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La Chatte Métamorphosée En Femme
''La chatte métamorphosée en femme'' (''The cat transformed into a woman'') is a one-act opéra comique of 1858 with words by Eugene Scribe and Mélesville, and music by Jacques Offenbach. Performance history ''La chatte métamorphosée en femme'' was first performed in Paris, at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, on 19 April 1858, and was kept in the repertory by the Bouffes-Parisiens for some time. It was revived at the 1986 Carpentras Festival,Gänzl K. ''The Encyclopaedia of the Musical Theatre.'' Blackwell, Oxford, 1994. and more recently at the Théâtre de Cornouaille, Quimper and the Opéra de Rennes, in 2008. Roles Synopsis :The setting is Guido’s house, in Biberach, Swabia ''At the back of the stage an alcove with a divan hidden by curtains. At the front a table with a box on it, and a bird cage attached to the wall. Doors to the left and right.'' Guido, a handsome bachelor, has been abandoned by all his friends since he lost his money, and Minette, his cat � ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacques Offenbach By Nadar
Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over one hundred identified noble families related to the surname by the Nobility & Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. Origins The origin of this surname ultimately originates from the Latin, Jacobus which belongs to an unknown progenitor. Jacobus comes from the Hebrew name, Yaakov, which translates as "one who follows" or "to follow after". Ancient history A French knight returning from the Crusades in the Holy Lands probably adopted the surname from "Saint Jacques" (or "James the Greater"). James the Greater was one of Jesus' Twelve Apostles, and is believed to be the first martyred apostle. Being endowed with this surname was an honor at the time and it is likely that the Church allowed it because of acts during the Crusades. Indeed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merle Park
Dame Merle Park (born 8 October 1937) is a British ballet dancer and teacher, now retired. As a prima ballerina with the Royal Ballet during the 1960s and 1970s, she was known for "brilliance of execution and virtuoso technique" as well as for her ebullience and charm. Also admired for her dramatic abilities, she was praised as an actress who "textured her vivacity with emotional details."Anonymous"Dame Merle Park" online biography, Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. Retrieved 14 September 2015. Early life and training Born in Salisbury, the capital and most populous city of the self-governing British Crown colony of Southern Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe), Merle Park was educated in local schools. As a child she began her dance training with Betty Lamb, a local ballet teacher, and soon showed unusual facility. In 1951, when she was 14, her parents moved the family to England and enrolled her in the Elmhurst School for Dance. Located in Camberley, Surrey, not far from cen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1858 Operas
Events January–March * January – **Benito Juárez (1806–1872) becomes Liberal President of Mexico. At the same time, conservatives install Félix María Zuloaga (1813–1898) as president. **William I of Prussia becomes regent for his brother, Frederick William IV, who had suffered a stroke. * January 9 ** British forces finally defeat Rajab Ali Khan of Chittagong ** Anson Jones, the last president of the Republic of Texas, commits suicide. * January 14 – Orsini affair: Felice Orsini and his accomplices fail to assassinate Napoleon III in Paris, but their bombs kill eight and wound 142 people. Because of the involvement of French émigrés living in Britain, there is a brief anti-British feeling in France, but the emperor refuses to support it. * January 25 – The ''Wedding March'' by Felix Mendelssohn becomes a popular wedding recessional, after it is played on this day at the marriage of Queen Victoria's daughter Victoria, Princess Royal, to Prin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
One-act Operas
A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writing competitions. One act plays make up the overwhelming majority of Fringe Festival shows including at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The origin of the one-act play may be traced to the very beginning of recorded Western drama: in ancient Greece, ''Cyclops'', a satyr play by Euripides, is an early example. The satyr play was a farcical short work that came after a trilogy of multi-act serious drama plays. A few notable examples of one act plays emerged before the 19th century including various versions of the Everyman play and works by Moliere and Calderon.Francis M. Dunn. ''Tragedy's End: Closure and Innovation in Euripidean Drama''. Oxford University Press (1996). One act plays became more common in the 19th century and are now a standa ... [...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 By Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss Jr. and Arthur Sullivan. His best-known works were continually revived during the 20th century, and many of his operettas continue to be staged in the 21st. ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' remains part of the standard opera repertory. Born in Cologne, the son of a synagogue cantor, Offenbach showed early musical talent. At the age of 14, he was accepted as a student at the Paris Conservatoire but found academic study unfulfilling and left after a year. From 1835 to 1855 he earned his living as a cellist, achieving international fame, and as a conductor. His ambition, however, was to compose comic pieces for the musical theat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine (, , ; 8 July 162113 April 1695) was a French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his ''Fables'', which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, as well as in French regional languages. After a long period of royal suspicion, he was admitted to the French Academy and his reputation in France has never faded since. Evidence of this is found in the many pictures and statues of the writer, later depictions on medals, coins and postage stamps. Life Early years La Fontaine was born at Château-Thierry in France. His father was Charles de La Fontaine, maître des eaux et forêts – a kind of deputy-ranger – of the Duchy of Château-Thierry; his mother was Françoise Pidoux. Both sides of his family were of the highest provincial middle class; though they were not noble, his father was fairly wealthy. Jean, the eldest child, was educ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mouse Turned Into A Maid
The Mouse Turned into a Maid is an ancient fable of Indian origin that travelled westwards to Europe during the Middle Ages and also exists in the Far East. The story is Aarne-Thompson type 2031C in his list of cumulative tales, another example of which is ''The Husband of the Rat's Daughter''. It concerns a search for a partner through a succession of more powerful forces, resolved only by choosing an equal. The fable’s classical analogue is Aesop's fable of "Venus and the Cat", in which a man appeals to the goddess Venus to change his cat into a woman. This fable has the themes of incomplete transformation and the impossibility of changing character. It has received many treatments in literature, folklore and the arts. The Mouse-Maid Made Mouse The story found in the ''Panchatantra'' relates how a mouse drops from the beak of a bird of prey into the hands of a holy man, who turns it into a girl and brings her up as his own. Eventually he seeks a powerful marriage for her bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henri Sauguet
Henri-Pierre Sauguet-Poupard (18 May 1901 – 22 June 1989) was a French composer. Born in Bordeaux, he adopted his mother's maiden name as part of his professional pseudonym. His output includes operas, ballets, four symphonies (1945, 1949, 1955, 1971), concertos, chamber and choral music and numerous songs, as well as film music. Although he experimented with musique concrète and expanded tonality, he remained opposed to particular systems and his music evolved little: he developed tonal or modal ideas in smooth curves, producing an art of clarity, simplicity and restraint. Career Sauguet started learning the piano at home when he was five years old. Later he was taught by the organist of the church of Sainte-Eulalie de Bordeaux. On the mobilization of his father in 1914, he was required to earn a living at a very young age. Eventually employed by the Prefecture of Montauban in 1919–1920, he formed a friendship with Joseph Canteloube, a former pupil of Vincent d'Indy. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean Coralli
Jean Coralli (15 January 1779 – 1 May 1854) was a French ballet dancer and choreographer, best known for collaborating with Jules Perrot in creating ''Giselle'' (1841), the quintessential Romantic ballet of the nineteenth century. Early life and career Born Giovanni Coralli Peracini, he was a son of a Bolognese family resident in Paris, where his father was a comedian at the Théâtre Italien. As a child he studied at the ballet school of the Paris Opera but chose to go to Vienna to make his debut as a dancer and choreographer. He danced for a short while at the Paris Opera in 1802 and at the King's Theatre in London and then returned to Vienna to assume the position of ballet master at the Hoftheater (Court Theater). During these early years, he and his wife formed the celebrated dancing couple Giovanni and Teresa Coralli and were often pictured in contemporary prints. They danced leading roles in most of the ballets that Coralli created at the Hoftheater, including ''Helena u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexandre Montfort
Alexandre Montfort (12 May 1803 – 13 February 1856) was a French classical composer. His works included instrumental music, art songs and six operas. He was awarded the Prix de Rome in composition in 1830. Fétis, François-Joseph (1864)"Montfort (Alexandre)" ''Biographie universelle des musiciens et bibliographie générale de la musique'', vol. 6, p. 186. Firmin Didot frères, fils et Cie Life and career Montfort was born in Paris, the son of a prominent antiquarian and numismatist. He studied at the Paris Conservatory under Fétis and Berton and in 1830 was awarded (jointly with Berlioz) the Prix de Rome in composition. He stayed in Rome at the Villa Medici for two years and used the rest of his Prix de Rome bursary to travel and study in other parts of Italy and then in Germany. On his return to Paris in 1835 he made his debut as a composer with a series of instrumental overtures, piano music, and art songs. Michaud, Louis Gabriel (1863)"Montfort (Alexandre)" ''Biographie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
