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Gérard Lesne
Gérard Lesne (; born 15 July 1956) is a French countertenor. He is also the founder and artistic director of the baroque music ensemble, Il Seminario Musicale. Life and career Gérard Lesne was born in Montmorency, Val-d'Oise. He was originally a rock singer, but in 1979 the tenor Zeger Vandersteene introduced him to René Clemencic, a pioneer of work in the medieval repertoire, and at age 23, Lesne began touring with the Clemencic Consort. Lesne has made more than 70 recordings and has appeared as a soloist at numerous opera houses and music festivals including the Opéra de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, La Fenice, Opéra National de Lyon, Théâtre du Châtelet, Teatro San Carlo, Aix-en-Provence Festival, Utrecht Early Music Festival, and Boston Early Music Festival. Since 1993, Gérard Lesne has taught annual courses in vocal interpretation at Royaumont Abbey in France. In 2004, Gerard Lesne was made Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Countertenor
A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist (a specific kind of countertenor) may match the soprano's range of around C4 to C6.A sopranist is a term used to describe a countertenor whose vocal range is so high it is equivalent to that of a soprano; however, this term is widely used falsely. Countertenors often are baritones or tenors at core, but only on rare occasions do they use their lower vocal range, instead preferring their falsetto or high head voice. The nature of the countertenor voice has radically changed throughout musical history, from a modal voice, to a modal and falsetto voice, to the primarily falsetto voice which is denoted by the term today. This is partly because of changes in human physiology and partly because of fluctuations in pitch. The term first came i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread across Europe, giving origin to many imitators and admirers. He pioneered many developments in orchestration, violin technique and programatic music. He consolidated the emerging concerto form into a widely accepted and followed idiom, which was paramount in the development of Johann Sebastian Bach's instrumental music. Vivaldi composed many instrumental concertos, for the violin and a variety of other musical instruments, as well as sacred choral works and more than fifty operas. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as '' the Four Seasons''. Many of his compositions were written for the all-female music ensemble of the ''Ospedale della Pietà'', a home for abandoned children. Vivaldi had worked as a Catholic p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michel Plasson
Michel Plasson (born 2 October 1933, Paris, France) is a French conductor. Plasson was a student of Lazare Lévy at the Conservatoire de Paris. In 1962, he was a prize-winner at the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors. He studied briefly in the United States, including time with Charles Münch. He became the music director of the city of Metz for 3 years. In 1968, Plasson became principal conductor of the Orchestre et Chœurs du Capitole de Toulouse. His recordings with the orchestra include orchestral works, and operettas of Jacques Offenbach, including '' Orphée aux enfers'', '' La Vie parisienne'', ''La Périchole'' and ''La belle Hélène'', and Bizet's ''Carmen''. Plasson resigned as principal conductor in 2003 and now has the title of "Honorary Conductor", or conductor emeritus. From 1994 to 2001, he was principal conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic. Guest appearances include Grand Théâtre de Genève, De Nederlandse Opera (Amsterdam) and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Hampson (baritone)
Thomas Walter Hampson (born June 28, 1955) is an American lyric baritone, a classical singer who has appeared world-wide in major opera houses and concert halls and made over 170 musical recordings. Hampson's operatic repertoire spans a range of more than 80 roles, including the title roles in Mozart's ''Don Giovanni'', Rossini's '' Guillaume Tell'' and ''Il barbiere di Siviglia'', Thomas' ''Hamlet'', and Tchaikovsky's ''Eugene Onegin''. The center of his Verdi repertoire remains Posa in '' Don Carlo'', Germont in ''La traviata'', the title roles in ''Macbeth'' and '' Simon Boccanegra'', and more recently also Amfortas in Wagner's ''Parsifal'' and Scarpia in Puccini's ''Tosca''. As a recitalist Hampson has won worldwide recognition for his thoughtfully researched and creatively constructed programs that explore the rich repertoire of song in a wide range of styles, languages, and periods. He is one of the most important interpreters of German Romantic song – especially know ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natalie Dessay
Natalie Dessay (; born 19 April 1965) is a French singer, known for her former career as an operatic soprano. She gained wide recognition after her portrayal of Olympia in ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' in 1992, and then performing at leading stages, such as the Paris Opera, Vienna State Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera. Since her earlier career she had been known in coloratura soprano roles in the German and French repertoire, such as Olympia in ''The Tales of Hoffmann'', the title role in '' Lakmé'', Zerbinetta in ''Ariadne auf Naxos'' and the Queen of the Night in '' The Magic Flute''. After two vocal surgeries she turned her focus to heavier bel canto roles, such as Amina in '' La sonnambula'', Lucia in ''Lucia di Lammermoor'', Marie in '' La fille du régiment'', Violetta in ''La traviata'', and further explored Baroque music with her collaborations with Emmanuelle Haïm. Since retiring from opera stage, she has pursued a career in theatre and in concert, where she now perfor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carl Orff
Carl Orff (; 10 July 1895 – 29 March 1982) was a German composer and music educator, best known for his cantata '' Carmina Burana'' (1937). The concepts of his Schulwerk were influential for children's music education. Life Early life Carl Orff (full name Karl Heinrich Maria Orff) was born in Munich on 10 July 1895, the son of Paula Orff (née Köstler, 1872–1960) and Heinrich Orff (1869–1949). His family was Bavarian and was active in the Imperial German Army; his father was an army officer with strong musical interests, and his mother was a trained pianist. The composer's grandfathers, Carl von Orff (1828–1905) and Karl Köstler (1837–1924), were both major generals and also scholars. His paternal grandmother, Fanny Orff (née Kraft, 1833–1919), was Catholic of Jewish descent. His maternal grandmother was Maria Köstler (née Aschenbrenner, 1845–1906). Orff had one sibling, a younger sister named Maria ("Mia", 1898–1975), who married the architect Alwin S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carmina Burana (Orff)
' is a cantata composed in 1935 and 1936 by Carl Orff, based on 24 poems from the medieval collection '' Carmina Burana''. Its full Latin title is ' ("Songs of Beuern: Secular songs for singers and choruses to be sung together with instruments and magical images"). It was first performed by the Oper Frankfurt on 8 June 1937. It is part of '' Trionfi'', a musical triptych that also includes ''Catulli Carmina'' and '' Trionfo di Afrodite''. The first and last sections of the piece are called "" ("Fortune, Empress of the World") and start with " O Fortuna". Text In 1934, Orff encountered the 1847 edition of the '' Carmina Burana'' by Johann Andreas Schmeller, the original text dating mostly from the 11th or 12th century, including some from the 13th century. was a young law student and an enthusiast of Latin and Greek; he assisted Orff in the selection and organization of 24 of these poems into a libretto mostly in secular Latin verse, with a small amount of Middle High Germ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Christie (musician)
William Lincoln Christie (born December 19, 1944) is an American-born French conductor and harpsichordist. He is a specialist in baroque and classical repertoire and is the founder of the ensemble Les Arts Florissants. Biography Christie studied art history at Harvard University, where he was briefly assistant conductor of the Harvard Glee Club. From 1966, he began studies at Yale University in music, where he was a student of harpsichordist Ralph Kirkpatrick. He was opposed to the Vietnam War, and served in a reserve officers course to avoid the draft. He subsequently taught at Dartmouth College. When his Dartmouth post was not renewed, Christie moved first to the United Kingdom (1970), and in 1971 to France. He was one of a number of young men who left the United States at this time because of disagreement with the Vietnam War, and in order to avoid the draft. In France, he became known for his interpretations of Baroque music, particularly French Baroque music, wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Les Arts Florissants (ensemble)
Les Arts Florissants is a Baroque musical ensemble in residence at the Théâtre de Caen in Caen, France. The organization was founded by conductor William Christie in 1979. The ensemble derives its name from the 1685 opera '' Les Arts florissants'' by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. The organization consists of a chamber orchestra of period instruments and a small vocal ensemble. Current notable members include soprano Danielle de Niese and tenor Paul Agnew, who has served as assistant conductor since 2007. Jonathan Cohen is also on the conducting staff; Christie remains the organization's Artistic Director. Work Although not specifically a Baroque opera ensemble, it is within this field that Les Arts Florissants has achieved its greatest successes. The majority of the ensemble's performances are of period operas (both staged and in concert), many of which are available on CD on the Harmonia Mundi and Erato labels and on DVD. The group first drew international acclaim in the ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Et Jonathas
''David et Jonathas'' (''David and Jonathan''), H. 490, is an opera in five acts and a prologue by the French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier, first performed at the Collège Louis-le-Grand, Paris, on 28 February 1688. The libretto, by Father François Bretonneau, is based on the Old Testament story of the friendship between David and Jonathan. Although the opera takes the form of a typical French '' tragédie en musique'' it has also been referred to as a ''tragédie biblique'' because of its Biblical subject matter. ''David et Jonathas'' was first performed at a Jesuit college in combination with a spoken drama in Latin, ''Saul'', by Father Étienne Chamillard (1656–1730). Each act of the opera was followed by one act from the play. Charpentier's work was so successful, it was reprised at other Jesuit colleges in 1706, 1715 and 1741. The opera received its American premiere in Baltimore in 2005. Pinchgut Opera performed the Australian premiere in 2008; a recordi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christopher Purves
Christopher Purves (born in Cambridge) is an English bass-baritone.''Opera'' (2009), vol. 60, p. 516, "Christopher Purves. Erica Jeal. Purves sings his first Falstaff at Glyndebourne this month Before I get to talk with ... Home was Cambridge, where as a boy treble he sang in the choir of King's College. ... (Gerald Finley was the fellow bass of his year group: the tenor Mark Padmore was in the year above.) ..." Career Purves sang with Opera North in several productions in the seasons 1997 to 2004 and later. He performed with The Sixteen and has an extensive discography. Purves featured on the CD cover as Figaro in Opera in English's release of Mozart's ''The Marriage of Figaro'' in 2004. He was one of the artists on the ''Lamenti'' recital (Virgin Classics) which won Record of the Year in 2009 at France's Victoires de la musique classique. He premiered the role of Protector in George Benjamin's 2012 opera, ''Written on Skin'', and the role of Walt Disney in Philip Glass's 2013 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alessandro Stradella
Antonio Alessandro Boncompagno Stradella (Bologna, 3 July 1643 – Genoa, 25 February 1682) was an Italian composer of the middle Baroque period. He enjoyed a dazzling career as a freelance composer, writing on commission, and collaborating with distinguished poets, producing over three hundred works in a variety of genres. Life Not much is known about his early life, but he was from a Tuscan aristocratic family, his father was Cavaliere Marc’ antonio Stradella of Piacenza. Stradella was educated at Rome, and was already making a name for himself as a composer at the age of 24. In 1667 he composed a Latin oratorio (lost) for the Confraternity of Crocifisso di San Marcello and in the following year the serenata ''La Circe'' for the Princess of Rossano Olimpia Aldobrandini Pamphilj. In 1671–72 he collaborated in staging some operas, two by Francesco Cavalli and two by Antonio Cesti, at the Tordinona Theater, composing prologues, intermedios and new arias. In the early 1670 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
