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Laurence Olivier Award For Outstanding Achievement In Opera
The Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards in 1976, and renamed in 1984 in honour of English actor and director Laurence Olivier. This award was first presented in 1977, and covers the breadth of a commingled group of specialties, including individual or combinations of: opera companies, orchestras, conductors, composers, singers, stage directors, theatre directors and libretto translators. It served as the only Olivier Award focused solely on opera until the 1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ... introduction of the award for Best New Opera Production. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurence Olivier Award
The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in West End theatre, professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of West End Theatre Awards, but they were renamed in honour of the Laurence Olivier, English actor of the same name in 1984 Laurence Olivier Awards, 1984. The awards are given annually to individuals involved in West End productions and other leading West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatres based in London across a range of categories covering plays, musicals, dance, opera and affiliate theatre. A discretionary non-competitive Society of London Theatre Special Award, Special Olivier Award is also given each year. The Olivier Awards are recognised internationally as the highest honour in Theatre of the United Kingdom, British theatre, equivalent to the British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA Awards for Cinema of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Werther
''Werther'' is an opera (''drame lyrique'') in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann (who used the pseudonym Henri Grémont). It is loosely based on Goethe's epistolary novel ''The Sorrows of Young Werther'', which was based both on fact and on Goethe's own early life. Earlier examples of operas using the story were made by Kreutzer (1792) and Pucitta (1802). Milnes R. Werther. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera''. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. Performance history Massenet started composing ''Werther'' in 1885, completing it in 1887. He submitted it to Léon Carvalho, the director of the Paris Opéra-Comique, that year, but Carvalho declined to accept it on the grounds that the scenario was too serious. With the disruption of the fire at the Opéra-Comique and Massenet's work on other operatic projects (especially ''Esclarmonde''), it was put to one side, until the Vienna Opera, pleased with the success ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1981 Laurence Olivier Awards
The 1981 Society of West End Theatre Awards were held in 1981 in London celebrating excellence in West End theatre by the Society of West End Theatre. The awards would not become the Laurence Olivier Awards, as they are known today, until the 1984 ceremony. Winners and nominees Details of winners (in bold) and nominees, in each award category, per the Society of London Theatre. Productions with multiple nominations and awards The following 18 productions, including one ballet and one opera, received multiple nominations: * 6: ''Cats'' * 3: '' Barnum'', '' Children of a Lesser God'', ''Hamlet'', '' One Mo' Time'' and ''The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'' * 2: ''Anyone for Denis'', ''Dances of Albion'', ''Les contes d'Hoffmann'', ''Man and Superman'', '' On the Razzle'', ''Passion Play'', ''Present Laughter'', ''Quartermaine's Terms'', ''Steaming'', '' The Mitford Girls'', '' The Provoked Wife'' and ''Translations'' The following two productions received multiple awards: * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kent Opera
Kent Opera was a British opera company active between 1969 and 1989. It was based in Ashford and regular venues included The Orchard Theatre, Dartford; Assembly Halls, Tunbridge Wells; Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury; Kings Theatre, Southsea; Theatre Royal,Norwich, and the Derngate, Northampton. Its operas were performed in English, usually with new translations of the libretto by professor Michael Irwin, but also by Norman Platt or Anne Riddler. For the first two years it performed with the Midland Sinfonia but later had its own orchestra. History Kent Opera was England's first regional opera company, founded in 1969 by Norman Platt (1920-2004), in response to a perceived need for first-class opera in England outside the main centres, in productions that were composer-centred. The founding Music Director of Kent Opera was Roger Norrington (1969–1984). He was succeeded by Iván Fischer (1984–1989). Chorus masters during its existence were Jonathan Hinden, Timothy Dean and Mark ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Turn Of The Screw (opera)
''The Turn of the Screw'', Op. 54, is a 20th-century English chamber opera composed by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto by Myfanwy Piper, based on the 1898 novella '' The Turn of the Screw'' by Henry James. Kennedy, Michael, "Benjamin Britten", in It concerns a young, inexperienced governess sent to a country house to care for two children, whom she is gradually convinced have been corrupted by the ghosts of a previous manservant and governess. The drama grows increasingly tense, with a tragic outcome. It was described by ''The Guardian'' as one of the most dramatically appealing of Britten's operas, and by music professor Peter Evans as "Britten's most intricately organized opera". It is in two acts of eight scenes each, with a prologue that ends with the introduction of a twelve-note 'Screw' theme. Each scene is preceded by a variation on that theme. Several other related leitmotifs occur through the opera. Typically of Britten, the music mixes tonality and dissonance. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giulio Cesare
''Giulio Cesare in Egitto'' (; ; HWV 17), commonly known as , is a dramma per musica (''opera seria'') in three acts composed by George Frideric Handel for the Royal Academy of Music in 1724. The libretto was written by Nicola Francesco Haym who used an earlier libretto by Giacomo Francesco Bussani, which had been set to music by Antonio Sartorio (1676). The opera was a success at its first performances, was frequently revived by Handel in his subsequent opera seasons and is now one of the most often performed Baroque operas. The opera's plot is loosely based on historical events during the Roman Civil War of 49–45 BC. Composition history ''Giulio Cesare in Egitto'' was first performed at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket, London on 20 February 1724. The opera was an immediate success. A contemporary wrote in a letter on 10 March 1724: ...the opera is in full swing also, since Hendell's new one, called Jules César – in which Cenesino and Cozzuna shine beyond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Così Fan Tutte
(''Women are like that, or The School for Lovers''), Köchel catalogue, K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte who also wrote ''The Marriage of Figaro, Le nozze di Figaro'' and ''Don Giovanni''. Although it is commonly held that was written and composed at the suggestion of the Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor Joseph II, recent research does not support this idea. There is evidence that Mozart's contemporary Antonio Salieri tried to set the libretto but left it unfinished. In 1994, John A. Rice (musicologist), John Rice uncovered two String trio, terzetti by Salieri in the Austrian National Library. The short title, ''Così fan tutte'', literally means "So do they all", using the feminine plural (''wikt:tutte#Italian, tutte'') to indicate women. It is usually translated into English as "Women are like that". The words a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1980 Laurence Olivier Awards
The 1980 Society of West End Theatre Awards were held in 1980 in London celebrating excellence in West End theatre by the Society of West End Theatre. The awards would not become the Laurence Olivier Awards, as they are known today, until the 1984 ceremony. Winners and nominees Details of winners (in bold) and nominees, in each award category, per the Society of London Theatre. Productions with multiple nominations and awards The following 21 productions, including two operas, received multiple nominations: * 7: '' Nicholas Nickleby'' * 4: '' Amadeus'' * 3: '' Juno and the Paycock'', '' Life of Galileo'', '' Pal Joey'', ''Sweeney Todd'' and '' They're Playing Our Song'' * 2: ''A Lesson from Aloes'', '' Born in the Gardens'', ''Così fan tutte'', '' Duet for One'', '' Educating Rita'', ''Harlequinade'', '' Jeeves Takes Charge'', ''Make and Break'', ''Oklahoma'', '' On the Twentieth Century'', '' The Browning Version'', ''The Dresser'', ''The Greeks'' and '' The Turn of the Sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Excursions Of Mr
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pronoun ''thee' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manon
''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was first performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 19 January 1884, with sets designed by Eugène Carpezat (act 1), Auguste Alfred Rubé and Philippe Chaperon (acts 2 and 3), and Jean-Baptiste Lavastre (act 4). Prior to Massenet's work, Halévy (''Manon Lescaut'', ballet, 1830) and Auber ('' Manon Lescaut'', opéra comique, 1856) had used the subject for musical stage works. Massenet also wrote a one-act sequel to ''Manon'', '' Le portrait de Manon'' (1894), involving the Chevalier des Grieux as an older man. ''Manon'' is Massenet's most popular and enduring opera and, having "quickly conquered the world's stages", it has maintained an important place in the repertory since its creation. It is the quintessential example of the charm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Magic Flute
''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on 30 September 1791 at Schikaneder's theatre, the Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna, just two months before Mozart's death. It was Mozart's last opera. It was an outstanding success from its first performances, and remains a staple of the opera repertory. In the opera the Queen of the Night persuades Prince Tamino to rescue her daughter Pamina from captivity under the high priest Sarastro; instead, he learns the high ideals of Sarastro's community and seeks to join it. Separately, then together, Tamino and Pamina undergo severe trials of initiation, which end in triumph, with the Queen and her cohorts vanquished. The earthy Papageno, who accompanies Tamino on his quest, fails the trials completely but is rewarded anyway with the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Rake's Progress
''The Rake's Progress'' is an English-language opera from 1951 in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings '' A Rake's Progress'' (1733–1735) of William Hogarth, which Stravinsky had seen on 2 May 1947, in a Chicago exhibition. The story concerns the decline and fall of one Tom Rakewell, who deserts Anne Trulove for the delights of London in the company of Nick Shadow, who turns out to be the Devil. After several misadventures, all initiated by the devious Shadow, Tom ends up in Bedlam, a hospital for the insane at that time situated in the City of London. The moral of the tale is: "For idle hearts and hands and minds the Devil finds work to do." Performance history It was first performed at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice on 11 September 1951, with Robert Rounseville as Tom Rakewell, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf as Anne Trulove, and Otakar Kraus as Nick Shadow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
