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National Symphony Orchestra (UK)
The National Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1941 by conductor Sidney Beer (1899–1971) as the Sidney Beer Orchestra. It flourished during World War II, disbanding in 1946. Sidney Beer Orchestra Sidney Beer was widely regarded as a wealthy amateur. He spent most of his time and money on racehorses (winner, Nunthorpe Stakes, 1925) until signing up to study conducting with Malcolm Sargent at the Royal College of Music in 1931, by which time he was 32 years old. He made his professional conducting debut in 1932 with the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg and later conducted the Vienna Philharmonic. Returning to London in 1940 he was appalled by the lack of orchestral music performances, and set about forming an orchestra that would have the best professional players and sufficient rehearsal time. Frederick Laurence, the composer husband of Marie Goossens, was hired as the orchestral manager and recruiter, but died before taking up the position. Victor Olof subsequently took over as m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nunthorpe Stakes
The Nunthorpe Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged two years or older. It is run at York over a distance of 5 furlongs (1,006 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in August. History The event is named after Nunthorpe, an area of York. The first version, a low-grade selling race, was established in 1903. The present version began in 1922, and the inaugural running was won by Two Step. The race was sponsored by William Hill from 1976 to 1989, and during this period it was known as the William Hill Sprint Championship. It has had several different sponsors since then, and the latest is Coolmore Stud, which started supporting the event in 2007. The Nunthorpe Stakes became part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series in 2011. The winner of the race now earns an automatic invitation to compete in the same year's Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. The event is one of a limited n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Rake's Progress (film)
''The Rake's Progress'' is a 1945 British comedy-drama film. In the United States, the title was changed to ''Notorious Gentleman''. The film caused controversy with U.S. censors of the time, who trimmed scenes for what was considered graphic amoral and sexual content. Plot The plot follows the career of upper-class cad Vivian Kenway. He is sent down from Oxford University for placing a chamber pot on the Martyrs' Memorial. Sent to South America after his father pulls a favour from a friend, he is fired for heckling the managing director while drunk. A friend offers him a job, but he responds by seducing his wife and is found out. His jobs decline, as he moves from employment as racing driver to shop assistant to dancing partner. He lives a life of womanising and heavy drinking and constantly runs up large debts, which his family has to pay. One girl tries to kill herself. Driving while drunk and taking risks, he crashes and causes the death of his father, Colonel Kenway. K ... [...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] |
David McCallum Sr
David Fotheringham McCallum (26 March 1897 – 21 March 1972) was the Scottish leader (principal first violinist) of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Scottish National Orchestra. He was also the father of actor David McCallum and of author Iain McCallum. Life and career McCallum was born in Kilsyth, Stirlingshire, to a musical family. He studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, Glasgow, and the Royal College of Music, London, where he studied under Maurice Sons, a pupil of Henryk Wieniawski and leader of the Queen's Hall Orchestra. He modelled his violin playing on Fritz Kreisler. Early in his career, he arranged music for several local silent cinemas. He also played in the cinema trio; and it was here that he met his wife, cellist Dorothy Dorman. In 1922, he broadcast as a solo violinist for the first time. Between 1932 and 1936, he led the Scottish Orchestra in Glasgow under John Barbirolli, then was asked by Sir Thomas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, England. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagements including the Glyndebourne Festival Opera and the concerts of the Royal Philharmonic Society. After Beecham's death in 1961, the RPO's fortunes declined steeply. The RPO battled for survival until the mid-1960s, when its future was secured after a report by the Arts Council of Great Britain recommended that it should receive public subsidy. A further crisis arose in the same era when it seemed that the orchestra's right to call itself "Royal" could be withdrawn. In 2004, the RPO acquired its first permanent London base, at Cadogan Hall in Chelsea, London, Chelsea. The RPO also gives concerts at the Royal Festival Hall, the Royal Albert Hall and venues around the United Kingdom and other countries. Since the start of the 2021–2022 seas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uxbridge
Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part of the suburban growth of London in the 20th century it expanded and increased in population, Municipal Borough of Uxbridge, becoming a municipal borough in 1955, and part of Greater London in 1965. Attempted negotiations between King Charles I of England, Charles I and the Roundhead, Parliamentary Army during the English Civil War took place at a public house called the Crown and Treaty. RAF Uxbridge houses the Battle of Britain Bunker, from where the air defence of the south-east of England was coordinated during the Battle of Britain especially from its No. 11 Group RAF, No. 11 Group Operations Room, also used during the D-Day landings. Today the town serves as a significant retail and commercial centre; it also houses Brunel Universi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allies of World War I, Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918, the RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world at the time. Since its formation, the RAF has played History of the Royal Air Force, a significant role in Military history of the United Kingdom, British military history. In particular, during the Second World War, the RAF established Air supremacy, air superiority over Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain, and led the Allied strategic bombing effort. The RAF's mission is to support the objectives of the British Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence (MOD), which are to "provide the capabilities nee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reginald Kell
Reginald Clifford Kell (8 June 19065 August 1981) was an English clarinettist. He was noted especially for his career as a soloist and chamber music player. He was the principal clarinettist in leading British orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, Philharmonia, and Royal Philharmonic, and was also active as a solo recording artist. Kell was influential as one of the first clarinettists to employ continuous vibrato to enhance the expressive quality of the instrument. He was also a noted teacher, serving two different appointments at his ''alma mater'', the Royal Academy of Music in London. In 1948 Kell moved to the United States where he pursued a solo career and taught, with pupils including the jazz clarinettist Benny Goodman. Career Early years Born in York, England, Kell was awarded a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1929, where he studied with Haydn Draper until 1932.Weston, Pamela"Kell, Reginald" ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford Music Online, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Léon Goossens
Léon Jean Goossens, CBE, FRCM (12 June 1897 – 13 February 1988) was an English oboist. Career Goossens was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, and studied at Liverpool College of Music and the Royal College of Music. His father was violinist and conductor Eugène Goossens, his brother the conductor and composer Eugene Aynsley Goossens and his sisters the harpists Marie and Sidonie Goossens.John Warrack, "Goossens, Léon Jean (1897–1988)", in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford University Press, 2004)online edition accessed 30 January 2008. In 1916 his brother Adolphe, a gifted French horn player, was killed in action at the Somme. During the early and middle parts of the 20th century, he was considered among the premier oboists in the world. He joined the Queen's Hall Orchestra (conducted by Henry Wood) at the age of 15 and was later (1932) engaged by Sir Thomas Beecham for the newly founded London Philharmonic Orchestra, but he also enjoyed a rich solo and c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norman Del Mar
Norman René Del Mar Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (31 July 19196 February 1994) was an English Conductor (music), conductor, horn player, and biographer. As a conductor, he specialised in the music of late romantic composers; including Edward Elgar, Gustav Mahler, and Richard Strauss. He left a great legacy of recordings of British music, in particular Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Frederick Delius, and Benjamin Britten. He notably conducted the premiere recording of Britten's children's opera ''Noye's Fludde''. Life and career Born in Hampstead, London, Del Mar began his career as a horn player. He was one of the original members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), which was established by Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham in 1946. Within the first few months of the RPO's existence, Beecham appointed Del Mar as his assistant conductor. Del Mar made his professional debut as a conductor with the RPO in 1947. In 1949 Del Mar was appointed principal co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dennis Brain
Dennis Brain (17 May 19211 September 1957) was a British French horn, horn player. From a musical family – his father and grandfather were horn players – he attended the Royal Academy of Music in London. During the Second World War he served in the Royal Air Force, playing in its Central Band of the Royal Air Force, band and orchestra. After the war, he was the principal horn of the Philharmonia Orchestra, Philharmonia and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic orchestras, and played in chamber ensembles. Among the works written for Brain is Benjamin Britten's ''Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings'' (1944). Other composers who wrote for him include Malcolm Arnold, Lennox Berkeley, Alan Bush, Gordon Jacob, Humphrey Searle and Mátyás Seiber. Brain was killed in a car crash at the age of 36. Life and career Early years Brain was born in Hammersmith, London on 17 May 1921 to a musical family. His mother, Marion, ''née'' Beeley (1887–1954), was a singer at Roy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lausanne
Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway between the Jura Mountains and the Alps, and facing the French town of Évian-les-Bains across the lake. Lausanne is located (as the crow flies) northeast of Geneva, the nearest major city. The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland convenes in Lausanne, although it is not the ''de jure'' capital of the nation. The municipality of Lausanne has a population of about 140,000, making it the List of cities in Switzerland, fourth largest city in Switzerland after Basel, Geneva, and Zurich, with the entire agglomeration area having about 420,000 inhabitants (as of January 2019). The metropolitan area of Lausanne-Geneva (including Vevey-Montreux, Yverdon-les-Bains, Valais and foreign parts), commonly designated as ''Lake Geneva region, Arc lémanique ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
