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Gloriana
''Gloriana'', Op. 53, is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten to an English libretto by William Plomer, based on Lytton Strachey's 1928 ''Elizabeth and Essex: A Tragic History''. The first performance was presented at the Royal Opera House, London, in 1953 during the celebrations of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. ''Gloriana'' was the name given by the 16th-century poet Edmund Spenser to his character representing Queen Elizabeth I in his poem ''The Faerie Queene''. It became the popular name given to Elizabeth I. The opera depicts the relationship between Queen Elizabeth and the Earl of Essex, and was composed for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953. Several in the audience of its gala opening were disappointed by the opera, which presents the first Elizabeth as a sympathetic, but flawed, character motivated largely by vanity and desire. The premiere was one of Britten's few critical failures, and the opera was not included in the series of complete D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other vocal music, orchestral and chamber pieces. His best-known works include the opera ''Peter Grimes'' (1945), the ''War Requiem'' (1962) and the orchestral showpiece ''The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra'' (1945). Britten was born in Lowestoft, Suffolk, the son of a dentist. He showed talent from an early age. He studied at the Royal College of Music in London and privately with the composer Frank Bridge. Britten first came to public attention with the ''a cappella'' choral work ''A Boy Was Born'' in 1934. With the premiere of ''Peter Grimes'' in 1945, he leapt to international fame. Over the next 28 years, he wrote 14 more operas, establishing himself as one of the leading 20th-century composers in the genre. In addition to large ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Faerie Queene
''The Faerie Queene'' is an English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. Books IIII were first published in 1590, then republished in 1596 together with books IVVI. ''The Faerie Queene'' is notable for its form: at over 36,000 lines and over 4,000 stanzas, it is one of the longest poems in the English language; it is also the work in which Spenser invented the verse form known as the Spenserian stanza. On a literal level, the poem follows several knights as a means to examine different virtues. The poem is also an allegorical work. As such, it can be read on several levels, including as praise (or, later, criticism) of Queen Elizabeth I. In Spenser's "Letter of the Authors", he states that the entire epic poem is "cloudily enwrapped in Allegorical devices", and that the aim of publishing ''The Faerie Queene'' was to "fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline". Spenser presented the first three books of ''The Faerie Queene'' to Elizabeth I in 1589, probabl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history and culture, gave name to the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth was the only surviving child of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. When Elizabeth was two years old, her parents' marriage was annulled, her mother was executed, and Elizabeth was declared royal bastard, illegitimate. Henry Third Succession Act 1543, restored her to the line of succession when she was 10. After Henry's death in 1547, Elizabeth's younger half-brother Edward VI ruled until his own death in 1553, bequeathing the crown to a Protestant cousin, Lady Jane Grey, and ignoring the claims of his two half-sisters, Mary I of England, Mary and Elizabeth, despite statutes to the contrary. Edward's will was quickly set aside ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sadler's Wells Opera
English National Opera (ENO) is a British opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English. The company's origins were in the late 19th century, when the philanthropist Emma Cons, later assisted by her niece Lilian Baylis, presented theatrical and operatic performances at the Old Vic, for the benefit of local people. Baylis subsequently built up both the opera and the theatre companies, and later added a ballet company; these evolved into the ENO, the Royal National Theatre and The Royal Ballet, respectively. Baylis acquired and rebuilt the Sadler's Wells theatre in north London, a larger house, better suited to opera than the Old Vic. The opera company grew there into a permanent ensemble in the 1930s. During the Second World War, the theatre was closed and the company toured British towns and cities. After the war, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bryan Fairfax
Lancelot Beresford Bryan Fairfax (8 February 192511 January 2014) was an Australian conductor based in the United Kingdom, who was known for his championing of little known or neglected works. , ''Arts Journal'', 12 January 2014. He was strongly associated with the works of , and he conducted the world premiere of Brian's Symphony No. 1, ''Gothic'' in 1961. Brian's Symphony No. 18 was written especially for Fairfax and the semi-professional [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joan Sutherland
Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, (7 November 1926 – 10 October 2010) was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano known for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s to the 1980s. She possessed a voice combining agility, accurate intonation, pinpoint staccatos,"Icons of Opera – Dame Joan Sutherland" ''Opera Britannia'' (6 July 2009). Retrieved 27 September 2010. a trill (music), trill and a strong upper register, although music critics complained about her poor diction. Sutherland was the first Australian to win a Grammy Award, for the year 1961 Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo, Best Classical Performance – Vocal Soloist (with or without orchestra) presented in 4th Annual Grammy Awards, 1962. She was known as and is wid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ava June
Ava June Wiggins (23 July 1931 — 22 February 2013) was an English opera singer noted for her roles with the Sadler's Wells Opera (now called the English National Opera). She joined the Opera in 1953 and switched from a mezzo to soprano on the persuasion of her teacher Clive Carey. June left the company in 1963 and also won a gold medal at the Sofia International Competition for young opera singers. She rejoined Sadler's Wells Opera seven years later and made her first performance in the United States in 1974 with the San Francisco Opera. June's last professional appearance as a singer came in 1983 and retired the following year to enter into a coaching role for the next generation of singers. She also taught with various musical organisations and brought her opera experience to directing productions until 1999. Biography Early life and education She was born Ava June Wiggins on 23 July 1931 at the East End Maternity Home, Commercial Road, in Stepney, East London. Her father, Geo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Mackerras
Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; (17 November 1925 – 14 July 2010) was an American-born Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associated with the English National Opera (and its predecessor) and Welsh National Opera and was the first Australian chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He also specialized in Czech music as a whole, producing many recordings for the Czech label Supraphon. Early life and education Mackerras was born in Schenectady, New York, to Australian parents, Alan Mackerras and Catherine MacLaurin. His father was an electrical engineer and a Quaker. Mackerras grew up in a musical family and his mother was immensely cultured. In 1928, when Charles was aged two, the family returned to Sydney. They initially lived in the suburb of Rose Bay, and in 1933 they moved to the then semi-rural suburb of Turramurra. Mackerras was the eldest of seve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colin Graham
Colin Graham OBE (22 September 1931 in Hove, England – 6 April 2007 in St. Louis, Missouri) was a stage director of opera, theatre, and television. Graham was educated at Northaw School (Hertfordshire), Stowe School and RADA. Early in his career, he began a long association with Benjamin Britten, for whom he directed all but one of the composer's stage works, including all of the world premieres after 1954. He became associated with the English Opera Group in 1953. In the 1950s, he also worked for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London and later at Glyndebourne and at the English National Opera in the 1970s. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Graham was associated with several recordings of Gilbert and Sullivan operas conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent with the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus and principals including George Baker. He enhanced these recordings with movement for the performers that makes the recordings sound more like a live staged performance. Graham ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Hillman (tenor)
David Hillman (21 November 1934 – 8 August 2009) was an English operatic tenor who sang with all the leading opera companies in the United Kingdom. Early career David Hillman was born in London, England. From 1957 to 1962, he worked as a quantity surveyor. From 1960 to 1963, he studied at the National Opera School with Joan Cross, and he also studied privately with Antony Benskin and Otakar Kraus. His professional opera debut was as Arvino in '' I Lombardi'' with Welsh National Opera in 1962, and early engagements with that company and with Sadler's Wells Opera included the principal tenor roles in '' The Queen of Spades'', '' La traviata'', ''The Magic Flute'', ''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'', ''La bohème'' and '' Gloriana'', as well as those in ''The Mikado'', '' Ruddigore'', and ''La belle Hélène''. Major debuts and premières Hillman debuted at the Netherlands Opera in 1972 as Tom Rakewell in ''The Rake's Progress'', at Santa Fe Opera in 1974 as Fritz i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl Of Essex
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (; 10 November 1565 – 25 February 1601) was an English nobleman and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, he was placed under house arrest following a poor campaign in Ireland during the Nine Years' War in 1599. In 1601, he led an abortive ''coup d'état'' against the government of Elizabeth I and was executed for treason. Early life Robert Devereux was born on 10 November 1565 at Netherwood in Herefordshire, the eldest son of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, and his wife Lettice Knollys., 1st paragraph. From birth, the young Robert Devereux had a strong association with Queen Elizabeth I. Lettice was a close friend of Elizabeth and served as her Maid of the Privy Chamber. Robert Devereux was presumably named after his godfather Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who was the queen's favourite for many years. Additionally, Devereux's maternal great-grandmother Mary Boleyn was a sister of Anne Boleyn (Elizabeth I's mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
