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Ángeles Gulín
Ángeles Gulín (14 February 1939 – 10 October 2002) was a Spanish operatic soprano particularly associated with early Verdi works. Life and career Born María de los Ángeles Gulín Domínguez in Ribadavia, Spain, she moved with her family at the age of eight to Montevideo, Uruguay, where she studied singing with her father, who became a local music director who organized concerts in parks. She made her operatic debut there in 1963, as the Queen of the Night in ''The Magic Flute'', as last minute replacement. She then returned to Europe where she sang mostly in Spain and Italy in roles such as Lucia in ''Lucia di Lammermoor'', Gilda in ''Rigoletto'' and Violetta in '' La traviata''. After winning the Busseto Verdian Voices Competition in 1968, she turned to more dramatic roles and specialized in early Verdi works. Gulín's repertoire included '' Oberto'', ''Nabucco'', ''I due Foscari'', ''Giovanna d'Arco'', ''Attila'', '' Alzira'', ''Il corsaro'', ''Luisa Miller'', '' Stiffeli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opera
Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretto, librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, Theatrical scenery, 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 conducting, 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 Western culture#Music, Western classical music, and Italian tradition in particular. Originally understood as an sung-through, entirely sung piece, in contrast to a play with songs, opera has come to include :Opera genres, numerous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Il Corsaro
''Il corsaro'' (''The Corsair'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, from a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on Lord Byron's 1814 poem '' The Corsair''. The first performance was given at the Teatro Grande in Trieste on 25 October 1848. Composition history The composer expressed interest in Byron's poem ''The Corsair'' (along with ''The Two Foscari'' and others) as early as 1844 when he was planning an opera for Venice, but a suitable baritone was not available.Budden, pp. 363 – 366 In 1845, before it was determined that '' I masnadieri'' was to be the opera presented in London, the composer had contracted with the Milanese publisher, Francesco Lucca, for three operas, including ''Attila'' and one for London. Three things prevented it from being ''I masnadieri'' at that time: firstly, Verdi's illness postponed any opera for London for almost a year; secondly, he demanded that the work be ''Il corsaro'' and that it be written by Piave, who had begun work; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Les Huguenots
() is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer and is one of the most popular and spectacular examples of grand opera. In five acts, to a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps, it premiered in Paris on 29 February 1836. Composition history ''Les Huguenots'' was some five years in creation. Meyerbeer prepared carefully for this opera after the sensational success of ''Robert le diable'', recognising the need to continue to present lavish staging, a highly dramatic storyline, impressive orchestration and virtuoso parts for the soloists – the essential elements of the new genre of Grand Opera. Meyerbeer and his librettist for ''Robert le Diable'', Eugène Scribe, had agreed to collaborate on an epic work concerning the French Wars of Religion, with a drama partly based on Prosper Mérimée's 1829 novel ''A Chronicle of the Reign of Charles IX''. Coming from a wealthy family, Meyerbeer could afford to take his time, dictate his own terms, and to be a perfectionist. The very detai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fernand Cortez
''Fernand Cortez, ou La conquête du Mexique '' (''Hernán Cortés, or The Conquest of Mexico'') is an opera in three acts by Gaspare Spontini with a French libretto by Étienne de Jouy and Joseph-Alphonse Esménard. It was first performed on 28 November 1809 by the Académie Impériale de Musique (Paris Opera) at the Salle Montansier. Background and performance history The opera was originally intended as political propaganda to support the Emperor Napoleon's invasion of Spain in 1808. Cortez symbolises Napoleon while the bloodthirsty Aztec priests are meant to represent the Spanish Inquisition. The emperor himself is said to have suggested the theme of the opera to Spontini and the premiere was held in his presence. The popularity of the piece declined with the waning of the French army's fortunes in Spain and Portugal. The 1809 premiere was famous for its spectacular effects, including the appearance of 17 live horses on stage. Critics complained about the adventurous harmo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norma (opera)
''Norma'' () is a ''tragedia lirica'' or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after the play ''Norma, ou L'infanticide'' (''Norma, or The Infanticide'') by Alexandre Soumet. It was first produced at La Scala in Milan on 26 December 1831. The opera is regarded as a leading example of the bel canto genre, and the soprano prayer "Casta diva" in Act 1 is a famous piece. Among the well known singers of Norma of the first half of the 20th century was Rosa Ponselle who played the role in New York and London. Notable exponents of the title role in the post-war period have been Maria Callas, Leyla Gencer, Joan Sutherland, and Montserrat Caballé. Composition history Crivelli and Company were managing both La Scala and La Fenice in Venice, and as a result, in April–May 1830 Bellini was able to negotiate a contract with them for two operas, one at each theatre. The opera for December 1831 at La Scala became ''Norma'', while the one for the 1832 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beatrice Di Tenda
''Beatrice di Tenda'' is a tragic opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini, from a libretto by Felice Romani, after the play of the same name by . Initially, a play by Alexandre Dumas was chosen as the subject for the opera, but Bellini had reservations about its suitability. After he and Giuditta Pasta (for whom the opera was to be written) had together seen the ballet based on the very different play, Tedaldi-Fores' ''Beatrice Tenda'', in Milan in October 1832, she became enthusiastic about the subject and the composer set about persuading Romani that this was a good idea. Romani had his own concerns, the principal one being the close parallels with the story told in Gaetano Donizetti, Donizetti's ''Anna Bolena'', an opera which had established that composer's success in 1830. Against his better judgment, he finally agreed, although he failed to provide verses for many months. Although unsuccessful at its premiere in Venice in 1833, Bellini felt that he had counteracted the horror ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Donna Del Lago
''La donna del lago'' (English language, English: ''The Lady of the Lake'') is an opera composed by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola (whose verses are described as "limpid" by one critic) based on the French translationOsborne, Charles 1994, p. 94 of ''The Lady of the Lake (poem), The Lady of the Lake'', a narrative poem written in 1810 by Sir Walter Scott, whose work continued to popularize the image of the romantic Scottish Highlands. Scott's basic story has been noted as coming from "the hint of an incident stemming from the frequent custom of James V of Scotland, James V, the King of Scotland, of walking through the kingdom in disguise". It was the first of the Opera in Scotland#Operas inspired by Walter Scott, Italian operas to be based on Scott's romantic works,Gossett and Brauner (2001), in Holden (Ed.), p. 785 and marked the beginning of romanticism in Rossini's work. Scott was "deeply influential in the development of Italian romantic opera"Comm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aida
''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is a tragic 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 cele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simon Boccanegra
''Simon Boccanegra'' () is an opera with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play ''Simón Bocanegra'' (1843) by Antonio García Gutiérrez, whose play ''El trovador'' had been the basis for Verdi's 1853 opera, '' Il trovatore''. ''Simon Boccanegra'' was first performed at Teatro La Fenice in Venice on 12 March 1857. Given the complications of the original plot and the generally poor popular response – although the critical one was more encouraging – the opera dropped out of favour after 1866. Finally, 23 years later, Verdi's publisher persuaded the composer to revise the opera, with text changes to be prepared by Arrigo Boito, the librettist who aspired to work with the aging composer on a project which eventually became a new opera, ''Otello'', but to whom Verdi had not totally committed at that time. The revised version of ''Simon Boccanegra'', with the now-famous Council Chamber scene, was first perfo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Les Vêpres Siciliennes
LES or Les may refer to: People * Les (given name) * Les (surname) * L.E.S. (producer), hip hop producer Space flight * Launch Entry Suit, worn by Space Shuttle crews * Launch escape system, for spacecraft emergencies * Lincoln Experimental Satellite series, 1960s and 1970s Biology and medicine * Lazy eye syndrome, or amblyopia, a disorder in the human optic nerve * The Liverpool epidemic strain of ''Pseudomonas aeruginosa'' * Lower esophageal sphincter * Lupus erythematosus systemicus Places * The Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City * Les, Catalonia, a municipality in Spain * Leş, a village in Nojorid Commune, Bihor County, Romania * ''Les'', the Hungarian name for Leșu Commune, Bistriţa-Năsăud County, Romania * Les, a village in Tejakula district, Buleleng regency, Bali, Indonesia * Lesotho, IOC and UNDP country code * Lès, a word featuring in many French placenames Transport * Leigh-on-Sea railway station, National Rail station code * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
