|
Phillip Rhodes (baritone)
Phillip Rhodes is a New Zealand-born baritone opera singer. Life Rhodes was born in Flaxmere, a suburb of Hastings, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. He is of Māori descent, with a Pākehā mother and affiliating to the iwi Ngāti Awa and Ngāti Kahungunu on his father's side. Rhodes was raised in poverty, in a state house, with an abusive alcoholic father who was frequently unemployed. At the age of nine his father died, and he and his five sisters were taken from his mother and put into foster care. After their initial placement, Rhodes and his sisters were fostered by Hastings couple Pam and Henare Ngaera O'Keefe. The couple were community leaders who rehabilitated prison inmates and taken in over 200 foster children over 30 years; Henare O'Keefe was a Hastings councillor, and Pam O'Keefe was known as the "mother of Flaxmere". In this more supportive family environment, Rhodes flourished. His love for music was kindled while watching Henare O'Keefe singing to an enthralled audienc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flaxmere
Flaxmere ( mi, Paharakeke) is a township in the Hastings District and outlying suburb of Hastings City, in the Hawke's Bay Region of New Zealand's North Island. It consists of a series of cul-de-sacs, radiating from a main street. History The original European owner of the land was Sir William Russell, for many years of local member of parliament and Leader of the Opposition from 1894 to 1901. Russell called his estate Flaxmere. When Hastings City Council needed to expand, subdivision of the land started in 1963 and in the following year, the area was incorporated into the area held by the (then) city council. The subdivision was named after the original estate name. Russell's son, Harold Russell, inherited a homestead ''Little Flaxmere'' and land that was part of original estate. This is today located in nearby Twyford. For the subdivision Hastings City Council bought , which had zoned for industry, 40 acres for Flaxmere Park and for Flaxmere Shopping Centre, including ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leeds
Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by population) in England, after London and Birmingham. The city was a small manorial borough in the 13th century and a market town in the 16th century. It expanded by becoming a major production centre, including of carbonated water where it was invented in the 1760s, and trading centre (mainly with wool) for the 17th and 18th centuries. It was a major mill town during the Industrial Revolution. It was also known for its flax industry, Foundry, iron foundries, engineering and printing, as well as shopping, with several surviving Victorian era arcades, such as Leeds Kirkgate Market, Kirkgate Market. City status was awarded in 1893, a populous urban centre formed in the following century which absorbed surrounding vi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hansel And Gretel (opera)
''Hansel and Gretel'' (German: ') is an opera by nineteenth-century composer Engelbert Humperdinck, who described it as a ' (fairy-tale opera). The libretto was written by Humperdinck's sister, Adelheid Wette, based on the Grimm brothers' fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel". It is much admired for its folk music-inspired themes, one of the most famous being the "" ("Evening Benediction") from act 2. The idea for the opera was proposed to Humperdinck by his sister, who approached him about writing music for songs that she had written for her children for Christmas based on "Hansel and Gretel". After several revisions, the musical sketches and the songs were turned into a full-scale opera. Humperdinck composed ''Hansel and Gretel'' in Frankfurt in 1891 and 1892. The opera was first performed in the Hoftheater in Weimar on 23 December 1893, conducted by Richard Strauss. It has been associated with Christmas since its earliest performances and today it is still most often performed at C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scottish Opera
Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Founded in 1962 and based in Glasgow, it is the largest performing arts organisation in Scotland. History Scottish Opera was founded by conductor Alexander Gibson in 1962. In 1975 it purchased the Theatre Royal in Glasgow from Scottish Television re-opening it as the first national opera house for Scotland in October 1975 with ''Die Fledermaus''. In March 2005, the management of the Theatre Royal was transferred to the Ambassador Theatre Group, but remains the home of Scottish Opera and of Scottish Ballet. Scottish Opera dealt with various financial troubles, related to lack of funding and accusations of fiscal profligacy, during the first part of the 2000s. Its cycle of Richard Wagner's ''Ring'' was critically acclaimed, but also was highly draining of the company's financial resources. In 2004, a financial restructuring plan had called for the elimi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Marriage Of Figaro
''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' ( opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 1 May 1786. The opera's libretto is based on the 1784 stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, ''La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro'' ("The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro"). It tells how the servants Figaro and Susanna succeed in getting married, foiling the efforts of their philandering employer Count Almaviva to seduce Susanna and teaching him a lesson in fidelity. Considered one of the greatest operas ever written, it is a cornerstone of the repertoire and appears consistently among the top ten in the Operabase list of most frequently performed operas. In 2017, BBC News Magazine asked 172 opera singers to vote for the best operas ever written. ''The Marriage of Figaro'' came in first out ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opera North
Opera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays and the Theatre Royal, Newcastle. The company's orchestra, the Orchestra of Opera North, regularly performs and records in its own right. Operas are performed either in English translation or in the original language of the libretto, in the latter case usually with surtitles. The major funders of Opera North include Arts Council England and, in Yorkshire, Leeds City Council, West Yorkshire Grants, North Yorkshire County Council, and East Riding of Yorkshire Council. History Opera North was established in 1977 as English National Opera North, as an offshoot of English National Opera, with the specific intention of delivering high-quality opera to the northern areas of England which, up to that point, had had no permanently establishe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tosca
''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language dramatic play, '' La Tosca'', is a melodramatic piece set in Rome in June 1800, with the Kingdom of Naples's control of Rome threatened by Napoleon's invasion of Italy. It contains depictions of torture, murder, and suicide, as well as some of Puccini's best-known lyrical arias. Puccini saw Sardou's play when it was touring Italy in 1889 and, after some vacillation, obtained the rights to turn the work into an opera in 1895. Turning the wordy French play into a succinct Italian opera took four years, during which the composer repeatedly argued with his librettists and publisher. ''Tosca'' premiered at a time of unrest in Rome, and its first performance was delayed for a day for fear of disturbances. Despite indifferent reviews from the crit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long line of composers, stemming from the late- Baroque era. Though his early work was firmly rooted in traditional late-19th-century Romantic Italian opera, he later developed his work in the realistic '' verismo'' style, of which he became one of the leading exponents. His most renowned works are '' La bohème'' (1896), ''Tosca'' (1900), ''Madama Butterfly'' (1904), and '' Turandot'' (1924), all of which are among the most frequently performed and recorded of all operas. Family and education Puccini was born Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini in Lucca, Italy, in 1858. He was the sixth of nine children of Michele Puccini (1813–1864) and Albina Magi (1830–1884). The Puccini family was established in Lucca as a local m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nederlandse Reisopera
The Nederlandse Reisopera (formerly Nationale Reisopera) is a Dutch opera company based in Enschede, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the company performs an annual season of fully staged operas. The organization regularly tours their productions, and is often referred to internationally as the Dutch Touring Opera. In 1988 the company presented the European premiere of John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...'s '' Nixon in China''. References External linksNederlandse Reisopera Nederlandse Music in Amsterdam Dutch music Musical groups established in 1955 {{Opera-company-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jenny McLeod
Jennifer Helen McLeod (12 November 1941 – 28 November 2022) was a New Zealand composer and professor of music at Victoria University of Wellington. She composed several major works for big groups including ''Under the Sun'' for four orchestras and 450 children'','' and the opera ''Hōhepa.'' Biography McLeod was born in Wellington on 12 November 1941, the daughter of Lorna Bell McLeod (née Perrin) and Ronald D'Arcy McLeod, and grew up in Timaru and Levin. She was musical as a child and could read music at age five. In 1961, McLeod began studying music at Victoria University of Wellington, where her teachers included Frederick Page, David Farquhar and Douglas Lilburn, and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1964. In 1964 a New Zealand government bursary enabled her to study for two years in Europe with Messiaen, Stockhausen and Berio. In 1967 she became a lecturer in music at Victoria University. She was appointed at a young age to Professor in 1971, a position she ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand Festival Of The Arts
Aotearoa New Zealand Festival is a multi-arts biennial festival based in Wellington New Zealand that started in 1986. Previous names are the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts, New Zealand International Arts Festival, New Zealand Arts Festival and New Zealand Festival of the Arts. The festival is produced every two years and runs across three weeks in venues in Wellington City and outreach programmes in the region. The festival features both international and national acts from performing arts and music with a literary program also. History Aotearoa New Zealand Festival started in 1986 in Wellington, New Zealand. The festival was modelled off the Adelaide Festival in Australia. Amongst the people creating this first festival were arts patrons headed by former Prime Minister Jack Marshall. The Wellington City Council and mayor Ian Lawrence supported the festival and the council has continued to support the festival. The festival made a loss for the first four fe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malvina Major
Dame Malvina Lorraine Major (born 28 January 1943) is a New Zealand opera soprano. Early life Major was born in Hamilton, New Zealand, into a large musical family. As a child she performed at various concerts, singing mainly country and western pop and music from the shows. She received her first classical training in 1955, from Sister Mary Magdalen at Ngāruawāhia, north of Hamilton. Sister Febronie continued with her voice training and Sister Liguori gave her piano tuition. As her potential blossomed, Major began travelling weekly to Ponsonby in Auckland, where she received further tuition from Dame Sister Mary Leo at St Mary's College. Sister Mary Leo was internationally recognised for having some of the country's best known singers, including Kiri Te Kanawa. International recognition Major later moved to England for further study at the London Opera Centre under the guidance of teacher Ruth Packer. Her successes include winning the 1963 New Zealand Mobil Song Quest bea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Leeds")
.JPG "Click for more on -> New Zealand Festival Of The Arts")