scale, the first and shortest work, Das Rheingold, typically lasts two and a half hours, while the final and longest, Götterdämmerung, takes up to five hours, excluding intervals. The cycle is modelled after ancient Greek dramas that were presented as three tragedies and one satyr play, the Ring proper begins with Die Walküre and ends with Götterdämmerung, with Rheingold as a prelude. Wagner called Das Rheingold a Vorabend or Preliminary Evening, and Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung were subtitled First Day, Second Day and Third Day, respectively, the scale and scope of the story is epic. It follows the struggles of gods, heroes, and several mythical creatures over the magic ring that grants domination over the entire world. The drama and intrigue continue through three generations of protagonists, until the final cataclysm at the end of Götterdämmerung, the music of the cycle is thick and richly textured, and grows in complexity as the cycle proceeds. Wagner wrote for an orchestra of gargantuan proportions, including a greatly enlarged brass section with new instruments such as the Wagner tuba, bass trumpet and contrabass trombone. Remarkably, he uses a chorus only relatively briefly, in acts 2 and 3 of Götterdämmerung and he eventually had a purpose-built theatre constructed, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, in which to perform this work. The theatre has a stage that blends the huge orchestra with the singers voices. The result was that the singers did not have to strain themselves vocally during the long performances. The plot revolves around a ring that grants the power to rule the world. Wotans schemes to regain the ring, spanning generations, drive much of the action in the story, Hagen is drowned as he attempts to recover the ring. In the process, the gods and Valhalla are destroyed, details of the storylines can be found in the articles on each music drama
17.
Der Rosenkavalier
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Der Rosenkavalier, Op.59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and it was first performed at the Königliches Opernhaus in Dresden on 26 January 1911 under the direction of Max Reinhardt, Ernst von Schuch conducting. Until the premiere the working title was Ochs von Lerchenau, at the Marschallins suggestion Ochs gets Octavian to act as his Rosenkavalier and present the ceremonial silver rose to Sophie. But when Octavian meets Sophie they fall in love at first sight, by a comic intrigue they get rid of Ochs with the help of the Marschallin, who then yields Octavian to the younger woman. Although a comic opera, Der Rosenkavalier also operates at a deeper level, conscious of the difference in age between herself and Octavian, the Marschallin muses in bittersweet fashion over the passing of time, growing old and mens inconstancy. There are many recordings of the opera and it is regularly performed, the event was a pinnacle in the career of soprano Margarethe Siems who portrayed the Marschallin. Minnie Nast played Sophie, and Eva von der Osten was Octavian, the reaction to the 1911 premiere was nothing short of triumphant. The opera was a success with the public and was a great financial boon for the house, it is reported that at the time of the première. Despite this, the opera one of the composers most popular works during his lifetime. Der Rosenkavalier quickly became an important part of the opera repertoire. Less than two months after its premiere, the work was performed for the first time in Italy at La Scala on 1 March 1911 using an Italian translation. The cast, led by conductor Tullio Serafin, included Lucrezia Bori in the role of Octavian, Ines Maria Ferraris as Sophie. The operas Austrian premiere was given by the Vienna State Opera on the following 8 April under the baton of Schuch with Marie Gutheil-Schoder as Octavian, and Richard Mayr as Baron Ochs. The work reached the Teatro Costanzi in Rome seven months later on 14 November with Egisto Tango conducting Hariclea Darclée as the Marschallin, the United Kingdom premiere of Der Rosenkavalier occurred at the Royal Opera House in London on 29 January 1913. Thomas Beecham conducted the performance and the cast included Margarethe Siems as the Marschallin, the United States premiere took place at the Metropolitan Opera on the following 9 December in a production conducted by Alfred Hertz. The cast included Frieda Hempel as the Marschallin, Margarethe Arndt-Ober as Octavian, and Anna Case as Sophie. A number of Italian theatres produced the work for the first time in the 1920s, including the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi, Teatro Regio di Torino, Teatro di San Carlo, and the Teatro Carlo Felice. Der Rosenkavalier reached Monaco on 21 March 1926 when it was performed by the Opéra de Monte-Carlo at the Salle Garnier in a French translation, the performance starred Gabrielle Ritter-Ciampi as the Marschallin and Vanni Marcoux as Faninal
18.
Francis Poulenc
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Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include mélodies, solo works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets. Poulencs wealthy family intended him for a career in the Rhone Poulenc family company. Largely self-educated musically, he studied with the pianist Ricardo Viñes, Poulenc soon came under the influence of Erik Satie, under whose tutelage he became one of a group of young composers known collectively as Les Six. In his early works Poulenc became known for his high spirits, during the 1930s a much more serious side to his nature emerged, particularly in the religious music he composed from 1936 onwards, which he alternated with his more light-hearted works. In addition to composing, Poulenc was an accomplished pianist and he was particularly celebrated for his performing partnerships with the baritone Pierre Bernac and the soprano Denise Duval, touring in Europe and America with each, and making many recordings. He was among the first composers to see the importance of the gramophone, in his later years, and for decades after his death, Poulenc had a reputation, particularly in his native country, as a humorous, lightweight composer, and his religious music was often overlooked. Poulenc was born in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, the child and only son of Émile Poulenc and his wife, Jenny. Émile Poulenc was a joint owner of the Établissements Poulenc Frères and he was a member of a pious Roman Catholic family from Espalion in the département of Aveyron. Jenny Poulenc was from a Parisian family with artistic interests. In Poulencs view, the two sides of his nature grew out of this background, a religious faith from his fathers family. The critic Claude Rostand later described Poulenc as half monk and half naughty boy and he took piano lessons from the age of five, when he was eight he first heard the music of Debussy and was fascinated by the originality of the sound. Other composers whose works influenced his development were Schubert and Stravinsky, the formers Winterreise, at his fathers insistence, Poulenc followed a conventional school career, studying at the Lycée Condorcet in Paris rather than at a music conservatory. In 1916 a childhood friend, Raymonde Linossier, introduced Poulenc to Adrienne Monniers bookshop, There he met the avant-garde poets Guillaume Apollinaire, Max Jacob, Paul Éluard and Louis Aragon. He later set many of their poems to music, in the same year he became the pupil of the pianist Ricardo Viñes. The biographer Henri Hell comments that Viñess influence on his pupil was profound, I admired him madly, because, at this time, in 1914, he was the only virtuoso who played Debussy and Ravel. That meeting with Viñes was paramount in my life, I owe him everything, in reality it is to Viñes that I owe my fledgling efforts in music and everything I know about the piano. When Poulenc was sixteen his mother died, his father died two years later, Viñes became more than a teacher, he was, in the words of Myriam Chimènes in the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the young mans spiritual mentor
19.
A Village Romeo and Juliet
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A Village Romeo and Juliet is an opera by Frederick Delius, the fourth of six operas. The composer himself, with his wife Jelka, wrote the English-language libretto based on the short story Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe by the Swiss author Gottfried Keller. The first performance was at the Komische Oper Berlin on 21 February 1907, thomas Beecham conducted the British premiere at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London on 22 February 1910. The US premiere was on 26 April 1972 in Washington, D. C, while the opera has rarely been staged, the orchestral interlude between Scenes 5 and 6, The Walk to the Paradise Garden, is heard separately in concerts and has been recorded many times. The opera is in six scenes, at the beginning of the opera, Sali, son of the farmer Manz, and Vrenchen, daughter of the farmer Marti, are children. They are playing together one September morning on a plot of land, the Dark Fiddler is the rightful owner of this disputed land, but because he is illegitimate and thus without legal rights, he cannot exert control over the land. He appears to the children and warns them that the land must not be tilled, Manz and Marti dispute ownership of the land, and put a stop to the relationship between their respective children. Six years later, at Martis now run-down house, Sali, since their childhood, a lawsuit about the land has ruined both Manz and Marti. Sali persuades Vrenchen to meet him on the plot, the Dark Fiddler re-appears once more and invites them to join him. He also tells them that, regardless, they meet again. Marti sees the two lovers and takes Vreli away, in trying to stop Marti, Sali injures him severely. As a result, Marti loses his reason and must be confined in an asylum, Sali returns and sees Vreli at her house, which is to be sold. The two declare their love and decide to leave together, at a local fair, Sali and Vreli buy rings. Sali mentions an inn, the Paradise Garden, where they can dance all night, the Dark Fiddler and some vagrants are drinking there. He greets the lovers, and suggests they join him to share a life in the mountains. Instead, Sali and Vreli decide that they live such an existence. They leave the inn and find a hay barge, which they release from the dock to begin to float down the river, as the Dark Fiddler observes them, Sali removes the plug from the bottom of the boat, and Sali and Vreli sink with the boat. A Village Romeo and Juliet at Boosey & Hawkes
20.
Frederick Delius
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Frederick Theodore Albert Delius, CH was an English composer. Born in the north of England to a mercantile family. He was sent to Florida in the United States in 1884 to manage an orange plantation, there he soon neglected his managerial duties, and in 1886 returned to Europe. Having been influenced by African-American music during his stay in Florida. Deliuss first successes came in Germany, where Hans Haym and other conductors promoted his music from the late 1890s, in Deliuss native Britain, it was 1907 before his music made regular appearances in concert programmes, after Thomas Beecham took it up. After 1918 Delius began to suffer the effects of syphilis, contracted during his years in Paris. He became paralysed and blind, but completed some late compositions between 1928 and 1932 with the aid of an amanuensis, Eric Fenby. The lyricism in Deliuss early compositions reflected the music he had heard in America, as his skills matured, he developed a style uniquely his own, characterised by his individual orchestration and his uses of chromatic harmony. Deliuss music has been intermittently popular, and often subject to critical attacks. Delius was born in Bradford in Yorkshire and he was baptised as Fritz Theodore Albert Delius, and used the forename Fritz until he was about 40. He was the second of four born to Julius Delius and his wife Elise Pauline. Deliuss parents were born in Bielefeld, Westphalia, of Dutch origin, Juliuss father, Ernst Friedrich Delius, had served under Blücher in the Napoleonic Wars. Julius moved to England to further his career as a wool merchant, the Delius household was musical, famous musicians such as Joseph Joachim and Carlo Alfredo Piatti were guests, and played for the family. Despite his German parentage, the young Fritz was drawn to the music of Chopin and Grieg rather than the Austro-German music of Mozart and Beethoven, a preference that endured all his life. The young Delius was first taught the violin by a Mr. Bauerkeller of the Hallé Orchestra, from 1874 to 1878, Delius was educated at Bradford Grammar School, where the singer John Coates was his slightly older contemporary. He then attended the International College at Isleworth between 1878 and 1880, as a pupil he was neither especially quick nor diligent, but the college was conveniently close to London for Delius to attend concerts and opera. Julius Delius assumed that his son would play a part in the wool business. Deliuss first job was as the representative in Stroud in Gloucestershire
21.
Prince Igor
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Prince Igor is an opera in four acts with a prologue, written and composed by Alexander Borodin. The composer adapted the libretto from the Ancient Russian epic The Lay of Igors Host and he also incorporated material drawn from two medieval Kievan chronicles. The opera was unfinished upon the composers death in 1887 and was edited and completed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. It was first performed in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1890, original Composition, 1869–1887 After briefly considering Lev Meis The Tsars Bride as a subject, Borodin began looking for a new project for his first opera. Vladimir Stasov, critic and advisor to The Mighty Handful, suggested The Lay of Igors Host, a 12th-century epic prose poem, initially, Borodin found the proposition intriguing, but daunting, Your outline is so complete that everything seems clear to me and suits me perfectly. But will I manage to carry out my own task to the end, as they say here, He who is afraid of the wolf doesnt go into the woods. So I shall give it a try and he soon began to have doubts and ceased composing. He expressed his misgivings in a letter to his wife, There is too little drama here, to me, opera without drama, in the strict sense, is unnatural. Of the eight numbers he had composed for Act 4 of Mlada, Borodin returned to Prince Igor in 1874, inspired by the success of his colleagues Rimsky-Korsakov and Mussorgsky in the staging of their historical operas, The Maid of Pskov and Boris Godunov. This period also marks the creation of two new characters, the deserters Skula and Yeroshka, who have much in common with the rogue monks Varlaam and Misail in Boris Godunov. Which, in the epilogue of the opera extolled Igors exploits, was shifted by the author himself to the prologue of the opera, at present this chorus extolls Igor as he starts on his expedition against the Polovtsy. The episodes of the eclipse, of the parting from Yaroslavna. In those days this whole part was non-existent, and the chorus formed one unbroken number of rather considerable dimensions. The idea of an epilogue in the original scenario was no doubt inspired by the example of A Life for the Tsar by Mikhail Glinka. Borodins primary occupation was chemistry, including research and teaching, however, he also spent much time in support of womens causes, much to the consternation of his fellow composers, who felt he should devote his time and talent to music. In 1876, a frustrated Stasov gave up hope that Borodin would ever finish Prince Igor and it was high time to copy out the parts. In despair I heaped reproaches on Borodin and he, too, was none too happy. At last, giving up all hope, I offered to him with the orchestration
22.
Alexander Borodin
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Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin was a Russian Romantic composer of Georgian origin, as well as a doctor and chemist. Borodin is best known for his symphonies, his two string quartets, In the Steppes of Central Asia and his opera Prince Igor, Music from Prince Igor and his string quartets was later adapted for the US musical Kismet. A notable advocate of womens rights, Borodin was a promoter of education in Russia, due to the circumstances of Alexanders birth, the nobleman had him registered as the son of one of his Russian serfs, Porfiry Borodin, hence the composers Russian last name. As a result of this registration, both Alexander and his nominal Russian father Porfiry were officially serfs of Alexanders biological father Luka, the Georgian father emancipated Alexander from serfdom when he was 7 and provided housing and money for him and his mother. In spite of this, Alexander was never recognized by his mother. Despite his status as a commoner, Borodin was well provided for by his Georgian father and grew up in a large four-story house, although his registration prevented enrollment in a proper gymnasium, Borodin received good education in all of the subjects through private tutors at home. In 1850 he entered the Medical–Surgical Academy in St Petersburg, which was home to Ivan Pavlov. On graduation he spent a year as surgeon in a military hospital, eventually, he established medical courses for women. He began taking lessons in composition from Mily Balakirev in 1862 and he married Ekaterina Protopopova, a pianist, in 1863, and had at least one daughter, named Gania. Music remained a secondary vocation for Borodin outside his main career as a chemist and he suffered poor health, having overcome cholera and several minor heart attacks. He died suddenly during a ball at the Academy, and was interred in Tikhvin Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, in his profession Borodin gained great respect, being particularly noted for his work on aldehydes. Between 1859 and 1862 Borodin held a postdoctorate in Heidelberg and he worked in the laboratory of Emil Erlenmeyer working on benzene derivatives. He also spent time in Pisa, working on halocarbons, one experiment published in 1862 described the first nucleophilic displacement of chlorine by fluorine in benzoyl chloride. A related reaction known to the West as the Hunsdiecker reaction published in 1939 by the Hunsdieckers was promoted by the Soviet Union as the Borodin reaction. In 1862 he returned to the Medical–Surgical Academy, taking up a chair in chemistry and he published papers in 1864 and 1869, and in this field he found himself competing with August Kekulé. Borodin is co-credited with the discovery of the Aldol reaction, with Charles-Adolphe Wurtz and he published his last full article in 1875 on reactions of amides and his last publication concerned a method for the identification of urea in animal urine. His successor in the chair at Medical-Surgical academy was his son-in-law and fellow chemist. Borodin met Mily Balakirev in 1862, while under Balakirevs tutelage in composition he began his Symphony No.1 in E-flat major, it was first performed in 1869, with Balakirev conducting
23.
Hector Berlioz
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Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts. Berlioz made significant contributions to the orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works, and he also composed around 50 songs. His influence was critical for the development of Romanticism, especially in composers like Richard Wagner, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Franz Liszt, Richard Strauss. Hector Berlioz was born in France at La Côte-Saint-André in the département of Isère, Louis was an agnostic, with a liberal outlook, his mother, Marie-Antoinette, was a devout Roman Catholic. He had five siblings in all, three of whom did not survive to adulthood, the other two, Nanci and Adèle, remained close to Berlioz throughout his life. Berlioz was not a prodigy, unlike some other famous composers of the time, he began studying music at age 12, writing small compositions. As a result of his fathers discouragement, he never learned to play the piano and he became proficient at guitar, flageolet and flute. He learned harmony from textbooks alone—he was not formally trained, the majority of his early compositions were romances and chamber pieces. While yet at age twelve, as recalled in his Mémoires, he experienced his first passion for a woman and he also began to visit the Paris Conservatoire library, seeking out scores of Glucks operas and making personal copies of parts of them. He recalled in his Mémoires his first encounter with Luigi Cherubini, Cherubini attempted to throw the impetuous Berlioz out of the library since he was not a formal music student at that time. Berlioz also heard two operas by Gaspare Spontini, a composer who influenced him through their friendship, and whom he later championed when working as a critic, from then on, he devoted himself to composition. He was encouraged in his endeavors by Jean-François Le Sueur, director of the Royal Chapel, in 1823, he wrote his first article—a letter to the journal Le corsaire defending Spontinis La vestale. Despite his parents disapproval, in 1824 he formally abandoned his studies to pursue a career in music. This work was rehearsed and revised after the rehearsal but not performed until the following year, Berlioz later claimed to have burnt the score, but it was re-discovered in 1991. Later that year or in 1825, he began to compose the opera Les francs-juges, the work survives only in fragments, the overture has been much recorded and is sometimes played in concert. In 1826 he began attending the Conservatoire to study composition under Jean-François Le Sueur and he also submitted a fugue to the Prix de Rome, but was eliminated in the primary round. Winning the prize would become an obsession until he won it in 1830
24.
Jonny spielt auf
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Jonny spielt auf is a German-language opera with words and music by Austrian composer Ernst Krenek about a jazz violinist. The work typified the cultural freedom of the era of the Weimar Republic. It was premiered at the Stadttheater, Leipzig on 10 February 1927, the libretto was translated into 14 languages. It was the first opera performed by Swiss tenor Hugues Cuenod, nevertheless, with the rise of the Nazi movement, the opera encountered hostility in Vienna in 1927-1928 from Nazi sympathisers, and the same protests occurred several years later in Munich. After the National Socialists attained power in Germany, they banned the opera, indeed, at the 1938 Entartete Musik exhibition in Düsseldorf, organiser Hans Severus Ziegler condemned the opera as the very archetype of Weimar decadence. Decca 436 631-2, Alessandra Marc, Krister St. Jonny spielt auf, (Unpublished Ph. D. Warrack, John and West, Ewan, The Oxford Dictionary of Opera,782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5 Wood, Ean, The Josephine Baker Story, MPG Books, ISBN 1-86074-286-6 Other sources Stewart, Ernst Krenek, The Man and His Music. University of California Press,1991 ISBN 0-520-07014-3 ISBN 0-520-07014-3
25.
Ernst Krenek
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Ernst Krenek was an Austrian, later American, composer of Czech origin. He explored atonality and other styles and wrote a number of books, including Music Here and Now, a study of Johannes Ockeghem. Krenek wrote two pieces using the pseudonym Thornton Winsloe, Krenek was born in Vienna as Ernst Křenek as the son of a Czech soldier in the Austro-Hungarian army. He studied there and in Berlin with Franz Schreker before working in a number of German opera houses as conductor, during World War I, Krenek was drafted into the Austrian army, but he was stationed in Vienna, allowing him to go on with his musical studies. In 1922 he met Alma Mahler, widow of Gustav Mahler,2, and whom he married in March 1924. That marriage ended in divorce before its first anniversary, at the time of his marriage to Anna Mahler, Krenek was completing his Violin Concerto No. In gratitude, Krenek dedicated the concerto to Moodie, and she premiered it on 5 January 1925, krenek’s divorce from Anna Mahler became final a few days after the premiere. Krenek did not attend the premiere, but he did have an affair with Moodie and he never managed to hear her play the concerto, but he did immortalize some aspects of her personality in the character of Anita in his opera Jonny spielt auf. In 1938 Krenek moved to the United States, where he taught music at various universities and he later taught at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota from 1942 to 1947. There he met and married his wife, his student. He became an American citizen in 1945 and he later moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where he taught at The Royal Conservatory of Music during the 1950s. His students included Milton Barnes, Lorne Betts, Roque Cordero, Samuel Dolin, Robert Erickson, Halim El-Dabh, Richard Maxfield, Will Ogdon and he died in Palm Springs, California, where he had lived since 1966. In 1998 Gladys Nordenstrom founded the Ernst Krenek Institute, in 2004 the private foundation moved from Vienna to Krems, after meeting Krenek in 1922, Alma Mahler asked him to complete her late husbands Symphony No.10. Krenek assisted in editing the first and third movements but went no further, in his notes to the Lev recording, dated July 1947, Krenek offered insights into the challenges of completing another composers works in general and the Schubert sonata in particular. Completing the unfinished work of a master is a very delicate task. In my opinion it can honestly be undertaken if the original fragment contains all of the main ideas of the unfinished work. Even then the artist who goes about the task will feel slightly uneasy. He is more conscious of the fact that unpredictability is one of the most jealously guarded prerogatives of genius
26.
Intermezzo (opera)
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Intermezzo, Op.72, is an opera in two acts by Richard Strauss to his own German libretto, described as a Bürgerliche Komödie mit sinfonischen Zwischenspielen. It premiered at the Dresden Semperoper on 4 November 1924, with sets that reproduced Strauss home in Garmisch, the first Vienna performance was in January 1927. The story depicts fictionally the personalities of Strauss himself and his wife Pauline and was based on incidents in their lives. Pauline Strauss was not aware of the subject before the first performance. After Lotte Lehmann had congratulated Pauline on this marvelous present to you from your husband, the most celebrated music from the opera is the orchestral interludes between scenes. This is why the libretto is not in verse but in prose and even mimics the dialect used by the servants in the play, the first professional staged US production was at The Santa Fe Opera in 1984, translated into English. Setting, Vienna and Grundlsee during a 1920’s winter The composer Storch is leaving for a conducting tour, seeking relief from loneliness she goes tobogganing and collides with a skier, a young Baron who befriends her. They dance together at a ball and she arranges for him to lodge in the house of her notary, the friendship is soured when the Baron asks Christine for financial assistance. She opens a letter, supposedly for her husband, from a lady arranging an assignation and she immediately telegrams Storch demanding they part for ever. In tears, she seeks solace in her sons bedroom but he defends his father, Storch is playing skat with friends in Vienna when the telegram arrives, and is bewildered by the accusations. Stroh, a friend, admits that he knows the lady and surmises that his. Christine visits the notary to demand a divorce, but he is unwilling to pursue the matter and she sends the Baron to Vienna to gather evidence of infidelity. Packing to leave, she receives a telegram from her saying that Stroh will explain the misunderstanding. Even after Strohs visit she is reluctant to accept the truth, Storch returns home, and an argument ensues. The Baron arrives with evidence that Stroh rather than Storch had indeed known the lady and Christine dismisses him, Storch forgives her anger and teases her about her dalliance with the Baron. Husband and wife declare a renewed love, ithaca, New York, Cornell University Press, 1986) Kennedy, Michael, in Holden, Amanda, The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York, Penguin Putnam. ISBN 0-14-029312-4 BBC Opera guide, Intermezzo
27.
Richard Strauss
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Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. Strauss was also a prominent conductor in Western Europe and the Americas, enjoying quasi-celebrity status as his compositions became standards of orchestral and operatic repertoire. Strauss was born on 11 June 1864 in Munich, the son of Josephine and Franz Strauss, in his youth, he received a thorough musical education from his father. He wrote his first composition at the age of six and continued to write music almost until his death, during his boyhood Strauss attended orchestra rehearsals of the Munich Court Orchestra, where he received private instruction in music theory and orchestration from an assistant conductor. In 1872 he started receiving violin instruction at the Royal School of Music from Benno Walter, in 1874 Strauss heard his first Wagner operas, Lohengrin and Tannhäuser. The influence of Wagners music on Strausss style was to be profound, but at first his musically conservative father forbade him to study it. Indeed, in the Strauss household, the music of Richard Wagner was viewed with deep suspicion, in later life, Strauss said that he deeply regretted the conservative hostility to Wagners progressive works. Nevertheless, Strausss father undoubtedly had a influence on his sons developing taste. In early 1882 in Vienna he gave the first performance of his Violin Concerto in D minor, playing a piano reduction of the part himself. The same year he entered Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he studied philosophy and art history, Strauss learned the art of conducting by observing Bülow in rehearsal. Bülow was very fond of the man and decided that Strauss should be his successor as conductor of the Meiningen Court Orchestra when Bülow resigned in 1885. Strausss compositions at time were indebted to the style of Robert Schumann or Felix Mendelssohn. 1, Op.11, is representative of this period and is a staple of modern horn repertoire, Strauss married soprano Pauline de Ahna on 10 September 1894. She was famous for being irascible, garrulous, eccentric and outspoken, throughout his life, from his earliest songs to the final Four Last Songs of 1948, he preferred the soprano voice to all others, and all his operas contain important soprano roles. The Strausses had one son, Franz, in 1897, Franz married Alice von Grab-Hermannswörth, daughter of a Jewish industrialist, in a Roman Catholic ceremony in 1924. Franz and Alice had two sons, Richard and Christian, some of Strausss first compositions were solo instrumental and chamber works. After 1890 Strauss composed very infrequently for chamber groups, his energies being almost completely absorbed with large-scale orchestral works and operas. Four of his pieces are actually arrangements of portions of his operas, including the Daphne-Etude for solo violin and the String Sextet
28.
Daphne (opera)
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Daphne, Op.82, is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss, subtitled Bucolic Tragedy in One Act. The German libretto was by Joseph Gregor, the opera is based loosely on the mythological figure Daphne from Ovids Metamorphoses and includes elements taken from The Bacchae by Euripides. The opera premiered at the Semperoper in Dresden on 15 October 1938, originally intended as a bill with Strauss Friedenstag, but as the scale of Daphne grew. The conductor of the first performance was Karl Böhm, to whom the opera was dedicated, the chaste girl Daphne sings a hymn of praise to nature. She loves the sunlight as trees and flowers do, but she has no interest in human romance. She cannot return the love of her childhood friend Leukippos, and she refuses to put on the clothes for the coming festival of Dionysos. Daphnes father Peneios tells his friends he is certain that the gods will soon return among men and he advises preparing a feast to welcome Apollo. Just then a mysterious herdsman appears, Peneios sends for Daphne to care for the visitor. The strange herdsman tells Daphne that he has watched her from his chariot and he promises her that she need never be parted from the sun, and she accepts his embrace. But when he begins to speak of love she becomes fearful, at the festival of Dionysos, Leukippos is among the women wearing Daphnes dress, and he invites her to dance. Believing him to be a woman she agrees, but the strange herdsman stops the dance with a thunderclap, Daphne answers that both Leukippos and the stranger are in disguise, and the stranger reveals himself as the sun-god Apollo. Daphne refuses both her suitors, and Apollo pierces Leukippos with an arrow, Daphne mourns with the dying Leukippos. He asks Zeus to give Daphne new life in the form of one of the trees she loves, Daphne is transformed, and she rejoices in her union with nature. This transformation scene, the metamorphosis, is silvery in the string section. Notes Sources Kennedy, Michael, in Holden, Amanda, The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York, ISBN 0-14-029312-4 BBC Opera guide, Daphne. Daphne, roles, synopsis, German libretto Daphne, Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
29.
La finta giardiniera
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La finta giardiniera, K.196, is an Italian opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart wrote it in Munich in January 1775 when he was 18 years old, there is debate over the authorship of the libretto, often ascribed to Calzabigi, some have attributed it to Giuseppe Petrosellini, but it is questioned whether it is in the latters style. In 1780 Mozart converted the opera into a German Singspiel called Die Gärtnerin aus Liebe, until a copy of the complete Italian version was found in the 1970s, the German translation was the only known complete score. The story begins with the revived Violante and her servant Roberto disguised as Sandrina and Nardo, when Violante is found, she and Belfiore lose their minds and believe themselves to be Greek gods. When they regain their senses Violante forgives the Count and they fly to each others arms, Arminda returns to Cavalier Ramiro, her spurned suitor, and Roberto finds love with Serpetta, another servant of the Podestà. A garden with a staircase leading to the mansion of the Podestà. The Podestà, Cavalier Ramiro and Serpetta descend the staircase as Sandrina, together they praise the lovely day, but their happiness is feigned. Sandrina is wretched because Don Anchise, the Podestà, is in love with her, Nardo is frustrated by Serpetta, who teases him but refuses to respond to his affections. Ramiro is bitter after being tossed aside by Arminda, and, because she has set her own cap at the Podestà, the Podestà attempts to console Ramiro, but Ramiro can think of none but Arminda. When they are alone, Don Anchise professes love to Sandrina. Sandrina refuses his advances as politely as possible and, when Serpetta rudely interrupts, armindas betrothed, Count Belfiore, arrives and is swept off his feet by her beauty. Arminda is quick to let him know that she is someone to be reckoned with, the Count then boasts of his deeds and ancestry to the Podestà, tracing his family tree to Scipio, Cato and Marcus Aurelius. Don Anchise responds with a mixture of awe and skepticism, not caring who this buffoon of a Count is as long as he marries his niece, in the garden, Arminda sees Sandrina and casually mentions her engagement to Belfiore. When the Count arrives, Arminda leaves him to watch over Sandrina, Belfiore is shocked to find that the gardeners girl is none other than his lost Violante. Arminda returns and is surprised to come face to face with Ramiro, Sandrina awakens and finds herself looking directly into the eyes of Belfiore. The Podestà enters and demands an explanation, but no one knows quite what to say, Sandrina wavers but decides not to reveal herself as Violante, while Arminda suspects that shes being deceived. The Podestà blames everything on Serpetta, who in turn blames Sandrina, a hall in the mansion of the Podestà. Ramiro discovers Arminda and upbraids her for her inconstancy, when she refuses to listen, he departs, but not before promising revenge upon his rival
30.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, baptised as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. Born in Salzburg, he showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood, already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. At 17, Mozart was engaged as a musician at the Salzburg court, while visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame, during his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of his death. The circumstances of his death have been much mythologized. He was survived by his wife Constanze and two sons and he composed more than 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers, Ludwig van Beethoven composed his own early works in the shadow of Mozart, and Joseph Haydn wrote, posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 to Leopold Mozart and Anna Maria, née Pertl and this was the capital of the Archbishopric of Salzburg, an ecclesiastic principality in what is now Austria, then part of the Holy Roman Empire. He was the youngest of seven children, five of whom died in infancy and his elder sister was Maria Anna Mozart, nicknamed Nannerl. Mozart was baptized the day after his birth, at St. Ruperts Cathedral in Salzburg, the baptismal record gives his name in Latinized form, as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart. He generally called himself Wolfgang Amadè Mozart as an adult, Leopold Mozart, a native of Augsburg, Germany, was a minor composer and an experienced teacher. In 1743, he was appointed as fourth violinist in the establishment of Count Leopold Anton von Firmian. Four years later, he married Anna Maria in Salzburg, Leopold became the orchestras deputy Kapellmeister in 1763. During the year of his sons birth, Leopold published a textbook, Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule. When Nannerl was 7, she began lessons with her father. Years later, after her brothers death, she reminisced, He often spent much time at the clavier, picking out thirds, which he was ever striking, and his pleasure showed that it sounded good. In the fourth year of his age his father, for a game as it were, began to teach him a few minuets and he could play it faultlessly and with the greatest delicacy, and keeping exactly in time. At the age of five, he was composing little pieces
31.
Giuseppe Verdi
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Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian opera composer. Verdi was born near Busseto to a family of moderate means. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini, whose works influenced him. In his early operas Verdi demonstrated a sympathy with the Risorgimento movement which sought the unification of Italy and he also participated briefly as an elected politician. He surprised the world by returning, after his success with the opera Aida. The baptismal register, prepared on 11 October 1813, lists his parents Carlo, additionally, it lists Verdi as being born yesterday, but since days were often considered to begin at sunset, this could have meant either 9 or 10 October. Verdi himself, following his mother, always celebrated his birthday on 9 October, Verdi had a younger sister, Giuseppa, who died aged 17 in 1833. From the age of four, Verdi was given lessons in Latin and Italian by the village schoolmaster, Baistrocchi. After learning to play the organ, he showed so much interest in music that his parents provided him with a spinet. Verdis gift for music was apparent by 1820–21 when he began his association with the local church, serving in the choir, acting as an altar boy for a while. After Baistrocchis death, Verdi, at the age of eight, Carlo Verdi was energetic in furthering his sons education. something which Verdi tended to hide in later life. He picture emerges of youthful precocity eagerly nurtured by a father and of a sustained, sophisticated. Verdi returned to Busseto regularly to play the organ on Sundays, at age 11, Verdi received schooling in Italian, Latin, the humanities, and rhetoric. By the time he was 12, he began lessons with Ferdinando Provesi, maestro di cappella at San Bartolomeo, director of the music school. This information comes from the Autobiographical Sketch which Verdi dictated to the publisher Giulio Ricordi late in life, in 1879, written, understandably, with the benefit of hindsight, it is not always reliable when dealing with issues more contentious than those of his childhood. The other director of the Philharmonic Society was Antonio Barezzi, a grocer and distiller. The young Verdi did not immediately become involved with the Philharmonic, by June 1827, he had graduated with honours from the Ginnasio and was able to focus solely on music under Provesi. By 1829–30, Verdi had established himself as a leader of the Philharmonic, none of us could rival him reported the secretary of the organisation, Giuseppe Demaldè
32.
Ariane et Barbe-bleue
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Ariane et Barbe-bleue is an opera in three acts by Paul Dukas. The French libretto is adapted from the symbolist play of the name by Maurice Maeterlinck. Dukas had been impressed by Maeterlincks play when it was first published in 1899, Maeterlinck had initially reserved the rights to use Ariane as a libretto for Edvard Grieg. When Grieg abandoned his plans to compose the opera, Maeterlinck offered it to Dukas instead, Dukas worked on the score between 1899 and 1906. The work has often compared to Debussys opera Pelléas et Mélisande, also based on a Maeterlinck play. Dukas, who knew Debussy well, actually borrowed three bars from Debussys opera to accompany the first mention of Mélisande, although the character is minor in Dukas opera and it received its first performance at the Opéra Comique in Paris, on 10 May 1907. Performances in the half of the twentieth century were rare. Ariane et Barbe-bleue premiered at Opéra Comique in Paris on 10 May 1907 with Maeterlincks partner, Georgette Leblanc and it was conducted by Alexander von Zemlinsky at the Vienna Volksoper on 2 April 1908. Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils Alban Berg and Anton Webern were in the audience, further performances followed in Brussels, New York and Milan, Buenos Aires and Madrid. The British premiere did not take place until 20 April 1937, five commercial recordings exist, as well as recordings of an orchestral suite, prepared by Arturo Toscanini and premiered in a 1947 broadcast by the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Scene, A vast, lavish semi-circular hall in Barbe-bleues castle Ariane is destined to be Barbe-bleues sixth wife, as she and her nurse arrive at Barbe-bleues castle, they are greeted by a chorus of peasants clamouring for Barbe-bleues death because they believe he has murdered his former wives. Ariane is convinced they are still alive and she declares, Il maime, je suis belle, et jaurai son secret. Dabord il faut désobéir, cest le premier devoir quand lordre est menaçant et ne sexplique pas, – Les autres ont eu tort et les voilà perdues pour avoir hésité. Barbe-bleue has given her seven keys to his chambers, the six silver ones she is permitted to use. Ariane says this is the key which matters and goes to look for the seventh door while her nurse opens the others. The nurse turns the lock in the first door and a cascade of jewels, the second door reveals a shower of sapphires, the third, a deluge of pearls, the fourth, a waterfall of emeralds, the fifth, a tragic torrent of rubies. Ariane is unimpressed by the gems, although the contents of the sixth, avalanches of gigantic diamonds, the sixth door also reveals the vault containing the seventh to Ariane. Ignoring her nurses warning, she turns the key in the lock
33.
Paul Dukas
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Paul Abraham Dukas was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man, of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical and his best known work is the orchestral piece The Sorcerers Apprentice, the fame of which has eclipsed that of his other surviving works. Among these are the opera Ariane et Barbe-bleue, a symphony, at a time when French musicians were divided into conservative and progressive factions, Dukas adhered to neither but retained the admiration of both. His compositions were influenced by composers including Beethoven, Berlioz, Franck, dIndy, in tandem with his composing career, Dukas worked as a music critic, contributing regular reviews to at least five French journals. Dukas was born in Paris, the son in a Jewish family of three children. His father, Jules Dukas, was a banker, and his mother, when Dukas was five years old, his mother died giving birth to her third child, Marguerite-Lucie. Dukas took piano lessons, but showed no unusual musical talent until he was 14 when he began to compose while recovering from an illness. He entered the Conservatoire de Paris at the end of 1881, aged 16, among his fellow students was Claude Debussy, with whom Dukas formed a close friendship. Two early overtures survive from this period, Goetz de Berlichingen, the manuscript of the latter was rediscovered in the 1990s and the work was performed for the first time in 1995. Dukas won several prizes, including the place in the Conservatoires most prestigious award. Disappointed at his failure to win the top prize, he left the Conservatoire in 1889, after compulsory military service he began a dual career as a composer and a music critic. Dukass career as a critic began in 1892 with a review of Wagners Der Ring des Nibelungen conducted by Gustav Mahler at Covent Garden in London. His review was published in La Revue Hebdomadaire, he wrote also for Minerva, La Chronique des Arts, Gazette des Beaux-Arts. His Parisian debut as composer was a performance of his overture Polyeucte, written in 1891 and premiered by Charles Lamoureux and his Orchestre Lamoureux in January 1892. Based on a tragedy by Corneille, the work, like many French works of the period, shows the influence of Wagner, although Dukas wrote a fair amount of music, he was a perfectionist and destroyed many of his pieces out of dissatisfaction with them. Only a few of his compositions remain, after Polyeucte, he began writing an opera in 1892. He wrote his own libretto, Horn et Riemenhild, but he composed only one act, the Symphony in C major was composed in 1895–96, when Dukas was in his early 30s. It is dedicated to Paul Vidal, and had its first performance in January 1896, in a study of Dukas published towards the end of the composers life, Irving Schwerké wrote, The work … is an opulent expression of modernism in classical form
34.
Maskarade
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Maskarade is an opera in three acts by Carl Nielsen to a Danish libretto by Vilhelm Andersen, based on the comedy by Ludvig Holberg. It was first performed on 11 November 1906 at Det Kongelige Teater, Maskarade has enjoyed enduring popularity in Denmark where it is considered to be the countrys national opera. Nielsen first considered writing an opera based on Holbergs play Maskarade around the turn of the 20th century and he contacted Vilhelm Andersen whom he knew from his student days, hoping to persuade him to write a libretto. Andersen initially refused but finally agreed, allowing Nielsen to start composing in May 1904, the Royal Theatre scheduled the opera even before it was finished. In fact, Nielsen only completed the overture on 3 November, the world premiere of Maskarade took place at Det Kongelige Teater in Copenhagen on 11 November 1906. It was a success from the start with an exceptional run of 25 performances over its first four months. Reviews in the press were mixed, the consensus being that the first act was the best, the second was rather weak. Announcement of plans to turn Holberg’s classical comedy into an opera buffa met with dismay in Danish literary circles, but the opera was immediately popular, more so than the play itself. Now considered to be Denmarks national opera, it has enjoyed lasting success in the country, attributable to its many strophic songs, its dances, in 2006, Denmarks Ministry of Culture named it one of Denmarks twelve greatest musical works. The opera did not premiere in the United States until 1972 when it was performed by St. Paul Opera in Minnesota, the first reported New York performance was by the Bronx Opera Company in 1983. It was performed in the US again in 2014, when it had its Chicago premiere on 18 January at the Vittum Theater performed by the Vox3 Collective. The opera had previously performed in the UK at Londons Morley College in 1983. Despite its popularity in his country, Nielsen was not entirely satisfied with the work. The following day, Leander tells his valet Henrik of his newfound love and he becomes distraught when reminded by Henrik that his parents have betrothed him in marriage to Leonora, the daughter of Leonard from remote Slagelse. In the third act, all is resolved when the various parties slip off to the nights masquerade, as part of the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Carl Nielsens birth, the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen staged eleven well-received performances of Maskarade from March to May 2015. The Royal Danish Operas schedule for 2015 includes performances of a version of the opera in three other locations in Denmark from mid-July to early September. The Maskarade Overture has been included in the first of Britains Promenade Concerts on 17 July 2015, further sources Notes and libretto accompanying the 1998 Decca recording 460 227–2. Maskarade, Scores at the International Music Score Library Project Discography Account of the operas composition
35.
Carl Nielsen
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Carl August Nielsen was a Danish musician, conductor and violinist, widely recognized as his countrys most prominent composer. Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen and he initially played in a military band before attending the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen from 1884 until December 1886. He premiered his Op.1, Suite for Strings, in 1888, in 1916, he took a post teaching at the Royal Academy and continued to work there until his death. Although his symphonies, concertos and choral music are now internationally acclaimed, Nielsens career and personal life were marked by many difficulties, often reflected in his music. The works he composed between 1897 and 1904 are sometimes ascribed to his period, resulting mainly from a turbulent marriage with the sculptor Anne Marie Brodersen. Nielsen is especially noted for his six symphonies, his Wind Quintet and his concertos for violin, flute, in Denmark, his opera Maskarade and many of his songs have become an integral part of the national heritage. Nielsens sixth and final symphony, Sinfonia semplice, was written in 1924–25 and he died from a heart attack six years later, and is buried in Vestre Cemetery, Copenhagen. Nielsen maintained the reputation of an outsider during his lifetime, both in his own country and internationally and it was only later that his works firmly entered the international repertoire, accelerating in popularity from the 1960s through Leonard Bernstein and others. In Denmark, Nielsens reputation was sealed in 2006 when three of his compositions were listed by the Ministry of Culture amongst the twelve greatest pieces of Danish music, for many years, he appeared on the Danish hundred-kroner banknote. The Carl Nielsen Museum in Odense documents his life and that of his wife, Nielsen was born the seventh of twelve children to a poor peasant family in 1865 at Nørre Lyndelse near Sortelung, south of Odense on the island of Funen. His father, Niels Jørgensen, was a painter and traditional musician who, with his abilities as a fiddler. Nielsen described his childhood in his autobiography Min Fynske Barndom and his mother, whom he recalls singing folk songs during his childhood, came from a well-to-do family of sea captains while one of his half-uncles, Hans Andersen, was a talented musician. He had received the instrument from his mother when he was six and he learned the violin and piano as a child and wrote his earliest compositions at the age of eight or nine, a lullaby, now lost, and a polka which the composer mentioned in his autobiography. After learning to play instruments, on 1 November 1879 he became a bugler. Nielsen did not give up the violin during his time with the battalion, in 1881, Nielsen began to take his violin playing more seriously, studying privately under Carl Larsen, the sexton at Odense Cathedral. Following an introduction to Niels W and he also studied composition under Gade, whom he liked as a friend but not for his music. Contacts with fellow students and cultured families in Copenhagen, some of whom would become lifelong friends, the patchy education resulting from his country background left Nielsen insatiably curious about the arts, philosophy and aesthetics. But, in the opinion of the musicologist David Fanning, it left him with a highly personal
