1.
Gioachino Rossini
–
Gioachino Antonio Rossini was an Italian composer who wrote operas, as well as some sacred music, songs, chamber music and piano pieces. A precocious composer of operas, he made his debut at the age of eighteen. His best-known operas include the Italian comedies Il barbiere di Siviglia, Litaliana in Algeri and he also wrote a string of serious operas in Italian, including works such as Tancredi, Otello and Semiramide. The semi-serious opera La Gazza Ladra has one of Rossinis most celebrated overtures, after moving to Paris in 1824, he eventually started to write in French. His last opera, the epic Guillaume Tell, replete with its iconic overture, after composing thirty-nine significant operas in nineteen years Rossini retired from the theatre in 1829. Later, he was affected by physical and mental illnesses and for decades wrote relatively little apart from a setting of the Stabat Mater. A return to Paris from Italy in 1855 was followed by better health, during these, he presented salon music in the form of songs, piano pieces and small chamber ensembles that he called Sins of Old Age. He considered the last of these Sins to be the unusually scored Petite messe solennelle that he wrote in 1863, Rossini had been the most popular opera composer in history, and he was one of the most renowned public figures of his time. A rapid and prolific composer, he was quoted as joking, Give me the laundress bill, a tendency for inspired, song-like melodies is evident throughout his scores, earning him the nickname The Italian Mozart. Use of a build up of orchestral sound over a repeated phrase—commonly known as a Rossini crescendo—also prompted the nickname Signor Crescendo. Gioachino Antonio Rossini was born into a family of musicians in Pesaro and his father, Giuseppe, was a horn player and inspector of slaughterhouses. His mother, Anna, was a singer and a bakers daughter, Rossinis father was sympathetic to the French Revolution and welcomed Napoleons troops when they arrived in northern Italy. When Austria restored the old regime, Rossinis father was sent to prison in 1799, Rossinis mother took him to Bologna, making a living as leading singer at various theatres of the Romagna region. Her husband would ultimately join her in Bologna, during this time, Rossini was frequently left in the care of his aging grandmother, who had difficulty supervising the boy. He remained at Bologna in the care of a pork butcher while his father played the horn in the orchestras of the theatres at which his wife sang and these qualities made him a subject for ridicule in the eyes of the young Rossini. He was eventually taken from Prinetti and apprenticed to a blacksmith, in Angelo Tesei, he found a congenial music master, and learned to sight-read, play accompaniments on the piano and sing well enough to take solo parts in the church when he was ten years of age. Important products of this period are six sonate a quattro, or string sonatas, the original scores, dating from 1804 when the composer was twelve, were found in the Library of Congress in Washington D. C. In 1805, he appeared at the theatre of the Commune in Ferdinando Paers Camilla and he was also a capable horn player, treading in the footsteps of his father
2.
Pierre Beaumarchais
–
Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais was a French polymath. At various times in his life, he was a watchmaker, inventor, playwright, musician, diplomat, spy, publisher, horticulturist, arms dealer, satirist, financier, and revolutionary. Born a provincial watchmakers son, Beaumarchais rose in French society and became influential in the court of Louis XV as an inventor, an early French supporter of American independence, Beaumarchais lobbied the French government on behalf of the American rebels during the American War of Independence. Beaumarchais oversaw covert aid from the French and Spanish governments to supply arms and he later struggled to recover money he had personally invested in the scheme. Beaumarchais was also a participant in the stages of the French Revolution. He is probably best known, however, for his theatrical works, Beaumarchais was born Pierre-Augustin Caron in the Rue Saint-Denis, Paris on 24 January 1732. He was the boy among the six surviving children of André-Charles Caron. The family had previously been Huguenots, but had converted to Roman Catholicism in the wake of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the family was comfortably middle-class and Beaumarchais had a peaceful and happy childhood. As the only son, he was spoiled by his parents and he took an interest in music and played several instruments. Though born a Catholic, Beaumarchais retained a sympathy for Protestants, from the age of ten, Beaumarchais had some schooling at a country school where he learned some Latin. Two years later, Beaumarchais left school at twelve to work as an apprentice under his father and he may have used his own experiences during these years as the inspiration for the character of Cherubin when he wrote the Marriage of Figaro. He generally neglected his work, and at one point was evicted by his father, at the time, pocket watches were commonly unreliable for timekeeping and were worn more as fashion accessories. In response to this, Beaumarchais spent nearly a year researching improvements, in July 1753, at the age of twenty one, he invented an escapement for watches that allowed them to be made substantially more accurate and compact. The first man to take an interest in this new invention was Jean-André Lepaute, if there was a clock chiming in the wealthy homes of Paris, you can bet Lepaute built it himself. Lepaute had been a mentor to Beaumarchais after discovering the talent in a chance encounter. He encouraged him as he worked on the new invention, earned his trust and you can imagine Beaumarchais’ surprise when he read in the September issue of Le Mercure de France that M. Lepaute had just invented the most wonderful mechanism for a more portable clock. “C’est normal, ” said his father, “C’est comme ca. ”It’s normal for the class to step on those beneath them. Well, Beaumarchais did not want any of that life and he wrote a strongly worded letter to that same newspaper defending the invention as his own and urging the Royal Academy of Sciences to see the proof for themselves
3.
The Barber of Seville (play)
–
The Barber of Seville or the Useless Precaution is a French play by Pierre Beaumarchais, with original music by Antoine-Laurent Baudron. It was initially conceived as an opera, and was rejected as such in 1772 by the Comédie-Italienne. The play as it is now known was written in 1773 and it is the first play in a trilogy of which the other constituents are The Marriage of Figaro and The Guilty Mother. Though the play was received at first, Beaumarchais worked some fast editing of the script. The plays title might be a pun on Tirso de Molinas earlier play El Burlador de Sevilla, mozart wrote a set of 12 variations, K.354, on one of Baudrons songs, Je suis Lindor. The story follows a traditional Commedia dellarte structure, with many characters based on famous stock characters. The plot involves a Spanish count, called simply The Count although Almaviva appears as an additional name, to ensure that she really loves him and not just his money, the Count disguises himself as a poor college student named Lindor, and attempts to woo her. His plans are foiled by Rosines guardian Doctor Bartholo, who keeps her locked up in his house and intends to marry her himself. The Counts luck changes, however, after a reunion with an ex-servant of his, Figaro. The story culminates in the marriage of the Count and Rosine, the Count, disguised as a poor university student, waits in hope of catching a glimpse of Rosine, whom he encountered in Madrid and has followed to Seville. To this point they have never spoken to each other, Figaro happens to come down the street, singing a song, he and the Count recognize each other. While the two men talk, Dr. Bartholo and Rosine come to a window of the house, Rosine pretends to drop a piece of sheet music from her window inadvertently. While the doctor is coming down the stairs to retrieve it, Rosine instructs the Count to pick up the sheet himself. He does, and finds a note from Rosine hidden inside it, Figaro advises the Count that Rosine is the ward of Dr. Bartholo, and adds that as he is the doctors barber and apothecary, he has frequent occasion to visit the house. He proposes a plan to smuggle the Count into the house by disguising him as a soldier in need of lodging. The two are interrupted when they overhear Dr. Bartholo making plans to secretly marry Rosine during the night, before he leaves to see his friend Bazile, afterwards, the Count sings to Rosine, introducing himself as a poor man named Lindor who is in love with her. From inside the house, Rosine sings a verse to the tune of Maître en droit, requiting his affections, Figaro and the Count go their separate ways, agreeing to meet again to put their plan in action. In Dr. Bartholos house, Rosine writes a note to Lindor, when Figaro drops in, she asks if he will deliver the note
4.
Teatro Argentina
–
The Teatro Argentina is an opera house and theatre located in Largo di Torre Argentina, a square in Rome, Italy. One of the oldest theatres in Rome, it was constructed in 1731 and it is built over part of the curia section of the Theatre of Pompey. This curia was the location of the assassination of Julius Caesar, the house was commissioned by the Sforza-Cesarini family and designed by the architect Gerolamo Theodoli with the auditorium laid out in the traditional horseshoe shape. Duke Francesco Sforza-Cesarini, who ran the Argentina Theatre from 1807 to 1815, was a fanatic who continued until his death to run up debts. From 1919 to 1944, more musical offerings than dramatic ones were presented, although the theatre premiered works by Luigi Pirandello, Henrik Ibsen, as well, a series of operas was presented in the winter of 1944-45 in honor of the American and British troops. In 1994, the became the home of the Teatro Stabile company of Rome. It offers a variety of programmes, some being large-scale productions, the inside of the theatre is constructed of wood with six levels of boxes characterizing the design, and has been restored many times. It seats 696 people, including 344 in the stalls and with 40 boxes on five levels seating an additional 352, in the novel The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas the Teatro Argentina was the setting for an important scene during a performance of Parisina by Gaetano Donizetti. List of theatres and opera houses in Rome Notes Sources Plantamura, Carol, Teatro Argentina, in The Opera Lovers Guide to Europe
5.
Italian language
–
By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
6.
Libretto
–
A libretto is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term libretto is also used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as the Mass, requiem and sacred cantata. Libretto, from Italian, is the diminutive of the word libro, sometimes other language equivalents are used for libretti in that language, livret for French works and Textbuch for German. A libretto is distinct from a synopsis or scenario of the plot, in that the libretto contains all the words and stage directions, while a synopsis summarizes the plot. The relationship of the librettist to the composer in the creation of a work has varied over the centuries, as have the sources. In the context of a modern English language musical theatre piece, Libretti for operas, oratorios and cantatas in the 17th and 18th centuries generally were written by someone other than the composer, often a well-known poet. Metastasio was one of the most highly regarded librettists in Europe and his libretti were set many times by many different composers. Another noted 18th-century librettist was Lorenzo Da Ponte, who wrote the libretti for three of Mozarts greatest operas, as well as for other composers. Eugène Scribe was one of the most prolific librettists of the 19th century, providing the words for works by Meyerbeer, Auber, Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini and Verdi. The French writers duo Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote a number of opera and operetta libretti for the likes of Jacques Offenbach, Jules Massenet. Arrigo Boito, who wrote libretti for, among others, Giuseppe Verdi and Amilcare Ponchielli, the libretto is not always written before the music. Some composers wrote their own libretti, Richard Wagner is perhaps most famous in this regard, with his transformations of Germanic legends and events into epic subjects for his operas and music dramas. Hector Berlioz, too, wrote the libretti for two of his works, La Damnation de Faust and Les Troyens. Alban Berg adapted Georg Büchners play Woyzeck for the libretto of Wozzeck, sometimes the libretto is written in close collaboration with the composer, this can involve adaptation, as was the case with Rimsky-Korsakov and his librettist Belsky, or an entirely original work. In the case of musicals, the music, the lyrics, thus, a musical such as Fiddler on the Roof has a composer, a lyricist and the writer of the book. In rare cases, the composer writes everything except the dance arrangements - music, lyrics and libretto, Other matters in the process of developing a libretto parallel those of spoken dramas for stage or screen. A famous case of the latter is Wagners 1861 revision of the original 1845 Dresden version of his opera Tannhäuser for Paris, since the late 19th century some opera composers have written music to prose or free verse libretti. The libretto of a musical, on the hand, is almost always written in prose
7.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
–
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
8.
The Marriage of Figaro
–
The Marriage of Figaro, K.492, is an opera buffa in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 1 May 1786, the operas libretto is based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro, which was first performed in 1784. It tells how the servants Figaro and Susanna succeed in getting married, foiling the efforts of their philandering employer Count Almaviva to seduce Susanna, the opera is a cornerstone of the repertoire and appears consistently among the top ten in the Operabase list of most frequently performed operas. Beaumarchaiss earlier play The Barber of Seville had already made a transition to opera in a version by Paisiello. Mozarts librettist managed to get approval for an operatic version which eventually achieved great success. The opera was the first of three collaborations between Mozart and Da Ponte, their collaborations were Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte. In particular, Da Ponte replaced Figaros climactic speech against inherited nobility with an angry aria against unfaithful wives. Contrary to the myth, the libretto was approved by the Emperor before any music was written by Mozart. The Imperial Italian opera company paid Mozart 450 florins for the work, Da Ponte was paid 200 florins. Figaro premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 1 May 1786, Mozart himself directed the first two performances, conducting seated at the keyboard, the custom of the day. Later performances were conducted by Joseph Weigl, the first production was given eight further performances, all in 1786. The applause of the audience on the first night resulted in five numbers being encored and you will therefore cause some posters to this effect to be printed. The requested posters were printed up and posted in the Burgtheater in time for the performance on 24 May. The newspaper Wiener Realzeitung carried a review of the opera in its issue of 11 July 1786, did not really know on the first day where it stood. Apart from that, it is true that the first performance was none of the best, but now, after several performances, one would be subscribing either to the cabal or to tastelessness if one were to maintain that Herr Mozarts music is anything but a masterpiece of art. It contains so many beauties, and such a wealth of ideas, as can be only from the source of innate genius. – Mozart directed the orchestra, playing his fortepiano, the joy which this causes is so far removed from all sensuality that one cannot speak of it. Where could words be found that are worthy to describe such joy, Joseph Haydn appreciated the opera greatly, writing to a friend that he heard it in his dreams
9.
The Marriage of Figaro (play)
–
The Marriage of Figaro is a comedy in five acts, written in 1778 by Pierre Beaumarchais. This play is the second in the Figaro trilogy, preceded by The Barber of Seville, in the first play, The Barber, the story begins with a simple love triangle in which a Spanish count has fallen in love with a girl called Rosine. He disguises himself to ensure that she love him back for his character. But this is all foiled when Rosines guardian, Doctor Bartholo, the Count runs into an ex-servant of his, Figaro, and pressures him into setting up a meeting between the Count and Rosine. He succeeds and the lovers are married to end the first part of the trilogy, the Marriage was written as a sequel to The Barber. In his preface to the play, Beaumarchais says that Louis François, the plays denunciation of aristocratic privilege has been characterised as foreshadowing the French Revolution. The revolutionary leader Georges Danton said that the killed off the nobility, in exile. The play formed the basis for an opera with a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte and music by Mozart, also called The Marriage of Figaro. In 1799, another based on the same play, La pazza giornata, ovvero Il matrimonio di Figaro, was produced in Venice with libretto by Gaetano Rossi. The Marriage of Figaro picks up three years following the end of The Barber of Seville as Figaro is engaged to be married to Suzanne, both characters are among the Counts staff in his dwelling. In the three years since Figaro helped forge the marriage of the Count and Rosine, the Count has already grown bored with his marriage and is taking notice of Suzanne. The Count looks to re-engage the act of primae noctis, in which he would consummate the marriage with the prior to Figaros honeymoon. The scholar and translator John Wood writes that the play was completed in more or less its existing form by 1778. It was accepted for production by the management of the Comédie Française in 1781, the censors still refused to license the play for public performance, but the king personally authorised its production. The author gave his share of the profits to charity, in France the play has held its place in the repertory, and leading companies have played it in the original language to audiences in Europe and America. In 1960 a Comédie Française production was filmed, under the direction of Jean Mayer, in the twentieth century the play continued to be staged in translation by foreign companies. In 1927 Constantin Stanislavski staged the work at the Moscow Art Theatre, in 1974 the British National Theatre company presented a version by John Wells, Beaumarchais comedy was adapted into One Mad Day. A screwball comedy in Three Acts by William James Royce, the play premiered at the Norton Clapp Theatre on 24 October 2008
10.
Giovanni Paisiello
–
Giovanni Paisiello was an Italian composer of the Classical era. Paisiello was born in Taranto and educated by the Jesuits there and he became known for his beautiful singing voice and in 1754 was sent to the Conservatorio di S. Onofrio at Naples, where he studied under Francesco Durante, and eventually became assistant master. In 1772 Paisiello began to write music, and composed a requiem for Gennara di Borbone. In the same year he married Cecilia Pallini, and the marriage was a happy one, when, in 1816, Gioachino Rossini set a revised version of the libretto to music, under the title of Almaviva ossia la inutil precauzione the fans of Paisiello stormed the stage. Paisiello left Russia in 1784, and, after producing Il Re Teodoro at Vienna, entered the service of Ferdinand IV of Naples, the power of the Bonaparte family was tottering to its fall, and Paisiellos fortunes fell with it. The death of his wife in 1815 tried him severely and his health failed rapidly, and constitutional jealousy of the popularity of others was a source of worry and vexation. Paisiello is known to have composed 94 operas, which are known for their beautiful melodies. Perhaps the best-known tune he wrote is Nel cor più non mi sento from La Molinara. Paisiello also wrote a great deal of music, including eight masses, as well as fifty-one instrumental compositions. He also composed the Inno al Re, the anthem of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Manuscript scores of many of his operas were presented to the library of the British Museum by Domenico Dragonetti, the Concise Grove Dictionary of Music notes that Paisiello was one of the most successful and influential opera composers of his time. Most of his over 80 operas are comic and use a simple, direct and spirited style, latterly with sharper characterization, more colorful scoring and his serious operas have less than the conventional amount of virtuoso vocal writing, those for Russia are the closest to Glucks reform approach. Paisiello was primarily an opera composer and his instrumental works are therefore imbued with a similar vocally conceived melodic line, granted they may be lacking in the sophisticated counterpoint and motivic work of Haydn and Mozarts music. This characterization, however, does not do justice to the extreme drama, essentially he had mastered all the techniques which made for good opera, and this made his works widely popular and admired throughout Europe. Parma, Loca del Cairo Edizioni Musicali,2006 and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Paisiello, Giovanni. A Dictionary of Music and Musicians, free scores by Giovanni Paisiello at the International Music Score Library Project Robinson, Michael F. Paisiello, Giovanni. Free scores by Giovanni Paisiello in the Choral Public Domain Library
11.
The Barber of Seville (Paisiello)
–
Il barbiere di Siviglia, ovvero La precauzione inutile is a comic opera by Giovanni Paisiello from a libretto by Giuseppe Petrosellini, even though his name is not identified on the scores title page. The opera was first performed on 26 September 1782 at the Imperial Court and it was adapted from the play Le Barbier de Séville of Pierre Beaumarchais. The plots of the Paisiello and the Rossini versions very closely resemble each other, petrosellinis libretto puts a greater emphasis on the love story and less on the comic qualities. Several musical adaptations of Il barbiere di Siviglia predated the version by Paisiello, although it is missing only the closing ritornello, the incomplete orchestration suggests it was never used. The opera proved to be Paisiellos biggest success, even after the 1816 premiere of Gioachino Rossinis own version of The Barber of Seville, Paisiellos version continued to be more popular by comparison. With time, however, that situation changed, as Rossinis version gained in popularity, Paisiellos diminished in parallel, to the point where it fell from the repertoire. Paisiellos version did receive revival in later years, including Paris, Turin, Berlin, notes Sources Holden, Amanda, The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York, Penguin Putnam,2001. ISBN 0-14-029312-4 Lazarevich, Gordana, Barbiere di Siviglia, Il, in Sadie, Stanley, The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, New York, Grove,1997, I, pp. 309-311
12.
Nicolas Isouard
–
Nicolas Isouard was a French composer. Isouard studied in Rabat or Mdina with Francesco Azopardi, in Palermo with Giuseppe Amendola, from 1795 he was organist at St. John de Gerusalemme in Valletta at the Conventual Church of the Order of Saint John, San Giovanni di Malta. He moved to Paris, where he worked as a free composer, the pair worked together on several operas, including Le petit page ou La prison détat and Flaminius à Corinthe. Isouard adopted the pseudonym Nicolò and found success in the field of opéra comique with Michel-Ange. He composed regularly for the Théâtre de lOpéra-Comique, writing some thirty works for them and he composed masses, motets, cantatas, romances, and duos, along with over 45 operas. Isouard had two daughters, Sophie-Nicole, a composer of romances, and Annette-Julie, and pianist and composer and his brother Joseph had a career as a singer and opera director before being named inspector of historic monuments in Rouen. Nicolas Isouard was buried in Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, a bust of the composer was placed on one of the facades of both the Théâtre de lOpéra-Comique and the Palais Garnier, and one of the main squares in Paris was given his name. Casaciello, perseguitato da un Mago,1793, Malta Lavviso a Maritati, Opera, Florence June1794 Artaserse, re di Persia, Opera seria, richard Divall is currently preparing a publication of a monograph and Complete Thematic Catalogue, and en edition of the opera Cendrillon. Free scores by Nicolas Isouard at the International Music Score Library Project
13.
Francesco Morlacchi
–
Francesco Morlacchi was an Italian composer of more than twenty operas. During the many years he spent as the royal Royal Kapellmeister in Dresden, born in Perugia, Morlacchi composed from a very young age, first studying with his uncle Giovanni Mazzetti and later with Luigi Caruso. He later studied at Loreto with Zingarelli, finally, he ended up in Bologna at the school of Stanislao Mattei where he met Gioacchino Rossini. Morlacchis first operatic works were written in 1807, and were a farce and his first truly effective theatre work was the opera seria Corradino, and lead to commissions from opera houses in Rome and Milan. In 1810 he was brought to Dresden by contralto Marietta Marcolini, while in Dresden, he had to work to establish himself in the eyes of critics. By this time, German opera was established, and Morlacchi. In 1815 Morlacchi set Il barbiere di Siviglia with a libretto of Giuseppe Petrosellini, one of Morlacchis most successful works was Tebaldo e Isolina. Giovanni Battista Velluti premiered the work, and made the role his own, the opera was performed in 40 cities over the next ten years, largely thanks to Vellutis skillful performance. The architect Gottlob Friedrich Thormeyer painted his portrait in 1829, oratorio - La passione di Gesù Cristo 1812, one of the last settings of Metastasios libretto of 1730. Although sometimes credited with it, Francesco Morlacchi did not compose The Swiss Shepherd, the Swiss Shepherd was instead written by Italian flautist Pietro Morlacchi. Francesco Morlacchi, Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy, grovemusic. com
14.
New York Philharmonic
–
It is one of the leading American orchestras popularly referred to as the Big Five. The Philharmonics home is David Geffen Hall, known as Avery Fisher Hall until September 2015, founded in 1842, the orchestra is one of the oldest musical institutions in the United States and the oldest of the Big Five orchestras. Its record-setting 14, 000th concert was given in December 2004, the New York Philharmonic was founded in 1842 by the American conductor Ureli Corelli Hill, with the aid of the Irish composer William Vincent Wallace. The orchestra was called the Philharmonic Society of New York. It was the third Philharmonic on American soil since 1799, and had as its intended purpose, the first concert of the Philharmonic Society took place on December 7,1842 in the Apollo Rooms on lower Broadway before an audience of 600. The concert opened with Beethovens Symphony No, the musicians operated as a cooperative society, deciding by a majority vote such issues as who would become a member, which music would be performed and who among them would conduct. At the end of the season, the players would divide any proceeds among themselves, after only a dozen public performances and barely four years old, the Philharmonic organized a concert to raise funds to build a new music hall. The centerpiece was the American premiere of Beethovens Symphony No,9, to take place at Castle Garden on the southern tip of Manhattan. About 400 instrumental and vocal performers gathered for this premiere, which was conducted by George Loder, the chorals were translated into what would be the first English performance anywhere in the world. However, with the expensive US$2.00 ticket price and a war rally uptown, the audience was kept away. Although judged by some as an odd work with all those singers kept at bay until the end, during the Philharmonics first seven seasons, seven musicians alternated the conducting duties. In addition to Hill, Timm and Étienne, these were William Alpers, George Loder, Louis Wiegers and this changed in 1849 when Theodore Eisfeld was installed as sole conductor for the season. Eisfeld, later along with Carl Bergmann, would be the conductor until 1865 and that year Eisfeld returned to Europe, and Bergmann continued to conduct the Society until his death in 1876. Leopold Damrosch, Franz Liszts former concertmaster at Weimar, served as conductor of the Philharmonic for the 1876/77 season, but failing to win support from the Philharmonics public, he left to create the rival Symphony Society of New York in 1878. Upon his death in 1885, his 23-year-old son Walter took over, Carnegie Hall would remain the orchestras home until 1962. The Philharmonic in 1877 was in financial condition, caused by the paltry income from five concerts in the 1876/77 season that brought in an average of only $168 per concert. At first the Philharmonics suggestion offended Thomas because he was unwilling to disband his own orchestra, because of the desperate financial circumstances, the Philharmonic offered Theodore Thomas the conductorship without conditions, and he began conducting the orchestra in the autumn of 1877. He left in 1891 to found the Chicago Symphony, taking thirteen Philharmonic musicians with him, another celebrated conductor, Anton Seidl, followed Thomas on the Philharmonic podium, serving until 1898
15.
Arturo Toscanini
–
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and of the 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for detail and sonority. He was at times the music director of La Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Toscanini was born in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, and won a scholarship to the music conservatory. Living conditions at the conservatory were harsh, for example, his diet consisted almost completely of fish. When he became successful, he never ate anything that came from the sea and he joined the orchestra of an opera company, with which he toured South America in 1886. Carlo Superti and Aristide Venturi tried unsuccessfully to finish the work, in desperation, the singers suggested the name of their assistant Chorus Master, who knew the whole opera from memory. The public was taken by surprise, at first by the youth and sheer aplomb of this unknown conductor, for the rest of that season, Toscanini conducted eighteen operas, all with absolute success. Thus began his career as a conductor, at age 19, upon returning to Italy, Toscanini set out on a dual path for some time. He continued to conduct, his first appearance in Italy being at the Teatro Carignano in Turin, on November 4,1886, in the world premiere of the revised version of Alfredo Catalanis Edmea. This was the beginning of Toscaninis lifelong friendship and championing of Catalani, however, he also returned to his chair in the cello section, and participated as cellist in the world premiere of Verdis Otello under the composers supervision. The composer was impressed when Toscanini consulted him personally about Verdis Te Deum. Verdi said that he had left it out for fear that certain interpreters would have exaggerated the marking, gradually, Toscaninis reputation as an operatic conductor of unusual authority and skill supplanted his cello career. In the following decade, he consolidated his career in Italy, entrusted with the premieres of Puccinis La bohème. In 1896, Toscanini conducted his first symphonic concert and he exhibited a considerable capacity for hard work, conducting 43 concerts in Turin in 1898. By 1898, Toscanini was Principal Conductor at La Scala, where he remained until 1908, returning as Music Director and he brought the La Scala Orchestra to the United States on a concert tour in 1920/21, during which he made his first recordings. Outside Europe, Toscanini conducted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as well as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and he toured Europe with the New York Philharmonic in 1930. At each performance, he and the orchestra were acclaimed by critics, Toscanini was the first non-German conductor to appear at Bayreuth, and the New York Philharmonic was the first non-German orchestra to play there
16.
Aureliano in Palmira
–
Aureliano in Palmira is an operatic dramma serio in two acts written by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto in which the librettist was credited only by the initials G. F. R. The libretto has generally attributed to Giuseppe Felice Romani. It has been suggested that the name may have resulted from a confusion of Romani with Luigi Romanelli. The Act 1 duet between Zenobia and Arsace, Se tu mami, o mia regina, was admired by Stendhal. Other music from opera, particularly the overture, was later reused by Rossini in Elisabetta, regina dInghilterra. It premiered at La Scala in Milan on 26 December 1813, 19th century Aureliano in Palmira was Rossinis second commission from La Scala. It opened the theatres Carnival season with the famed castrato, Giovanni Battista Velluti as Arsace and it was the only role that Rossini wrote for the castrato voice. Rossini had originally written the role of Aureliano for Giovanni David, however, throat problems during rehearsals led David to withdraw from the production, and Luigi Mari took his place. The popular soprano, Lorenza Correa, sang the role of Queen Zenobia, the orchestra at the premiere was conducted by Alessandro Rolla, with the staging directed by Alessandro Sanquirico. There was also criticism of the three principal singers, nevertheless, it had a run of 14 performances at La Scala that season and was performed sporadically in various Italian theatres between 1814 and 1831. It was also performed in London in 1826, again with Velluti as Arsace, the opera then fell more or less into obscurity. There was another revival in 1996 at the Rossini in Wildbad Festival conducted by Francesco Corti, with Donald George as Aureliano, Angelo Manzotti as Arsace. It was performed again in 2011 in Martina Franca and was given a new production at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro in August 2014, the Pesaro production, directed by Mario Martone, was the first performance of the critical edition of the opera. Place, in and around the city of Palmyra Time, 271-272 A. D, Queen Zenobia, her lover Arsace, and the priests offer sacrifices in the Temple of Isis and pray for their deliverance from the approaching Roman army. General Oraspe enters to the strains of music and announces that Aurelianos Roman army is at the gates of Palmyra. Arsace pledges his Persian troops to defend the city, after a dramatic battle scene on the plains outside the city, the Persians are defeated. The Roman soldiers celebrate their victory, Aureliano arrives and addresses Arsace, now a prisoner. He responds to the Emperor with dignity and affirms his love for Zenobia, inside Palmyras walls, Zenobia has hidden the kingdoms treasures in the vaults beneath the palace
17.
Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra
–
It was premiered at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on 4 October 1815 and was the first of nine operas which Rossini wrote for the San Carlo. Altogether, this was one of eighteen operas which he wrote during the time he spent in Naples, Rossini took melodies from other operas to compose Elisabetta, including the overture, first written for Aureliano in Palmira, which is famous as the overture to The Barber of Seville. The opera was first given in the UK on 30 April 1818 at the Kings Theatre in London, time, Reign of Elizabeth I Place, London Throne Room of Whitehall Palace, The Earl of Leicester is celebrating his victory over the Scots. The Duke of Norfolk, who is present, scowls with jealousy. Leicester is honored, and says he has brought home the sons of nobility as hostages, however, he recognizes his wife, Matilda, and her brother, Enrico, as belonging to that group. When they are alone, Leicester reproaches his wife, because she is the daughter of Mary, Queen of the Scots, she is in danger. Matilda tells Leicester that the Queen loves him as well, Leicester decides that, to avoid suspicion, he will speak to neither Matilda nor to her brother, Enrico. Royal apartments Instead, Leicester tells Norfolk of his marriage and Norfolk, in turn. She reacts to the news in fury, the hostages and Leicester are sent for. The Queen offers to make him consort, and, upon his refusal, she accuses him of treason, rooms in the Palace The Queen states that she has sentenced Matilda to death. She demands that Matilda renounce her marriage to Leicester in return for his, her brother, Enricos, Leicester enters, tears the document up, and is once again arrested along with Matilda. Also, the Queen banishes Norfolk banished for behaving badly towards Leicester, outside the Tower of London People lament Leicesters upcoming execution. He induces the crowd to try to free Leicester, Leicesters prison cell He laments his fate. Norfolk enters and convinces Leicester that he has begged the Queen to pardon him, the Queen enters to see Leicester prior to his death. Norfolk has hidden, and Matilda and Enrico are hiding as well, Leicester tells the Queen that Norfolk has accused him. Norfolk emerges with a dagger drawn to stab the Queen, when Matilda emerges, the Queen condemns Norfolk to death, and, in the aria, Bellalme generose, pardons Leicester and the Scottish prisoners. Notes Sources Gossett, Philip, Brauner, Patricia, Elisabetta, regina dInghilterra in Holden, Amanda, The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York, ISBN 0-14-029312-4 Kobbé, Gustave, The New Kobbés Complete Opera Book, NY, Putnam. ISBN0399116338 ISBN 0-399-11633-8 Osborne, Charles, The Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, ISBN0931340713 Osborne, Richard, Rossini, Ithaca, New York, Northeastern University Press
18.
Bass (voice type)
–
A bass is a type of classical male singing voice and has the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C. Its tessitura, or comfortable range, is defined by the outermost lines of the bass clef. Categories of bass voices vary according to style and classification system. Italians favour subdividing basses into the basso cantante, basso buffo, the American system identifies the bass-baritone, comic bass, lyric bass, and dramatic bass. The German fach system offers further distinctions, Spielbaß, Schwerer Spielbaß, Charakterbaß, rare is the performer who embodies a single fach without also touching repertoire from another category. Cultural influence and individual variation create a variation in range. Many British composers such as Benjamin Britten have written parts for bass that center far higher than the bass tessitura as implied by the clef, the Harvard Dictionary of Music defines the range as being from the E below low C to middle C. The bass has the lowest vocal range of all voice types, the low extreme for basses is generally C2. However, several extreme bass singers, referred to as basso profondos, within opera, the lowest note in the standard bass repertoire is D2, sung by the character Osmin in Mozarts Die Entführung aus dem Serail, but few roles fall below F2. The high extreme, a few roles in the standard repertoire call for a high F♯ or G. In the operatic repertoire, the highest notes are a G♯4 and, in the aria Fra lombre e glorrori in Handels serenata Aci. Basso cantante is a higher, more lyrical voice and it is produced using a more Italianate vocal production, and possesses a faster vibrato, than its closest Germanic/Anglo-Saxon equivalent, the bass-baritone. Hoher Bass or high bass or often a dramatic bass-baritone, jugendlicher Bass denotes the role of a young man sung by a bass, regardless of the age of the singer. They are usually the blustering antagonist of the hero/heroine or the fool in bel canto operas. English equivalent, dramatic bass Basso profondo is the lowest bass voice type, steane in Voices, Singers & Critics, the basso profondo voice derives from a method of tone-production that eliminates the more Italian quick vibrato. In its place is a kind of tonal solidity, a front, which may nevertheless prove susceptible to the other kind of vibrato. Dramatic basso profondo is a basso profondo voice
19.
Her Majesty's Theatre
–
Her Majestys Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, M. Synge, Noël Coward and J. B. Since the First World War, the stage has made the theatre suitable for large-scale musical productions. The theatre was established by architect and playwright John Vanbrugh, in 1705, legitimate drama unaccompanied by music was prohibited by law in all but the two London patent theatres, and so this theatre quickly became an opera house. Between 1711 and 1739, more than 25 operas by George Frideric Handel premiered here and it also hosted the Ballet of her Majestys Theatre in the mid-19th century, before returning to hosting the London premieres of such operas as Bizets Carmen and Wagners Ring Cycle. The name of the changes with the sex of the monarch. It first became the Kings Theatre in 1714 on the accession of George I and it was renamed Her Majestys Theatre in 1837. Most recently, the theatre was known as His Majestys Theatre from 1901 to 1952, the theatres capacity is 1,216 seats, and the building was Grade II* listed by English Heritage in 1970. Really Useful Theatres has owned the building since 2000, the land beneath it is on a long-term lease from the Crown Estate. In the new business, he hoped to improve the share of profits that would go to playwrights, —John Vanbrughs notice of subscription for the new theatre He was joined in the enterprise by his principal associate and manager William Congreve and an actors co-operative led by Thomas Betterton. The theatre provided the first alternative to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, built in 1663, the theatres site is the second oldest such site in London that remains in use. These three post-interregnum theatres defined the shape and use of modern theatres, the land for the theatre was held on a lease renewable in 1740 and was ultimately owned, as it is today, by the Crown Estate. Building was delayed by the necessity of acquiring the street frontage, colley Cibber described the audience fittings as lavish but the facilities for playing poor. This was the first Italian opera performed in London, the opera failed, and the season struggled on through May, with revivals of plays and operas. The first new play performed was The Conquest of Spain by Mary Pix, the theatre proved too large for actors voices to carry across the auditorium, and the first season was a failure. Congreve departed, Vanbrugh bought out his partners, and the actors reopened the Lincolns Inn Fields theatre in the summer. On 7 May 1707, experiencing mounting losses and running costs, after 1709, the theatre was devoted to Italian opera and was sometimes known informally as the Haymarket Opera House. Young George Frideric Handel produced his English début, Rinaldo, on 24 February 1711 at the theatre and this was the first Italian opera composed specifically for the London stage
20.
Royal Opera House
–
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is referred to as simply Covent Garden. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, originally called the Theatre Royal, it served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented, a year later, Handels first season of operas began. Many of his operas and oratorios were written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there. The current building is the theatre on the site following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1856. The façade, foyer, and auditorium date from 1858, the main auditorium seats 2,256 people, making it the third largest in London, and consists of four tiers of boxes and balconies and the amphitheatre gallery. The proscenium is 12.20 m wide and 14.80 m high, the main auditorium is a Grade I listed building. The letters patent remained in the possession of the patentees heirs until the 19th century, in 1728, John Rich, actor-manager of the Dukes Company at Lincolns Inn Fields Theatre, commissioned The Beggars Opera from John Gay. In addition, a Royal Charter had created a fruit and vegetable market in the area, at its opening on 7 December 1732, Rich was carried by his actors in processional triumph into the theatre for its opening production of William Congreves The Way of the World. Despite the frequent interchangeability between the Covent Garden and Drury Lane companies, competition was intense, often presenting the plays at the same time. Rich introduced pantomime to the repertoire, himself performing and a tradition of seasonal pantomime continued at the modern theatre, in 1734, Covent Garden presented its first ballet, Pygmalion. Marie Sallé discarded tradition and her corset and danced in diaphanous robes, george Frideric Handel was named musical director of the company, at Lincolns Inn Fields, in 1719, but his first season of opera, at Covent Garden, was not presented until 1734. His first opera was Il pastor fido followed by Ariodante, the première of Alcina, there was a royal performance of Messiah in 1743, which was a success and began a tradition of Lenten oratorio performances. From 1735 until his death in 1759 he gave regular seasons there and he bequeathed his organ to John Rich, and it was placed in a prominent position on the stage, but was among many valuable items lost in a fire that destroyed the theatre on 20 September 1808. In 1792 the architect Henry Holland rebuilt the auditorium, within the shell of the building but deeper and wider than the old auditorium. Rebuilding began in December 1808, and the second Theatre Royal, the Old Price Riots lasted over two months, and the management was finally forced to accede to the audiences demands. During this time, entertainments were varied, opera and ballet were presented, kemble engaged a variety of acts, including the child performer Master Betty, the great clown Joseph Grimaldi made his name at Covent Garden
21.
John Fawcett (actor)
–
John Fawcett was an English actor and playwright. He was the son of an actor of the same name, at the age of eighteen he ran away from school and appeared at Margate as Courtall in The Belles Stratagem, afterwards he joined Tate Wilkinsons company and turned from tragedy to low comedy parts. In 1791, he appeared at Covent Garden, and in 1794 at the Haymarket and he retired from the stage in 1830. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
22.
Daniel Terry
–
Daniel Terry was an English actor and playwright, known also as a close associate of Sir Walter Scott. He was born in Bath about 1780, and was educated at the Bath grammar school and subsequently at a school at Wingfield, Wiltshire. During five years he was then a pupil of Samuel Wyatt, having first played at Bath Heartwell in the Prize, Terry left Wyatt to join the company at Sheffield under the management of William Macready the Elder. His first appearance was as Tressel in Richard III and was followed by parts, Thomas Cromwell in Henry VIII. Towards the close of 1805 he joined Stephen Kemble in the north of England, on 12 December he was Antigonus in The Winters Tale, on 8 January 1810 Prospero, and on the 29th Argyle in Joanna Baillies Family Legend. He was Lord Ogleby in the Clandestine Marriage,18 November 1810 in Edinburgh, in this part Terry made his first appearance in London at the Haymarket,20 May 1812. He created some characters in lesser plays, including Count Salerno in Eyres Look at Home,15 August 1812. He was announced to reopen,14 November, the Edinburgh theatre as Lord Ogleby, but was ill and did not appear until the 23rd, and on the 24th he played Shylock. He was on 23 December the first Lord Archibald in Caledonia, or the Thistle and the Rose. ’ On 12 March 1816 Guy Mannering and this appears to have been the first of Terrys adaptations from Scott. At the Haymarket he was seen as Periwinkle in A Bold Stroke for a Wife, illness seems to have prevented his playing Oldbuck, which was assigned to John Liston. On 17 May he was the first Dentatus in Sheridan Knowless Virginius, at the Haymarket during the summer seasons Terry played a great round of comic characters. Among many original parts in pieces by James Kenney, J, among his original rôles were Zamet in Massaniello,17 February 1825, and Mephistopheles in Dr. Faustus,16 May. In 1825, in association with his friend Frederick Henry Yates, he became manager of the Adelphi, opening,10 October, on the 31st was produced Edward Fitzballs adaptation, The Pilot, in which Terry was the Pilot. He also appeared in other parts, but he shortly left management because of outside troubles. Scott consulted Terry on literary questions, especially on plays, and seems to have trusted him with the Doom of Devorgoil, Terry was almost as well known in Edinburgh as in London, and Scott thought highly of his acting. Terrys idolatry of Scott led him to both his manner and his calligraphy. He also took off Scott’s speech, so as almost to pass for a Scotsman, Scott lent him money for his theatrical speculations, and gave him advice. Terrys architectural knowledge was of use to Scott, who consulted him while building Abbotsford, Terrys financial affairs became so involved that he was obliged to retire from management, and he suffered a breakdown
23.
Park Theatre (Manhattan)
–
The Park Theatre, originally known as the New Theatre, was a playhouse in New York City, located at 21,23, and 25 Park Row, about 200 feet east of Ann Street and backing Theatre Alley. The location, at the end of the city, overlooked the park that would soon house City Hall. French architect Marc Isambard Brunel collaborated with fellow émigré Joseph-François Mangin, construction costs mounted to precipitous levels, and changes were made in the design, the resulting theatre had a rather plain exterior. The doors opened in January 1798, in its early years, the Park enjoyed little to no competition in New York City. Nevertheless, it made a profit for its owners or managers. Under the management of Stephen Price and Edmund Simpson in the 1810s and 1820s, Price and Simpson initiated a star system by importing English talent and providing the theatre a veneer of upper-class respectability. Rivals such as the Chatham Garden and Bowery theatres appeared in the 1820s, blackface acts and melodrama squeezed Italian opera and English drama out of their preferential positions. Nevertheless, the maintained its upscale image until it burned down in 1848. In the late 18th century, New Yorks only playhouse was the decaying, tired of attending such an establishment, a group of wealthy New Yorkers began planning the construction of a new playhouse in 1795. Investors bought 113 shares at $375 each to cover the estimated $42,375 cost, to plan the structure, the owners hired celebrated architect Marc Isambard Brunel, a Frenchman who had fled to New York to avoid the Reign of Terror and was currently the citys engineer. Part way through construction, however, the project ran out of money, the owners sold more shares for what would eventually mount to a construction cost of more than $130,000. As a cost-saving measure, Brunels exterior design for the building was not implemented, the resulting three-story structure measured 80 feet wide by 165 feet deep and was made of plain dressed stone. The overall effect was an air of austerity, the interiors, on the other hand, were quite lavish. The building followed the traditional European style of placing a gallery over three tiers of boxes, which overlooked the U-shaped pit. The section of Manhattan where the theatre stood was not stylish, the New Theatre, as it was called, was neighbor to Bridewell Prison, a tent citys worth of squatters, and the local poorhouse. Lewis Hallam, Jr. and John Hodgkinson, both members of the John Street Theatre company, obtained the buildings lease. They hired remnants of the Colonial Old American Company to form the nucleus of the theatres in-house troupe and thus give the establishment the sheen of tradition, meanwhile, the men quarreled, and construction continued languorously. The theatre finally held its first performance on 29 January 1798, the gross was an impressive $1,232, and, according to theatre historian T. Allston Brown, hundreds of potential patrons had to be turned away
24.
Maria Malibran
–
Maria Malibran was a Spanish mezzo-soprano who commonly sang both contralto and soprano parts, and was one of the most famous opera singers of the 19th century. Malibran was known for her personality and dramatic intensity, becoming a legendary figure after her death at age 28. Contemporary accounts of her voice describe its range, power and flexibility as extraordinary, Malibran was born in Paris as María Felicitas García Sitches into a famous Spanish musical family. Her father, Manuel García, was a celebrated tenor much admired by Rossini, García was also a composer and an influential vocal instructor, and he was her first voice teacher. He was described as inflexible and tyrannical, the lessons he gave his daughter became constant quarrels between two powerful egos, Malibran first appeared on stage in Naples with her father in Paër’s Agnese, when she was 8 years old. When she was 17, she was a singer in the choir of the Kings Theatre in London, when prima donna Giuditta Pasta became indisposed, García suggested that his daughter take over in the role of Rosina in The Barber of Seville. The audience loved the young mezzo, and she continued to sing this role until the end of the season, when the season closed, García immediately took his operatic troupe to New York. The troupe consisted primarily of the members of his family, Maria, her brother, Manuel, marias younger sister, Pauline, who would later become a famous singer in her own right under the name of Pauline Viardot, was then only four years old. This was the first time that Italian opera was performed in New York, over a period of nine months, Maria sang the lead roles in eight operas, two of which were written by her father. In New York, she met and hastily married a banker, Francois Eugene Malibran and it is thought that her father forced Maria to marry him in return for the bankers promise to give Manuel García 100,000 francs. However, according to accounts, she married simply to escape her tyrannical father. A few months after the wedding, her husband declared bankruptcy, after a year, she left Malibran and returned to Europe. In Europe, Malibran sang the role at the premiere of Donizettis Maria Stuarda. The opera was based on Friedrich Schillers play Mary Stuart, and as it portrayed Mary, Queen of Scots in a light, censors demanded textual amendments. The Library of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels conserves a series of interesting coloured costume projects for this play, created by Malibran, Malibran became romantically involved with the Belgian violinist, Charles Auguste de Bériot. The pair lived together as a couple for six years. Felix Mendelssohn wrote an aria accompanied by a solo violin especially for the couple, Malibran sang at the Paris Opera among other major opera houses. In Paris, she met and performed with Michael Balfe, in 1834, Malibran moved to England and began to perform in London
25.
Contralto
–
A contralto is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto voice type is divided into the coloratura, lyric. Contralto is primarily meaningful only in reference to classical and operatic singing, the term contralto is only applied to female singers, men singing in a similar range are called countertenors. A true contralto is often regarded as the rarest of the female voices, some vocal theorists have found that the vocal folds are thicker than those present in other female voices. Studies have used cameras to photograph visible differences which are found in countertenors. The contralto has the lowest vocal range of the voice types. The contralto voice range is between tenor and mezzo-soprano, although tenors and baritones are usually male singers, some women can sing as low and are called female tenors or female baritones. With the exception of very rare female singers, such terms are usually informal, more formal terminology would be contralto profundo and contralto basso or oktavistka but these are not traditionally named among the fach system. Some of the rare contraltos that can sing the female equivalent of tenor and baritone include Zarah Leander, Ruby Helder, within the contralto voice type category are three generally recognized subcategories, coloratura contralto, lyric contralto, and dramatic contralto. Given its deviations from the norms, this voice type is quite rare. The lyric contralto voice is lighter than a dramatic contralto but not capable of the ornamentation and this class of contralto, lighter in timbre than the others, is the most common today and usually ranges from the E below middle C to the second G above middle C. The dramatic contralto is the deepest, darkest, and heaviest contralto voice, usually having a heavier tone, singers in this class are rare. True operatic contraltos are rare, and the operatic literature contains few roles written specifically for them, a common saying among contraltos is that they may play only witches, bitches, or britches. Examples of contralto roles in the operatic repertoire include the following. * indicates a role that may also be sung by a mezzo-soprano, category of contraltos List of operatic contraltos Fach, the German system for classifying voices Voice classification in non-classical music List of contraltos in non-classical music Coffin, Berton. Coloratura, Lyric and Dramatic Soprano, Vol.1, vocal Workouts for the Contemporary Singer. Media related to Contralto vocalists at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of Contralto at Wiktionary
26.
Music criticism
–
In this sense, it is a branch of musical aesthetics. The musicologist Winton Dean has suggested that music is probably the most difficult of the arts to criticize, like dramatic art, music is recreated at every performance, and criticism may therefore be directed both at the text and the performance. The absence of a clearly evolved or consensual musical aesthetics has also tended to make music criticism a highly subjective issue, there is no counter-check outside the critics own personality. Critical references to music can be found in literature, including, for example, in Platos Laws. According to Richard Taruskin, the concert life of late 18th-century London meant that the role. In France in the 1750s, the Querelle des Bouffons generated essays from Jean-Jacques Rousseau and others, the English composer Charles Avison published the first work on musical criticism in the English language - an Essay on Musical Expression published in 1752. In it, Avison claims that since the time of Palestrina and Raphael, typically until the late eighteenth century music criticism centred on vocal rather than instrumental music - vocal music. Was the apex of aesthetic hierarchy, one knew what music was expressing. The last years of the century reflected both a change of patronage of music from the aristocracy to the rising middle-classes and the rise of Romanticism in the arts. At the same time the proportion of new music to music in concert programming began to decline. This was particularly the case in respect of the rise of Beethovens reputation in his last year and this gave rise both to writings on the value of the canon and also to writings by composers and their supporters defending newer music. M. Schlesinger and edited by A. B, marx, and the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik founded in 1834 in Leipzig by Robert Schumann and Friedrich Wieck, and later edited by Franz Brendel. In 1835 James William Davison began his career as a music critic. Music journalism for reporting on classical and popular music in the media Category, Music critics Avison, bujic, Bojan Criticism of Music in The Oxford Companion to Music, Oxford Music Online, accessed 1 January 2013. Hoffmann as a Writer on Music, in Hoffmann, 1-22, jewry in Music, Entry to the Profession from the Enlightenment to Richard Wagner. FromMendelssohnto Wagner, Memoirs of J. W. Davison, Criticism, in New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol. London, Macmillan ISBN 0-333-23111-2 Hoffmann, E. T. A. ed. David Charlton. E, ISBN0521235200 Taruskin, Richard. Music in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, Oxford, Oxford University Press ISBN 978-0-19-538482-6 Weber, from Miscellany to Homogeneity in Concert Programming, in Poetics 29, 127-34
27.
Transposition (music)
–
In music transposition refers to the process, or operation, of moving a collection of notes up or down in pitch by a constant interval. For example, one might transpose a piece of music into another key. Similarly, one might transpose a tone row or a collection of pitches such as a chord so that it begins on another pitch. The transposition of a set A by n semitones is designated by Tn, thus the set consisting of 0–1–2 transposed by 5 semitones is 5–6–7 since 0 +5 =5,1 +5 =6, and 2 +5 =7. There are two different kinds of transposition, depending on one is measuring intervals according to the chromatic scale or some other scale. In chromatic transposition one shifts every pitch in a collection of notes by a number of semitones. For instance, if one transposes the pitches C4–E4–G4 upwards by four semitones, in scalar transposition one shifts every pitch in a collection by a fixed number of scale steps relative to some scale. For example, if one transposes the pitches C4–E4–G4 up by two steps relative to the familiar C major scale, one obtains the pitches E4–G4–B4, if one transposes the same pitches up by two steps relative to the F major scale, one obtains instead E4–G4–B♭4. Scalar transposition is sometimes called diatonic transposition, but this term can be misleading, however, scalar transposition can occur with respect to any type of scale, not just the diatonic. There are two kinds of transposition, by pitch interval or by pitch interval class, applied to pitches or pitch classes. Transposition may be applied to pitches or to pitch classes, although transpositions are usually written out, musicians are occasionally asked to transpose music at sight, that is, to read the music in one key while playing in another. There are three basic techniques for teaching sight transposition, interval, clef, and numbers, first one determines the interval between the written key and the target key. Then one imagines the notes up by the corresponding interval, a performer using this method may calculate each note individually, or group notes together. Clef transposition is routinely taught in Belgium and France, one imagines a different clef and a different key signature than the ones printed. The change of clef is used so that the lines and spaces correspond to different notes than the lines and spaces of the original score. Seven clefs are used for this, treble, bass, baritone, and C-clefs on the four lowest lines, the signature is then adjusted for the actual accidental one wants on that note. The octave may also have to be adjusted, but this is a matter for most musicians. Transposing by numbers means, one determines the degree of the written note in the given key
28.
Cabaret
–
Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. It is mainly distinguished by the venue, which might be a pub. The audience, often dining or drinking, does not typically dance, performances are usually introduced by a master of ceremonies or MC. The entertainment, as done by an ensemble of actors and according to its European origins, is oriented towards adult audiences. In the United States striptease, burlesque, drag shows, or a solo vocalist with a pianist, the word cabaret was first used in 1655. It is derived from tavern probably from Middle Dutch cambret, the word cabaret came to mean a restaurant or night club by 1912. Cabaret can be divided in 10 different types. However, these are artificial dividing lines, cabaret shows are most of the time a compound of elements from the different types, the cabaret performer plays with language, sometimes poetic, but often is he or she rock hard and hateful. The cabaret performer analyses in his/her stubborn manner actual, social and political topics, the cabaret performer tells an often slightly absurd story with a moral packed in it. The cabaret performer plays with music, for example by twisting or combining familiar melodies, the cabaret performer tells nonsensical and absurd stories and plays idiotic types. The emphasis is less on text in the show of cabaret performer. Here the cabaret performer eludes on his liberating through laughter role, an iteration of storytelling cabaret The cabaret performer quickly switches between the different styles/types of cabaret, types, or songs. In this the cabaret performer is a guest at a government, institution or a company, cabarets existed in Paris in the 16th century, they were ancestors of the modern restaurant. Unlike taverns they sold wine not by itself but only with a meal, customers might sing if they had drunk enough wine, but early cabarets did not have formal programs of entertainment. Cabarets were frequently used as meeting places for writers and artists, in 1773 French poets, painters, musicians and writers began to meet in a cabaret called Le Caveau on rue de Buci, where they composed and sang songs. The Caveau continued until 1816, when it was forced to close because its clients wrote songs mocking the royal government, in the 18th century the café-concert or café-chantant appeared, which offered food along with music, singers, or magicians. The most famous was the Cafe des Aveugles in the cellars of the Palais-Royal, in the early 19th century many cafés-chantants appeared around the city, the most famous were the Café des Ambassadeurs on the Champs-Élysées and the Eldorado on boulevard Strasbourg. By 1900 there were more than 150 cafés-chantants in Paris, the first cabaret in the modern sense was Le Chat Noir in the Bohemian neighborhood of Montmartre, created in 1881 by Rodolphe Salis, a theatrical agent and entrepreneur
29.
Adelina Patti
–
Adelina Patti was an Italian-French 19th-century opera singer, earning huge fees at the height of her career in the music capitals of Europe and America. She first sang in public as a child in 1851, the composer Giuseppe Verdi, writing in 1877, described her as being perhaps the finest singer who had ever lived and a stupendous artist. Verdis admiration for Pattis talent was shared by numerous music critics and she was born Adelina Juana Maria Patti, in Madrid, the last child of tenor Salvatore Patti and soprano Caterina Barilli. Her Italian parents were working in Madrid, Spain, at the time of her birth, because her father came from Sicily, Patti was born a subject of the King of the Two Sicilies. She later carried a French passport, as her first two husbands were French and her sisters Amalia and Carlotta Patti were also singers. Her brother Carlo Patti was a violinist who married actress Effie Germon, in her childhood, the family moved to New York City. Patti grew up in the Wakefield section of the Bronx, where her familys home is still standing, Patti sang professionally from childhood, and developed into a coloratura soprano with perfectly equalized vocal registers and a surprisingly warm, satiny tone. Patti learned how to sing and gained understanding of technique from her brother-in-law Maurice Strakosch. Adelina Patti made her debut at age 16 on 24 November 1859 in the title role of Donizettis Lucia di Lammermoor at the Academy of Music. On 24 August 1860, she and Emma Albani were soloists in the premiere of Charles Wugk Sabatiers Cantata in Montreal which was performed in honour of the visit of the Prince of Wales. In 1861, at the age of 18, she was invited to Covent Garden, to execute the role of Amina in Bellinis La sonnambula. During an 1862 American tour, she sang John Howard Paynes Home, Sweet Home at the White House for the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, the Lincolns were mourning their son Willie, who had died of typhoid. Moved to tears, the Lincolns requested an encore of the song, henceforth, it would become associated with Adelina Patti, and she performed it many times as a bonus item at the end of recitals and concerts. Pattis career was one of success after success and her girlish good looks gave her an appealing stage presence, which added to her celebrity status. Patti, however, turned into a singer in the final phase of her operatic. She knew what suited her aging voice to perfection and she stuck to it, typically, her recital programs during the 1890s featured an array of familiar, often sentimental, not-too-demanding popular tunes of the day, which were sure to appeal to her adoring fans. She also had been prepared to tackle quite dramatic parts in operas like LAfricaine, Les Huguenots and she never attempted to sing any verismo parts, however, because these became popular only in the twilight of her career, during the final decade of the 19th century. Many years earlier, Patti had experienced an encounter in Paris with the bel canto-opera composer Gioachino Rossini
30.
Luigi Arditi
–
Luigi Arditi was an Italian violinist, composer and conductor. Arditi was born in Crescentino, Piemonte and he began his musical career as a violinist, and studied music at the Conservatory of Milan. He made his debut in 1843 as a director at Vercelli, Arditi conducted opera throughout Italy and in 1846 found himself conducting as far afield as Havana, Cuba. He visited America, where he remained for a while, conducting operas in New York, Philadelphia, then, following a visit to Constantinople, he decided to settle in London, but made several trips again to America with the Royal Italian Opera Company. He also conducted in Germany, and in other major European cities such as St. Petersburg, Vienna, after 1885, he was in England, conducting at Covent Garden and in various prestigious theatres and promenade concerts in Londons parks. He died at Hove, near Brighton, and is buried in Hove Cemetery, arditis best-known operas are, I Briganti, II Corsaro, and La Spia. In addition he wrote songs and vocal waltzes, the most popular of which are Il Bacio, Le Tortorelle, Se Saran Rose. His Inno Turco for Sultan Abdülmecid I set to a Turkish text was sung in London during the state visit of Sultan Abdülaziz at Crystal Palace by a British choir of 1600 in July 1867. The world premiere recording of Inno Turco, by Turkish music historian Dr Emre Araci with the Prague Symphony Orchestra, notes Sources Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Arditi, Luigi
31.
I vespri siciliani
–
The story is loosely based on a historical event, the Sicilian Vespers of 1282, using material drawn from the medieval Sicilian tract Lu rebellamentu di Sichilia. After its June 1855 Paris premiere, an Italian libretto was prepared using a new title because Verdi realized that it would have been impossible to place the story in Sicily. Based on Scribes suggestions for changing the location, it became Portugal in 1640 while under Spanish control and this version was first performed at the Teatro Regio in Parma on 26 December 1855. As Les vêpres It was first performed at the Paris Opéra on 13 June 1855, however, after a few performances, the opera disappeared and was replaced by the French version of Il trovatore, Le trouvère. Except for this one revival in Paris in 1863, it vanished from the Parisian stage altogether An Italian libretto was prepared under Verdis supervision by the poet Ettore Caimi. The composer was aware that in Italy at that time, it was not possible to retain the Sicilian location, as he notes to his publisher Giulio Ricordi in April 1855, the subject so as to render it acceptable for Italian theatres. The title became Giovanna de Guzman, but for reasons it was known variously as Giovanna Braganza, Giovanna di Sicilia. Overall, Verdi was not happy with the translation, which Budden regards as one of the worst ever perpetrated, however, some improvements were made when the opera reverted to its translated Italian title after 1861. Finally, by July 1856, Verdi sanctioned the removal of the ballet, and, with rare exceptions. The UK premiere took place on 27 July 1859 at the Drury Lane Theatre in London while on 7 November of that year, from 1856 forward, it has been almost always performed in the Italian version. The UK premiere took place on 27 July 1859 at the Drury Lane Theatre in London while on 7 November of that year, the Metropolitan Opera in New York has staged this version 114 times since 1893, the most recent being 2004. Companies which plan to present or have presented all of Verdis works include the Sarasota Opera, ABAO in Bilbao Spain, today, the opera is given occasionally but is not regarded as a mainstay of the repertoire. Place, Palermo, Italy Time,1282 Palermos main square Tebaldo, Roberto, as they offer a toast to their homeland, they are observed by the local Sicilians, unhappy with the occupation. Elena enters dressed in mourning for her executed brother, somewhat drunk, Roberto demands that she sing and she calmly agrees. Her song, about the perils of seamen and Gods cry of let dangers be scorned, when the governor, Montforte, enters the crowd calms down. Then Arrigo announces that he has released from prison. Alone with Arrigo, Montforte offers him a position with the French as long as he stays away from Elena and he refuses, and immediately follows Elena into the palace. Beside the sea Procida lands on the shore from a fishing boat
32.
Dinorah
–
Dinorah, originally Le pardon de Ploërmel, is an 1859 French opéra comique in three acts with music by Giacomo Meyerbeer and a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré. The opera was first performed at the Opéra-Comique, in Paris, the stage designs for Acts 1 and 3 were by Edouard-Désiré-Joseph Despléchin and Jean-Louis Chéret. Those for the technically demanding Act 2, which included onstage running water, were by Joseph. The supporting singers were also admired, in particular, Barreille as the huntsman. Meyerbeers music was praised for its originality, but the libretto was found incomprehensible, in the initial run of performances up to the end of 1859, changes were made, the most significant being the casting of the contralto Palmyre Wertheimber in the role of Hoël. The opera remained very successful in Paris up to 1912. Under its original title it was revived at the Opéra-Comique on 27 August 1874,23 May 1881,6 June 1896 and it was revived in Brussels as late as 11 January 1939. Meyerbeer composed recitatives to replace the spoken dialog for performances abroad, Dinorah was performed in New York in Italian on 24 November 1862. As a novelty, it attracted a deal of attention and was very popular. One of its attractions was to be the appearance of an actual, live goat on stage, unfortunately, the opera followed close on the heels of a highly successful production of Bellinis Norma, and Meyerbeers work suffered by comparison. The reviewer in Dwights Music was highly critical, writing, Beside such music as this, Bellinis melodies are golden, other sopranos who have enjoyed considerable success in the role of Dinorah are Amelita Galli-Curci, Ilma di Murska, Luisa Tetrazzini and Maria Barrientos and Lily Pons. This unusual overture has several sections with chorus, ample percussion, Hoël returns to the village, having discovered the whereabouts of a treasure. He enlists Corentin to help him recover the riches, but not without intent, since according to the legend. A mysterious valley They descend upon the cache where Dinorah also happens to be, from her, Corentin learns about the legend, and later he and Hoël invite each other first to inspect the treasure. During that time, Dinorah, in pursuit of her pet goat, steps on a trunk by a river as it is hit by lightning. Hoël having witnessed the scene leaps to her rescue, Hoël admits his love and regrets to Dinorah as she regains consciousness. She recognizes him and regains her sanity, the villagers arrive and sing a hymn of forgiveness and lead the two lovers to the chapel where they will be married. Meyerbeers manuscripts have not been found, and most published libretti reflect cuts to the made in almost all productions
33.
Henry Bishop (composer)
–
Sir Henry Rowley Bishop was an English composer. He is most famous for the songs Home and he was the composer or arranger of some 120 dramatic works, including 80 operas, light operas, cantatas, and ballets. Knighted in 1842, he was the first musician to be so honoured, Bishop was born in London, where his father was a watchmaker and haberdasher. At the age of 13, Bishop left full-time education and worked as a music-publisher with his cousin, after training as a jockey at Newmarket, he took some lessons in harmony from Francisco Bianchi in London. In 1804 he wrote the music to a piece called Angelina, after his second success on the stage with The Maniac, Bishop became music director of Covent Garden for the next 14 years. In 1813, he was a member of the Royal Philharmonic Society. It was intended to compete with Webers Oberon, commissioned by the other house, aladdin failed, and Bishops career as an operatic composer came to an end. He did, however, rework operas by other composers, an 1827 Covent Garden playbill records a performance of the Marriage of Figaro with The Overture and Music selected chiefly from Mozarts operas – the new music by Mr Bishop. It included an aria called Follow, follow oer the mountain, in 1841 he was appointed Reid Professor of Music in the University of Edinburgh, but resigned the office in 1843. In 1848 he became Heather Professor of Music at the University of Oxford, succeeding William Crotch, according to William Denslow, Bishop was a freemason. Bishops later years were clouded by scandal and he had married his second wife, the singer Ann Rivière, in 1831. She was twenty-three years younger than he, and they had three children, in 1839, Anna Bishop abandoned her husband and three children to run off with her lover and accompanist, the harpist and composer Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. They left England to give concert tours abroad until Bochsa died in Sydney, Australia, Anna Bishop sang on every continent and was the most widely travelled opera singer of the 19th century. Sir Henry Bishop died in poverty in London, although he had an income during his lifetime. He is buried in East Finchley Cemetery in north London, Bishops operas were written in a style and format that satisfied the audiences of his day. They have more in common with the earlier, native English ballad opera genre, or with modern musicals and his first opera, The Circassians Bride, had one performance at Drury Lane before the theatre burned down and the score was lost. Between 1816 and 1828, Bishop composed the music for a series of Shakespearean operas staged by Frederic Reynolds, but these, and the numerous works, operas, burlettas, cantatas, incidental music etc. which he wrote are mostly forgotten. Even his limited partnering with various composers including Joseph Edwards Carpenter, Thomas Simpson Cooke,1816 also saw the composition of a string quartet in C minor
34.
Home! Sweet Home!
–
Bishop had earlier published a more elaborate version of this melody, naming it A Sicilian Air, but he later confessed to having written himself. The songs lyrics are, When the song was published separately, the publishers made a considerable profit from it, net £2,100 in the first year, and the producer of the opera did well. Only Payne did not really profit by its success, while his money lasted, he was a prince of bohemians, but had little business sense. In 1852 Henry Bishop relaunched the song as a parlour ballad, the songs American premiere took place at the Winter Tivoli Theatre in Philadelphia on October 29,1823, and was sung by Mrs. Williams. As soon as 1827 this song was quoted by Swedish composer Franz Berwald in his Konzertstück for Bassoon, gaetano Donizetti used the theme in his Opera Anna Bolena Act 2, Scene 3 as part of Anna’s Mad Scene to underscore her longing for her childhood home. In 1857 composer/pianist Sigismond Thalberg wrote a series of variations for piano on the theme of Home, in 1909, it was featured in the silent film The House of Cards, an Edison Studios film. In the particular scene, a bar was hurriedly closed due to a fracas. A card reading Play Home Sweet Home was displayed, upon which an on-screen fiddler promptly supplied a pantomime of the song and this may imply a popular association of this song with the closing hour of drinking establishments. The song was banned from being played in Union Army camps during the American Civil War for being too redolent of hearth and home. The song is famous in Japan as Hanyū no Yado and it has been used in such movies as The Burmese Harp and Grave of the Fireflies. It is also used at Senri-Chūō Station on the Kita-Osaka Kyūkō Railway
35.
Nellie Melba
–
Dame Nellie Melba GBE, born Helen Porter Mitchell, was an Australian operatic soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and she was the first Australian to achieve international recognition as a classical musician. She took the pseudonym Melba from Melbourne, her home town, Melba studied singing in Melbourne and made a modest success in performances there. After a brief and unsuccessful marriage, she moved to Europe in search of a singing career, failing to find engagements in London in 1886, she studied in Paris and soon made a great success there and in Brussels. Returning to London she quickly established herself as the lyric soprano at Covent Garden from 1888. She soon achieved success in Paris and elsewhere in Europe. Her repertoire was small, in her career she sang no more than 25 roles and was closely identified with only ten. She was known for her performances in French and Italian opera, during the First World War, Melba raised large sums for war charities. She returned to Australia frequently during the 20th century, singing in opera and concerts and she was active in the teaching of singing at the Melbourne Conservatorium. Melba continued to sing until the last months of her life and her death, in Australia, was news across the English-speaking world, and her funeral was a major national event. Melba was born in Richmond, Victoria, the eldest of seven children of the builder David Mitchell, Mitchell, a Scot, had emigrated to Australia in 1852, becoming a successful builder. Melba was taught to play the piano and first sang in public around age six and she was educated at a local boarding school and then at the Presbyterian Ladies College. She studied singing with Mary Ellen Christian and Pietro Cecchi, an Italian tenor, in her teens, Melba continued to perform in amateur concerts in and around Melbourne, and she played the organ at church. Her father encouraged her in her studies, but he strongly disapproved of her taking up singing as a career. Melbas mother died suddenly in 1881 at Richmond, Melbas father moved the family to Mackay, Queensland, where he built a new sugar mill. Melba soon became popular in Mackay society for her singing and piano-playing, on 22 December 1882 in Brisbane, she married Charles Nesbitt Frederick Armstrong, the youngest son of Sir Andrew Armstrong. They had one child, a son, George, born on 16 October 1883, the marriage was not a success, Charles reportedly beat his wife more than once. The couple separated after just over a year, and Melba returned to Melbourne determined to pursue a singing career, debuting professionally in concerts in 1884
36.
Pauline Viardot
–
Pauline Viardot was a leading nineteenth-century French mezzo-soprano, pedagogue, and composer of Spanish descent. Born Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García, her name appears in various forms, when it is not simply Pauline Viardot, it most commonly appears in association with her maiden name García or the unaccented form, Garcia. This name sometimes precedes Viardot and sometimes follows it, sometimes the words are hyphenated, sometimes they are not. She achieved initial fame as Pauline García, the accent was dropped at some point, after her marriage, she referred to herself simply as Mme Viardot. She came from a family and took up music at a young age. She began performing as teenager and had a long and illustrious career as a star performer and her three daughters also pursued careers in music performances. Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García was born in Paris to the Garcías and her godparents were Ferdinando Paer and Princess Pauline Galitsin, who provided her with her middle names. She was 13 years younger than her sister, diva Maria Malibran. As a small girl, she travelled with her family to London, New York and Mexico. By the age of six she was fluent in Spanish, French, English and Italian, later in her career, she sang Russian arias so well that she was taken for a native speaker. After her fathers death in 1832, her mother, soprano Joaquina Sitchez, took over her singing lessons and she had wanted to become a professional concert pianist. She had taken lessons with the young Franz Liszt and counterpoint and harmony classes with Anton Reicha, the teacher of Liszt and Hector Berlioz. It was with the greatest regret that she abandoned her strong vocation for the piano, Liszt, Ignaz Moscheles, Adolphe Adam, Camille Saint-Saëns and others have left accounts of her excellent piano playing. After Malibrans death in 1836, aged 28, Pauline became a professional singer, however, her professional debut as a musician was as a pianist, accompanying her brother-in-law, the violinist Charles Auguste de Bériot. In 1837, 16-year-old Pauline García gave her first concert performance in Brussels and in 1839 and this proved to be the surprise of the season. Despite her flaws, she had an exquisite technique combined with a degree of passion. At the age of 17, she met and was courted by Alfred de Musset, some sources say he asked for Paulines hand in marriage, but she declined. However, she remained on good terms with him for many years and her friend George Sand had a role in discouraging her from accepting de Mussets proposal, directing her instead to Louis Viardot
37.
Alexander Alyabyev
–
Alexander Aleksandrovich Alyabyev, also rendered as Alabiev or Alabieff, was a Russian composer known as one of the fathers of the Russian art song. He wrote seven operas, twenty musical comedies, a symphony, born to a wealthy family in Tobolsk in Siberia, Alyabyev learned music in his early years. He joined the Russian Army in 1812, during the Napoleonic War and he participated in the entry of the Russian forces into Dresden and Paris, and he won two awards. After the mysterious death of a man he spent all night gambling with in February 1825, while the evidence was not conclusive, Tsar Nicholas I expressly ordered him into exile to his native town of Tobolsk. Freed in 1831, he spent some years in the Caucasus before returning to Moscow, alyabyevs most famous work is The Nightingale, a song based on a poem by Anton Delvig. It was composed while Alyabyev was in prison, in 1825 and it has entered Russian consciousness as akin to a folk song. Mikhail Glinka wrote piano variations based on the song, as did Mily Balakirev, franz Liszt also wrote a transcription of it. It was one of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovskys favourite songs from his earliest childhood, the Artaria String Quartet at UNC, Whos on First. Archived from the original on April 10,2008, Free scores by Alexander Alyabyev at the International Music Score Library Project Free scores Mutopia Project Free scores by Alexander Alyabyev in the Choral Public Domain Library
