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Alexandre Aux Indes
''Alexandre aux Indes'' (''Alexander in India'') is an opera by the French composer Nicolas-Jean Lefroid de Méreaux, first performed at the Académie Royale de Musique (the Paris Opera) on 26 August 1783. It takes the form of a ''tragédie lyrique'' in three acts. The libretto, by Étienne Morel de Chédeville, concerns Alexander the Great and the Indian king Porus. The plot has similarities with Racine's tragedy ''Alexandre le Grand'' (1665) and Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of '' opera seria'' libretti. Early life M ...'s libretto ''Alessandro nell'Indie''. Roles Synopsis King Porus is due to marry Axiane when he hears news that Alexander the Great is threatening his kingdom. Hephaestion arrives and offers Porus the choice of submission to Alexander or war. Porus chooses to resist. In the ens ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bass-baritone
A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the title role in '' Der fliegende Holländer'', Wotan/Der Wanderer in the '' Ring Cycle'' and Hans Sachs in ''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg''. Wagner labelled these roles as ''Hoher Bass'' ("high bass")—see fach for more details. The bass-baritone voice is distinguished by two attributes. First, it must be capable of singing comfortably in a baritonal tessitura. Secondly, however, it needs to have the ripely resonant lower range typically associated with the bass voice. For example, the role of Wotan in '' Die Walküre'' covers the range from F2 (the F at the bottom of the bass clef) to F4 (the F above middle C), but only infrequently descends beyond C3 (the C below middle C). Bass-baritones are typically divi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French-language Operas
French opera is one of Europe's most important operatic traditions, containing works by composers of the stature of Rameau, Berlioz, Gounod, Bizet, Massenet, Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc and Messiaen. Many foreign-born composers have played a part in the French tradition as well, including Lully, Gluck, Salieri, Cherubini, Spontini, Meyerbeer, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi and Offenbach. French opera began at the court of Louis XIV of France with Jean-Baptiste Lully's '' Cadmus et Hermione'' (1673), although there had been various experiments with the form before that, most notably '' Pomone'' by Robert Cambert. Lully and his librettist Quinault created '' tragédie en musique'', a form in which dance music and choral writing were particularly prominent. Lully's most important successor was Rameau. After Rameau's death, the German Gluck was persuaded to produce six operas for the Parisian stage in the 1770s. They show the influence of Rameau, but simplified and with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operas
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 style ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis-Armand Chardin
Louis-Armand Chardin, called Chardiny (1755 – 1 October 1793) was an 18th-century French composer. Biography Born in Fécamp, Chardin made his debut at the Paris opera in 1780 as baritone and was finally received the following year. He stood out for the beauty of his voice and the purity of his singing. Nevertheless, he acted coldly and never knew how to enliven the stage. The role which made him most honoured was that of Theseus in ''Œdipe à Colone''. Chardin was a composer, and we know of him several small operas that he wrote for the , such as: ''le Pouvoir de la nature'', in one act, 1786; ''la Ruse d’amour'', in one act, 1786; ''le Clavecin'', 1787; ''Clitandre et Céphise'', 1788. In 1787 he had ''l’Anneau perdu et retrouvé'' performed at the Comédie-Italienne. He is also known for the music of a melodrama entitled: ''Annette et Basile''. Chardin was one of the first to set music to Florian's romances ''Estelle'' and ''Galatée''. His oratorio ''Retour de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bacchus
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre, theatre. The Ancient Rome, Romans called him Bacchus ( or ; grc, wikt:Βάκχος, Βάκχος ) for a frenzy he is said to induce called ''bakkheia''. As Dionysus Eleutherios ("the liberator"), his wine, music, and ecstatic dance free his followers from self-conscious fear and care, and subvert the oppressive restraints of the powerful. His ''thyrsus'', a fennel-stem sceptre, sometimes wound with ivy and dripping with honey, is both a beneficent wand and a weapon used to destroy those who oppose his cult and the freedoms he represents. Those who partake of his mysteries are believed to become possessed and empowered by the god himself. His origins are uncertain, and Cult of Dionysus, his cults took many forms ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
François Lays
François Lay, better known under the stage name Lays (14 February 1758 – 30 March 1831), was a French baritone and tenor opera singer. Originally destined for a career in the church, Lays was recruited by the Paris Opéra in 1779. He soon became a leading member of the company, in spite of quarrels with the management. Lays enthusiastically welcomed the French Revolution and became involved in politics with the encouragement of his friend Bertrand Barère. Barère's downfall led to Lays being imprisoned briefly, but he soon won back the public and secured the patronage of Napoleon, at whose coronation and second wedding he sang. This association with the Emperor caused him trouble when the Bourbon monarchy was restored and Lays's final years were darkened by disputes over his pension, mounting debts, the death of his only son and his wife's illness. After a career spanning more than four decades, he died in poverty. Lays was famous for the beauty of his voice. One of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baritone
A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C (i.e. F2–F4) in choral music, and from the second A below middle C to the A above middle C (A2 to A4) in operatic music, but the range can extend at either end. Subtypes of baritone include the baryton-Martin baritone (light baritone), lyric baritone, ''Kavalierbariton'', Verdi baritone, dramatic baritone, ''baryton-noble'' baritone, and the bass-baritone. History The first use of the term "baritone" emerged as ''baritonans'', late in the 15th century, usually in French sacred polyphonic music. At this early stage it was frequently used as the lowest of the voices (including the bass), but in 17th-century Italy the term was all-encompassing and used to describe the ave ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenor
A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is widely defined to be B2, though some roles include an A2 (two As below middle C). At the highest extreme, some tenors can sing up to the second F above middle C (F5). The tenor voice type is generally divided into the ''leggero'' tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor, and tenor buffo or . History The name "tenor" derives from the Latin word '' tenere'', which means "to hold". As Fallows, Jander, Forbes, Steane, Harris and Waldman note in the "Tenor" article at ''Grove Music Online'': In polyphony between about 1250 and 1500, the enor was thestructurally fundamental (or 'holding') voice, vocal or instrumental; by the 15th century it came to signify the male voice that sang such parts. All other voices were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hephaestion
Hephaestion ( grc, Ἡφαιστίων ''HephaistÃon''; c. 356 BC – October 324 BC), son of Amyntor, was an ancient Macedonian nobleman and a general in the army of Alexander the Great. He was "by far the dearest of all the king's friends; he had been brought up with Alexander and shared all his secrets."Curtius 3.12.16 This relationship lasted throughout their lives, and was compared, by others as well as themselves, to that of Achilles and Patroclus. His military career was distinguished. A member of Alexander the Great's personal bodyguard, he went on to command the Companion cavalry and was entrusted with many other tasks throughout Alexander's ten-year campaign in Asia, including diplomatic missions, the bridging of major rivers, sieges and the foundation of new settlements. Besides being a soldier, engineer and diplomat, he corresponded with the philosophers Aristotle and Xenocrates and actively supported Alexander in his attempts to integrate th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henri Larrivée
Henri Larrivée (9 January 1737 – 7 August 1802) was a French opera singer. He was born in Lyon. His voice range was ''basse-taille'' (equivalent to baritone).Dratwicki, p. 85 According to Fétis, Larrivée was working as an apprentice to a wigmaker when the head of the Paris Opéra, Rebel, noticed his talent for singing and hired him as a chorus member. He made his first solo appearance as a high priest in a 1755 revival of Rameau's '' Castor et Pollux''. He was particularly associated with the works of Christoph Willibald Gluck, helping Gluck establish his "reform operas" in France. He found Gluck's rival, Niccolò Piccinni, less congenial but still worked with him on the premieres of operas including ''Roland'' (1778).Rushton p. 269 After already getting a pension in 1779, he retired from the ''Académie Royale de Musique'' in 1786 and devoted most of the time he had left to live to tour around with his two daughters, Camille (later known as Mme Delaval) and Henriette, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Étienne Lainez
Étienne Lainez (or Lainé, Laînez) (23 May 1753 – 15 September 1822) was a French operatic tenor, and leading figure at the Paris Opera for over thirty years. In the course of his career there he created many tenor roles including Rodrigue in Sacchini's ''Chimène ''Chimène, ou Le Cid'' is a French-language opera by Antonio Sacchini. It takes the form of a ''tragédie en musique, tragédie (lyrique)'' in three acts, with a libretto by Nicolas-François Guillard. It was first staged at Fontainebleau on 16 N ...'', Énée in Piccinni's '' Didon'', Narcisse in Gluck's '' Echo et Narcisse'', and Licinius in Spontini's '' La vestale''. Lainez was born in Vaugirard in Paris, and died in Paris as well. After his retirement from the stage, he taught lyric declamation at the Paris Conservatoire. References French operatic tenors 1753 births 1822 deaths 18th-century French male opera singers 19th-century French male opera singers Singers from Paris {{France-ope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
