1.
The Tales of Hoffmann (film)
–
The opera film stars Robert Rounseville, Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann and Léonide Massine, and features Pamela Brown, Ludmilla Tchérina and Ann Ayars. Only Rounseville and Ayars sang their own roles, the films production team includes cinematographer Christopher Challis and production and costume designer Hein Heckroth, who was nominated for two 1952 Academy Awards for his work. In the prologue, Hoffmann is in the audience at a performance by Stella, Stella sends Hoffmann a note asking him to meet her after the performance, but the note is intercepted by his rival, Councillor Lindorf. In the first story, Olympia is a created by scientist Spalanzani. Hoffmann falls for the doll, ignorant of her artifice and is mocked when he discovers she is automatic. In the second story, Hoffmann in Venice falls for Giulietta, a courtesan, however, certain important changes were made in the process of adapting the story to film, In the prologue of the film, all of Lindorfs music is deleted, making him a silent character. Stellas profession is changed from a singer appearing in Mozarts Don Giovanni to a ballet dancer. The Tale of Antonia is shortened, ending with the trio for Antonia, the Ghost of her mother. The role of Nicklaus is abridged, though Nicklaus still appears, in the later years of their partnership, Powell became interested in what he termed a composed film, a marriage of image to operatic music. The finale of Black Narcissus and the sequence of The Red Shoes were earlier steps toward his goal. The Tales of Hoffmann is an achievement of this ideal, as the opera was pre-recorded to create the soundtrack. The production is completely without dialogue and, with the exception of Robert Rounseville and Ann Ayars, some of the singers had established careers in Britain at the time. The acting is highly stylised and similar to that of the silent film era, each tale is marked by its own individual primary colour, denoting its theme. The Tale of Olympia, set in Paris, has yellow contours highlighting the farcical nature, the Tale of Giulietta is a hellish depiction of Venice, where dark colours, especially red, are used. The final tale, set in Greece, uses different shades of blue, the set design is deliberately made to look artificial with the costumes similarly stylised. The opening scene of the Tale of Giulietta is staged on a gondola which moves through deliberately artificial Venetian canals, and that is because it sates the senses without striking any real dramatic fire. The inevitable question about this picture is how close does it come to matching the beauty, although the two films are basically different, a comparison is fair to this extent, The Red Shoes had warmth and vitality, Tales of Hoffmann is splendid and cold. For the 2002 Sight & Sound poll, George A. Romero called it his film of all time
2.
Opera
–
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. In traditional opera, singers do two types of singing, recitative, a style and arias, a more melodic style. Opera incorporates many of the elements of theatre, such as acting, scenery. The performance is given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble. Opera is a key part of the Western classical music tradition, in the 18th century, Italian opera continued to dominate most of Europe, attracting foreign composers such as George Frideric Handel. Opera seria was the most prestigious form of Italian opera, until Christoph Willibald Gluck reacted against its artificiality with his operas in the 1760s. The first third of the 19th century saw the point of the bel canto style, with Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti. It also saw the advent of Grand Opera typified by the works of Auber and Meyerbeer, the mid-to-late 19th century was a golden age of opera, led and dominated by Richard Wagner in Germany and Giuseppe Verdi in Italy. The popularity of opera continued through the era in Italy and contemporary French opera through to Giacomo Puccini. During the 19th century, parallel operatic traditions emerged in central and eastern Europe, the 20th century saw many experiments with modern styles, such as atonality and serialism, Neoclassicism, and Minimalism. With the rise of recording technology, singers such as Enrico Caruso, since the invention of radio and television, operas were also performed on these mediums. Beginning in 2006, a number of opera houses began to present live high-definition video transmissions of their performances in cinemas all over the world. In 2009, an opera company offered a download of a complete performance. The words of an opera are known as the libretto, some composers, notably Wagner, have written their own libretti, others have worked in close collaboration with their librettists, e. g. Mozart with Lorenzo Da Ponte. Vocal duets, trios and other ensembles often occur, and choruses are used to comment on the action, in some forms of opera, such as singspiel, opéra comique, operetta, and semi-opera, the recitative is mostly replaced by spoken dialogue. Melodic or semi-melodic passages occurring in the midst of, or instead of, the terminology of the various kinds of operatic voices is described in detail below. Over the 18th century, arias were accompanied by the orchestra. Subsequent composers have tended to follow Wagners example, though some, the changing role of the orchestra in opera is described in more detail below
3.
Jacques Offenbach
–
Jacques Offenbach was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and he was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr. and Arthur Sullivan. His best-known works were revived during the 20th century. The Tales of Hoffman remains part of the opera repertory. Born in Cologne, the son of a cantor, Offenbach showed early musical talent. At the age of 14, he was accepted as a student at the Paris Conservatoire but found academic study unfulfilling, from 1835 to 1855 he earned his living as a cellist, achieving international fame, and as a conductor. His ambition, however, was to compose pieces for the musical theatre. Finding the management of Paris Opéra-Comique company uninterested in staging his works, there he presented a series of his own small-scale pieces, many of which became popular. In 1858, Offenbach produced his first full-length operetta, Orphée aux enfers, during the 1860s, he produced at least 18 full-length operettas, as well as more one-act pieces. His works from this period included La belle Hélène, La Vie parisienne, La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein, Offenbach became associated with the Second French Empire of Napoleon III, the emperor and his court were genially satirised in many of Offenbachs operettas. Napoleon III personally granted him French citizenship and the Légion dHonneur, with the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, Offenbach found himself out of favour in Paris because of his imperial connections and his German birth. He remained successful in Vienna and London, however and he re-established himself in Paris during the 1870s, with revivals of some of his earlier favourites and a series of new works, and undertook a popular U. S. tour. In his last years he strove to finish The Tales of Hoffmann, but died before the premiere of the opera, Offenbach was born Jacob or Jakob Offenbach to a Jewish family, in the German city of Cologne, which was then a part of Prussia. His birthplace in the Großen Griechenmarkt was a distance from the square that is now named after him. He was the son and the seventh of ten children of Isaac Juda Offenbach né Eberst and his wife Marianne. Isaac, who came from a family, had abandoned his original trade as a bookbinder and earned an itinerant living as a cantor in synagogues. He was generally known as der Offenbacher, after his native town, Offenbach am Main, in 1816 he settled in Cologne, where he became established as a teacher, giving lessons in singing, violin, flute and guitar, and composing both religious and secular music. When Jacob was six years old, his father taught him to play the violin, within two years the boy was composing songs and dances, and at the age of nine he took up the cello
4.
Jules Barbier
–
Paul Jules Barbier was a French poet, writer and opera librettist who often wrote in collaboration with Michel Carré. He was a noted Parisian bon vivant and man of letters and he also wrote the libretto for La Guzla de lÉmir, a one-act comic opera by Georges Bizet. This was never performed and probably destroyed and he wrote the scenario for Léo Delibes ballet Sylvia. Charles Gounod wrote incidental music to Barbiers play Jeanne dArc, english & French from the Sibley Music Library Digital Score Collection
5.
E. T. A. Hoffmann
–
Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann was a Prussian Romantic author of fantasy and Gothic horror, a jurist, composer, music critic, draftsman and caricaturist. His stories form the basis of Jacques Offenbachs famous opera The Tales of Hoffmann and he is also the author of the novella The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, on which Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovskys ballet The Nutcracker is based. The ballet Coppélia is based on two stories that Hoffmann wrote, while Schumanns Kreisleriana is based on Hoffmanns character Johannes Kreisler. Hoffmanns stories highly influenced 19th century literature, and he is one of the authors of the Romantic movement. Hoffmanns ancestors, both maternal and paternal, were jurists and his father, Christoph Ludwig Hoffmann, was a barrister in Königsberg, Prussia, as well as a poet and amateur musician who played the viola da gamba. In 1767 he married his cousin, Lovisa Albertina Doerffer, ernst Theodor Wilhelm, born on 24 January 1776, was the youngest of three children, of whom the second died in infancy. The household, dominated by the uncle, was pietistic and uncongenial, Hoffmann was to regret his estrangement from his father. Nevertheless, he remembered his aunts with great affection, especially the younger, Charlotte, between 1781 and 1792 he attended the Lutheran school or Burgschule, where he made good progress in classics. He was taught drawing by one Saemann, and counterpoint by a Polish organist named Podbileski, ernst showed great talent for piano-playing, and busied himself with writing and drawing. He had however read Schiller, Goethe, Swift, Sterne, Rousseau and Jean Paul, and wrote part of a novel titled Der Geheimnisvolle. Around 1787 he became friends with Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel the Younger, the son of a pastor, and nephew of Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel the Elder, during 1792, both attended some of Kants lectures at the University of Königsberg. Their friendship, although tested by an increasing social difference, was to be lifelong. In 1794, Hoffmann became enamored of Cora Hatt, a woman to whom he had given music lessons. She was ten years older, and in 1795 gave birth to her sixth child, in February 1796, her family protested against his attentions and, with his hesitant consent, asked another of his uncles to arrange employment for him in Glogau, Prussian Silesia. From 1796 Hoffmann obtained employment as a clerk for his uncle, Johann Ludwig Doerffer, after passing further examinations he visited Dresden, where he was amazed by the paintings in the gallery, particularly those of Correggio and Raphael. During the summer of 1798 his uncle was promoted to a court in Berlin, and it was there that Hoffmann first attempted to promote himself as a composer, writing an operetta called Die Maske and sending a copy to Queen Luise of Prussia. The official reply advised to him to write to the director of the Royal Theatre, from June 1800 to 1803 he worked in Prussian provinces in the area of Greater Poland and Masovia. This was the first time he had lived without supervision by members of his family, and he started to become what school principals, parsons, uncles, and aunts call dissolute
6.
Fantastique
–
Fantastique is a French term for a literary and cinematic genre that overlaps with science fiction, horror, and fantasy. The fantastique is a genre within French literature. What is distinctive about the fantastique is the intrusion of supernatural phenomena into an otherwise realist narrative and it evokes phenomena which are not only left unexplained but which are inexplicable from the readers point of view. Instead, characters in a work of fantastique are, just like the readers and this refusal may be mixed with doubt, disbelief, fear, or some combination of those reactions. Fantastique literature is considered close to science fiction. The Fantastique is often linked to a particular ambiance, a sort of tension in the face of the impossible, a good deal of fear is often involved, either because the characters are afraid or because the author wants to provoke fright in the reader. However, fear is not a component of fantastique. In that case, the fantastique is nothing more than an area on a spectrum from magic realism to fantasy. Fantastique is a term that has also used to describe many television series. The fantastique began to become defined in the Middle Ages, the old Celtic, Frankish and Germanic myths were translated from religion into popular folklore. The root of thought about and artistic depiction of many things which are today often termed supernatural has its beginnings in this period. Concepts and characters such as Melusine, Harlequin, Oberon, Morgan Le Fay, the Fabliaux, satirical fables which relied on the tradition established by Aesop of using anthropomorphic animals such as Le Roman de Renart, generally attributed to poet Pierre de Saint-Cloud. The 16th century was marked by the emergence of new ideas and literary trends, the Renaissance bloomed in France during the reign of King Francis I who created a favorable environment for the development of letters, arts and sciences. It was during the French Renaissance that proto-science fiction first split from the fantastique, then, at the peak of his literary fame, he devoted several of his more famous Hymnes to supernatural subjects such as Daimons and astrology. Famous playwright Pierre Corneilles lesser-known but classic tragedies, Médée and Circé, popularized warlocks, the Malleus Maleficarum spawned a number of French imitations, among which were Jean Bodins La Démonomanie des Sorciers and Le Fléau des Démons et ses Sorciers. The 18th century was known as the Siècle des Lumières, or Age of Enlightenment, baroque was the link between the Merveilleux of the Renaissance and the more formalized fairy tales of the Enlightenment period. The precursor in the genre was Madame dAulnoy who, in 1690, introduced in her rambling novel Histoire dHyppolite, Comte de Douglas, in it, Perrault had carefully collected a number of popular folk tales and legends, such as Cendrillon a. k. a. Cinderella, La Belle au Bois Dormant a. k. a, donkey Skin, Le Petit Chaperon Rouge, Barbe-Bleue, Le Chat Botté, etc
7.
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
8.
Protagonist
–
A protagonist is the main character in any story, such as a literary work or drama. The protagonist is at the center of the story, typically makes the key decisions, the protagonist usually affects the main characters circumstances as well, as they are often the primary actor propelling the story forward. If a story contains a subplot, or is a made up of several stories. The word protagonist is used notably in stories and forms of literature and culture that contain stories, in those forms the protagonist may simply be the leading actor, or the principal character in the story. The antagonist will provide obstacles and complications and create conflict that test the protagonist, thus revealing the strengths, the earliest known examples of protagonist are dated back to Ancient Greece. At first dramatic performances involved merely dancing and recitation by the chorus, but then in Poetics, Aristotle describes how a poet named Thespis introduced the idea of having one actor step out and engage in a dialogue with the chorus. This was the invention of tragedy, which occurred about 536 B. C, then the poet Aeschylus, in his plays, introduced a second actor, inventing the idea of dialogue between two characters. Sophocles then wrote plays that required a third actor, euripides play Hippolytus may be considered to have two protagonists. The protagonist of the first half is Phaedra, who dies partway through the play and her stepson, the titular Hippolytus, assumes the dominant role in the second half of the play. In Ibsen’s play The Master Builder, the protagonist is the architect Halvard Solness, the young woman, Hilda Wangel, whose actions lead to the death of Solness, is the antagonist. In Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is the protagonist and he is actively in pursuit of his relationship with Juliet, and the audience is invested in that story. The character of Tybalt opposes Romeo’s desires, he is the antagonist, in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Prince Hamlet, who seeks revenge for the murder of his father, is the protagonist. The antagonist would be the character who most opposes Hamlet, Claudius, in the novel The Catcher in the Rye, the character Holden Caulfield is the protagonist. He is the character, and the reader is invested in his story. Sometimes, a work will have a false protagonist, who may seem to be the protagonist, the character Marion in Alfred Hitchcocks film Psycho is an example. A novel that contains a number of narratives may have a number of protagonists, alexander Solzhenitsyns The First Circle, for example, depicts a variety of characters imprisoned and living in a gulag camp. Leo Tolstoys War and Peace, depicts fifteen major characters involved in or affected by a war
9.
The Sandman (short story)
–
The Sandman is a short story written in German by E. T. A. Hoffmann. It was the first in an 1817 book of stories titled Die Nachtstücke, the story is told by a narrator who claims to have known Lothar. It begins by quoting three letters,1, a letter from Nathanael to Lothar, the brother of his fiancée, Klara. Nathanael recalls his childhood terror of the legendary Sandman, who was said to steal the eyes of children who would not go to bed and feed them to his own children who lived in the moon. Nathanael came to associate the Sandman with a nightly visitor to his father. He recounts that one night, he hid in his fathers room to see the Sandman and it is Coppelius, an obnoxious lawyer come to carry out alchemical experiments. Coppelius begins taking shining masses out of the fire and hammering them into face-like shapes without eyes, when Nathanael screams and is discovered, Coppelius flings him to the hearth. He is about to throw fire embers into Nathanaels eyes when his father pleads he be permitted to keep his eyes, Coppelius instead twists Nathanaels hands and feet and tortures him until he passes out. A year later, another night of experiments caused his fathers death in the presence of Coppelius and his father having died of some sort of flaming explosion, the burns to his face are gone before he is laid in his coffin. Nathanael believes that a barometer-seller who arrived recently at his rooms under the name Giuseppe Coppola is none other than the hated Coppelius, a letter from Klara to Nathanael, explaining that Nathanael had addressed the previous letter to her instead of to Lothar. Nathanael adds that Spallanzani has a daughter, Olimpia, a glimpse of whom has made a considerable impression upon him. Shortly after this letter, Nathanael returns to his home town from his studies to see Klara and Lothar. Nevertheless, the encounter with Coppola has had an effect on Nathanael, driving him toward a gloomy mysticism which bores Klara. He writes a poem about Coppelius destroying his happiness in love, in which Coppelius appears at his wedding to touch Klaras eyes, after he emotionally reads this poem to her, she tells him to throw the insane poem into the fire. Nathanael pleads for Klaras forgiveness, and declares his love for her. Nathanael returns to complete the year of his studies, after which he intends to return to his hometown forever. He finds his student lodgings destroyed by fire, though his possessions were rescued by his friends and his window now looks directly into that of Olimpia, and he is again struck by her beauty. Coppola calls to sell his wares, and offers pretty eyes, which reawakens Nathanaels childish fear of the Sandman
10.
Boulevard des Capucines
–
The name comes from a beautiful convent of Capuchin nuns whose garden was on the south side of the boulevard prior to the French Revolution. The former name, Rue Basse-du-Rempart, suggests that, in the beginning, then, when the wall was destroyed, the street was widened and became a boulevard. Piet Mondrians little known story De groote boulevards, written in 1920 in Paris at the instance of Theo van Doesburg, was inspired by the Boulevard des Capucines. At No.1 stood the Neapolitan Café, famous for the writers, journalists, and actors who were its patrons, such as Catulle Mendès, Jean Moréas, Armand Silvestre, the main hall was the grand salon of the Hotel in the 18th century. The rotunda on the facade has been kept, No.5 was the location of the photographic studio of Pierre-Louis Pierson, who was the photographic collaborator of Virginia Oldoini, Countess di Castiglione. 7, the Georama was erected in 1825, it was possible to see the earth inside a sphere 14 meters in diameter. 8, Jacques Offenbach lived from 1876 and died in 1880,12, the Grand Hotel was built on a former swamp-garden. Here, too, X-ray light experiments were carried out by Dr. Wilhelm Röntgen, from No.16 to No.22 stood the buildings of the former newspaper LÉvènement, founded by Victor Hugo. 24, Mistinguett lived from 1905 to 1956, No.25 was the former location of the Musée Cognacq-Jay set up in 1931. At No.27 stood the former store, the Samaritaine de Luxe, built by Frantz Jourdain, No.28 was the location of a roller coaster called montagnes russes in 1889. It was replaced in 1893 by the Olympia theater, a music hall founded in 1888 by Joseph Oller. No.35 was a house where Nadar lived, in April 1874, a group of young painters, including Renoir, Édouard Manet, Pissarro, and Claude Monet, opened the first exhibition of their paintings. The painting by Claude Monet, Impressions, gave the exhibitors the name of Impressionists, another of Claude Monets paintings, entitled Boulevard des Capucines, is now visible in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow or the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri. From No.37 to No.43 was the location of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1820 to 1853. On 23 February 1848, a battalion of the 14th regiment blocked the boulevard to protect François Guizot, in the evening, a crowd of demonstrators tried to break down the barricade. The soldiers fired, killing 35 people and wounding 50, the demonstrators put the corpses in a dumper and called the people of Paris to arms. It was the beginning of the revolution ended the reign of Louis-Philippe the next day
11.
Edmond Duvernoy
–
Charles-Henri Edmond Duvernoy was a French pianist, baritone and vocal teacher, from a family of musicians. Edmond Duvernoy was born in Paris and he was taught initially by his father, Charles-François Duvernoy, then studied at the Paris Conservatoire. A fine pianist, he began to teach, then studied singing, joining the Opéra-Comique company and he made his stage debut as Mercutio in the first performance at the Opéra-Comique of Gounods Roméo et Juliette on 20 January 1873. He also sang Moralès in the premiere of Bizets Carmen in 1875, according to Malherbe, he had a relatively soft voice, but he used it with good taste, and with sufficient talent to enable him to become later one of the most esteemed vocal teachers. He sang Ganymède in Galathée in 1873, alongside his wife, Mlle Franck. Duvernoy and his moved to the Théâtre-Lyrique in 1877. Both of them participated in the premiere of Offenbach’s Les contes dHoffmann on 18 May 1879. From October 1887 to 1910 Duvernoy was a professor at the Conservatoire de Paris. He died in Paris in 1927, aged 82 and his brother was Alphonse Duvernoy, pianist and composer. Pierre Keys international music year book, brigitte Labat-Poussin, Jean Favier, Archives du theatre national de lopera
12.
Albert Vizentini
–
Albert Vizentini was a French violinist, composer, conductor and music writer, born in Paris on 9 November 1841, and died there on 21 October 1906. His main centre of activity was the French capital, but he worked for ten years in Russia and toured in Britain. Vizentini came from an Italian musical family active in the theatre, as a child he appeared in various children’s roles at the Théâtre de lOdéon, making his debut on 31 December 1847 in Le Dernier Banquet, a revue by Camille Doucet. His father Augustin worked at the Vaudeville Theatre in Paris, then became manager in the last season of the Théâtre Lyrique. He undertook musical studies at the Conservatoire in Brussels, under Leonard and Fétis, achieving first prize in violin in 1860, after briefly acting as assistant conductor at the theatre in Antwerp he returned to Paris. Vizentini joined the orchestra of the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens then became leader of the orchestra at the Théâtre Lyrique from 1861–66 and his articles appeared in Le Charivari, LEntracte, the Grand Journal, Paris-Magazine, LÉvénement illustré, LÉclair, and he founded a short-lived theatrical bulletin Le Télégraphe. Having started to work at the Théâtre de la Gaîté-Lyrique Vizentini took over from Offenbach there in 1875 and he started with a lavish premiere production on 26 October of Le voyage dans la lune by Offenbach. The following year he attempted to rekindle the spirit and repertoire of the Théâtre Lyrique and he had much support, in particular from composers, the press and public administration, and secured a subsidy towards the running costs. Nonetheless, in spite of success and public sympathy the company closed after twenty months in early January 1878. On 18 May 1879 Vizentini was part of the gathered at Offenbach’s house for the first private performance of Les contes dHoffmann. From 1879 to 1889 Vizentini was chief conductor and stage manager of the Imperial Theatres of St Petersburg and he premiered Richard III by Salvayre which was not a success, and arranged the music for the ballet The Kings Command or The Pupils of Dupré in 1886. Back in France he became the administrator of the Théâtre des Variétés, in 1897 Vizentini became director of the Grand Théâtre de Lyon, where he staged and conducted the first French performance of Wagners Die Meistersinger. Later he was invited by Albert Carré to come to the Opéra-Comique as stage director, after a three-month illness he died before the start of the 1906-07 season. Vizentini composed four opérettes, La Tsigane, Le Moulin ténébreux La Plantation Thomassin and he also wrote two cantatas performed at the Vaudeville and the Porte-Saint-Martin, and music for several plays including Nos ancêtres, Cadio, Patrie, Le Bossu, etc. He also published fantasies for violin and piano, a great ballet Ordre du Roi, and his humorous book Derrière la toile Physiologies des théâtres Parisiens. Faure,1868, recounts his observations of the different theatres in Paris, works by or about Albert Vizentini at Internet Archive Free scores by Albert Vizentini at the International Music Score Library Project
13.
Ringtheater
–
The Ringtheater was a popular theater in Vienna, Austria. In 1881, it was destroyed in a fire that killed 449 people, the site now houses the federal headquarters of police for Vienna. The Ringtheater was built between 1872 and 1874 by Heinrich von Förster, following plans by Emil Ritter. It opened on January 17,1874, under the direction of Albin Swoboda, Sr. as an Opéra Comique, antithetical to the seriousness of the Vienna State Opera, then called the Court Opera. However in September 1878, the focus was shifted to spoken plays, German and Italian opera and variety, given that the footprint of the theatre was small—and the theatre was intended to hold an audience of 1700—the architect was forced to build high, but with disastrous consequences. On December 8,1881, a fire broke out shortly before a performance of Les contes dHoffmann, the following year, a new law was passed, regarding the outfitting and safety provisions, including safety curtains, outwards-opening doors and fireproofing of the set. A so-called Sühnhaus was built on the site of the Ringtheater out of the Emperors private funds, it was a private residence, the fire is commemorated on a plaque on the police building. The Attic style statues, which had stood on the pilasters, are now in the Pötzleinsdorfer Schlosspark, most of the information in this article is taken from the German Wikipedia article. The novel inspired by the Ringtheater fire, My Heart Was Awake at, http, //myheartwasawake. blogspot. com/
14.
Joseph Hellmesberger Jr.
–
Josef “Pepi” Hellmesberger Jr. was an Austrian composer, violinist and conductor. Hellmesberger was son of violinist and conductor Joseph Hellmesberger Sr. who was his first teacher, among his family of notable musicians include, grandfather, Georg Hellmesberger Sr. uncle, Georg Hellmesberger Jr. and brother, Ferdinand Hellmesberger. In 1875 Hellmesberger became a member of his fathers Hellmesberger Quartet, in 1878 Hellmesberger became solo violinist of the Vienna Court Chapel and professor at the Vienna Conservatory. In 1890 he was the first hofkapellmeister at the Vienna Court Opera, in 1904 and 1905 he was Kapellmeister at the Stuttgarter Hoftheater His compositions include 22 operettas,6 ballets, dance music and lieder. Hellmesberger died in Vienna at age 52
15.
Albert Wolff (conductor)
–
Albert Wolff was a French conductor and composer of Dutch descent. Most of his career was spent in European venues, with the exception of two years that he spent as a conductor at the Metropolitan Opera and a few years in Buenos Aires during the Second World War. He is most known for holding the position of principal conductor with the Opéra-Comique in Paris for several years and he was married to the French mezzo-soprano Simone Ballard. Wolff was born in Paris, of Dutch parents, though he was a French citizen from birth, never lived in the Netherlands, when only 12 years old, he began his musical education at the Paris Conservatoire. There, he studied with teachers as André Gedalge, Xavier Leroux. At the same time he played the piano in cabarets and was organist at the Église Saint-Thomas-dAquin for four years, upon graduation at the age of 22, Wolff was awarded first prizes in harmony and accompaniment. In 1906 Wolff joined the staff of the Opéra-Comique, the theatre became the centre of his career. He made his debut at an opera gala in Strasbourg on 9 May 1909. Meanwhile, in 1908, Wolff was appointed chorus master at the Opéra-Comique and this was his first experience with any form of stage work. He remained in position for three years before being given an opportunity to conduct the premiere of Laparras La jota. Impressed with his performance, the Opéra-Comique took him with them to Argentina in 1911 where he conducted the Buenos Aires premiere of Pelléas et Mélisande at the Teatro Colón and he later conducted the opera again in its premieres in Naples, Copenhagen, Kristiania and Stockholm. In August 1910 Wolff conducted Fauré’s incidental music in Georgette Leblanc’s production of the play Pelléas and Mélisande in the cloisters and he continued as a conductor at the Opéra-Comique until the outbreak of World War I. Throughout that conflict, Wolff served his country first as at Les Éparges, then as a pilot, at the end of the War, Wolff went to the United States to join the conducting staff at the Metropolitan Opera, replacing Pierre Monteux in the French repertoire. His made his debut on 21 November 1919, in Gounods Faust, although Wolffs work with the company received consistently positive reviews from critics, he spent less than two full seasons at the Metropolitan Opera. Wolff returned to the Opéra-Comique in 1921, succeeding André Messager as chief conductor and he notably conducted the first Paris performances of Lenfant et les sortileges and Angélique by Ibert, and the world premiere of Le brebis égarée by Milhaud. Around this same time, he founded the Concerts Modernes Paris to provide a medium for the performance of new works. In 1924 he resigned his post at the Opéra-Comique and became director of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. In 1925 he became conductor of the Concerts Pasdeloup, greatly extending his work in purely orchestral music
16.
World War II
–
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
17.
Paris Opera
–
The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of France. Classical ballet as we know it today arose within the Paris Opera as the Paris Opera Ballet and has remained an integral, small scale and contemporary works are also staged in the 500-seat Amphitheatre under the Opéra Bastille. The companys annual budget is in the order of 200 million euros, with this money, the company runs the two houses and supports a large permanent staff, which includes the orchestra of 170, a chorus of 110 and the corps de ballet of 150. Each year, the Opéra presents about 380 performances of opera, ballet and other concerts, to an audience of about 800,000 people. In the 2012/13 season, the Opéra presented 18 opera titles,13 ballets,5 symphonic concerts, the companys training bodies are also active, with 7 concerts from the Atelier Lyrique and 4 programmes from the École de Danse. The poet Pierre Perrin began thinking and writing about the possibility of French opera in 1655 and he believed that the prevailing opinion of the time that the French language was fundamentally unmusical was completely incorrect. Seventeenth-century France offered Perrin essentially two types of organization for realizing his vision, an academy or a public theater. On 28 June 1669, Louis XIV signed the Privilège accordé au Sieur Perrin pour létablissement dune Académie dOpéra en musique and he was free to select business partners of his choice and to set the price of tickets. No one was to have the right of free entry including members of the royal court, although it was to be a public theatre, it retained its status as royal academy in which the authority of the king as the primary stakeholder was decisive. The monopoly, originally intended to protect the enterprise from competition during its phase, was renewed for subsequent recipients of the privilege up to the early French Revolution. As Victoria Johnson points out, the Opera was an organization by nature so luxurious and expensive in its productions that its survival depended on financial protection. His first opera Pomone with music by Robert Cambert opened on 3 March 1671, a second work, Les peines et les plaisirs de lamour, with a libretto by Gabriel Gilbert and music by Cambert, was performed in 1672. The institution was renamed the Académie Royale de Musique and came to be known in France simply as the Opéra. Because of legal difficulties Lully could not use the Salle de la Bouteille, during Lullys tenure, the only works performed were his own. The first productions were the pastorale Les fêtes de lAmour et de Bacchus, Lully greatly desired a better theatre and persuaded the king to let him use the one at the Palais-Royal free of charge. The Théâtre du Palais-Royal had been altered in 1660 and 1671, the first production in the new theatre was Alceste on 19 January 1674. The opera was bitterly attacked by those enraged at the restrictions that Lully had caused to be placed on the French, to mitigate the damage, Louis XIV arranged for new works to be premiered at the court, usually at the Chateau Vieux of the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. This had the advantage of subsidizing the cost of rehearsals, as well as most of the machinery, sets, and costumes
18.
Nicolai Gedda
–
Harry Gustaf Nikolai Gädda, known professionally as Nicolai Gedda, was a Swedish operatic tenor. Debuting in 1952, Gedda had a long and successful career in opera until the age of 77 in June 2003, skilled at languages, he performed operas in French, Russian, German, Italian, English, Czech, and Swedish, as well as one in Latin. In January 1958, he created the part of Anatol in the premiere of the American opera Vanessa at the Metropolitan Opera. Having made some two hundred recordings, Gedda is one of the most widely recorded opera singers in history and his singing is best known for its beauty of tone, vocal control, and musical perception. Harry Gustaf Nikolai Gädda, who changed the spelling of his surname to Gedda, was born in Stockholm to a Swedish mother. He was raised by his aunt Olga Gädda and his adoptive father Mihail Ustinov, Gedda grew up bilingual in Swedish and Russian. From 1929 to 1934 he lived with his family in Leipzig, Germany and they returned to Sweden after Hitler came to power. In school he later learned English, French and Latin, after leaving school he learned Italian on his own. Gedda worked first as a teller in a local bank in Stockholm. Later he also taught the Finnish bass Martti Talvela, Öhman was enthusiastic about Gedda and took him as a pupil, at the beginning without payment, because Gedda was at the time supporting his parents. After a few months he obtained a scholarship and was able to pay for Öhmans singing lessons. An early appraisal of Geddas singing was offered by Walter Legge, on my arrival at the airport I was asked by a swarm of journalists if I were not interested in hearing their excellent young Swedish voices. Naturally I was interested, but I did not expect either the front page stories that appeared next morning or the mass of letters, I had to ask the Director of the Opera for a room for a couple of days to hear about 100 young aspirants. The first to sing to me was Gedda who had, I believe and he sang the Carmen Flower Song so tenderly yet passionately that I was moved almost to tears. He delivered the difficult rising scale ending with a clear and brilliant B flat, almost apologetically I asked him to try to sing it as written – pianissimo, rallentando and diminuendo. Without turning a hair he achieved the near-miracle, incredibly beautifully and he was understudy to Giuseppe Di Stefano at a performance of Lelisir damore at the Edinburgh Festival circa 1951. In April 1952, at the age of 26, Gedda made his debut at the Royal Swedish Opera, performing the role of Chapelou in Adolphe Adams Le postillon de Lonjumeau with Hjördis Schymberg. One of the arias in opera, Mes amis, écoutez lhistoire, is considered one of the most difficult tenor arias in all of opera
19.
Theater an der Wien
–
The Theater an der Wien is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, since 2006, it has served primarily as an opera house, hosting its own company. Although Wien is German for Vienna, the Wien in the name of the theatre is actually the name of the Wien River, which flowed by the theatre site. In modern times, the river has been covered over in this location and the riverbed now houses the Naschmarkt. The theatre is operated in cooperation with Vereinigte Bühnen Wien which also operates the Raimund Theater, the theatre was the brainchild of the Viennese theatrical impresario Emanuel Schikaneder, who is best known as Mozarts librettist and collaborator on the opera The Magic Flute. Schikaneders troupe had already been performing for several years in Vienna in the smaller Theater auf der Wieden. As the troupes performances often emphasized spectacle and scenery, the librettist felt ready to move to a larger and better equipped venue. He had already granted an imperial licence to build a new theatre in 1786. The building was designed by the architect Franz Jäger in Empire style, the theatre has been described as the most lavishly equipped and one of the largest theatres of its age. The theatre opened on 13 June 1801 with a written by Schikaneder followed by a performance of the opera Alexander by Franz Teyber. The new theatre proved to be a sensation, adolf Bäurle, a local critic, wrote if Schikaneder and Zitterbarth had had the idea. To charge admission simply for looking at the glories of their Theater an der Wien, the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung called it the most comfortable and satisfactory in the whole of Germany. In 1807 the theatre was acquired by a group of nobles that included Count Ferdinand Palffy von Erdöd. He is accompanied by the Three Boys, characters in the same opera, in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, the theatre experienced a golden age during the flourishing of Viennese operetta, as referenced in the list below. From 1945 to 1955, it was one of the homes of the Vienna State Opera. However, in 1955, the theatre was closed for safety reasons and it languished unused for several years, and by the early 1960s, the threat had emerged that it would be converted to a parking garage. Fortunately, in 1962 the theatre found a new and successful role for itself as a venue for musical theatre. Many English-language musicals had their German premieres there, the musical Cats directed and choreographed by Gillian Lynne played successfully for seven years
20.
Voice type
–
Other considerations are physical characteristics, speech level, scientific testing, and vocal register. A singers voice type is identified by a known as voice classification, by which the human voice is evaluated. The discipline of voice classification developed within European classical music and is not generally applicable to other forms of singing, voice classification is often used within opera to associate possible roles with potential voices. Voice classification is a tool for singers, composers, venues, while useful, voice classification systems have been used too rigidly, i. e. a house assigning a singer to a specific type and only casting him or her in roles they consider belonging to this category. A singer will choose a repertoire that suits his or her instrument, many different voice types are used in vocal pedagogy in a variety of voice classification systems. Most of these types, however, are grouped into seven major categories that are, for the most part. Women are typically divided into three groups, soprano, mezzo-soprano, and alto, men are usually divided into four groups, countertenor, tenor, baritone, and bass. Some women fall into the tenor or baritone groups, while men identified as countertenors can be grouped as contralto, mezzo-soprano, when considering the pre-pubescent voice, an eighth term, treble, is applied. Within each of these categories, subcategories identify specific vocal qualities such as coloratura facility. The vocal range of classical performance covers about five octaves, from a low G1 to a high G6, any individuals voice can perform over a range of one and a half to more than two octaves. Vocal ranges are grouped into overlapping types that each span two octaves. Many singers fall between groups and can perform some parts in either type, soprano range, The soprano is the highest singing voice. The typical soprano voice lies between C4 and C6, the low extreme for sopranos is roughly A3. Most soprano roles do not extend above C6 although there are several standard soprano roles that call for D6, at the highest extreme, some coloratura soprano roles may reach to F6. Soprano tessitura, The tessitura of the soprano voice lies higher than all the other voices except the sopranino, in particular, the coloratura soprano has the highest tessitura of all the soprano subtypes. Soprano subtypes, As with all types, sopranos are often divided into different subcategories based on range, vocal color or timbre, the weight of voice. Sopranos are often broken down into five subcategories, coloratura soprano, soubrette, lyric soprano, spinto soprano, two types of soprano especially dear to the French are the Dugazon and the Falcon, which are intermediate voice types between the soprano and the mezzo soprano. A Dugazon is a darker-colored soubrette, a Falcon a darker-colored soprano drammatico
21.
Conducting
–
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. A conductors directions will almost invariably be supplemented or reinforced by verbal instructions or suggestions to their musicians in rehearsal prior to a performance. The conductor typically stands on a podium with a large music stand for the full score. Conducting while playing a piano or synthesizer may also be done with musical theatre pit orchestras, communication is typically non-verbal during a performance. However, in rehearsals, frequent interruptions allow the conductor to give verbal directions as to how the music should be played or sung, Conductors act as guides to the orchestras or choirs they conduct. They choose the works to be performed and study their scores, to which they may make adjustments, work out their interpretation. They may also attend to matters, such as scheduling rehearsals, planning a concert season, hearing auditions and selecting members. Orchestras, choirs, concert bands and other musical ensembles such as big bands are usually led by conductors. The principal conductor of an orchestra or opera company is referred to as a music director or chief conductor, or by the German words Kapellmeister or Dirigent. Conductors of choirs or choruses are sometimes referred to as director, chorus master, or choirmaster. Conductors of concert bands, military bands, marching bands and other bands may hold the title of director, bandmaster. Respected senior conductors are sometimes referred to by the Italian word, an early form of conducting is cheironomy, the use of hand gestures to indicate melodic shape. This has been practiced at least as far back as the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, other devices to indicate the passing of time came into use. Rolled up sheets of paper, smaller sticks and unadorned hands are all shown in pictures from this period, the large staff was responsible for the death of Jean-Baptiste Lully, who injured his foot with one while conducting a Te Deum for the Kings recovery from illness. The wound became gangrenous and Lully refused amputation, whereupon the gangrene spread to his leg, in instrumental music throughout the 18th century, a member of the ensemble usually acted as the conductor. This was sometimes the concertmaster, who could use his bow as a baton and it was common to conduct from the harpsichord in pieces that had a basso continuo part. In opera performances, there were sometimes two conductors – the keyboard player was in charge of the singers, and the principal violinist or leader was in charge of the orchestra. By the early 19th century, it became the norm to have a dedicated conductor, the size of the usual orchestra expanded during this period, and the use of a baton became more common, as it was easier to see than bare hands or rolled-up paper
22.
Tenor
–
Tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is one of the highest of the male voice types. The tenors vocal range lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, and A4, the A above middle C, in solo work, this range extends up to C5, or tenor high C. The low extreme for tenors is roughly A♭2, at the highest extreme, some tenors can sing up to two Fs above middle C. The tenor voice type is divided into the leggero tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor. The name tenor derives from the Latin word tenere, which means to hold, in medieval and Renaissance polyphony between about 1250 and 1500, the tenor was the structurally fundamental voice, vocal or instrumental. All other voices were normally calculated in relation to the tenor, until the late 16th century introduction of the contratenor singers, the tenor was usually the highest voice, assuming the role of providing a foundation. It was also in the 18th century that tenor came to signify the male voice that sang such parts, thus, for earlier repertoire, a line marked tenor indicated the parts role, and not the required voice type. Indeed, even as late as the century, partbooks labelled tenor might contain parts for a range of voice types. The vocal range of the tenor is one of the highest of the voice types. Within opera, the lowest note in the tenor repertoire is probably A♭2 in Rossinis rarely performed La donna del lago in the role of Rodrigo di Dhu. Within more frequently performed repertoire, Mime and Herod both call for an A2, a few tenor roles in the standard repertoire call for a tenor C. Some of the few top Cs in the operatic repertoire are either optional or interpolated by tradition. However, the highest demanded note in the standard operatic repertoire is D5. Some operatic roles for tenors require a darker timbre and fewer high notes, in the leggero repertoire, the highest note is F5, therefore, very few tenors can, given the raising of concert pitch since its composition, have this role in their repertoire without transposition. Within the tenor voice type category are seven generally recognized subcategories, leggero tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor, Mozart tenor, Also known as the tenore di grazia, the leggero tenor is essentially the male equivalent of a lyric coloratura. This voice is light, agile, and capable of executing difficult passages of fioritura, the typical leggero tenor possesses a range spanning from approximately C3 to E♭5, with a few being able to sing up to F5 or higher in full voice. In some cases, the chest register of the leggero tenor may extend below C3, voices of this type are utilized frequently in the operas of Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini and in music dating from the Baroque period. Leggero tenor roles in operas, The lyric tenor is a warm voice with a bright, full timbre that is strong but not heavy
23.
Jean-Alexandre Talazac
–
Jean-Alexandre Talazac, was a French operatic tenor, particularly associated with the French repertory. He studied at the National Conservatory of Music in Paris, and he also sang at the Paris premiere of Samson et Dalila at the Théâtre Lyrique, on October 31,1890. In 1889, he first appeared at the Royal Opera House in London, as Alfredo in La traviata, Faust and he also made guest appearances at the Monte Carlo Opera, La Monnaie in Brussels, and the Teatro Nacional Sao Carlos in Lisbon. He was also active in concert and recital, other notable roles included, Méhuls Joseph, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Wilhelm Meister in Mignon, Fernand in La favorite, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Raoul in Les Huguenots. A highly stylish singer noted for the purity and brilliance of his voice, he was married to soprano Hélène Fauvelle in 1880, the couple were the parents of singer and actress Odette Talazac. He died in Paris
24.
Soprano
–
A soprano is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The sopranos vocal range is from approximately middle C =261 Hz to high A =880 Hz in choral music, in four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody. The soprano voice type is divided into the coloratura, soubrette, lyric, spinto. The lyric soprano is the most common female singing voice, the word soprano comes from the Italian word sopra, as the soprano is the highest pitch human voice, often given to the leading female roles in operas. The term soprano is also based on the Latin word superius which, like soprano, the word superius was especially used in choral and other multi-part vocal music between the 13th and 16th centuries. The soprano has the highest vocal range of all voice types, a soprano and a mezzo-soprano have a similar range, but their tessituras will lie in different parts of that range. The low extreme for sopranos is roughly A3 or B♭3, within opera, the lowest demanded note for sopranos is F3. Often low notes in higher voices will project less, lack timbre, however, rarely is a soprano simply unable to sing a low note in a song within a soprano role. The high extreme, at a minimum, for non-coloratura sopranos is soprano C, a couple of roles have optional E♭6s, as well. In the coloratura repertoire several roles call for E♭6 on up to F6, in rare cases, some coloratura roles go as high as G6 or G♯6, such as Mozarts concert aria Popoli di Tessaglia. Or the title role of Jules Massenets opera Esclarmonde, while not necessarily within the tessitura, a good soprano will be able to sing her top notes full-throated, with timbre and dynamic control. In opera, the tessitura, vocal weight, and timbre of voices, a singers tessitura is where the voice has the best timbre, easy volume, and most comfort. Within the soprano voice type category are five generally recognized subcategories, coloratura soprano, soubrette, lyric soprano, spinto soprano, the coloratura soprano may be a lyric coloratura or a dramatic coloratura. The lyric coloratura soprano is a very agile light voice with a high upper extension capable of fast vocal coloratura, Light coloraturas have a range of approximately middle C to high F with some coloratura sopranos being able to sing somewhat higher or lower. Dramatic coloraturas have a range of approximately low B to high F with some coloratura sopranos being able to sing higher or lower. In classical music and opera, a soubrette soprano refers to both a type and a particular type of opera role. A soubrette voice is light with a bright, sweet timbre, a tessitura in the mid-range, the soubrette voice is not a weak voice, for it must carry over an orchestra without a microphone like all voices in opera. The voice, however, has a lighter weight than other soprano voices with a brighter timbre
25.
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
26.
Mezzo-soprano
–
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-sopranos vocal range extends from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above. In the lower and upper extremes, some mezzo-sopranos may extend down to the F below middle C, the mezzo-soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic mezzo-soprano. Mezzo-sopranos are well represented in music, early music. Some roles designated for lighter soubrette sopranos are sung by mezzo-sopranos, such roles include Despina in Mozarts Così fan tutte and Zerlina in his Don Giovanni. Mezzos sometimes play dramatic soprano roles such as Santuzza in Mascagnis Cavalleria rusticana, Lady Macbeth in Verdis Macbeth, the vocal range of the mezzo-sopranos lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. Mezzo-sopranos generally have a heavier, darker tone than sopranos, the mezzo-soprano voice resonates in a higher range than that of a contralto. The terms Dugazon and Galli-Marié are sometimes used to refer to light mezzo-sopranos, usually men singing within the female range are called countertenors since there is a lighter more breathy tonal quality difference. Within the mezzo-soprano voice type category are three generally recognized subcategories, coloratura mezzo-soprano, lyric mezzo-soprano, and dramatic mezzo-soprano, a coloratura mezzo-soprano has a warm lower register and an agile high register. The roles they sing often demand not only the use of the register but also leaps into the upper tessitura with highly ornamented. They have a range from approximately the G below middle C to the B two octaves above middle C, some coloratura mezzo-sopranos can sing up to high C or high D, but this is very rare. What distinguishes these voices from being called sopranos is their extension into the register and warmer vocal quality. Although coloratura mezzo-sopranos have impressive and at times thrilling high notes, they are most comfortable singing in the middle of their range, many of the hero roles in the operas of Handel and Monteverdi, originally sung by male castrati, can be successfully sung today by coloratura mezzo-sopranos. Rossini demanded similar qualities for his heroines, and Vivaldi wrote roles frequently for this voice as well. Coloratura mezzo-sopranos also often sing lyric-mezzo-soprano roles or soubrette roles, coloratura mezzo-soprano roles in operas, The lyric mezzo-soprano has a range from approximately the G below middle C to the A two octaves above middle C. This voice has a smooth, sensitive and at times lachrymose quality. Lyric mezzo-sopranos do not have the agility of the coloratura mezzo-soprano or the size of the dramatic mezzo-soprano. The lyric mezzo-soprano is ideal for most trouser roles and this voice has less vocal facility than the coloratura mezzo-soprano
27.
Marguerite Ugalde
–
Marguerite Ugalde was a French mezzo-soprano. She was the daughter of the singer and theatre manager Delphine Ugalde, after studies in Paris with her mother, her first professional engagement was in 1879 at Étretat, she made her debut at the Opéra Comique on 19 April 1880 as Marie in La fille du régiment. She created the roles of Mnazile in Le Bois and Nicklausse in the first performance of Les contes dHoffmann by Offenbach in 1881, on the 18 November 1881, before the unveiling of a bust of Offenbach Ugalde and Adèle Isaac sang, and encored, the barcarolle from Hoffmann. After this short period at the Opéra Comique Ugalde moved over to operetta and she sang the first D’Artagnan in Les petits mousquetaires at the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques, as well as, after a serious illness, triumphing as René Belamour in Suppé’s Juanita. At the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, where her mother had taken over the management, Ugalde toured Belgium in 1888 and 1889 before returning to the Nouveautés as Jovaline in Le Royaume des Femmes. At the Théâtre du Gymnase, she created Colinette in the comic play Lart de tromper les femmes, in the vaudeville operetta Vingt-huit jours de Clairette she sang the title role and also appeared in a revival of Juanita. Further successes at the Théâtre des Variétés followed and as Joseph in Gamin de Paris at the Théâtre des Nations and she played Nicole in Le bourgeois gentilhomme and Toinette in Le malade imaginaire in productions of Molière at the Gaité. In 1908 she played Mme Brémont in Le Jouet at the Théâtre Femina
28.
Nuremberg
–
Nuremberg is a city on the river Pegnitz and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia, about 170 kilometres north of Munich. It is the second-largest city in Bavaria, and the largest in Franconia, the population as of February 2015, is 517,498, which makes it Germanys fourteenth-largest city. The urban area also includes Fürth, Erlangen and Schwabach with a population of 763,854. The European Metropolitan Area Nuremberg has ca.3.5 million inhabitants, Nuremberg was, according to the first documentary mention of the city in 1050, the location of an Imperial castle between the East Franks and the Bavarian March of the Nordgau. From 1050 to 1571, the city expanded and rose dramatically in importance due to its location on key trade routes, Nuremberg is often referred to as having been the unofficial capital of the Holy Roman Empire, particularly because Imperial Diet and courts met at Nuremberg Castle. The Diets of Nuremberg were an important part of the structure of the empire. The increasing demand of the court and the increasing importance of the city attracted increased trade. Nuremberg soon became, with Augsburg, one of the two great trade centers on the route from Italy to Northern Europe. In 1298, the Jews of the town were accused of having desecrated the host, behind the massacre of 1298 was also the desire to combine the northern and southern parts of the city, which were divided by the Pegnitz. The Jews of the German lands suffered many massacres during the plague years, in 1349, Nurembergs Jews were subjected to a pogrom. They were burned at the stake or expelled, and a marketplace was built over the former Jewish quarter, the plague returned to the city in 1405,1435,1437,1482,1494,1520 and 1534. Charles was the patron of the Frauenkirche, built between 1352 and 1362, where the Imperial court worshipped during its stays in Nuremberg. Charles IV conferred upon the city the right to conclude alliances independently, frequent fights took place with the burgraves without, however, inflicting lasting damage upon the city. Through these and other acquisitions the city accumulated considerable territory, the Hussite Wars, recurrence of the Black Death in 1437, and the First Margrave War led to a severe fall in population in the mid-15th century. During the Middle Ages, Nurembergs literary culture was rich, varied, the cultural flowering of Nuremberg, in the 15th and 16th centuries, made it the centre of the German Renaissance. In 1525, Nuremberg accepted the Protestant Reformation, and in 1532, during the 1552 revolution against Charles V, Nuremberg tried to purchase its neutrality, but the city was attacked without a declaration of war and was forced into a disadvantageous peace. The state of affairs in the early 16th century, increased trade routes elsewhere, frequent quartering of Imperial, Swedish and League soldiers, the financial costs of the war and the cessation of trade caused irreparable damage to the city and a near-halving of the population. In 1632, the city, occupied by the forces of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, was besieged by the army of Imperial general Albrecht von Wallenstein, the city declined after the war and recovered its importance only in the 19th century, when it grew as an industrial centre
29.
Muses
–
The Muses are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts in Greek mythology. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric songs and they were later adopted by the Romans as a part of their pantheon. In current English usage, muse can refer in general to a person who inspires an artist, writer, the earliest known records of the Nine Muses are from Boeotia, the homeland of Hesiod. Some ancient authorities thought that the Nine Muses were of Thracian origin, there, a tradition persisted that the Muses had once been three in number. They were again called Melete or Practice, Mneme or Memory, three ancient Muses were also reported in Plutarchs Quaestiones Convivales. According to Pausanias in the second century AD, there were three original Muses, worshiped on Mount Helicon in Boeotia, Aoidḗ, Melétē, and Mnḗmē. Together, these three form the picture of the preconditions of poetic art in cult practice. In Delphi three Muses were worshiped as well, but with other names, Nḗtē, Mésē, and Hýpatē, alternatively they later were called Kēphisṓ, Apollōnís, and Borysthenís, which names characterize them as daughters of Apollo. In later tradition, a set of four Muses were recognized, Thelxinóē, Aoidḗ Archē, one of the people frequently associated with the Muses was Pierus. By some he was called the father of a total of seven Muses, called Neilṓ, Tritṓnē, Asōpṓ, Heptápora, Achelōís, Tipoplṓ, and Rhodía. According to Hesiods Theogony, they were daughters of Zeus, the second king of the gods. For Alcman and Mimnermus, they were even more primordial, springing from the deities, Uranus. Sometimes the Muses are referred to as water nymphs, associated with the springs of Helicon and it was said that the winged horse Pegasus touched his hooves to the ground on Helicon, causing four sacred springs to burst forth, from which the muses were born. Athena later tamed the horse and presented him to the muses, classical writers set Apollo as their leader, Apollon Mousagetēs. In one myth, the Muses judged a contest between Apollo and Marsyas and they also gathered the pieces of the dead body of Orpheus, son of Calliope, and buried them. In a later myth, Thamyris challenged them to a singing contest and they won and punished Thamyris by blinding him and robbing him of his singing ability. He thus challenged the Muses to a match, resulting in his daughters, Pausanias records a tradition of two generations of Muses, the first are the daughters of Uranus and Gaia, the second of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Another, rarer genealogy is that they are daughters of Harmonia, some Greek writers give the names of the nine Muses as Kallichore, Helike, Eunike, Thelxinoë, Terpsichore, Euterpe, Eukelade, Dia, and Enope
30.
Prima donna
–
In opera or commedia dellarte, a prima donna is the leading female singer in the company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. The prima donna was normally, but not necessarily, a soprano, the corresponding term for the male lead is primo uomo. Prime donne often had grand off-stage personalities and were seen as demanding of their colleagues, in nineteenth-century Italy, the leading woman in an opera or Commedia dellarte company was known as the prima donna, literally the first lady. This woman, usually the principal soprano of the company, would typically perform leading roles, famous opera prime donne have often caused opera enthusiasts to divide into opposing clubs supporting one singer over another. The rivalry between the fans of Maria Callas and Renata Tebaldi, for example, was one of the most famous, the designation prima donna assoluta is occasionally applied to a prima donna of outstanding excellence. It has also used to describe the creators of heroic coloratura roles in the first half of the 19th century. Convenienze Diva Rupert Christiansen, Prima Donna, A History, Viking,1985
31.
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
32.
Don Giovanni
–
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It is based on the legends of Don Juan, a fictional libertine and it was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the National Theater, now called the Estates Theatre, on 29 October 1787. Da Pontes libretto was billed as a dramma giocoso, a designation of its time that denotes a mixing of serious. Mozart entered the work into his catalogue as an opera buffa, although sometimes classified as comic, it blends comedy, melodrama and supernatural elements. A staple of the operatic repertoire, Don Giovanni for the five seasons 2011/12 through 2015/16 was ninth on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide. It has also proved a fruitful subject for writers and philosophers, the opera was commissioned as a result of the overwhelming success of Mozarts trip to Prague in January and February 1787. The subject matter may have chosen in consideration of the long history of Don Juan operas in Prague. For Bertati, the setting was Villena, Spain, whereas Da Pontes libretto only specifies a city in Spain, the score was completed on 28 or 29 October 1787 after Da Ponte was recalled to Vienna to work on another opera. Reports about the completion of the overture conflict, some say it was completed the day before the premiere. More likely it was completed the day before, in light of the fact that Mozart recorded the completion of the opera on 28 October. The score calls for double woodwinds, two horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, basso continuo for the recitatives, and the string section. The composer also specified occasional special musical effects, in act 2, Giovanni is seen to play the mandolin, accompanied by pizzicato strings. In the same act, two of the Commendatores interventions are accompanied by a chorale of oboes, clarinets, bassoons. The instrumentation and vocal writing are very reminiscent of Mozarts treatment of the voice of Neptune in Idomeneo, the opera was first performed on 29 October 1787 in Prague under its full title of Il Dissoluto Punito ossia il Don Giovanni – Dramma giocoso in due atti. The work was received, as was often true of Mozarts work in Prague. The Prager Oberpostamtzeitung reported, Connoisseurs and musicians say that Prague has never heard the like, the Provincialnachrichten of Vienna reported, Herr Mozart conducted in person and was welcomed joyously and jubilantly by the numerous gathering. Mozart also supervised the Vienna premiere of the work, which place on 7 May 1788. These cuts are very seldom performed in theatres or recordings, the operas final ensemble was generally omitted until the early 20th century, a tradition that apparently began very early on
33.
Eisenach
–
Eisenach is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located 50 kilometres west of Erfurt,70 km southeast of Kassel and 150 km northeast of Frankfurt. It is the urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions. A major attraction is Wartburg castle, which has been a UNESCO world heritage site since 1999, Eisenach was an early capital of Thuringia in the 12th and 13th centuries. St. Elizabeth lived at the court of the Ludowingians here between 1211 and 1228, later, Martin Luther came to Eisenach and translated the Bible into German. In 1685, Johann Sebastian Bach was born here, during the early-modern period, Eisenach was a residence of the Ernestine Wettins and was visited by numerous representatives of Weimar classicism like Johann Wolfgang Goethe. In 1869, the SDAP, one of the two precursors of the Social Democratic Party of Germany was founded in Eisenach, car production is an important industry in Eisenach. The Automobilwerk Eisenach was founded in 1896, in the German Democratic Republic, the Wartburg was produced here. Eisenach is situated on the Hörsel river, a tributary of the Werra between the Thuringian Forest in the south, the Hainich mountains in the north-east and the East Hesse Highlands in the north-west, Eisenachs origin and early history is unknown. An 8th century Frankish settlement near Petersberg hill is regarded as the nucleus of Eisenach, however, there are no written sources about that early period. According to legend, Louis the Springer began in 1067 to establish Wartburg castle above the settlement, in 1080, the castle was first mentioned in a Saxon chronicle. Eisenach itself followed in a document dating to 1150 where it was referred to as Isinacha, during the 1180s, the town was established by the construction of three independent market settlements around the Saturdays market, the Wednesdays market and the Mondays market. During the second half of the 12th century, the walls were erected and Eisenach got a planned grid of streets. In 1207, the legendary Sängerkrieg supposedly took place at Wartburg castle, in 1221, St. Elizabeth married Landgrave Louis IV and she lived in Eisenach or at Wartburg castle until 1228. Later, she became the patroness of Thuringia and Hesse, in 1247, the Ludowingians died out which led to the War of the Thuringian Succession between the Wettins and Duchess Sophie of Brabant. As a consequence, the landgraviate was divided, Eisenach and the eastern parts went to the Wettins and Kassel, Marburg and the western parts went to Sophie. Eisenach kept a position among the Wettins Thuringian cities by becoming their Oberhof, so that their law had to be derived from Eisenachs municipal law. The confident citizens of Eisenach fought against the Wettins rule to become an imperial city between 1306 and 1308, but lost. In the 14th century various crises followed, in 1342, a big fire destroyed all the buildings
_-_Les_contes_d%27Hoffmann_by_Jacques_Offenbach,_prologue.jpg)
_-_Les_contes_d%27Hoffmann_by_Jacques_Offenbach,_Olympia_act.jpg)
_-_Les_contes_d%27Hoffmann_by_Jacques_Offenbach,_Giulietta_act.jpg)
Lewis M. Isaacs (1920). "Tales of Hoffman". Encyclopedia Americana.
Lewis M. Isaacs (1920). "
