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Franz Konwitschny
Franz Konwitschny (14 August 1901, Fulnek, Moravia – 28 July 1962, Belgrade) was a German conductor and violist of Moravian descent. He started his career on the viola,Schwinger playing in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Wilhelm Furtwängler. In 1925, he moved to Vienna, where he played the viola with the Fitzner Quartet. He also began teaching at the Wiener Volkskonservatorium. He later became a conductor, joining the Stuttgart Opera in 1927. From 1949 until his death he was principal conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. From 1953 until 1955 he was also principal conductor of the Dresden Staatskapelle and from 1955 onward he led the Berlin State Opera. Like Furtwängler, Konwitschny used "expansive gestures" and had a "dislike of an exact beat." Konwitschny recorded a complete cycle of Beethoven symphonies. He was given the nickname ''Kon-whisky'' because of his heavy drinking habits. His first marriage to Maria Wilhelmine Josephine Hambloch (Gieser) produ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fulnek
Fulnek () is a town in Nový Jičín District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,500 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administrative parts Villages of Děrné, Dolejší Kunčice, Jerlochovice, Jestřabí, Jílovec, Kostelec, Lukavec, Pohořílky, Stachovice and Vlkovice are administrative parts of Fulnek. Geography Fulnek lies north of Nový Jičín and southwest of Ostrava. Fulnek is located in the hilly landscape of the Nízký Jeseník mountain range. The town lies at the confluence of two streams, Husí and Gručovka. History Fulnek was probably founded by the lords of Lichtenburk, who received this land from King Ottokar II of Bohemia. The first written mention of Fulnek is from 1293, when the town already had a fortress, a church and a rectory. The town was probably planned as the centre of a larger estate, which is indicated by the relatively large town square ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works. Initially establishing his reputation as a composer of works in the romantic vein of Carl Maria von Weber and Giacomo Meyerbeer, Wagner revolutionised opera through his concept of the '' Gesamtkunstwerk'' ("total work of art"), by which he sought to synthesise the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, with music subsidiary to drama. He described this vision in a series of essays published between 1849 and 1852. Wagner realised these ideas most fully in the first half of the four-opera cycle '' Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (''The Ring of the Nibelung''). His compositions, particularly those of his later period, are notable for their complex textur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolfram Schwinger
Walter Wolfram Schwinger (14 July 1928 – 17 February 2011) was a German director, music writer and music critic. Life Born in Dresden, Schwinger was the scion of a family of theologians and had two brothers. He studied musicology in Berlin and worked as a journalist at the same time. He was particularly close to the conductors Erich and Carlos Kleiber. In 1954 he was awarded his doctorate with a thesis on Hippolyte Chélard at the Humboldt University of Berlin. He also wrote a popular George Gershwin biography at the time. on WorldCat In 1960, he went to Hanover as a critic and in 1964 to Stuttgart. As editor of the '' |
Fritz Wunderlich
Friedrich "Fritz" Karl Otto Wunderlich (26 September 1930 – 17 September 1966) was a German lyric tenor, famed for his singing of the Mozart repertory and various lieder. He died in an accident aged 35. Biography Wunderlich was born in Kusel in the Palatinate, Germany. His mother was a violinist and his father was a choirmaster. For a short time, the family kept the inn "Emrichs Bräustübl" (Emrich's Brewing Cottage). Fritz's father lost his job due to pressure imposed upon him by local Nazis, in addition to suffering from a severe battlefield injury. He died by suicide when Fritz was five years old. Fritz mastered several instruments while still a schoolboy and when he entered the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg in 1950, his principal study was the horn. Then the singing teacher discovered and trained his voice. Wunderlich was soon noted as a brilliant young tenor, especially in Mozartian roles, but he later expanded his reach to the full range of the lyric tenor repertoire ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marianne Schech
Marianne Schech (18 January 1914 – 22 July 1999) was a German operatic soprano and academic who appeared internationally. She was a member of the Bavarian State Opera from 1946 to 1970. She is known for leading roles in works by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss, playing, for example, the Dyer's Wife in the U.S. premiere of ''Die Frau ohne Schatten'' by Richard Strauss at the San Francisco Opera in 1959. She made several recordings, including in 1951 the role of Elisabeth in Wagner's ''Tannhäuser'', conducted by Robert Heger, in 1960 the role of Chrysothemis in ''Elektra'' by Richard Strauss, conducted by Karl Böhm, Senta in Wagner's ''Der fliegende Holländer'', conducted by Franz Konwitschny, and Venus in Tannhäuser, also conducted by Konwitschny. Career Born in Geitau near Bayrischzell, Schech studied at the Trapp'sches Konservatorium and at the Akademie der Tonkunst in Munich. She made her operatic debut at the Stadttheater Koblenz in 1937 in the role of Martha in d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Der Fliegende Holländer
' (''The Flying Dutchman''), WWV 63, is a German-language opera, with libretto and music by Richard Wagner. The central theme is redemption through love. Wagner conducted the premiere at the Königliches Hoftheater Dresden in 1843. Wagner claimed in his 1870 autobiography '' Mein Leben'' that he had been inspired to write the opera following a stormy sea crossing he made from Riga to London in July and August 1839. In his 1843 '' Autobiographic Sketch'', Wagner acknowledged he had taken the story from Heinrich Heine's retelling of the legend in his 1833 satirical novel ''The Memoirs of Mister von Schnabelewopski'' (''Aus den Memoiren des Herrn von Schnabelewopski''). This work shows early attempts at operatic styles that would characterise his later music dramas. In ''Der fliegende Holländer'' Wagner uses a number of leitmotifs (literally, "leading motifs") associated with the characters and themes. The leitmotifs are all introduced in the overture, which begins with a w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Staatskapelle Berlin
The Staatskapelle Berlin () is a German orchestra and the resident orchestra of the Berlin State Opera, Unter den Linden. The orchestra is one of the oldest in the world. Until the fall of the German Empire in 1918 the orchestra's name was ''Königliche Kapelle'', i.e. Royal Orchestra. History The orchestra traces its roots to 1570, when Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg established the rules for an orchestra at his court which had been constituted, at an unknown date. In 1701, the affiliation of the Electors of Brandenburg to the position of King of Prussia led to the description of the orchestra as ' ("Royal Prussian Court Orchestra"), which consisted of about 30 musicians. The orchestra became affiliated with the Royal Court Opera, established in 1742 by Frederick the Great. Noted musicians associated with the orchestra have included Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Franz Benda, and Johann Joachim Quantz. The first concert by the ensemble for a wider audience outside of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elisabeth Grümmer
Elisabeth Grümmer (née Schilz; 31 March 1911 – 6 November 1986) was a German soprano. She has been described as "a singer blessed with elegant musicality, warm-hearted sincerity, and a voice of exceptional beauty". Life Elisabeth Schilz was born in ''Niederjeutz'' Yutz.html" ;"title="ow Yutz">ow Yutz, near ''Diedenhofen'' (Thionville), Alsace-Lorraine] to German parents. In 1918, her family was expelled from Lorraine, and they settled in Meiningen, where she studied theater and made her stage debut as Klärchen in Goethe's ''Egmont (play), Egmont''. She married the concertmaster of the theater orchestra, Detlev Grümmer, and became a mother. The family moved to Aachen, where they met Herbert von Karajan under whose encouragement she made her operatic debut in 1940, in the role of First Flowermaiden in a 1940 performance of Wagner's '' Parsifal''. She went on from Aachen to perform in Duisburg and Prague. Her husband was killed in their house during the bombing of Aach ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (28 May 1925 – 18 May 2012) was a German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous Lieder (art song) performers of the post-war period, best known as a singer of Franz Schubert's Lieder, particularly ''"Winterreise"'' of which his recordings with accompanists Gerald Moore and Jörg Demus are still critically acclaimed half a century after their release. Recording an array of repertoire (spanning centuries) as musicologist Alan Blyth asserted, "No singer in our time, or probably any other has managed the range and versatility of repertory achieved by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Opera, Lieder and oratorio in German, Italian or English came alike to him, yet he brought to each a precision and individuality that bespoke his perceptive insights into the idiom at hand." In addition, he recorded in French, Russian, Hebrew, Latin and Hungarian. He was described as "one of the supreme vocal artists of the 20th century" and "the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hans Hopf
Hans Hopf (August 2, 1916, Nuremberg – June 25, 1993, Munich) was a German operatic tenor, one of the leading heldentenors of the immediate postwar period. He sang Walther von Stolzing in the Bayreuth Festival's ''Die Meistersinger'', in 1951 and again in 1952. He would also sing Siegfried at Bayreuth from 1960–1963. He studied in Munich with Paul Bender, and made his stage debut with a touring opera ensemble, as Pinkerton, in 1936. He then sang in Augsburg (1939–42), Dresden (1942–43), and Oslo (1943–44). He joined the Berlin State Opera in 1946, and the Munich State Opera, in 1949. He appeared in Bayreuth in 1951, as Walther, returning as Siegmund, Siegfried (in 1960), Tannhäuser, and Parsifal (in 1952). At Bayreuth in 1951 he took part in a performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler. He sang Max at the Salzburg Festival in 1954. He made guest appearances in Milan, London, New York, and Buenos Aires. He sang both Siegfrieds in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tannhäuser (opera)
''Tannhäuser'' (; full title , "Tannhäuser and the Minnesängers' Contest at Wartburg") is an 1845 opera in three acts, with music and text by Richard Wagner ( WWV 70 in the catalogue of the composer's works). It is based on two German legends: Tannhäuser, the mythologized medieval German Minnesänger and poet, and the tale of the Wartburg Song Contest. The story centres on the struggle between sacred and profane love, as well as redemption through love, a theme running through most of Wagner's work. The opera remains a staple of major opera house repertoire in the 21st century. Composition history Sources The libretto of ''Tannhäuser'' combines mythological elements characteristic of German '' Romantische Oper'' (Romantic opera) and the medieval setting typical of many French Grand Operas. Wagner brings these two together by constructing a plot involving the 14th-century Minnesingers and the myth of Venus and her subterranean realm of Venusberg. Both the historical an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Margarete Bäumer
Margarete Henriette Therese Roßkopf-Bäumer (26 May 1898 – December 1969) was a German operatic soprano. Life Born in Düsseldorf, Bäumer trained her soprano voice in Düsseldorf and Cologne and made her debut in 1920 at the Stadttheater Barmen (later Opernhaus Wuppertal). After stations in Düsseldorf, Zurich, Stuttgart, Berlin (Städtische Oper Berlin), Nuremberg and Mannheim, she came to the Opernhaus Leipzig in 1934, where she quickly became a darling of the public and then worked as a leading dramatic soprano until 1953. At the same time, she had engagements at the Bavarian State Opera (1934-1937) and at the Wrocław Opera. At the Staatsoper Stuttgart, Bäumer switched to the dramatic repertoire in the mid-1920s and from then on was increasingly celebrated as a Wagner singer. On the occasion of an engagement at the ''German Grand Opera Society'' in New York, she performed on tour on all major North American stages. Innumerable guest performances at the opera houses of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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