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Philadelphia Civic Opera Company
The Philadelphia Civic Opera Company (PCOC) was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that was actively performing between 1924 and 1930. Founded by Philadelphia socialite Mrs. Henry M. Tracy, the company was established partially through funds provided by the city of Philadelphia and its then-mayor, W. Freeland Kendrick. The company was led by Artistic Director Alexander Smallens. Tracy served as the company's President and ran the business side of the organization while Smallens served as the company's primary conductor and made all of the artistic decisions. W. Attmore Robinson was later brought in to help Smallens with some of the artistic direction. The company performed between 10 and 15 operas every year during an annual season until it went bankrupt a year after the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Performance history The PCOC performed all of their productions at Philadelphia's Metropolitan Opera House (MOH) up through the spring of 1928. The company's ...
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Opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble, which since the early 19th century has been led by a conductor. Although musical theatre is closely related to opera, the two are considered to be distinct from one another. Opera is a key part of the Western classical music tradition. Originally understood as an entirely sung piece, in contrast to a play with songs, opera has come to include numerous genres, including some that include spoken dialogue such as '' Singspiel'' and '' Opéra comique''. In traditional number opera, singers employ two st ...
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El Amor Brujo
''El amor brujo'' (, "The sorcerer love") is a ballet by Manuel de Falla to a libretto by María de la O Lejárraga García, although for years it was attributed to her husband Gregorio Martínez Sierra. It exists in three versions as well as a piano suite drawn from four of its movements. Andalusian in character, its music includes the celebrated ''Danza ritual del fuego (Ritual Fire Dance)'', the ''Canción del fuego fatuo (Song of the Will-o'-the-Wisp)'' and the ''Danza del terror''. Its songs use the Andalusian Spanish dialectal modality. The plot: a gypsy in a love unreturned goes to her arts of magic to soften the ingrate's heart, and succeeds, after a night of enchantments, recitations and ritual dances, so that at dawn he awakens to love; bells proclaim her triumph. Versions and performance history Gitanería (1915) ''El amor brujo'' was commissioned in 1914 as a ''gitanería'', or danced gypsy entertainment, dedicated to the flamenco dancer and cantaora Pastora Imperio. ...
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Ruggero Leoncavallo
Ruggero (or Ruggiero) Leoncavallo ( , , ; 23 April 18579 August 1919) was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Although he produced numerous operas and other songs throughout his career it is his opera '' Pagliacci'' (1892) that remained his lasting contribution, despite attempts to escape the shadow of his greatest success. Today he remains largely known for ''Pagliacci'', one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the opera repertory. His other compositions include the song " Mattinata", popularized by Enrico Caruso, and the symphonic poem ''La Nuit de mai''. Biography The son of Vincenzo Leoncavallo, a police magistrate and judge, Leoncavallo was born in Naples on 23 April 1857. As a child, Leoncavallo moved with his father to the town of Montalto Uffugo in Calabria, where he lived during his adolescence. He later returned to Naples and was educated at the city's San Pietro a Majella Conservatory and later the University of Bologna studying literat ...
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Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The Financial contagion, economic contagion began around September and led to the Wall Street Crash of 1929, Wall Street stock market crash of October 24 (Black Thursday). It was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century. Between 1929 and 1932, worldwide Gross domestic product, gross domestic product (GDP) fell by an estimated 15%. By comparison, worldwide GDP fell by less than 1% from 2008 to 2009 during the Great Recession. Some economies started to recover by the mid-1930s. However, in many countries, the negative effects of the Great Depression lasted until the beginning of World War II. Devastating effects were seen in both rich and poor countries with falling personal income, prices, tax revenues, and profits. International t ...
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Nelson Eddy
Nelson Ackerman Eddy (June 29, 1901 – March 6, 1967) was an American actor and baritone singer who appeared in 19 musical films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclubs. A classically trained baritone, he is best remembered for the eight films in which he costarred with soprano Jeanette MacDonald. He was one of the first "crossover" stars, a superstar appealing both to shrieking bobby soxers and opera purists, and in his heyday, he was the highest paid singer in the world. During his 40-year career, he earned three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (one each for film, recording, and radio), left his footprints in the wet concrete at Grauman's Chinese Theater, earned three gold records, and was invited to sing at the third inauguration of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941. He also introduced millions of young Americans to classical music and inspired many of them to pursue a musical ca ...
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Reinhold Schmidt (singer)
Reinhold Schmidt (17 August 1902 – 16 August 1974) was a German sprinter. He competed in the men's 400 metres at the 1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated fro .... Schmidt was also a two-time German national champion in the 1920s, and also was part of the relay team that set a new world record in 1927. References External links * 1902 births 1974 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics German male sprinters Olympic athletes for Germany Place of birth missing {{Germany-sprint-bio-stub ...
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Julia Claussen
Julia Claussen (11 June 1879 – 1 May 1941) was a Swedish mezzo-soprano. Early life and education Claussen was born on 11 June 1879 in Stockholm, Sweden. She was educated at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in that city; she also studied at the Royal Academy in Berlin. Career Claussen made her debut in '' La favorita'' in Stockholm on 19 January 1903, and remained with the Royal Swedish Opera for nine seasons. She sang at Covent Garden and in Paris, and appeared as Ortrud in '' Lohengrin'' in Chicago in 1913. She sang in Portland, Oregon in 1914, under the management of Alma Voedisch. She made several recordings in 1915. In 1916, she sang on the Chautauqua circuit, giving 119 recitals in twelve states. She toured in Scandinavia in 1920, was decorated by the King of Sweden, and gave a recital at New York's Aeolian Hall on her return to the United States. She gave a recital at Carnegie Hall in 1922. Claussen made her Metropolitan Opera debut, as Delilah, on 23 Novem ...
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Paul Althouse
Paul Shearer Althouse (December 2, 1889 – February 6, 1954) was an American opera singer. He began his career as a lyric tenor with a robust Italianate sound, in roles including Cavaradossi in ''Tosca'', Pinkerton in ''Madama Butterfly'', and Turiddu in '' Cavalleria rusticana''. He later branched out into the dramatic tenor repertoire, finding success in portraying Wagnerian heroes. He sang with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City for 30 years. Biography He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania on December 2, 1889 to Harry Jacob Althouse (1871-1937) and Laura May Shearer (1873-1942). Althouse sang as a boy soprano in the choir of his hometown's Episcopal Church. He received his first voice lessons at the church from Evelyn Essick. He studied music at Bucknell University and then singing privately with Perley Dunn Aldrich in Philadelphia and Oscar Saenger and Percy Rector Stevens in New York City. He made his professional opera debut with the Philadelphia-Chicago Grand Oper ...
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Emily Roosevelt
Emily may refer to: * Emily (given name), including a list of people with the name Music * "Emily" (1964 song), title song by Johnny Mandel and Johnny Mercer to the film ''The Americanization of Emily'' * "Emily" (Dave Koz song), a 1990 song on Dave Koz's album ''Dave Koz'' * "Emily" (Bowling for Soup song), a 2003 song on Bowling for Soup's album ''Drunk Enough to Dance'' * "Emily" (2009), song on Clan of Xymox's album ''In Love We Trust'' * "Emily" (2019), song on Tourist's album ''Everyday'' * "Emily", song on Adam Green's album ''Gemstones'' * "Emily", song on Alice in Videoland's album ''Outrageous!'' * "Emily", song on Elton John's album ''The One'' * "Emily", song on Asian versions of Feeder's album ''Comfort in Sound'' * "Emily", song on From First to Last's album ''Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Bodycount'' * "Emily", song on Kelly Jones' album '' Only the Names Have Been Changed'' * "Emily", song on Joanna Newsom's album '' Ys'' * "Emily", song on Manic Street Prea ...
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Aida
''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 December 1871, in a performance conducted by Giovanni Bottesini. Today the work holds a central place in the operatic canon, receiving performances every year around the world; at New York's Metropolitan Opera alone, ''Aida'' has been sung more than 1,100 times since 1886. Ghislanzoni's scheme follows a scenario often attributed to the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, but Verdi biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz argues that the source is actually Temistocle Solera. Elements of the opera's genesis and sources Isma'il Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, commissioned Verdi to write an opera to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal, but Verdi declined. However, Auguste Mariette, a French Egyptologist, proposed to Khedive Pasha a plot for a celebrat ...
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Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the help of a local patron. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini, whose works significantly influenced him. In his early operas, Verdi demonstrated a sympathy with the Risorgimento movement which sought the unification of Italy. He also participated briefly as an elected politician. The chorus "Va, pensiero" from his early opera ''Nabucco'' (1842), and similar choruses in later operas, were much in the spirit of the unification movement, and the composer himself became esteemed as a representative of these ideals. An intensely private person, Verdi did not seek to ingratiate himself with popular movements. As he became professionally successful, he was able to ...
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Academy Of Music (Philadelphia)
The Academy of Music, also known as American Academy of Music, is a concert hall and opera house located at 240 S. Broad Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its location is between Locust and Manning Streets in the Avenue of the Arts area of Center City. The hall was built in 1855–57 and is the oldest opera house in the United States that is still used for its original purpose. Known as the "Grand Old Lady of Locust Street," the venue is the home of the Philadelphia Ballet and Opera Philadelphia. It was also home to the Philadelphia Orchestra from its inception in 1900 until 2001, when the orchestra moved to the new Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. The Philadelphia Orchestra still retains ownership of the Academy. The hall was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962.Charles E. Shedd Jr., et al. (December 1979) , National Park Service and History The Academy of Music held an inaugural ball on January 26, 1857. At the time ''The New York Times'' described ...
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