Christmas Eve (opera)
''Christmas Eve or The Night Before Christmas'' ( ) is an opera in four acts with music and libretto by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Composed between 1894 and 1895, Rimsky-Korsakov based his opera on a short story, "Christmas Eve", from Nikolai Gogol's 1832 collection '' Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka''. The story had been used as the basis for an opera at least three times previously, including for Tchaikovsky's '' Vakula the Smith'' (1874). Oliver Knussen writes that "Rimsky is only interested in recreating the atmosphere of the folk-tale, fleshing it out for his stage pageant in a comparable way to Humperdinck in '' Hansel''. Gerald Abraham, on the other hand, praises the vivid humanity and humour of Rimsky's setting, as well as its atmospheric strength. Performance history The premiere took place on 10 December 1895 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. The British premiere was in 1988 in London, at the English National Opera; it was conducted by Albert Rosen. It was r ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov. At the time, his name was spelled , which he romanized as Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakow; the BGN/PCGN transliteration of Russian is used for his name here; ALA-LC system: , ISO 9 system: .. (18 March 1844 – 21 June 1908) was a Russian composer, a member of the group of composers known as The Five. He was a master of orchestration. His best-known orchestral compositions—'' Capriccio Espagnol'', the '' Russian Easter Festival Overture'', and the symphonic suite '' Scheherazade''—are staples of the classical music repertoire, along with suites and excerpts from some of his fifteen operas. ''Scheherazade'' is an example of his frequent use of fairy-tale and folk subjects. Rimsky-Korsakov believed in developing a nationalistic style of classical music, as did his fellow composer Mily Balakirev and the critic Vladimir Stasov. This style employed Russian folk song and lore along with exotic harmonic, melodic and rhythmic elements in a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Oper Frankfurt
The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt. Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Schreker's ''Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, ''Fennimore and Gerda, Fennimore und Gerda'' by Frederick Delius in 1919, and Carl Orff's ''Carmina Burana (Orff), Carmina Burana'' in 1937. Frankfurt's international recognition began in the Gielen Era, 1977 to 1987, when Michael Gielen and stage directors such as Ruth Berghaus collaborated. A historic opera house from 1880 was destroyed in World War II, and reconstructed as a concert hall, the Alte Oper. The present opera house, built in 1963, is under one roof with the stage for drama. The opera orchestra is called Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester. Today's venue for Baroque and contemporary opera is the Bockenheimer Depot, a former tram depot. Voted best 'Opera house of the year' by ''Opernwelt'' several times since 1996, including 2020, 2022 and 2023, Oper F ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Bass (voice Type)
A bass is a type of classical male singing voice and has the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to '' The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', a bass is typically classified as having a vocal range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C (i.e., E2–E4). Its tessitura, or comfortable range, is normally defined by the outermost lines of the bass clef. Categories of bass voices vary according to national style and classification system. Italians favour subdividing basses into the ''basso cantante'' (singing bass), ''basso buffo'' (comical bass), or the dramatic ''basso profondo'' (deep bass). The American system identifies the bass-baritone, comic bass, lyric bass, and dramatic bass. The German '' Fach'' system offers further distinctions: Spielbass (Bassbuffo), Schwerer Spielbass (Schwerer Bassbuffo), Charakterbass (Bassbariton), and Seriöser Bass. These classifications tend to describe roles rather than singers: it is rare for ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Cossack
The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Russia, countering the Crimean-Nogai raids, alongside economically developing steppe regions north of the Black Sea and around the Azov Sea. Historically, they were a semi-nomadic and semi-militarized people, who, while under the nominal suzerainty of various Eastern European states at the time, were allowed a great degree of self-governance in exchange for military service. Although numerous linguistic and religious groups came together to form the Cossacks, most of them coalesced and became East Slavic–speaking Orthodox Christians. The rulers of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russian Empire endowed Cossacks with certain special privileges in return for the military duty to serve in the irregular troops: Zaporozhian Cossac ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Vladimir Mayboroda
Vladimir (, , pre-1918 orthography: ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria (). Etymology The Old East Slavic form of the name is Володимѣръ ''Volodiměr'', while the Old Church Slavonic form is ''Vladiměr''. According to Max Vasmer, the name is composed of Slavic владь ''vladĭ'' "to rule" and ''*mēri'' "great", "famous" (related to Gothic element ''mērs'', ''-mir'', cf. Theode''mir'', Vala''mir''). The modern ( pre-1918) Russian forms Владимиръ and Владиміръ are based on the Church Slavonic one, with the replacement of мѣръ by миръ or міръ resulting from a folk etymological association with миръ "peace" or міръ "world". Max Vasmer, ''Etymological Dictionary of Russian Language'' s.v. "Владимир"starling.rinet.ru [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Baritone
A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the Greek language, Greek (), meaning "low sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second F below C (musical note), middle C to the F above middle C (i.e. Scientific pitch notation, F2–F4) in choral music, and from the second G below middle C to the G above middle C (G2 to G4) 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 Religious music, sacred Polyphony, polyphonic music. At t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above (i.e. A3–A5 in scientific pitch notation, where middle C = C4; 220–880 Hz). In the lower and upper extremes, some mezzo-sopranos may extend down to the F below middle C (F3, 175 Hz) and as high as "high C" (C6, 1047 Hz). The mezzo-soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic. History While mezzo-sopranos typically sing secondary roles in operas, notable exceptions include the title role in Georges Bizet, Bizet's ''Carmen'', Angelina (Cinderella) in Gioachino Rossini, Rossini's ''La Cenerentola'', and Rosina in Rossini's ''The Barber of Seville, Barber of Seville'' (all of which are also sung by sopranos and contraltos). Many 19th-century French- ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Tsaritsa
Tsarina or tsaritsa (also spelled ''csarina'' or ''csaricsa'', ''tzarina'' or ''tzaritza'', or ''czarina'' or ''czaricza''; ; ; ) is the title of a female autocratic ruler (monarch) of Bulgaria, Serbia, and Russia, or the title of a tsar's wife. The English spelling is derived from the German ''czarin'' or ''zarin'', in the same way as the French ''tsarine'' / ''czarine'', and the Spanish and Italian ''czarina'' / ''zarina''. (A tsar's daughter is a tsarevna.) "Tsarina" or "tsaritsa" was the title of the female supreme ruler in the following states: *Bulgaria: in 913–1018, in 1185–1422 and in 1908–1946 *Serbia: in 1346–1371 *Russia: officially from about 1547 until 1721, unofficially in 1721–1917 (officially "Empresses"). Russia Since 1721, the official titles of the Russian male and female monarchs were emperor () and empress () or empress consort, respectively. Officially the last Russian tsarina was Eudoxia Lopukhina, Peter the Great's first wife. Alexandra F ... [...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]   |
|
Frankfurter Rundschau
The ''Frankfurter Rundschau'' (''FR'') is a German daily newspaper, based in Frankfurt am Main. The ''Rundschaus editorial stance is social liberal. It holds that "independence, social justice and fairness" underlie its journalism. In Post-war Germany ''Frankfurter Rundschau'' was for decades a leading force of German press. The newspaper was one of the first licensed by the US military administration in 1945 and had a traditional social democratic, antifascist and trade union stand. Starting with the decline of printed daily newspapers in the 2000s, the ''FR'' changed ownership several times, reduced its editorial team dramatically and today has little national significance. Frankfurter Rundschau Druck and Verlagshaus GmbH filed for bankruptcy on 12 November 2012. Then the paper was acquired by ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' and Frankfurter Societät (publisher of the ''Frankfurter Neue Presse'') in 2013, by taking over just 28 full-time journalists. The ''FR'' editori ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Takeshi Moriuchi
Takeshi Moriuchi (born 1975) is a Japanese conductor, based at the Oper Frankfurt in Germany. Career Moriuchi was born in Tokyo; both parents had studied singing without making it their profession. He sang in choirs as a boy. He studied piano in Japan, but went to Europe for further studies in 2003. He studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and then worked at the Landestheater Linz, first as répétiteur, than as kapellmeister. He moved to the Oper Frankfurt with the 2018/19 season, where he has worked as Studienleiter (head of studies), which has included not only preparing singers for the performances, but also conducting performances, accompaniment of recitals and stepping in as a singer when needed. In his first year at the house, a conductor had health problems in a performance of Verdi's '' La forza del destino'' that Moriuchi attended, and he was asked if he was ready to conduct the rest of the performance. He said yes although he had never conducted the piece, aware that o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |