1.
Jules Massenet
–
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are Manon and Werther and he also composed oratorios, ballets, orchestral works, incidental music, piano pieces, songs and other music. While still a schoolboy, Massenet was admitted to Frances principal music college, there he studied under Ambroise Thomas, whom he greatly admired. After winning the top musical prize, the Prix de Rome, in 1863, he composed prolifically in many genres. Massenet had a sense of the theatre and of what would succeed with the Parisian public. Despite some miscalculations, he produced a series of successes that made him the composer of opera in France in the late 19th. Like many prominent French composers of the period, Massenet became a professor at the Conservatoire and he taught composition there from 1878 until 1896, when he resigned after the death of the director, Ambroise Thomas. Among his students were Gustave Charpentier, Ernest Chausson, Reynaldo Hahn, by the time of his death, Massenet was regarded by many critics as old-fashioned and unadventurous although his two best-known operas remained popular in France and abroad. After a few decades of neglect, his works began to be favourably reassessed during the mid-20th century, Massenet was born at Montaud, then an outlying hamlet and now a part of the city of Saint-Étienne, in the Loire. He was the youngest of the four children of Alexis Massenet and his second wife Eléonore-Adelaïde née Royer de Marancour, Massenet senior was a prosperous ironmonger, his wife was a talented amateur musician who gave Jules his first piano lessons. By early 1848 the family had moved to Paris, where settled in a flat in Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Massenet was educated at the Lycée Saint-Louis and, from either 1851 or 1853 and his biographer Demar Irvine dates the audition and admission as January 1853. Both sources agree that Massenet continued his education at the lycée in tandem with his musical studies. At the Conservatoire Massenet studied solfège with Augustin Savard and the piano with François Laurent and he pursued his studies, with modest distinction, until the beginning of 1855, when family concerns disrupted his education. Alexis Massenets health was poor, and on advice he moved from Paris to Chambéry in the south of France. On his return he lodged with relations in Montmartre and resumed his studies, the familys finances were no longer comfortable, and to support himself Massenet took private piano students and played as a percussionist in theatre orchestras. His work in the pit gave him a good working knowledge of the operas of Gounod and other composers, classic. He gained some work as a piano accompanist, in the course of which he met Wagner who, in 1861 Massenets music was published for the first time, the Grande Fantasie de Concert sur le Pardon de Ploërmel de Meyerbeer, a virtuoso piano work in nine sections
Jules Massenet
–
Massenet photographed by
Pierre Petit, 1880
Jules Massenet
–
Massenet's birthplace in Montaud, photographed c. 1908
Jules Massenet
–
Massenet in the early 1860s
Jules Massenet
–
Auditorium of the
Opéra-Comique
2.
Ernest Van Dyck
–
Ernest van Dyck was a Belgian dramatic tenor who was closely identified with the Wagnerian repertoire. A native of Antwerp where he was educated in a Jesuit school, the notary under whom he was studying introduced him to the conductor Joseph Dupont. He became a journalist, working for lEscaut in Antwerp and la Patrie in Paris, from his arrival in Paris and debut at the Concerts Lamoureux in the first act of Tristan und Isolde he studied with Chabrier and became a close friend of the composer. The singer repaid Chabrier by advocating for performances of his operas in Karlsruhe, in Paris he studied singing with Saint-Yves Bax before making his stage debut at the Théâtre Éden on 3 May 1887, the occasion marked the French premiere of Lohengrin. Intensive study with Felix Mottl followed before he appeared as Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival in 1888, the intensity of his acting was praised in particular and he was invited back to Bayreuth on repeated occasions, where he became a proponent of the Sprechgesang style of operatic vocalism. The Vienna Opera soon engaged him, and he remained with the company for a decade and he also made guest appearances throughout Europe, among these, he featured in the world premiere of Wilhelm Kienzls Der Evangelimann in London in 1897. Van Dyck made his American debut on 29 November 1898, singing Tannhäuser at the Metropolitan Opera and he stayed in New York City until the 1901-02 season, singing not only Wagner roles but also parts in French operas. Having made his debut at Covent Garden in 1891, in 1907 he undertook a season of German opera there, in 1914 he appeared in the first Parisian performances of Parsifal. For the Musica journal, n°13, October 1903 he wrote an article on Richard Wagner et l’interprétation, Van Dyck sang in the first performance of Debussys Lenfant prodigue in Paris on 27 July 1884. With Camille de Roddaz, Van Dyck provided the libretto for Massenets ballet set in Courtrai Le Carillon and he appeared regularly at the Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels in 1894, where his repertoire included Wagner and Massenet. Van Dyck made a few records in the early 1900s which show a voice prematurely past its prime after a dozen years of hard. He died in Berlaar in 1923, david Ewen, Encyclopedia of the Opera, New Enlarged Edition. New York, Hill and Wang,1963, media related to Ernest van Dyck at Wikimedia Commons
Ernest Van Dyck
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Ernest van Dyck (1904)
Ernest Van Dyck
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Ernest van Dyck and Amalia Materna as Parsifal and Kundry at Bayreuth in 1889.
Ernest Van Dyck
–
Van Dyck as
Lohengrin, 1895
3.
The Sorrows of Young Werther
–
The Sorrows of Young Werther is an epistolary, loosely autobiographical novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, first published in 1774. A revised edition followed in 1787 and it was one of the most important novels of the Sturm und Drang period in German literature, and influenced the later Romantic movement in literature. Goethe, twenty-four years old at the time, finished Werther in six weeks of writing in January–March 1774. It instantly put him among the foremost international literary celebrities, towards the end of Goethes life, a personal visit to Weimar became a crucial stage in any young mans Grand Tour of Europe. Most of The Sorrows of Young Werther is presented as a collection of written by Werther. These give an account of his stay in the fictional village of Wahlheim. There he meets Charlotte, a young girl who takes care of her siblings after the death of their mother. Werther falls in love with Charlotte despite knowing beforehand that she is engaged to a man named Albert eleven years her senior, despite the pain it causes him, Werther spends the next few months cultivating a close friendship with them both. His sorrow eventually becomes so unsupportable that he is forced to leave Wahlheim for Weimar and he suffers great embarrassment when he forgetfully visits a friend and unexpectedly has to face there the weekly gathering of the entire aristocratic set. He is not tolerated and asked to leave since he is not a nobleman and he then returns to Wahlheim, where he suffers still more than before, partly because Charlotte and Albert are now married. Every day becomes a torturing reminder that Charlotte will never be able to requite his love and she, out of pity for her friend and respect for her husband, decides that Werther must not visit her so frequently. He visits her one time, and they are both overcome with emotion after he recites to her a passage of his own Ossians translation. Even before that incident, Werther had hinted at the idea that one member of the love triangle – Charlotte, unable to hurt anyone else or seriously consider murder, Werther sees no other choice but to take his own life. After composing a letter to be found after his death. Charlotte receives the request with great emotion and sends the pistols, Werther then shoots himself in the head, but does not die until twelve hours later. He is buried under a tree that he has mentioned frequently in his letters. The funeral is not attended by any clergy, or by Albert or Charlotte, the book ends with an intimation that Charlotte may die of a broken heart. Charlottes life was despaired of, etc and he wrote Werther at the age of twenty-four, and yet this was what all some of his visitors in his old age knew him for
The Sorrows of Young Werther
–
First print 1774
The Sorrows of Young Werther
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Charlotte at Werther's grave
The Sorrows of Young Werther
–
Goethe portrait in profile
4.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
–
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer and statesman. In addition, numerous literary and scientific fragments, more than 10,000 letters and he was an early participant in the Sturm und Drang literary movement. He also contributed to the planning of Weimars botanical park and the rebuilding of its Ducal Palace and his first major scientific work, the Metamorphosis of Plants, was published after he returned from a 1788 tour of Italy. During this period, Goethe published his novel, Wilhelm Meisters Apprenticeship, the verse epic Hermann and Dorothea, and, in 1808. Goethes comments and observations form the basis of several biographical works, Goethes father, Johann Caspar Goethe, lived with his family in a large house in Frankfurt, then an Imperial Free City of the Holy Roman Empire. Though he had studied law in Leipzig and had been appointed Imperial Councillor, Johann Caspar married Goethes mother, Catharina Elizabeth Textor at Frankfurt on 20 August 1748, when he was 38 and she was 17. All their children, with the exception of Johann Wolfgang and his sister, Cornelia Friederica Christiana and his father and private tutors gave Goethe lessons in all the common subjects of their time, especially languages. Goethe also received lessons in dancing, riding and fencing, Johann Caspar, feeling frustrated in his own ambitions, was determined that his children should have all those advantages that he had not. Although Goethes great passion was drawing, he became interested in literature, Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock. He also took pleasure in reading works on history and religion. He writes about this period, Goethe became also acquainted with Frankfurt actors, among early literary attempts, he was infatuated with Gretchen, who would later reappear in his Faust and the adventures with whom he would concisely describe in Dichtung und Wahrheit. He adored Caritas Meixner, a wealthy Worms traders daughter and friend of his sister, Goethe studied law at Leipzig University from 1765 to 1768. He detested learning age-old judicial rules by heart, preferring instead to attend the lessons of Christian Fürchtegott Gellert. In Leipzig, Goethe fell in love with Anna Katharina Schönkopf, in 1770, he anonymously released Annette, his first collection of poems. His uncritical admiration for many contemporary poets vanished as he became interested in Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, already at this time, Goethe wrote a good deal, but he threw away nearly all of these works, except for the comedy Die Mitschuldigen. The restaurant Auerbachs Keller and its legend of Fausts 1525 barrel ride impressed him so much that Auerbachs Keller became the real place in his closet drama Faust Part One. As his studies did not progress, Goethe was forced to return to Frankfurt at the close of August 1768, Goethe became severely ill in Frankfurt. During the year and a half that followed, because of several relapses, during convalescence, Goethe was nursed by his mother and sister
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
–
Goethe in 1828
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
–
Goethe's birthplace in
Frankfurt, Germany (Großer Hirschgraben)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
–
Goethe, age 38, painted by
Angelica Kauffman 1787
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
–
A Goethe watercolor depicting a
liberty pole at the border to the short-lived
Republic of Mainz, created under influence of the French Revolution and destroyed in the
Siege of Mainz in which Goethe participated
5.
Vienna State Opera
–
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria and it was originally called the Vienna Court Opera. In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian Republic, the members of the Vienna Philharmonic are recruited from its orchestra. The opera house was the first major building on the Vienna Ringstrasse commissioned by the Viennese city expansion fund, work commenced on the house in 1861 and was completed in 1869, following plans drawn up by architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll. It was built in the Neo-Renaissance style by the renowned Czech architect, the somewhat coarser-grained Kelheimerstein was intended as the main stone to be used in the building of the opera house, but the necessary quantity was not deliverable. Breitenbrunner stone was suggested as a substitute for the Kelheimer stone, the staircases were constructed from polished Kaiserstein, while most of the rest of the interior was decorated with varieties of marble. The decision was made to use dimension stone for the exterior of the building, due to the monumental demand for stone, stone from Sóskút, widely used in Budapest, was also used. Three Viennese masonry companies were employed to supply enough masonry labour, Eduard Hauser, Anton Wasserburger, the foundation stone was laid on 20 May 1863. The building was, however, not very popular with the public, on the one hand, it did not seem as grand as the Heinrichshof, a private residence which was destroyed in World War II. Eduard van der Nüll committed suicide, and barely ten weeks later Sicardsburg died from tuberculosis so neither architect saw the completion of the building, the opening premiere was Don Giovanni, by Mozart, on May 25,1869. Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elisabeth were present, towards the end of World War II, on March 12,1945, the opera was set alight by an American bombardment. The front section, which had been walled off as a precaution, remained intact including the foyer, with frescoes by Moritz von Schwind, the stairways, the vestibule. The auditorium and stage were, however, destroyed by flames as well as almost the entire décor, the State Opera was temporarily housed at the Theater an der Wien and at the Vienna Volksoper. Eventually the decision was made to rebuild the house as it had been. The Austrian Federal Chancellor Leopold Figl made the decision in 1946 to have an opera house again by 1949. An architectural competition was announced, which was won by Erich Boltenstern, in order to achieve a good acoustic, wood was the favoured building material, at the advice of, among others, Arturo Toscanini. In addition, the number of seats in the parterre was reduced, and the fourth gallery, the façade, entrance hall and the Schwind foyer were restored and remain in their original style. In 1947, the company went on tour to London, due to the appalling conditions at Theater an der Wien, the opera company leadership tried to raise significant quantities of money to speed up reconstruction of the original opera house
Vienna State Opera
–
Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera
–
Vienna State Opera at night
Vienna State Opera
–
Marble staircase sweeps up from the main entrance to the first floor
Vienna State Opera
–
Inside one of the halls
6.
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
Opera
–
The performers from the Atlanta Opera sing the finale of
Lucia di Lammermoor. The
opera orchestra is visible in the lowered area in front of the stage.
Opera
–
The
Palais Garnier of the
Paris Opéra, one of the world's most famous
opera houses.
Opera
–
Claudio Monteverdi
Opera
–
George Frideric Handel, 1733
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
Libretto
–
Cover of a 1921 libretto for Giordano's
Andrea Chénier
Libretto
–
The composer of
Cavalleria rusticana,
Pietro Mascagni, flanked by his librettists,
Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and
Guido Menasci.
Libretto
–
Pages from an 1859 libretto for
Ernani, with the original Italian lyrics, English translation and musical notation for one of the arias.
Libretto
–
Henry Purcell (1659–1695) whose operas were written to English libretti.
8.
Epistolary novel
–
An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of documents. The usual form is letters, although diary entries, newspaper clippings, recently, electronic documents such as recordings and radio, blogs, and e-mails have also come into use. The word epistolary is derived from Latin from the Greek word ἐπιστολή epistolē, the epistolary form can add greater realism to a story, because it mimics the workings of real life. It is thus able to demonstrate differing points of view without recourse to the device of an omniscient narrator, there are two theories on the genesis of the epistolary novel. The first claims that the genre originated from novels with inserted letters, the other theory claims that the epistolary novel arose from miscellanies of letters and poetry, some of the letters were tied together into a plot. The first truly epistolary novel, the Spanish Prison of Love by Diego de San Pedro, other well-known examples of early epistolary novels are closely related to the tradition of letter-books and miscellanies of letters. The founder of the novel in English is said by many to be James Howell with Familiar Letters, who writes of prison, foreign adventure. The first novel to expose the complex play that the genre allows was Aphra Behns Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister, which appeared in three volumes in 1684,1685, and 1687. The novel shows the results of changing perspectives, individual points were presented by the individual characters. Behn furthermore explored a realm of intrigue with letters that fall into the hands, faked letters, letters withheld by protagonists. The epistolary novel as a genre popular in the 18th century in the works of such authors as Samuel Richardson, with his immensely successful novels Pamela. In Germany, there was Johann Wolfgang von Goethes Die Leiden des jungen Werthers, the first North American novel, The History of Emily Montague by Frances Brooke was written in epistolary form. Starting in the 18th century, the form was subject to much ridicule. The most notable example of these was Henry Fieldings Shamela, written as a parody of Pamela, in it, the female narrator can be found wielding a pen and scribbling her diary entries under the most dramatic and unlikely of circumstances. Oliver Goldsmith used the form to satirical effect in The Citizen of the World, so did the diarist Fanny Burney in a successful comic first novel, Evelina. The epistolary novel slowly fell out of use in the late 18th century, although Jane Austen tried her hand at the epistolary in juvenile writings and her novella Lady Susan, she abandoned this structure for her later work. The epistolary form nonetheless saw continued use, surviving in exceptions or in fragments in nineteenth-century novels, in Honoré de Balzacs novel Letters of Two Brides, two women who became friends during their education at a convent correspond over a 17-year period, exchanging letters describing their lives. Mary Shelley employs the epistolary form in her novel Frankenstein, in the late 19th century, Bram Stoker released one of the most widely recognized and successful novels in the epistolary form to date, Dracula
Epistolary novel
–
Titlepage of
Aphra Behn 's
Love-Letters (1684)
9.
Rodolphe Kreutzer
–
Rodolphe Kreutzer was a French violinist, teacher, conductor, and composer of forty French operas, including La mort dAbel. He is probably best known as the dedicatee of Beethovens Violin Sonata No,9, Op.47, though he never played the work. Kreutzer made the acquaintance of Beethoven in 1798, when at Vienna in the service of the French ambassador, Beethoven originally dedicated the sonata to George Bridgetower, the violinist at its first performance, but after a quarrel he revised the dedication in favour of Kreutzer. Kreutzer was born in Versailles, and was taught by his German father. He became one of the foremost violin virtuosos of his day and he was a violin professor at the Conservatoire de Paris from its foundation in 1795 until 1826. He was co-author of the Conservatoires violin method with Pierre Rode and Pierre Baillot, for a time, Kreutzer was leader of the Paris Opera, and from 1817 he conducted there too. He died in Geneva and is buried in Paris at the Père Lachaise Cemetery and he was well known for his style of bowing, his splendid tone, and the clearness of his execution. His compositions include nineteen violin concertos and forty operas and his best-known works, however, are the 42 études ou caprices which are fundamental pedagogic studies. Free scores by Rodolphe Kreutzer at the International Music Score Library Project Rodolphe Kreutzer at AllMusic Rodolphe Kreutzer at Find a Grave
Rodolphe Kreutzer
–
Rodolphe Kreutzer
10.
Esclarmonde
–
Esclarmonde is an opéra in four acts and eight tableaux, with prologue and epilogue, by Jules Massenet, to a French libretto by Alfred Blau and Louis Ferdinand de Gramont. It was first performed on 15 May 1889 by the Opéra-Comique at the Théâtre Lyrique on the Place du Châtelet in Paris with American soprano Sibyl Sanderson in the role in her professional debut. The original costumes were by Charles Bianchini, the sets by Antoine Lavastre and Eugène Carpezat, Esclarmonde is perhaps Massenets most ambitious work for the stage and is his most Wagnerian in style and scope. In orchestral coloring and structure of melody, however, it is French to the core, the opera has been revived sporadically in the modern era, most notably during the 1970s with Joan Sutherland, conducted by Massenet champion Richard Bonynge. The role of Esclarmonde is notoriously difficult to sing, with stratospheric coloratura passages that are possible for only the most gifted of performers. The story of the opera is based on the medieval chivalric tale Parthénopéus de Blois, in the original tale, however, the protagonist sorceress is called Melior, Esclarmondes name was borrowed from another chanson de geste of the 13th century, Huon de Bordeaux. Although the Esclarmonde who appears in Huon is completely different from her operatic counterpart, Alfred Blau discovered Parthénopéus in 1871 in the library of Blois, where he took refuge during the time of the Paris Commune. The libretto was originally called Pertinax, it was first drafted in prose and later versified by Blaus collaborator, in that form – a romantic melodrama in five acts – it was offered in 1882 to the Belgian composer François-Auguste Gevaert, who, however, declined to set it. Soon the libretto found its way into Massenets hands, though the circumstances in which this occurred remain a mystery. He had already seen the entire Ring cycle when it was produced in Brussels in 1883, the work was commissioned as a spectacular event to open the Paris Exposition of 1889. The opera was completed by the end of 1888, and stage rehearsals started at Opéra-Comique, Massenet dedicated the work to Sybil Sanderson in gratitude, allowing her signature to stand alongside his own in the manuscript of the score. After a very successful run, however, the opera disappeared from the repertoire. Soon afterwards Sybil Sanderson fell ill, when she died around the start of the 20th century, it seems that Massenet himself lost interest in the opera he had written for her and he discouraged any further productions. The work was not revived until 1923, well after the composers death, some short-lived revivals then followed, either staged or in concert performance. It was only in the 1970s that the efforts of Richard Bonynge, since then the work has been performed more frequently, but it has failed to recapture its former glory. Listing below are based on Casaglia, Gherardo. December 17,1888 – the first rehearsal of Esclarmonde at Opéra-Comique in Paris,13 May 1889 – the final rehearsal of Esclarmonde. 10 September 1889 – 50th performance of Esclarmonde in Théâtre National de Opéra-Comique in Paris,20 more performances followed that premiere
Esclarmonde
–
Jules Massenet
Esclarmonde
–
Original poster for Paris premiere
11.
Manon
–
It was first performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 19 January 1884, with sets designed by Eugène Carpezat, Auguste-Alfred Rubé and Philippe Chaperon, and Jean-Baptiste Lavastre. Prior to Massenets work, Halévy and Auber had used the subject for musical stage works, Massenet also wrote a one-act sequel to Manon, Le portrait de Manon, involving the Chevalier des Grieux as an older man. The composer worked at the score of Manon at his home outside Paris. Manon is Massenets most popular and enduring opera and, having conquered the worlds stages. It is the example of the charm and vitality of the music. The opera was a mainstay of the Opéra-Comique in Paris, reaching its 1, 000th performance there in 1919, its 1, 500th in 1931 and 2, due to its heavy vocal demands, the role of Manon was described by Sills as the French Isolde. At the Royal Opera House in London it was first presented 19 May 1891, the Metropolitan Opera gave its first staging on 16 January 1895, and Manon has subsequently been performed there on 266 occasions. Anna Netrebko recently starred in a new production directed by Laurent Pelly, a co-production with the Royal Opera House, the San Francisco Opera gave the opera many stagings beginning on 29 September 1924, the most recent being November 1998. Operabase shows 19 countries presenting a total of 425 performances of 81 productions in 61 cities, the ballet Lhistoire de Manon by Kenneth MacMillan, although using music entirely written by Massenet, does not include any from Manon. While the innkeeper is serving dinner to the party, the townspeople collect to witness the arrival of the coach from Arras, among them is Lescaut, a guardsman, who tells his comrades that he plans to meet a kinswoman. Manon is accosted by the opportunistic Guillot, who tells her that he has a carriage waiting and his heavy-handed seduction is undermined by the return of Lescaut, who then lectures the young woman on proper behavior. He leaves her once more and she admires the three fashionably-dressed actresses, but reproaches herself, unconvincingly vowing to rid herself of all worldly visions. Des Grieux, traveling home to see his father, catches sight of Manon, when he approaches, she is charmed by his chivalrous address, and their exchange rapidly becomes a mutual avowal of love. Both their planned journeys, hers to the convent and des Grieuxs to his home, are swiftly abandoned, but there are hints of incompatible aspirations, while he returns, over and again, to tous les deux, the phrase she fondly repeats is, à Paris. Making good use of the carriage provided by the disappointed Guillot, Manon and des Grieuxs apartment in Paris With little hope, des Grieux writes to his father, imploring permission to marry Manon. Lescaut enters intent on creating a scene and accompanied by de Brétigny, but his concern for offended family honor is only camouflage for his alliance with his friend. Trying to prove his honorable intentions, des Grieux shows Lescaut the letter to his father, after the two visitors depart, Manon appears to vacillate between accepting de Brétignys offer and warning des Grieux. When her lover out to post his letter, her farewell to the humble domesticity she has shared makes clear she has decided to go with de Brétigny
Manon
–
Jules Massenet
Manon
–
"Gathering around a score" by Charles Baude (1853–1935) shows Massenet rehearsing Manon with Sibyl Sanderson in Pierre Loti's drawing room. It was used as the cover of Le Théâtre in July 1889.
Manon
–
Dmitri Smirnov as Le Chevalier des Grieux (1909, by
Aleksandr Golovin)
Manon
–
Geraldine Farrar as Manon
12.
Vienna
–
Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austrias primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million, and its cultural, economic and it is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin, Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region, along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be The City of Dreams because it was home to the worlds first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud. The citys roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city and it is well known for having played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first for the worlds most liveable cities, between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne, Australia. Monocles 2015 Quality of Life Survey ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world to make a base within, the UN-Habitat has classified Vienna as being the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is used as a case study by urban planners. Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the worlds number-one destination for international congresses and it attracts over 3.7 million tourists a year. The English name Vienna is borrowed from the homonymous Italian version of the name or the French Vienne. The etymology of the name is still subject to scholarly dispute. Some claim that the name comes from Vedunia, meaning forest stream, which produced the Old High German Uuenia. A variant of this Celtic name could be preserved in the Czech and Slovak names of the city, the name of the city in Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian and Ottoman Turkish has a different, probably Slavonic origin, and originally referred to an Avar fort in the area. Slovene-speakers call the city Dunaj, which in other Central European Slavic languages means the Danube River, evidence has been found of continuous habitation since 500 BC, when the site of Vienna on the Danube River was settled by the Celts. In 15 BC, the Romans fortified the city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north
Vienna
Vienna
Vienna
Vienna
13.
Geneva
–
Geneva is the second most populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situated where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic, the municipality has a population of 198,072, and the canton has 484,736 residents. In 2014, the compact agglomération du Grand Genève had 946,000 inhabitants in 212 communities in both Switzerland and France, within Swiss territory, the commuter area named Métropole lémanique contains a population of 1.25 million. This area is essentially spread east from Geneva towards the Riviera area and north-east towards Yverdon-les-Bains, Geneva is the city that hosts the highest number of international organizations in the world. It is also the place where the Geneva Conventions were signed, Geneva was ranked as the worlds ninth most important financial centre for competitiveness by the Global Financial Centres Index, ahead of Frankfurt, and third in Europe behind London and Zürich. A2009 survey by Mercer found that Geneva has the third-highest quality of life of any city in the world, the city has been referred to as the worlds most compact metropolis and the Peace Capital. In 2009 and 2011, Geneva was ranked as, respectively, the city was mentioned in Latin texts, by Caesar, with the spelling Genava, probably from a Celtic toponym *genawa- from the stem *genu-, in the sense of a bending river or estuary. The medieval county of Geneva in Middle Latin was known as pagus major Genevensis or Comitatus Genevensis, the name takes various forms in modern languages, Geneva /dʒᵻˈniːvə/ in English, French, Genève, German, Genf, Italian, Ginevra, and Romansh, Genevra. The city in origin shares its name, *genawa estuary, with the Italian port city of Genoa, Geneva was an Allobrogian border town, fortified against the Helvetii tribe, when the Romans took it in 121 BC. It became Christian under the Late Roman Empire, and acquired its first bishop in the 5th century, having been connected to the bishopric of Vienne in the 4th. In the Middle Ages, Geneva was ruled by a count under the Holy Roman Empire until the late 14th century, around this time the House of Savoy came to dominate the city. In the 15th century, a republican government emerged with the creation of the Grand Council. In 1541, with Protestantism in the ascendancy, John Calvin, by the 18th century, however, Geneva had come under the influence of Catholic France, which cultivated the city as its own. France also tended to be at odds with the ordinary townsfolk, in 1798, revolutionary France under the Directory annexed Geneva. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, on 1 June 1814, in 1907, the separation of Church and State was adopted. Geneva flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries, becoming the seat of international organizations. Geneva is located at 46°12 North, 6°09 East, at the end of Lake Geneva. It is surrounded by two chains, the Alps and the Jura
Geneva
–
Top left:
Palace of Nations, Middle left:
ATLAS experiment at
CERN, Right:
Jet d'Eau, Bottom: View over Geneva and the
lake.
Geneva
–
L'Escalade, the failed surprise-attack (12 December 1602) made by troops sent by
Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, to take Geneva
Geneva
–
Geneva seen from SPOT Satellite
Geneva
–
The Geneva area seen from the Salève in France. The Jura mountains can be seen on the horizon.
14.
Marie Delna
–
Marie Delna was a French contralto. A major singer in Paris, particularly at the Opéra-Comique, she enjoyed a career in the 1890s through to the 1910s. Then from 1881 she lived with her grandparents, who ran the Café du Panorama near Meudon station. Her grandmother started her singing lessons and she studied with Rosine Laborde. She began appearing at public auditions and various concerts in Paris. She was spotted by Carvalho, director of Opéra-Comique, who suggested her stage name, in June 1892, she made a sensational stage debut, just after her 17th birthday, as Didon in Les Troyens à Carthage. Massenet chose her as his first Charlotte in Werther in Paris, in January 1893, the following April she sang the role of Mistress Quickly in the first French Falstaff, supervised by Verdi, and continued to play the role at the Salle Favart. She sang Marion in Godards La Vivandière many times in her career, from its 1895 French premiere at the Opéra-Comique, in 1896, Delna sang Orphée in the first Opéra-Comique production of the Berlioz-Viardot version of Gluck’s opera, to which she returned in 1900 and 1912. Delna took part in the first Covent Garden performance of L’attaque du moulin in 1894 and her Italian debut was in 1897 in Milan. In May 1898 she moved for a short while from the Opéra-Comique for the Paris Opéra and she also sang La favorite and Samson et Dalila, as well as creating Ginèvra in Victorin de Joncièress Lancelot. Back at the Salle Favart in 1900 she sang first Carmen for the first time, alongside Adolphe Maréchal, along with Orphée, Carmen was the role which featured most promiment for the rest of her stage career. April 1901 saw her creating Marianne in Bruneau’s L’Ouragan, a revival of Falstaff in honour of Verdi’s memory featured her as Quickly and she portrayed Fée Grignotte in Hänsel und Gretel. In 1902 she sang Margared for the first time, partnering Léon Beyle and Julie Guiraudon, in the revival of Le roi dYs. In 1903, while taking part as Carmen at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, she married a Belgian admirer, the Marquis Prier de Saône, an industrialist, and retired from the stage. She later resumed her career with several concerts then productions at the Théâtre-Lyrique de la Gaîté as La Vivandière, Orphée, the following season she sang Fidès and Léonore. Delna made her Metropolitan Opera début as Orfeo conducted by Toscanini, the next stage of her career included more performances of L’attaque du moulin in 1910, the creation of Tilli in La Lépreuse by Lazzari, and further performances at La Monnaie. During her career Delna performed at major houses such as La Monnaie, Covent Garden, La Scala, Teatro Lirico Milan, Metropolitan New York, Opera de Monte-Carlo and the Teatro Regio. During the First World War she sang widely in concerts for troops, financial problems forced her to move in 1926 to a rented house in Villemomble
Marie Delna
–
Marie Delna
15.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
United States
–
Native Americans meeting with Europeans, 1764
United States
–
Flag
United States
–
The signing of the
Mayflower Compact, 1620.
United States
–
The
Declaration of Independence: the
Committee of Five presenting their draft to the
Second Continental Congress in 1776
16.
Metropolitan Opera
–
The Metropolitan Opera, commonly referred to as The Met, is a company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager, the music director position is in transition as of 2016. The music director designate is Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the director emeritus is James Levine. The Met was founded in 1880 as an alternative to the previously established Academy of Music opera house, the Metropolitan Opera is the largest classical music organization in North America. It presents about 27 different operas each year in a season lasts from late September through May. The operas are presented in a rotating schedule with up to seven performances of four different works staged each week. Moving to the new Lincoln Center location in 1966, performances are given in the evening Monday through Saturday with a matinée on Saturday, several operas are presented in new productions each season. Sometimes these are borrowed from or shared with other opera houses, the rest of the years operas are given in revivals of productions from previous seasons. The 2015-16 season comprised 227 performances of 25 operas, the operas in the Mets repertoire consist of a wide range of works, from 18th-century Baroque and 19th-century Bel canto to the Minimalism of the late 20th century. These operas are presented in staged productions that range in style from those with elaborate traditional decors to others that feature modern conceptual designs, the Mets performing company consists of a large symphony-sized orchestra, a chorus, childrens choir, and many supporting and leading solo singers. The company also employs numerous free-lance dancers, actors, musicians, the Mets roster of singers includes both international and American artists, some of whose careers have been developed through the Mets young artists programs. The Metropolitan Opera Company was founded in 1880 to create an alternative to New Yorks old established Academy of Music opera house, the subscribers to the Academys limited number of private boxes represented the highest stratum in New York society. By 1880, these old families were loath to admit New Yorks newly wealthy industrialists into their long-established social circle. Frustrated with being excluded, the Metropolitan Operas founding subscribers determined to build a new house that would outshine the old Academy in every way. A group of some 22 men assembled at Delmonicos restaurant on April 28,1880 and they elected officers and established subscriptions for ownership in the new company. The first Met subscribers included members of the Morgan, Roosevelt, the new Metropolitan Opera House opened on October 22,1883, and was an immediate success, both socially and artistically. The Academy of Musics opera season folded just three years after the Met opened, in its early decades the Met did not produce the opera performances itself but hired prominent manager/impresarios to stage a season of opera at the new Metropolitan Opera House. Henry Abbey served as manager for the season, 1883–84
Metropolitan Opera
–
The
Metropolitan Opera House at
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, home of the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
–
A full house at the old Metropolitan Opera House, seen from the rear of the stage, at a concert by pianist
Josef Hofmann, November 28, 1937
Metropolitan Opera
–
Auditorium of the Metropolitan Opera House at
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Metropolitan Opera
–
The gold curtain in the auditorium
17.
Chicago
–
Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the third-most populous city in the United States. With over 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the state of Illinois, and it is the county seat of Cook County. In 2012, Chicago was listed as a global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Chicago has the third-largest gross metropolitan product in the United States—about $640 billion according to 2015 estimates, the city has one of the worlds largest and most diversified economies with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. In 2016, Chicago hosted over 54 million domestic and international visitors, landmarks in the city include Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, the Willis Tower, Museum of Science and Industry, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicagos culture includes the arts, novels, film, theater, especially improvisational comedy. Chicago also has sports teams in each of the major professional leagues. The city has many nicknames, the best-known being the Windy City, the name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, known to botanists as Allium tricoccum, from the Miami-Illinois language. The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as Checagou was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir, henri Joutel, in his journal of 1688, noted that the wild garlic, called chicagoua, grew abundantly in the area. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by a Native American tribe known as the Potawatomi, the first known non-indigenous permanent settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African and French descent and arrived in the 1780s and he is commonly known as the Founder of Chicago. In 1803, the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed in 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn, the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribes had ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, on August 12,1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 4,000 people, on June 15,1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as U. S. The City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4,1837, as the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicagos first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, and the Illinois, the canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad, manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy. The Chicago Board of Trade listed the first ever standardized exchange traded forward contracts and these issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the national stage
Chicago
–
Clockwise from top:
Downtown Chicago, the
Chicago Theatre, the
'L',
Navy Pier,
Millennium Park, the
Field Museum, and the
Willis Tower.
Chicago
–
Traditional
Potawatomi costume on display at the
Field Museum
Chicago
–
A 1903 painting of Chicago in 1833
Chicago
–
An artist's rendering of the
Great Chicago Fire of 1871
18.
New York City
–
The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
New York City
–
Clockwise, from top:
Midtown Manhattan,
Times Square, the
Unisphere in
Queens, the
Brooklyn Bridge,
Lower Manhattan with
One World Trade Center,
Central Park, the
headquarters of the United Nations, and the
Statue of Liberty
New York City
–
New Amsterdam, centered in the eventual
Lower Manhattan, in 1664, the year
England took control and renamed it "New York".
New York City
–
The
Battle of Long Island, the largest battle of the
American Revolution, took place in
Brooklyn in 1776.
New York City
–
Broadway follows the Native American Wickquasgeck Trail through Manhattan.
19.
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
–
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is referred to as simply Covent Garden. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, originally called the Theatre Royal, it served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented, a year later, Handels first season of operas began. Many of his operas and oratorios were written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there. The current building is the theatre on the site following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1856. The façade, foyer, and auditorium date from 1858, the main auditorium seats 2,256 people, making it the third largest in London, and consists of four tiers of boxes and balconies and the amphitheatre gallery. The proscenium is 12.20 m wide and 14.80 m high, the main auditorium is a Grade I listed building. The letters patent remained in the possession of the patentees heirs until the 19th century, in 1728, John Rich, actor-manager of the Dukes Company at Lincolns Inn Fields Theatre, commissioned The Beggars Opera from John Gay. In addition, a Royal Charter had created a fruit and vegetable market in the area, at its opening on 7 December 1732, Rich was carried by his actors in processional triumph into the theatre for its opening production of William Congreves The Way of the World. Despite the frequent interchangeability between the Covent Garden and Drury Lane companies, competition was intense, often presenting the plays at the same time. Rich introduced pantomime to the repertoire, himself performing and a tradition of seasonal pantomime continued at the modern theatre, in 1734, Covent Garden presented its first ballet, Pygmalion. Marie Sallé discarded tradition and her corset and danced in diaphanous robes, george Frideric Handel was named musical director of the company, at Lincolns Inn Fields, in 1719, but his first season of opera, at Covent Garden, was not presented until 1734. His first opera was Il pastor fido followed by Ariodante, the première of Alcina, there was a royal performance of Messiah in 1743, which was a success and began a tradition of Lenten oratorio performances. From 1735 until his death in 1759 he gave regular seasons there and he bequeathed his organ to John Rich, and it was placed in a prominent position on the stage, but was among many valuable items lost in a fire that destroyed the theatre on 20 September 1808. In 1792 the architect Henry Holland rebuilt the auditorium, within the shell of the building but deeper and wider than the old auditorium. Rebuilding began in December 1808, and the second Theatre Royal, the Old Price Riots lasted over two months, and the management was finally forced to accede to the audiences demands. During this time, entertainments were varied, opera and ballet were presented, kemble engaged a variety of acts, including the child performer Master Betty, the great clown Joseph Grimaldi made his name at Covent Garden
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
–
The Royal Opera House, Bow Street frontage with
Plazzotta 's statue, Young Dancer, in the foreground
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
–
"Rich's Glory": John Rich takes over (seemingly invades) his new Covent Garden Theatre. (A caricature by
William Hogarth)
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
–
A satirical drawing from 1811 of the "Pigeon Holes" that flanked the upper gallery at Covent Garden
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
–
A picture of the first theatre drawn shortly before it burned down in 1808
20.
Emma Eames
–
Emma Eames was an American soprano renowned for the beauty of her voice. She sang major lyric and lyric-dramatic roles in opera and had an important career in New York, London and Paris during the last decade of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century. The daughter of a lawyer, Eames was born in Shanghai, China and raised in Portland. The promising quality of her voice was recognised early by her mother and she attended school in Boston where she studied singing with Charles R. Adams. Later she took lessons in Paris with the highly successful but autocratic teacher of bel canto sopranos. It was noted in the press at the time of Marchesis death in 1913 that Eames had praised the tuition she received from that teacher, subsequently, however, she chose to downplay Marchesis influence on her vocal technique. Eames made her operatic debut in Gounods Roméo et Juliette at the Paris Opéras headquarters. She would perform the role of Juliette many other times during the two years, while adding other leading French-opera parts to her repertoire. As early as November 1889, The Times newspaper called her the favourite cantatrice of the Opera and she left the company in 1891, however, for personal reasons. Towards the end of 1891, Eames debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in her part of Juliette. She would perform regularly at the Met in a variety of operas until 1909, Eames also made a number of successful appearances at Londons Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She sang there intermittently from 1891 to 1901 and established herself as a rival to Covent Gardens reigning diva, Nellie Melba. Eames also sang in Madrid and fulfilled lucrative singing engagements at Monacos chic Monte Carlo Opera during the 1890s, in 1906, Eames visited San Francisco with a touring troupe of leading Met singers. She was fortunate to survive unscathed when an earthquake and fire struck the city. Eames gave her operatic performances during the 1911-12 seasons with the Boston opera company. She then undertook a series of tours of the United States, appearing on the recital platform for the last time in 1916. Her autobiography, Some Memories and Reflections, was published in 1929, Eames press notices included the following random examples from the beginning of her career, Paris Opera House, Saint-Saëns Ascanio,1890, Mon coeur est sous la pierre, of Colombe. Sung with exquisite taste and without accompaniment, Covent Garden, Gounods Faust, April 7,1891, debut
Emma Eames
–
Emma Eames, as photographed in 1892
21.
Sigrid Arnoldson
–
Sigrid Arnoldson was a Swedish opera singer with an active international career at the end of the 19th century and into the 20th. Possessing a fine soprano voice with a range of three octaves, music critics believed she was Jenny Linds successor and dubbed her the new Swedish Nightingale. Her voice is preserved on several recordings made in Berlin for the Gramophone Company between 1906 and 1910, born in Stockholm, Arnoldson was taught by her father Carl Oskar Arnoldson, a respected tenor, and by Fritz Arlberg, a famous Swedish baritone. She later had further studies in Paris and she made her professional opera debut in 1885 at the Prague National Theatre as Rosina in Gioachino Rossinis The Barber of Seville. The part became her calling card at a number of important houses, including her first and that same year The Musical Times reported that Franz Liszt had predicted a brilliant career for her. Arnoldson made her London debut in 1887 in Gioachino Rossinis The Barber of Seville at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane along with Fernando de Lucia, Mattia Battistini and Edouard de Reszke. As Rosina, she was said to be Young, pretty, and of engaging manner, with a voice and method. Apart from a poorly received Zerlina in 1887, her success there was considerable and her Barcelona debut at the Liceu in 1891 was reported as being most enthusiastically received. She debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Baucis in Philémon et Baucis in 1893,1898 saw her giving a series of performances at the Berlin State Opera. As late as 1906 she achieved a triumph at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in Anton Rubinsteins The Demon and she also portrayed both Micaëla and the title heroine in Georges Bizets Carmen. She sang the latter impersonation as a substitute for an indisposed Emma Calvé at Covent Garden in 1903. She had never sung the role before or ever intended to assail it onstage and she did, however, know the music, as she was accustomed to learning all the parts within the operas she sang in. The performance was called by Gramophone her solitary failure. By 1910 Arnoldson was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and she retired from the stage in 1911, after which she taught singing in Vienna for over 25 years. She moved to Stockholm in 1938 where she continued to teach up until her death in 1943
Sigrid Arnoldson
–
Sigrid Arnoldson (1897)
22.
Jean de Reszke
–
Jean de Reszke, was a Polish tenor who was a major male opera star of the late 19th century. Jan Mieczysław Reszke was born into comfortable circumstances in Warsaw, Poland in 1850, both his parents were Poles, his father was a state official and his mother a capable amateur singer, their house being a recognized musical centre. At age 19, Jean and his father visited Italy, in Venice he attended a performance in which the Italian baritone Antonio Cotogni sang. Cotognis singing made such an impression on him that the young de Reszke followed him for the next five years wherever he performed—London, St. Petersburg. During that time he was under Cotognis tutelage, also as baritone, in January 1874, he made his debut in Venice as Jan de Reschi, undertaking the baritone part of Alfonso in a production of Donizettis La favorite. The following April, he sang for the first time in London, performing at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and a little later in Paris, essaying an array of different baritone roles. De Reszke displayed limitations as a baritone and he withdrew from the stage to allow for a period of study. Under Sbirgilias tutelage, his voice gained remarkably in the freedom of its upper register, accordingly, when he made his first operatic reappearance in 1879, it was as a tenor, scoring a success in the title-role of Meyerbeers Robert le diable. Indeed, the then 29-year-old de Reszkes immense fame as a singer dates from this moment, De Reszkes 1888 Covent Garden appearances proved exceedingly popular with audiences. Indeed, they were responsible for the revival of the operatic art form as a fashionable amusement in London. He would sing in the British capital nearly every year until 1900 and he also gave a single performance as the tenor lead in Massenets Werther. In 1891, de Reszke sang in the United States for the first time, one of De Reszkes colleagues, the Australian lyric soprano Nellie Melba, became a close personal friend of his during this period. She replaced the ageing star Adelina Patti as the most celebrated of his various stage partners and he was closely associated with the French and Wagnerian operatic repertoires during the peak of his career at Covent Garden and the Met. His French signature parts were considered to be Meyerbeers three big heroes, Gounods Faust and Romeo, and the title role in Massenets Le Cid. American-born Lillian Nordica was the most illustrious of the dramatic sopranos that partnered him in Wagners operas, during his heyday, De Reszke sang Italian operas less frequently than French or Wagnerian ones. On this occasion Shaw also chided him for his laziness and his customary lateness in meeting cues, though by, De Reszke married a countess in 1896. He reduced his performance load during the years of the 20th century. Prudently, in 1904, he decided to retire while his voice was still in good shape, enrico Caruso,23 years de Reszkes junior, took up his mantle as the worlds most famous tenor
Jean de Reszke
–
Jean de Reszke
Jean de Reszke
–
Jean de Reszke as Gounod's Romeo
Jean de Reszke
–
Jean de Reszke in the title role of Wagner's
Siegfried (photo by
Nadar).
23.
Tenor
–
Tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is one of the highest of the male voice types. The tenors vocal range lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, and A4, the A above middle C, in solo work, this range extends up to C5, or tenor high C. The low extreme for tenors is roughly A♭2, at the highest extreme, some tenors can sing up to two Fs above middle C. The tenor voice type is divided into the leggero tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor. The name tenor derives from the Latin word tenere, which means to hold, in medieval and Renaissance polyphony between about 1250 and 1500, the tenor was the structurally fundamental voice, vocal or instrumental. All other voices were normally calculated in relation to the tenor, until the late 16th century introduction of the contratenor singers, the tenor was usually the highest voice, assuming the role of providing a foundation. It was also in the 18th century that tenor came to signify the male voice that sang such parts, thus, for earlier repertoire, a line marked tenor indicated the parts role, and not the required voice type. Indeed, even as late as the century, partbooks labelled tenor might contain parts for a range of voice types. The vocal range of the tenor is one of the highest of the voice types. Within opera, the lowest note in the tenor repertoire is probably A♭2 in Rossinis rarely performed La donna del lago in the role of Rodrigo di Dhu. Within more frequently performed repertoire, Mime and Herod both call for an A2, a few tenor roles in the standard repertoire call for a tenor C. Some of the few top Cs in the operatic repertoire are either optional or interpolated by tradition. However, the highest demanded note in the standard operatic repertoire is D5. Some operatic roles for tenors require a darker timbre and fewer high notes, in the leggero repertoire, the highest note is F5, therefore, very few tenors can, given the raising of concert pitch since its composition, have this role in their repertoire without transposition. Within the tenor voice type category are seven generally recognized subcategories, leggero tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor, Mozart tenor, Also known as the tenore di grazia, the leggero tenor is essentially the male equivalent of a lyric coloratura. This voice is light, agile, and capable of executing difficult passages of fioritura, the typical leggero tenor possesses a range spanning from approximately C3 to E♭5, with a few being able to sing up to F5 or higher in full voice. In some cases, the chest register of the leggero tenor may extend below C3, voices of this type are utilized frequently in the operas of Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini and in music dating from the Baroque period. Leggero tenor roles in operas, The lyric tenor is a warm voice with a bright, full timbre that is strong but not heavy
Tenor
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Tenor voice range (C3–C5) indicated in sheet music (left) and on piano keyboard in green with dot marking middle C (C4).
24.
Baritone
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A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice types. It is the most common male voice, the baritone voice type is generally divided into the baryton-Martin baritone, lyric baritone, Kavalierbariton, Verdi baritone, dramatic baritone, baryton-noble baritone, and the bass-baritone. The first use of the term baritone emerged as baritonans, late in the 15th century, at this early stage it was frequently used as the lowest of the voices, but in 17th-century Italy the term was all-encompassing and used to describe the average male choral voice. Baritones took roughly the range as it is today at the beginning of the 18th century. Indeed, many works of the 18th century have roles marked as bass that in reality are low baritone roles. Examples of this are to be found, for instance, in the operas, the greatest and most enduring parts for baritones in 18th-century operatic music were composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. They include Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Papageno in The Magic Flute and these included the likes of Filippo Galli, Giovanni Inchindi, and Henri-Bernard Dabadie. The basse-taille and the bass were commonly confused because their roles were sometimes sung by singers of either actual voice part. The bel canto style of vocalism which arose in Italy in the early 19th century supplanted the castrato-dominated opera seria of the previous century and it led to the baritone being viewed as a separate voice category from the bass. More often than not, however, baritones found themselves portraying villains, the principal composers of bel canto opera are considered to be, Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, Vincenzo Bellini, Giacomo Meyerbeer, and the young Giuseppe Verdi. Figaro in Il barbiere is often called the first true baritone role, however, Donizetti and Verdi in their vocal writing went on to emphasize the top fifth of the baritone voice, rather than its lower notes—thus generating a more brilliant sound. The major international baritone of the first half of the 19th century was the Italian Antonio Tamburini and he was a famous Don Giovanni in Mozarts eponymous opera as well as being a Bellini and Donizetti specialist. Commentators praised his voice for its beauty, flexibility and smooth tonal emission, Tamburinis range, however, was probably closer to that of a bass-baritone than to that of a modern Verdi baritone. His French equivalent was Henri-Bernard Dabadie, who was a mainstay of the Paris Opera between 1819 and 1836 and the creator of several major Rossinian baritone roles, including Guillaume Tell. Dabadie sang in Italy, too, where he originated the role of Belcore in Lelisir damore in 1832, the most important of Tamburinis Italianate successors were all Verdians. In France, Paul Barroilhet succeeded Dabadie as the Paris operas best known baritone, like Dabadie, he also sang in Italy and created an important Donizetti role, in his case, Alphonse in La favorite. Antonio Pini-Corsi was the standout Italian buffo baritone in the period between about 1880 and World War I, reveling in comic roles by Rossini, Donizetti and Paer. In 1893, he created the part of Ford in Verdis last opera, notable among their contemporaries were the cultured and technically adroit French baritones Jean Lassalle, Victor Maurel, Paul Lhérie, and Maurice Renaud
Baritone
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Baritone voice range (A2–A4) indicated in sheet music (left) and on piano keyboard in green with dot marking middle C (C4).
25.
Mattia Battistini
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Mattia Battistini was an Italian operatic baritone. He was called King of Baritones, Battistini was born in Rome and brought up largely at Collebaccaro di Contigliano, a village near Rieti, where his parents had an estate. His grandfather, Giovanni, and uncle, Raffaele, were personal physicians to the Pope and his father, Battistini attendedthe Collegio Bandinelli and later the Istituto dell Apollinare. Battistini dropped out of law school to study singing, first with Emilio Terziani, Battistini worked with conductor Luigi Mancinelli and the composer Augusto Rotoli, and he consulted with baritone Antonio Cotogni, in an effort to refine his technique. A 22-year-old Battistini made his operatic début at the Teatro Argentina, Rome, however, this date is erroneously given by many reference books and articles as correct, but reveals careless and repeated copying from faulty sources. It has been proven by the research of Jacques Chuilon that the date should most likely be replaced by Saturday,9 November 1878. He participated, too, in several operatic premières, in 1881 he went to Buenos Aires for the first time, touring South America for more than 12 months. On his return trip, he appeared in Barcelona and Madrid where he sang Figaro in Rossinis comic masterpiece Il Barbiere di Siviglia and his success in this was enormous and it marked the beginning of his ascent to major operatic stardom. He also sang opposite Adelina Patti, the soprano of her era. In such exulted and entrenched company there was not much attention paid to a new, unlike his initial London experience, when Battistini made his debut at the important Teatro San Carlo in Naples in 1886, he scored an immediate triumph. Two years later, he once sailed to Buenos Aires to fulfil a series of singing engagements, but this proved to be his last trans-Atlantic excursion. Battistini is said to have developed a permanent horror of oceanic travel due to his experiences on that particularly rough 1888 voyage to Buenos Aires. Eighteen Eighty-Eight was a year for Battistini in another way, however, for it proved to be the year of his début at Italys foremost opera house—La Scala. La Scalas audiences acclaimed him and he was re-engaged for the next season, from 1892 onwards, Battistini established himself as an immense favourite with audiences at Russias two imperial theatres in Saint Petersburg and Moscow, the Mariinsky and the Bolshoi respectively. He returned to Russia regularly, appearing there for 23 seasons in total, indeed, the composer Jules Massenet was prepared to adjust the rôle of Werther for the baritone range, when Battistini elected to sing it in Saint Petersburg in 1902, such was the singers prestige. The industrious Battistini also appeared with some regularity in Milan, Lisbon, Barcelona, Madrid, Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Budapest and Paris. This history-shaping political development, coupled with Battistinis refusal to sing in the Americas, Battistini formed his own company of singers following the 1914–1918 war. He toured with them and appeared frequently in concerts and recitals and he sang in England for the final time in 1924, and gave his last concert performance one year before his death
Mattia Battistini
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Battistini sometime in the 1910s
26.
Saint Petersburg
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Saint Petersburg is Russias second-largest city after Moscow, with five million inhabitants in 2012, and an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea. It is politically incorporated as a federal subject, situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, it was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 271703. In 1914, the name was changed from Saint Petersburg to Petrograd, in 1924 to Leningrad, between 1713 and 1728 and 1732–1918, Saint Petersburg was the capital of imperial Russia. In 1918, the government bodies moved to Moscow. Saint Petersburg is one of the cities of Russia, as well as its cultural capital. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Saint Petersburg is home to The Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world. A large number of consulates, international corporations, banks. Swedish colonists built Nyenskans, a fortress, at the mouth of the Neva River in 1611, in a then called Ingermanland. A small town called Nyen grew up around it, Peter the Great was interested in seafaring and maritime affairs, and he intended to have Russia gain a seaport in order to be able to trade with other maritime nations. He needed a better seaport than Arkhangelsk, which was on the White Sea to the north, on May 1703121703, during the Great Northern War, Peter the Great captured Nyenskans, and soon replaced the fortress. On May 271703, closer to the estuary 5 km inland from the gulf), on Zayachy Island, he laid down the Peter and Paul Fortress, which became the first brick and stone building of the new city. The city was built by conscripted peasants from all over Russia, tens of thousands of serfs died building the city. Later, the city became the centre of the Saint Petersburg Governorate, Peter moved the capital from Moscow to Saint Petersburg in 1712,9 years before the Treaty of Nystad of 1721 ended the war, he referred to Saint Petersburg as the capital as early as 1704. During its first few years, the city developed around Trinity Square on the bank of the Neva, near the Peter. However, Saint Petersburg soon started to be built out according to a plan, by 1716 the Swiss Italian Domenico Trezzini had elaborated a project whereby the city centre would be located on Vasilyevsky Island and shaped by a rectangular grid of canals. The project was not completed, but is evident in the layout of the streets, in 1716, Peter the Great appointed French Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond as the chief architect of Saint Petersburg. In 1724 the Academy of Sciences, University and Academic Gymnasium were established in Saint Petersburg by Peter the Great, in 1725, Peter died at the age of fifty-two. His endeavours to modernize Russia had met opposition from the Russian nobility—resulting in several attempts on his life
Saint Petersburg
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Top left to bottom right:
Peter and Paul Fortress on
Zayachy Island,
Smolny Cathedral,
Moyka river with the
General Staff Building,
Trinity Cathedral,
Bronze Horseman on
Senate Square, and the
Winter Palace.
Saint Petersburg
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The
Bronze Horseman, monument to Peter the Great
Saint Petersburg
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Palace Square backed by the General Staff arch and building, as the main square of the Russian Empire it was the setting of many events of historic significance
Saint Petersburg
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Map of Saint Petersburg, 1903
27.
Mezzo-soprano
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A mezzo-soprano or mezzo is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-sopranos vocal range extends from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above. In the lower and upper extremes, some mezzo-sopranos may extend down to the F below middle C, the mezzo-soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic mezzo-soprano. Mezzo-sopranos are well represented in music, early music. Some roles designated for lighter soubrette sopranos are sung by mezzo-sopranos, such roles include Despina in Mozarts Così fan tutte and Zerlina in his Don Giovanni. Mezzos sometimes play dramatic soprano roles such as Santuzza in Mascagnis Cavalleria rusticana, Lady Macbeth in Verdis Macbeth, the vocal range of the mezzo-sopranos lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. Mezzo-sopranos generally have a heavier, darker tone than sopranos, the mezzo-soprano voice resonates in a higher range than that of a contralto. The terms Dugazon and Galli-Marié are sometimes used to refer to light mezzo-sopranos, usually men singing within the female range are called countertenors since there is a lighter more breathy tonal quality difference. Within the mezzo-soprano voice type category are three generally recognized subcategories, coloratura mezzo-soprano, lyric mezzo-soprano, and dramatic mezzo-soprano, a coloratura mezzo-soprano has a warm lower register and an agile high register. The roles they sing often demand not only the use of the register but also leaps into the upper tessitura with highly ornamented. They have a range from approximately the G below middle C to the B two octaves above middle C, some coloratura mezzo-sopranos can sing up to high C or high D, but this is very rare. What distinguishes these voices from being called sopranos is their extension into the register and warmer vocal quality. Although coloratura mezzo-sopranos have impressive and at times thrilling high notes, they are most comfortable singing in the middle of their range, many of the hero roles in the operas of Handel and Monteverdi, originally sung by male castrati, can be successfully sung today by coloratura mezzo-sopranos. Rossini demanded similar qualities for his heroines, and Vivaldi wrote roles frequently for this voice as well. Coloratura mezzo-sopranos also often sing lyric-mezzo-soprano roles or soubrette roles, coloratura mezzo-soprano roles in operas, The lyric mezzo-soprano has a range from approximately the G below middle C to the A two octaves above middle C. This voice has a smooth, sensitive and at times lachrymose quality. Lyric mezzo-sopranos do not have the agility of the coloratura mezzo-soprano or the size of the dramatic mezzo-soprano. The lyric mezzo-soprano is ideal for most trouser roles and this voice has less vocal facility than the coloratura mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano
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Mezzo-soprano voice range (A3–A5) indicated in sheet music (left) and on piano keyboard in green with dot marking middle C (C4).
28.
Marie Renard
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Marie Renard was an Austrian operatic mezzo-soprano, later soprano. Born Marie Pölzl, she first studied voice with Louise Weinlich-Tipka in her city of Graz. She debuted in 1882 in Graz as Azucena in Verdis Il trovatore, filling in for another singer, the following season she sang at the German Theatre in Prague. In 1888 she was engaged at the Vienna Hofoper with a salary of 16,000 Gulden. She reached the peak of her career and popularity with that company and she was prized above all for her portrayals of roles in French operas, in particular as Carmen. In 1889 she sang in Vienna in Carl Maria von Webers Die drei Pintos, in 1890 she sang the title role in the first Viennese performance of Massenets Manon. On 1 January 1892 she sang Eva in the premiere of Ritter Pázmán by Johann Strauss II. One of her most memorable performances was as Charlotte in the premiere of Massenets Werther on 16 February 1892. She also sang Frau Dot in the premiere of Goldmarks Das Heimchen am Herd. Her farewell performance was in 1900 as Carmen, after her retirement she married Count Rudolf Kinsky. She died in her city of Graz
Marie Renard
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Marie Renard
29.
Ernest van Dyck
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Ernest van Dyck was a Belgian dramatic tenor who was closely identified with the Wagnerian repertoire. A native of Antwerp where he was educated in a Jesuit school, the notary under whom he was studying introduced him to the conductor Joseph Dupont. He became a journalist, working for lEscaut in Antwerp and la Patrie in Paris, from his arrival in Paris and debut at the Concerts Lamoureux in the first act of Tristan und Isolde he studied with Chabrier and became a close friend of the composer. The singer repaid Chabrier by advocating for performances of his operas in Karlsruhe, in Paris he studied singing with Saint-Yves Bax before making his stage debut at the Théâtre Éden on 3 May 1887, the occasion marked the French premiere of Lohengrin. Intensive study with Felix Mottl followed before he appeared as Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival in 1888, the intensity of his acting was praised in particular and he was invited back to Bayreuth on repeated occasions, where he became a proponent of the Sprechgesang style of operatic vocalism. The Vienna Opera soon engaged him, and he remained with the company for a decade and he also made guest appearances throughout Europe, among these, he featured in the world premiere of Wilhelm Kienzls Der Evangelimann in London in 1897. Van Dyck made his American debut on 29 November 1898, singing Tannhäuser at the Metropolitan Opera and he stayed in New York City until the 1901-02 season, singing not only Wagner roles but also parts in French operas. Having made his debut at Covent Garden in 1891, in 1907 he undertook a season of German opera there, in 1914 he appeared in the first Parisian performances of Parsifal. For the Musica journal, n°13, October 1903 he wrote an article on Richard Wagner et l’interprétation, Van Dyck sang in the first performance of Debussys Lenfant prodigue in Paris on 27 July 1884. With Camille de Roddaz, Van Dyck provided the libretto for Massenets ballet set in Courtrai Le Carillon and he appeared regularly at the Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels in 1894, where his repertoire included Wagner and Massenet. Van Dyck made a few records in the early 1900s which show a voice prematurely past its prime after a dozen years of hard. He died in Berlaar in 1923, david Ewen, Encyclopedia of the Opera, New Enlarged Edition. New York, Hill and Wang,1963, media related to Ernest van Dyck at Wikimedia Commons
Ernest van Dyck
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Ernest van Dyck (1904)
Ernest van Dyck
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Ernest van Dyck and Amalia Materna as Parsifal and Kundry at Bayreuth in 1889.
Ernest van Dyck
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Van Dyck as
Lohengrin, 1895
