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Gasparo Pacchiarotti
Gaspare Pacchierotti (21 May 1740 – 28 October 1821) was a mezzo-soprano castrato, and one of the most famous singers of his time. Training and first appearances Details of his early life are scarce. It is possible that he studied with Mario Bittoni, ''maestro di cappella'' in the cathedral of his home city, Fabriano. Under the stage name of Porfirio Pacchierotti, he made his début in Baldassare Galuppi's opera ''Le nozze di Dorina'' at the Teatro dei Nobili in Perugia during the carnival season of 1759, playing, as young castrati often did, a female role: Livietta. He made further appearances under his assumed name in Venice (1764) and Innsbruck (1765). On this latter occasion he sang Acronte in Hasse's ''Romolo ed Ersilia'' on the occasion of the marriage of Peter Leopold of Habsburg-Lorraine, future Grand Duke of Tuscany and Holy Roman Emperor, and the Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain. Here, for the first time, he encountered the famous castrato Gaetano Guadagni, then at t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caterina Gabrielli
Caterina Gabrielli (12 November 1730 – 16 February or 16 April 1796), born Caterina Fatta, was an Italian coloratura singer. She was the most important soprano of her age. A woman of great personal charm and dynamism, Charles Burney referred to her as "the most intelligent and best-bred virtuosa" that he had ever encountered. The excellence of her vocal artistry is reflected in the fact that she was able to secure long-term engagements in three of the most prestigious operatic centers in her day outside of Italy (Vienna, St. Petersburg, and London). Biography Caterina Gabrielli was the daughter of a cook in the service of prince Gabrielli, in Rome. With the support of the prince, she studied with García and Porpora and at the L'Ospedaletto conservatory in Venice, and as a sign of gratitude she decided to assume her patron's surname as her stage name. Her humble roots were remembered by audiences in her nickname ''La cochetta'' ("little cook"), which was actually recorded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tutor or family member) when they had come of age (about 21 years old). The custom—which flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transport in the 1840s and was associated with a standard itinerary—served as an educational rite of passage. Though it was primarily associated with the British nobility and wealthy landed gentry, similar trips were made by wealthy young men of other Protestant Northern European nations, and, from the second half of the 18th century, by some South and North Americans. By the mid-18th century, the Grand Tour had become a regular feature of aristocratic education in Central Europe as well, although it was restricted to the higher nobility. The tradition declined in Europe as enthusiasm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Thomas Beckford
William Thomas Beckford (29 September 1760 – 2 May 1844) was an English novelist, art collector, patron of decorative art, critic, travel writer, plantation owner and for some time politician. He was reputed at one stage to be England's richest commoner. The son of William Beckford and Maria Hamilton, daughter of the Hon. George Hamilton, he served as a Member of Parliament for Wells in 1784–1790 and Hindon in 1790–1795 and 1806–1820. Beckford is remembered for a Gothic novel '' Vathek'' (1786), for building the lost Fonthill Abbey in Wiltshire and Lansdown Tower ("Beckford's Tower") in Bath, and for his art collection. Biography Beckford was born in the family's London home at 22 Soho Square on 29 September 1760. At the age of ten, he inherited a fortune from his father William Beckford, who had been twice a Lord Mayor of London. It consisted of £1 million in cash, an estate at Fonthill in Wiltshire (including the Palladian mansion Fonthill Splendens), seve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gordon Riots
The Gordon Riots of 1780 were several days of rioting in London motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment. They began with a large and orderly protest against the Papists Act 1778, which was intended to reduce official discrimination against British Catholics enacted by the Popery Act 1698. Lord George Gordon, head of the Protestant Association, argued that the law would enable Catholics to join the British Army and plot treason. The protest led to widespread rioting and looting, including attacks on Newgate Prison and the Bank of England and was the most destructive in the history of London. Violence started later on 2 June 1780, with the looting and burning of Catholic chapels in foreign embassies. Local magistrates, afraid of drawing the mob's anger, did not invoke the Riot Act. There was no repression until the Government finally sent in the army, resulting in an estimated 300–700 deaths. The main violence lasted until 9 June 1780. The riots occurred near the height of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madame D'Arblay
Frances Burney (13 June 1752 – 6 January 1840), also known as Fanny Burney and later Madame d'Arblay, was an English satirical novelist, diarist and playwright. In 1786–1790 she held the post as "Keeper of the Robes" to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, George III's queen. In 1793, aged 41, she married a French exile, General Alexandre d'Arblay. After a long writing career and wartime travels that stranded her in France for over a decade, she settled in Bath, England, where she died on 6 January 1840. The first of her four novels, ''Evelina'' (1778), was the most successful and remains her most highly regarded. Most of her plays were not performed in her lifetime. She wrote a memoir of her father (1832) and many letters and journals that have been gradually published since 1889. Overview of career Frances Burney was a novelist, diarist and playwright. In all, she wrote four novels, eight plays, one biography and twenty-five volumes of journals and letters. She has gained c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Burney
Charles Burney (7 April 1726 – 12 April 1814) was an English music historian, composer and musician. He was the father of the writers Frances Burney and Sarah Burney, of the explorer James Burney, and of Charles Burney, a classicist and book donor to the British Museum. He was a close friend and supporter of Joseph Haydn. Early life and career Charles Burney was born at Raven Street, Shrewsbury, the fourth of six children of James Macburney (1678–1749), a musician, dancer and portrait painter, and his second wife Ann (''née'' Cooper, c. 1690–1775). In childhood he and a brother Richard (1723–1792) were for unknown reasons sent to the care of a "Nurse Ball" at nearby Condover, where they lived until 1739. He began formal education at Shrewsbury School in 1737 and was later sent in 1739 to The King's School, Chester, where his father then lived and worked. His first music master was a Mr Baker, the cathedral organist, and a pupil of Dr John Blow. Returning to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Susanna Phillips (born Burney)
Susanna Elizabeth Burney, later known as Susan Phillips (January 1755 – 6 January 1800), was an English letter and journal writer. She wrote 650,000 words and her letters are said to be "the most important source on opera in the period". Life Burney was born in King's Lynn on a day in January 1755 which was either the 4th or the 7th. She was the fourth child of a talented and influential family. Her father's children included the seafarer James Burney, the writer Frances "Fanny" Burney, the scholar Charles Burney and the writer Sarah Harriet Burney. Her elder sister Esther went with her in 1764 when their father took them to France to improve their French. Burney was in France until 1766, learning the language which was thought likely to improve her prospects of employment as a governess. At some point, she also gained a good knowledge of Italian. She was the child in the Burney family who was most interested in music, which was her father's expertise. He was an organist who ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Edgcumbe, 2nd Earl Of Mount Edgcumbe
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong in rule'. Nicknames include "Richie", "Dick", "Dickon", " Dickie", "Rich", "Rick", "Rico", " Ricky", and more. Richard is a common English, German and French male name. It's also used in many more languages, particularly Germanic, such as Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, and Dutch, as well as other languages including Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Finnish. Richard is cognate with variants of the name in other European languages, such as the Swedish "Rickard", the Catalan "Ricard" and the Italian "Riccardo", among others (see comprehensive variant list below). People named Richard Multiple people with the same name * Richard Andersen (other) * Richard Anderson (other) * Richard Cartwright (other) * R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarchy. Salieri was a pivotal figure in the development of late 18th-century opera. As a student of Florian Leopold Gassmann, and a protégé of Christoph Willibald Gluck, Salieri was a cosmopolitan composer who wrote operas in three languages. Salieri helped to develop and shape many of the features of operatic compositional vocabulary, and his music was a powerful influence on contemporary composers. Appointed the director of the Italian opera by the Habsburg court, a post he held from 1774 until 1792, Salieri dominated Italian-language opera in Vienna. During his career, he also spent time writing works for opera houses in Paris, Rome, and Venice, and his dramatic works were widely performed throughout Europe during his lifetime. As the Aus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Europa Riconosciuta
''Europa riconosciuta'' (; meaning "Europa revealed" or "Europa recognized") is an opera in two acts by Antonio Salieri, designated as a ''dramma per musica'', set to an Italian libretto by Mattia Verazi. The opera takes place in Tyre in Phoenicia and tells a story of love, violence and political discord in ancient times. The central character, Europa, was once the lover of Zeus and helps resolve all disagreements after she discloses her identity – thus the title "Europa Revealed". Though a traditional opera seria, the work differentiates itself from several of the typical characteristics of the genre. For example: a murder is seen onstage and an extended finale is used in both acts, a practice more typical of opera buffa. Musically, the opera is quite challenging, requiring four principal singers capable of spanning wide tessituras, sustaining long phrases, and making dextrous leaps. For example, the roles of Europa and Semele go up to a high F sharp above high C a few times. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teatro Alla Scala
La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performance was Antonio Salieri's '' Europa riconosciuta''. Most of Italy's greatest operatic artists, and many of the finest singers from around the world, have appeared at La Scala. The theatre is regarded as one of the leading opera and ballet theatres globally. It is home to the La Scala Theatre Chorus, La Scala Theatre Ballet, La Scala Theatre Orchestra, and the Filarmonica della Scala orchestra. The theatre also has an associate school, known as the La Scala Theatre Academy ( it, Accademia Teatro alla Scala, links=no), which offers professional training in music, dance, stagecraft, and stage management. Overview La Scala's season opens on 7 December, Saint Ambrose's Day, the feast day of Milan's patron saint. All performances must end bef ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
