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Michael Lane Sylvester
Michael Lane Sylvester (born August 21, 1951), is an American operatic lyric-spinto tenor. In the course of his 25-year career on the opera stage, he appeared in leading tenor roles at many of the world's opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, La Fenice, the Paris Opera, and London's Royal Opera House. He retired from performing in May 2001 and now teaches voice. Early life and education Sylvester was born in Noblesville, Indiana. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from Westminster Choir College and a Master of Music degree from Indiana University, where he studied under Margaret Harshaw. Career Sylvester made his professional singing debut as the tenor soloist in the Verdi Requiem, Verdi ''Requiem'' in 1975 and his operatic debut as Riccardo in ''Ballo in Maschera''. He initially sang in smaller American opera houses before embarking on an international career, making his debut at the Paris Opera as Polione in ''Norma (opera), Norma'', his La Scala debut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spinto
Spinto ( Italian for "pushed") is a vocal term used to characterize a soprano or tenor voice of a weight between lyric and dramatic that is capable of handling large musical climaxes in opera at moderate intervals. (Sometimes the terms ' or ' are used to denote this category of voice.) The spinto voice type is recognisable by its tonal "slice" or ''squillo''. This enables the singer to cut through the wall of sound produced by a full Romantic orchestra in a wide variety of roles, excluding only the most taxing ones written by the likes of Richard Wagner (such as ''Brünhilde'', ''Isolde'', ''Tristan'' and ''Siegfried''), Giacomo Meyerbeer (''John of Leyden''), Verdi (''Otello''), Puccini (''Turandot'', ''Calaf'') and Richard Strauss (''Elektra''). * : A fundamentally lyric soprano with a fair amount of extra "pulp" in her tone and a distinct thrust in her vocal attack. As they possess both a lyric and a dramatic quality, spinto sopranos are suitable for a broad spectrum of r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carmen
''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 3 March 1875, where its breaking of conventions shocked and scandalised its first audiences. Bizet died suddenly after the 33rd performance, unaware that the work would achieve international acclaim within the following ten years. ''Carmen'' has since become one of the most popular and frequently performed operas in the classical canon; the " Habanera" and "Seguidilla" from act 1 and the " Toreador Song" from act 2 are among the best known of all operatic arias. The opera is written in the genre of ''opéra comique'' with musical numbers separated by dialogue. It is set in southern Spain and tells the story of the downfall of Don José, a naïve soldier who is seduced by the wiles of the fiery gypsy Carmen. Josà ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Miguel De Allende
San Miguel de Allende () is the principal city in the Municipalities of Mexico, municipality of San Miguel de Allende (municipality), San Miguel de Allende, located in the far eastern part of Guanajuato, Mexico. A part of the BajÃo region, the town lies from Mexico City, 86 km (53 mi) from Querétaro City, Querétaro and from the state capital of Guanajuato City, Guanajuato. The town's name derives from a 16th-century friar, Juan de San Miguel, and a martyr of Mexican Independence, Ignacio Allende, who was born in a house facing the central plaza. San Miguel de Allende was a critical epicenter during the historic Chichimeca War (1540–1590) when the Chichimeca held back the Spanish Empire during the initial phases of Spanish colonization of the Americas, European colonization. Today, an old section of the town is part of a proclaimed World Heritage Site, attracting thousands of tourists and new residents from abroad every year. At the beginning of the 20th century, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wichita State University
Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in nine colleges. The university's graduate school offers more than 50 master's degrees in more than 100 areas and a specialist in education degree and 13 doctoral degrees. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". History The idea behind Wichita State University began in 1886. Rev Joseph Homer Parker founded a private women's Congregational preparatory school which was supported mainly by Wichita's Plymouth Congregational Church, Rev. Parker's church. The school never opened its doors. Called the "Young Ladies College," "Wichita Ladies College" and "Congregational Female College" and founded during a boom in college and university creation, the private school was envisioned to admit women twelve year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indianapolis
Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion County. Indianapolis is situated in the state's central till plain region along the west fork of the White River (Indiana), White River. The city's official slogan, "Crossroads of America", reflects its historic importance as a transportation hub and its relative proximity to other major North American markets. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the Indianapolis (balance), balance population was 887,642. Indianapolis is the List of United States cities by population, 16th-most populous city in the U.S., the third-most populous city in the Midwestern United States, Midwest after Chicago and Columbus, Ohio, and the fourth-most populous state capital in the nation after Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, Austin, Texas, Austin, and Columbu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DePaul University
DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-century French priest Vincent de Paul, Saint Vincent de Paul. In 1998, it became the largest Catholic theology, Catholic university in terms of enrollment in North America. Following in the footsteps of its founders, DePaul places special emphasis on recruiting first-generation students and others from disadvantaged backgrounds. DePaul's two campuses are located in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Lincoln Park and the Chicago Loop, Loop. DePaul is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". The university enrolls around 14,500 undergraduates and about 7,900 graduate/law students. In 2017, about 90% of DePaul's students commuted or lived off campus. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indianapolis Opera
Indianapolis Opera is an opera company based in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the only professional opera company in Indiana, and it hosts a number of fully staged productions each season. The company is led by General Director David Craig Starkey and Board President Michael Schultz. The digital collection for the Indianapolis Opera is held at the Indianapolis Public Library and includes past promotional materials, material related to educational programming of the Indianapolis Opera Ensemble, and photographs of past performances. History Since 1975, Indianapolis Opera has presented 109 operatic productions representing the work of 32 different composers, including 13 composers who wrote in the 20th century. Selected works range from standard operatic repertoire to new or less-performed works, balancing musical style and language as well as comedy and tragedy. The Frank and Katrina Basile Opera Center In 2008, Bill Oesterle, a local business entrepreneur, purchased the Holy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elizabeth Forbes (musicologist)
Elizabeth Forbes (3 August 1924 – 22 October 2014) was an English author, journalist, music critic, and musicologist who specialised in writing about opera. Actively working as a professional writer and journalist from the early 1970s through 2013, her main areas of interest were 19th and 20th-century opera (French and Scandinavian in particular) and singers, both historical and present-day. She published multiple books related to opera and contributed many reviews and articles to several notable periodicals and newspapers internationally, including the ''Financial Times'', ''The Independent'', ''The Musical Times'', ''Opera'', '' Opera Canada'' and '' Opera News'' among several others. Life and career Born in Camberley, Elizabeth Forbes was the daughter of Admiral Sir Charles Forbes; who was Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet during World War II. Her mother, Marie Louise Berndtson, was Admiral Forbes's second wife and was originally from Sweden. Elizabeth served in the Wome ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simon Boccanegra
''Simon Boccanegra'' () is an opera with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play ''Simón Bocanegra'' (1843) by Antonio GarcÃa Gutiérrez, whose play ''El trovador'' had been the basis for Verdi's 1853 opera, '' Il trovatore''. ''Simon Boccanegra'' was first performed at Teatro La Fenice in Venice on 12 March 1857. Given the complications of the original plot and the generally poor popular response – although the critical one was more encouraging – the opera dropped out of favour after 1866. Finally, 23 years later, Verdi's publisher persuaded the composer to revise the opera, with text changes to be prepared by Arrigo Boito, the librettist who aspired to work with the aging composer on a project which eventually became a new opera, ''Otello'', but to whom Verdi had not totally committed at that time. The revised version of ''Simon Boccanegra'', with the now-famous Council Chamber scene, was first perfo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turandot
''Turandot'' ( ; see #Origin and pronunciation of the name, below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Puccini left the opera unfinished at the time of his death in 1924; it premiered in 1926 after the music was posthumously completed by Franco Alfano. The opera is set in China and follows the Prince Calaf, who falls in love with the cold-hearted Princess Turandot. In order to win her hand in marriage, a suitor must solve three riddles, with a wrong answer resulting in his execution. Calaf passes the test, but Turandot refuses to marry him. He offers her a way out: if she is able to guess his name before dawn the next day, he will accept death. Origin and pronunciation of the name The title of the opera is derived from the Persian term ''Turandokht'' (, 'daughter of Turan'), a name frequently given to Central Asian princesses in Persian poetry. Turan is a region of Central Asia that was once part of the Ach ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aida
''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is a tragic opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 December 1871, in a performance conducted by Giovanni Bottesini. Today the work holds a central place in the operatic canon, receiving performances every year around the world. At New York's Metropolitan Opera alone, ''Aida'' has been sung more than 1,100 times since 1886. Ghislanzoni's scheme follows a scenario often attributed to the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, but Verdi biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz argues that the source is actually Temistocle Solera. Elements of the opera's genesis and sources Isma'il Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, commissioned Verdi to write an opera to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal, but Verdi declined. However, Auguste Mariette, a French Egyptologist, proposed to Khedive Pasha a plot for a cele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Carlos
''Don Carlos'' is an 1867 five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the 1787 play '' Don Karlos, Infant von Spanien'' (''Don Carlos, Infante of Spain'') by Friedrich Schiller and several incidents from Eugène Cormon's 1846 play ''Philippe II, Roi d'Espagne''. The opera is most often performed in Italian translation, usually under the title ''Don Carlo''. The opera's story is based on conflicts in the life of Carlos, Prince of Asturias (1545–1568). Though he was betrothed to Elisabeth of Valois, part of the peace treaty ending the Italian War of 1551–59 between the Houses of Habsburg and Valois demanded that she be married instead to his father Philip II of Spain. It was commissioned and produced by the Théâtre Impérial de l'Opéra (Paris Opera) and given its premiere at the Salle Le Peletier on 11 March 1867. The first performance in Italian was given at Covent Garden in London in Jun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
