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Iolanta
''Iolanta'', Op. 69, ( ) is a lyric opera in one act by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. It was the last opera he composed. The libretto was written by the composer's brother Modest Tchaikovsky, and is based on the Danish play ' (''King René's Daughter'') by Henrik Hertz, a romanticised account of the life of Yolande de Bar. In the original Danish play, the spelling of the princess's name was "Iolanthe", later adopted for the otherwise unrelated Gilbert and Sullivan operetta of that name. The play was translated by Fyodor Miller and adapted by Vladimir Zotov. The opera received its premiere on 18 December 1892 in Saint Petersburg. Composition history Composing upon the completion of '' The Queen of Spades'', Tchaikovsky worried that he had lost his creative inspiration after such a large project. He started ''Iolanta'' in June 1891 with the central duet, and, despite his worries, finished composition in September and orchestration in November. The public reception was quite favorable, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King René's Daughter
''Kong Renés Datter'' (''King René’s Daughter'') is a Danish language, Danish verse drama written in 1845 by Henrik Hertz. It is a fictional account of the early life of Yolande, Duchess of Lorraine, Yolande of Lorraine, daughter of René of Anjou, in which she is depicted as a beautiful blind sixteen-year-old princess who lives in a protected garden paradise. The play was highly popular in the 19th century. It was translated into many languages, copied, parodied and adapted. The Russian adaptation by Vladimir Zotov was used as the basis for the 1892 opera ''Iolanta'', written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Tchaikovsky, with libretto by his brother Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The name of the central character is given as "Iolanthe (other), Iolanthe" in the original and in early English versions. Characters *King René of Kingdom of Naples, Naples, Count of Provence *Iolanthe, his daughter *Tristan, Count of Vaudémont *Sir Geoffrey of Principality of Orange, Orange, Tris ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yolande De Bar
Yolande (2 November 1428 in Nancy – 23 March 1483 in Nancy) was Duchess of Lorraine (1473) and Bar (1480). She was the daughter of Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine, and René of Anjou (King of Naples, Duke of Anjou, Bar and Lorraine, Count of Provence). Though she was nominally in control of major territories, she ceded her power and titles to her husband and her son. In addition, her younger sister was Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England. In the 19th century, a romanticised version of her early life was popularised by the play ''King René's Daughter'' by Henrik Hertz, in which she is portrayed as a beautiful blind princess living in an isolated garden paradise. It was later adapted to Tchaikovsky's opera ''Iolanta''. There is no evidence that she was ever blind. Marriage and children In 1445, she married her second cousin Frederick II, Count of Vaudémont (1420–1470), at Nancy. The marriage was a dynastic alliance, arranged to end the dispute which existed between René ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky (; –) was a Russian people, Russian dramatist, opera librettist and translator. Early life Modest Ilyich was born in Alapayevsk, Verkhotursky Uyezd, Perm Governorate, the younger brother of the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. He graduated from the Imperial School of Jurisprudence with a degree in law. In 1876, Modest became the tutor to a deaf-mute boy Nikolai ("Kolya") Hermanovich Konradi (1868–1922) and, using a special teaching method, helped him to talk, write, and read. In his still unpublished autobiography, broadly quoted by Alexander Poznansky, Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky mentions his and his brother's homosexuality.Poznansky, Alexander. ''Tchaikovsky Through Others' Eyes''. Indiana University Press, 1999, p. 8 Career Modest chose to dedicate his entire life to literature and music. He wrote plays, translated sonnets by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare into Russian and wrote librettos for operas by his brother Pyotr, as well as for other c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anna Netrebko
Anna Yuryevna Netrebko (; born 18 September 1971) is a Russian and Austrian operatic soprano who has performed at the Salzburg Festival, Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera and La Scala. Netrebko is one of the few Russian performers to achieve international success, along with Alla Pugacheva and t.A.T.u. Discovered and promoted by Valery Gergiev, she began her career at the Mariinsky Theatre, collaborating with the conductor in the theater and performances elsewhere. She was noticed globally after playing Donna Anna in Mozart's ''Don Giovanni'' at the 2002 Salzburg Festival. She had been known for her rendition of lyric and coloratura soprano roles yet later proceeded into heavier 19th-century romantic roles, such as Leonora in '' Il trovatore'' and the role of Lady Macbeth in ''Macbeth''. Since 2016, she has turned her focus to verismo repertoire. She has been an exclusive artist for Deutsche Grammophon since 2003. She has won multiple Echo Klassik Awar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Nutcracker
''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. The plot is an adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's 1844 short story ''The Nutcracker'', itself a retelling of E. T. A. Hoffmann's 1816 short story ''The Nutcracker and the Mouse King''. The ballet's first choreographer was Marius Petipa, with whom Tchaikovsky had worked three years earlier on ''The Sleeping Beauty'', assisted by Lev Ivanov. Although the complete and staged ''The Nutcracker'' ballet was not initially as successful as the 20-minute ''Nutcracker Suite'' that Tchaikovsky had premiered nine months earlier, it became popular in later years. Since the late 1960s, ''The Nutcracker'' has been danced by many ballet companies, especially in North America. Major American ballet companies generate around 40% of their annual ticket ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henrik Hertz
Henrik Hertz (25 August 1797 – 25 February 1870) was a Danish poet. Biography He was born of Jewish parents in Copenhagen. In 1817 he was sent to the university. His father died in his infancy, and the family property was destroyed in the bombardment of 1807. The boy was brought up by his relative , a well-known newspaper editor. Young Hertz passed his examination in law in 1825. He lived in the South of France. But his taste was all for literature, and in 1826-1827 two plays of his were produced, ''Hr. Burchardt og hans Familie'' (''Mr. Burchardt and his Family'') and ''Kjærlighed og Politi'' (''Love and Policy''); in 1828 followed the comedy of ''Flyttedagen'' (''Moving Day''). In 1830 he brought out what was a complete novelty in Danish literature, a comedy in rhymed verse, '' Amors Genistreger'' (''Cupid's Strokes of Genius''). In the same year Hertz published anonymously ''Gjengangerbrevene'' (''Letters from a Ghost''), which he pretended were written by Jens Immanue ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mariinsky Theatre
The Mariinsky Theatre (, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic opera house in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. Through most of the Soviet era, it was known as the Kirov Theatre. Today, the Mariinsky Theatre is home to the Mariinsky Ballet, Mariinsky Opera and Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Mariinsky Orchestra. Since Yuri Temirkanov's retirement in 1988, the conductor Valery Gergiev has served as the theatre's general director. Name The theatre is named after Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse), Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Alexander II of Russia, Tsar Alexander II. There is a bust of the Empress in the main entrance foyer. The theatre's name has changed throughout its history, reflecting the political climate of the time: * 1860 – 1920: Imperial Mariinsky Theatre () ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular concert and theatrical music in the classical repertoire, including the ballets '' Swan Lake'' and ''The Nutcracker'', the '' 1812 Overture'', his First Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto, the ''Romeo and Juliet'' Overture-Fantasy, several symphonies, and the opera ''Eugene Onegin''. Although musically precocious, Tchaikovsky was educated for a career as a civil servant as there was little opportunity for a musical career in Russia at the time and no public music education system. When an opportunity for such an education arose, he entered the nascent Saint Petersburg Conservatory, from which he graduated in 1865. The formal Western-oriented teaching Tchaikovsky received there set him apart from composers of the contemporary nationalist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eduard Nápravník
Eduard Francevič Naprávnik (Russian: Эдуа́рд Фра́нцевич Напра́вник; 24 August 1839 – 10 November 1916) was a Czech conductor and composer. Nápravník settled in Russian Empire and is best known for his leading role in Russian musical life as the principal conductor of the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg for many decades. In that capacity, he conducted the premieres of many operas by Russian composers, including those by Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. Biography Nápravník was born in Býšť, Bohemia, in 1839. His studies of music were precariously uneven as a child, being the son of a poor teacher. Orphaned in 1853 at the age of 14, he first worked as a local church organist. In 1854 he entered the Prague Organ School, where he studied under Jan Bedřich Kittl and others, eventually becoming an assistant teacher as Kittl's generosity allowed him to continue his studies. In 1861, he worked in Russia for the first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mikhail Ilyich Bocharov
Michael is a common masculine given name derived from the Hebrew phrase ''mī kāʼēl'', 'Who slike-El', in Aramaic: ܡܝܟܐܝܠ (''Mīkhāʼēl'' ). The theophoric name is often read as a rhetorical question – "Who slike he Hebrew God El?", whose answer is "there is none like El", or "there is none as famous and powerful as God." This question is known in Latin as '' Quis ut Deus?'' Paradoxically, the name is also sometimes interpreted as, "One who is like God."Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae"Michael - one who is like unto God"(This interpretation would be seen as heretical in some religions, but it is fairly common nonetheless.) An alternative spelling of the name is ''Micheal''. While ''Michael'' is most often a masculine name, it is also given to women, such as the actresses Michael Michele and Michael Learned, and Michael Steele, the former bassist for the Bangles. Patronymic surnames that come from Michael include '' Carmichael, DiMichele, MacMichael, McMichael, Mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈat(ə)r, t=Grand Theater) is a historic opera house in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové. Before the October Revolution it was a part of the Imperial Theatres of the Russian Empire along with Maly Theatre (Moscow), Maly Theatre (''Small Theatre'') in Moscow and a few theatres in Saint Petersburg (Hermitage Theatre, Bolshoi Theatre, Saint Petersburg, Bolshoi (Kamenny) Theatre, later Mariinsky Theatre and others). The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are among the oldest and best known ballet and opera companies in the world. It is by far the world's biggest ballet company, with more than 200 dancers. The theatre is the parent company of The Bolshoi Ballet Academy, a leading school of ballet. It has a branch at the Bolshoi Theater School in Joinville, Brazil. The main building of the theatre, rebuilt and renovated several times during its history, is a lan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the Modernism (music), modernism of the early 20th century. While in his lifetime his status as a conductor was established beyond question, his own music gained wide popularity only after periods of relative neglect, which included a ban on its performance in much of Europe during the Nazi Germany, Nazi era. After 1945 his compositions were rediscovered by a new generation of listeners; Mahler then became one of the most frequently performed and recorded of all composers, a position he has sustained into the 21st century. Born in Kingdom of Bohemia, Bohemia (then part of the Austrian Empire) to Jewish parents of humble origins, the German-speaking Mahler displayed his musical gifts at an early age. After graduating from the University of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
