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John Socman
''John Socman'' is an opera in three acts by George Lloyd to a libretto by William Lloyd (the composer’s father). It was first performed by the Carl Rosa Opera Company at the Bristol Hippodrome, England on 15 May 1951. The work was one of three operatic commissions to mark the Festival of Britain (the others being Ralph Vaughan Williams's '' The Pilgrim’s Progress'' and Benjamin Britten's ''Billy Budd''). Lloyd, who had suffered shellshock while serving in the Royal Marines during the Second World War, had a breakdown after writing ''John Socman'', and abandoned composition for twenty years. Annette Phillips, director of Carl Rosa commented that George Lloyd was chosen for the 1951 Festival commission given the talent he had shown in his two previous operas, but that for financial reasons ''John Socman'' could not remain in the repertory, despite an enthusiastic reception from audiences. The producer was Dennis Arundell, and a single performance followed in Northern Ireland.O ... [...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] |
Ruth Packer
Ruth Packer (22 October 1910 – 12 January 2005) was an English operatic soprano. Packer was born in London. In 1939, she made her operatic debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in ''Die Walküre''. During World War Two, she appeared frequently with Sadler's Wells Opera and the Carl Rosa Opera Company. After the war, she performed regularly with the newly formed Welsh National Opera. After her retirement from the stage, Packer taught voice at the Royal College of Music, and later privately. Packer married two Welshmen, first the tenor Tudor Davies (1892–1958), and, secondly, Maj. Ynyr Probert. She was twice widowed, and had no children. She died in São Bras de Alportel, Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ..., aged 94. References External link ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English-language Operas
English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples that Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, migrated to Britain after its End of Roman rule in Britain, Roman occupiers left. English is the list of languages by total number of speakers, most spoken language in the world, primarily due to the global influences of the former British Empire (succeeded by the Commonwealth of Nations) and the United States. English is the list of languages by number of native speakers, third-most spoken native language, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish language, Spanish; it is also the most widely learned second language in the world, with more second-language speakers than native speakers. English is either the official language or one of the official languages in list of countries and territories where English ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Voices
London Voices is a London-based choral ensemble founded by Terry Edwards (1939–2022) in 1973. In its early years, it also incorporated the London Opera Chorus and London Sinfonietta Voices and Chorus. In 2004, conductor and composer Ben Parry became co-director of the ensemble and in 2021 the Director and manager. Ben has held prestigious posts as artistic director of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, (2012–2023) and assistant director of Music at King's College, Cambridge (2013–2021). London Voices has been involved in many performances, recordings of operas and CD and film soundtracks, including '' The Hobbit'', '' Hunger Games'', the prequel trilogy of '' Star Wars'', ''The Lord of the Rings'' and '' Harry Potter'' series, '' The Iron Lady'', '' Enemy at the Gates'', '' La traviata'', and '' The Passion of the Christ''. They have recorded with such diverse artists as Luciano Pavarotti, Dave Brubeck, Sir Paul McCartney, Jacob Collier, Queen, Deaf Havana, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philharmonia Orchestra
The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI Classics, EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Richard Strauss, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Arturo Toscanini; of the Philharmonia's younger conductors, the most important to its development was Herbert von Karajan who, though never formally chief conductor, was closely associated with the orchestra in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The Philharmonia became widely regarded as the finest of London's five symphony orchestras in its first two decades. From the late 1950s to the early 1970s the orchestra's chief conductor was Otto Klemperer, with whom the orchestra gave many concerts and made numerous recordings of the core orchestral repertoire. During Klemperer's tenure Legge, citing the difficulty of maintaining the orchestra's high standards, attempted to disband it in 1964, but the players, b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diana Montague
Diana Montague (born 8 April 1953) is an English mezzo-soprano, known for her performances in opera and as a concert singer. She is married to the English tenor David Rendall. The pair have a son, Huw Montague Rendall, who is an operatic baritone. Biography English mezzo-soprano, Diana Montague, studied at the Royal Manchester (Northern) College of Music with Ronald Stear, Frederic Cox and Rupert Bruce-Lockhard. Diana Montague is firmly established in the opera house, on the concert platform and in the recording studio. She made her debut as Zerlina with Glyndebourne Touring Opera in 1977. Since then she has appeared in the world’s leading opera houses and concert halls including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, the Metropolitan Opera New York, La Monnaie Brussels, the Paris Bastille, Teatro Colón Buenos Aires. Her festival appearances include Bayreuth, Salzburg, Glyndebourne and Edinburgh. She was a member of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Wilson-Johnson
David Wilson-Johnson (born 16 November 1950, in Northampton) is a British operatic and concert baritone. Career David Wilson-Johnson was educated at Wellingborough School, and studied Modern and Mediaeval Languages at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. As a singer he studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he won the Dove Prize for most distinguished student. In 1976, Wilson-Johnson made his operatic debut in Henze's ''" We Come to the River"'' at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, where he subsequently sang important roles in many operas. In 2006, he decided to retire from the stage production of opera performance, but return to stage ''Swallow'' for ''"Peter Grimes"'' (dir. Willy Decker / cond. Yutaka Sado) at Teatro Regio di Torino in 201 He is still involved in giving concerts (including opera's concert version) worldwide with the major orchestras and recitals with his regular pianist David Owen Norris. David Wilson-Johnson was Professor of Singing at th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, Christianity, Christian reformer, Catholic priest, and a theology professor at the University of Oxford. Wycliffe is traditionally believed to have advocated or made a vernacular translation of the Vulgate Bible into Middle English, though more recent scholarship has minimalized the extent of his advocacy or involvement for lack of direct contemporary evidence.. He became an influential dissident within the Catholic priesthood during the 14th century and is often considered an important predecessor to Protestantism. His political-theological theory of ''Dominion (political theory), dominion'' meant that the church was not allowed to own property or have ecclessiastic courts, and men in mortal sin were not entitled to exercise authority in the church or state, nor to own property. Wycliffe insisted on the radical poverty of all clerg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Agincourt
The Battle of Agincourt ( ; ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected victory of the vastly outnumbered English troops against the numerically superior French army boosted English morale and prestige, crippled France, and started a new period of English dominance in the war that would last for 14 years until England was defeated by France in 1429 during the Siege of Orléans. After several decades of relative peace, the English had Hundred Years' War (1415–53), resumed the war in 1415 amid the failure of negotiations with the French. In the ensuing campaign, many soldiers died from disease, and the English numbers dwindled; they tried to withdraw to Pale of Calais, English-held Calais but found their path blocked by a considerably larger French army. Despite the numerical disadvantage, the battle ended in an overwhelming victory for the English. King Henry V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to the west. The largest settlement is Swindon, and Trowbridge is the county town. The county has an area of and a population of 720,060. The county is mostly rural, and the centre and south-west are sparsely populated. After Swindon (183,638), the largest settlements are the city of Salisbury (41,820) and the towns of Chippenham (37,548) and Trowbridge (37,169). For local government purposes, the county comprises two unitary authority areas: Swindon and Wiltshire. Undulating chalk downlands characterize much of the county. In the east are Marlborough Downs, which contain Savernake Forest. To the south is the Vale of Pewsey, which separates the downs from Salisbury Plain in the centre of the county. The south-west is also downland, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tudor Davies
Tudor Davies (12 November 18922 April 1958) was a Welsh tenor. Biography Tudor Davies was born in Cymmer, near Porth, South Wales, on 12 November 1892. He studied in Cardiff and at the Royal College of Music in London. He served as an engineer in the Royal Navy during World War I. He toured the United States, Canada and Australia (where he shared the stage with Maggie Teyte) and then returned to Britain, where he sang with the British National Opera Company, Sadler's Wells Opera and the Carl Rosa Opera Company. He sang Rodolfo to Dame Nellie Melba's Mimi in ''La bohème'' in 1922 at Covent Garden. He sang a number of leading tenor parts from the Italian, French and German repertoire, such as Lohengrin, Tamino, Florestan, Faust, Don José and the Duke of Mantua. He also appeared in English operas such as Dame Ethel Smyth's ''Fête Galante'', and Arthur Benjamin's ''The Devil Take Her''. He created the title role in Ralph Vaughan Williams' opera '' Hugh the Drover'' in 1924, ... [...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] |
