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Howell Glynne
Howell Glynne (24 January 190624 November 1969Harold Rosenthal, ''Grove Music'') was an operatic bass. He was born in Britain but lived the latter years of his life in Canada, and taught singing at the University of Toronto. Biography He was born in Britain as Howell Glynne Jones in 1906, in Swansea, South Wales. He studied under Ben Davies and Reinhold von Warlich. He joined the chorus of the Carl Rosa Opera in the late 1920s, and made his solo operatic debut for the company in 1931, as Sparafucile in '' Rigoletto''; after the war years he had two spells as a principal bass for Sadler's Wells Opera (1946–51 and 1956–64), playing many of the standard roles of the operatic repertoire. One of his most significant appearances there, was as Fiesco in the first production in England of '' Simon Boccanegra'', with Arnold Matters in the title role. From the 1950s he appeared at Covent Garden, London, and other venues in a wide variety of operas including ''Boris Godunov'', '' Fide ...
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University Of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada. Originally controlled by the Church of England, the university assumed its present name in 1850 upon becoming a secular institution. As a collegiate university, it comprises eleven colleges each with substantial autonomy on financial and institutional affairs and significant differences in character and history. The university maintains three campuses, the oldest of which, St. George, is located in downtown Toronto. The other two satellite campuses are located in Scarborough and Mississauga. The University of Toronto offers over 700 undergraduate and 200 graduate programs. In all major rankings, the university consistently ranks in the top ten public universities in the world and as the top ...
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Die Fledermaus
' (, ''The Flittermouse'' or ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original literary source for ' was ' (''The Prison''), a farce by German playwright Julius Roderich Benedix that premiered in Berlin in 1851. On 10 September 1872, a three-act French vaudeville play by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, ', loosely based on the Benedix farce, opened at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal. Meilhac and Halévy had provided several successful libretti for Offenbach and ''Le Réveillon'' later formed the basis for the 1926 silent film '' So This Is Paris'', directed by Ernst Lubitsch. Meilhac and Halévy's play was soon translated into German by Karl Haffner (1804–1876), at the instigation of Max Steiner, as a non-musical play for production in Vienna. The French custom of a New Year's Eve ''réveillon'', or supper part ...
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The Merry Widow
''The Merry Widow'' (german: Die lustige Witwe, links=no ) is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play, (''The Embassy Attaché'') by Henri Meilhac. The operetta has enjoyed extraordinary international success since its 1905 premiere in Vienna and continues to be frequently revived and recorded. Film and other adaptations have also been made. Well-known music from the score includes the "Vilja Song", "" ("You'll Find Me at Maxim's"), and the "Merry Widow Waltz". Background In 1861, Henri Meilhac premiered a comic play in Paris, (''The Embassy Attaché''), in which the Parisian ambassador of a poor German grand duchy, Baron Scharpf, schemes to arrange a marriage between his country's richest widow (a French woman) and a Count to keep her mon ...
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Merrie England (opera)
''Merrie England'' is an English comic opera in two acts by Edward German to a libretto by Basil Hood. The patriotic story concerns love and rivalries at the court of Queen Elizabeth I, when a love letter sent by Sir Walter Raleigh to one of Queen Elizabeth's ladies-in-waiting, Bessie Throckmorton, ends up in the hands of the Queen. Well-known songs from the opera include "O Peaceful England", "The Yeomen of England" and "Dan Cupid hath a Garden". The piece played at the Savoy Theatre in London in 1902–1903. It has been revived many times, both professionally and by amateur operatic groups. There have been complete recordings of the score and several issues of recorded excerpts. Background and original production Basil Hood's libretto makes heavy use of wordplay for comic (and dramatic) effect. For example, the homophones 'fore' and 'four' are used in a scene in the second act where it is explained that a dragon has "four legs, two of which are hind legs and two of ...
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Stafford Dean
Stafford Dean (born 20 June 1937) is a British bass opera singer. Stafford Dean was born in Kingswood, Surrey, England. He studied under Howell Glynne and others. Of particular note was his performance as Pooh-Bah in the BBC production of ''Mikado'', and his outstanding rendition of the role of Alfonso d'Este in the 1980 Covent Garden production of Donizetti's opera ''Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (; ca-valencia, Lucrècia Borja, links=no ; 18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was a Spanish-Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She reigned as the Govern ...''. Dean has a wide international following. References External links *Biography
December 2, 1980 1937 births
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Humphrey Searle
Humphrey Searle (26 August 1915 – 12 May 1982) was an English composer and writer on music. His music combines aspects of late Romanticism and modernist serialism, particularly reminiscent of his primary influences, Franz Liszt, Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, who was briefly his teacher. As a writer on music, Searle published texts on numerous topics; he was an authority on the music of Franz Liszt, and created the initial cataloguing system for his works. Biography Searle was the son of Humphrey and Charlotte Searle and, through his mother, a grandson of Sir William Schlich. He was born in Oxford where he was a classics scholar before studying—somewhat hesitantly—with John Ireland at the Royal College of Music in London, after which he went to Vienna on a six-month scholarship to become a private pupil of Anton Webern, which became decisive in his composition career. Searle was one of the foremost pioneers of serial music in the United Kingdom, and used his ro ...
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Encyclopedia Of Music In Canada
''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available for free online in both English and French, ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' includes more than 19,500 articles in both languages on numerous subjects including history, popular culture, events, people, places, politics, arts, First Nations, sports and science. The website also provides access to the ''Encyclopedia of Music in Canada'', the ''Canadian Encyclopedia Junior Edition'', ''Maclean's'' magazine articles, and ''Timelines of Canadian History''. , over 700,000 volumes of the print version of ''TCE'' have been sold and over 6 million people visit ''TCE'''s website yearly. History Background While attempts had been made to compile encyclopedic material on aspects of Canada, ''Canada: An Encyclopaedia of the Country'' (1898–1900 ...
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Louis Riel (opera)
''Louis Riel'' is a three-act opera by composer Harry Somers to an English and French libretto by Mavor Moore and Jacques Languirand. Written for the 1967 Canadian Centennial and arguably that country's most famous opera to date, it portrays the titular Métis leader executed in 1885. Performance history ''Louis Riel'' had its first performances at the O'Keefe Centre in Toronto 23 and 28 September and 11 October 1967 and at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Place des Arts, in Montreal 19 and 21 October 1967. Victor Feldbrill conducted, Leon Major directed, and Murray Laufer and Marie Day designed the sets and costumes. The original cast included Bernard Turgeon as Riel, Cornelis Opthof as John A. Macdonald, Joseph Rouleau as Monseigneur Taché, Patricia Rideout as Riel's mother, Mary Morrison as his sister Sara, Roxolana Roslak as his wife, Howell Glynne as William McDougall, and Remo Marinucci as Baptiste Lépine. The libretto depicts the post-Confederation political even ...
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Harry Somers
Harry Stewart Somers, CC (September 11, 1925 – March 9, 1999) was a contemporary Canadian composer. Possessing a charismatic attitude and rather dashing good looks, as well as a genuine talent for his art, Somers earned the unofficial title of "Darling of Canadian Composition." A truly patriotic artist, Somers was engaged in many national projects over the course his lifetime. He was a founding member of the Canadian League of Composers (CLC) and involved in the formation of other Canadian music organizations, including the Canada Council for the Arts and the Canadian Music Centre. He frequently received commissions from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Canada Council for the Arts. Biography Early life Somers was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on September 11, 1925. Unlike most composers, Somers did not become involved in formal musical study until he reached his teenage years in 1939 when he met his wife, a doctor who was also an accomplished amateu ...
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The Olympians
''The Olympians'' is an opera in three acts by Arthur Bliss to a libretto by J. B. Priestley, first performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 29 September 1949, conducted by Karl Rankl in a production by Peter Brook. After the initial run the next performance was in concert on 21 February 1972 at the Royal Festival Hall, London, conducted by Bryan Fairfax, which was also broadcast by BBC radio. Background Bliss and Priestley had first met at a music party in the late 1920s. As they lived close to each other in Hampstead, for a few years subsequently they met, played tennis and dined together. Towards the end of the Second World War, Priestley again met Bliss, who said he was ready to write an opera, and asked the author for suggestions. Priestley found in his notebooks an idea for a story about the legend of gods becoming strolling players. He enjoyed a good collaboration with the composer, only meeting three or four times and otherwise corresponding about the opera. ...
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Arthur Bliss
Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss (2 August 189127 March 1975) was an English composer and conductor. Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army. In the post-war years he quickly became known as an unconventional and modernist composer, but within the decade he began to display a more traditional and romantic side in his music. In the 1920s and 1930s he composed extensively not only for the concert hall, but also for films and ballet. In the Second World War, Bliss returned to England from the US to work for the BBC and became its director of music. After the war he resumed his work as a composer, and was appointed Master of the Queen's Music. In Bliss's later years, his work was respected but was thought old-fashioned, and it was eclipsed by the music of younger colleagues such as William Walton and Benjamin Britten. Since his death, his compositions have been well represented in recordings, and many of ...
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Sir John In Love
''Sir John in Love'' is an opera in four acts by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. The libretto, by the composer himself, is based on Shakespeare's ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' and supplemented with texts by Philip Sidney, Thomas Middleton, Ben Jonson, and Beaumont and Fletcher. The music deploys English folk tunes, including "Greensleeves". Originally titled ''The Fat Knight'', Kennedy, Michael, ''The Works of Ralph Vaughan Williams''. Oxford University Press (1964), p. 218. the opera premiered at the Parry Opera Theatre, Royal College of Music, London, on 21 March 1929. Its first professional performance was on 9 April 1946 at Sadler's Wells Theatre. Performance history Performances of the opera have remained rare, including 1978 and 1988 productions by the Bronx Opera (New York City) and a 1997 Barbican concert performance. After 1958, the opera remained unstaged in the UK until the 2006 production at English National Opera (ENO), which was ENO's first production ...
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