Rasputin (opera)
''Rasputin'' is a 2003 Finnish-language opera in three acts by Einojuhani Rautavaara. Recordings *DVD Matti Salminen ( Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin), Lilli Paasikivi ( Alexandra Fyodorovna), Jorma Hynninen (Tsar Nicholas), Riikka Rantanen (Irina Yusupova), Ritva-Liisa Korhonen ( Anya Vyrubova), Jyrki Anttila (Felix Yusupov), Gabriel Suovanen (Dimitri Pavlovich), Jyrki Korhonen (Vladimir Purishkevich), Finnish National Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Mikko Franck Mikko Franck is a Finnish conductor and violinist. Biography Franck was born in Helsinki. He began learning the violin at the age of 5 and started violin studies at the Sibelius Academy in 1992. The Academy let Franck conduct an orchestra in 199 ... Ondine 2006''Opera'', Volume 57, Issue 2, 2006, p. 234: "Ondine has been busy setting down the music of Einojuhani Rautavaara on CD and DVD for some years, and with his opera ''Rasputin'' it has given us not only another work by Finland's most renowned living composer but also a . ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Einojuhani Rautavaara
Einojuhani Rautavaara (; 9 October 1928 – 27 July 2016) was a Finnish composer of classical music. Among the most notable Finnish composers since Jean Sibelius (1865–1957), Rautavaara wrote a great number of works spanning various styles. These include eight symphonies, nine operas and twelve concertos, as well as numerous vocal and chamber works. Having written early works using 12-tone serial techniques, his later music may be described as neo-romantic and mystical. His major works include his first piano concerto (1969), ''Cantus Arcticus'' (1972) and his seventh symphony, ''Angel of Light'' (1994). Life Rautavaara was born in Helsinki in 1928. His father Eino Alfred Rautavaara (né Jernberg; 1876–1939; he changed his last name in 1901) was an opera singer and cantor, and his mother Elsa Katariina Rautavaara (née Teräskeli; originally Träskelin) (1898–1944) was a doctor. His early childhood was molded by the musicianship of his father, and at the encouragement o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Felix Yusupov
Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston (russian: Князь Фе́ликс Фе́ликсович Юсу́пов, Граф Сумаро́ков-Эльстон, Knyaz' Féliks Féliksovich Yusúpov, Graf Sumarókov-El'ston; – 27 September 1967) was a Russian aristocrat from the Yusupov family who is best known for participating in the assassination of Grigori Rasputin and for marrying Princess Irina Alexandrovna, a niece of Tsar Nicholas II. Early life He was born in the Moika Palace in Saint Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire.; born c. 1522 – 23 April 1586), also known as Nikita Romanovich Zakharyin-Yuriev, who was a prominent boyar of the Tsardom of Russia. His grandson Michael I (Tsar 1613-1645) founded the Romanov dynasty of Russian tsars. Anastasia and Marfa were the paternal aunts of Tsar Michael I of Russia of Russia and the paternal nieces of Tsaritsa Anastasia Romanovna Zakharyina-Yurieva of Russia. His father was Count Felix Felixov ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2003 Operas
3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societies. Evolution of the Arabic digit The use of three lines to denote the number 3 occurred in many writing systems, including some (like Roman and Chinese numerals) that are still in use. That was also the original representation of 3 in the Brahmic (Indian) numerical notation, its earliest forms aligned vertically. However, during the Gupta Empire the sign was modified by the addition of a curve on each line. The Nāgarī script rotated the lines clockwise, so they appeared horizontally, and ended each line with a short downward stroke on the right. In cursive script, the three strokes were eventually connected to form a glyph resembling a with an additional stroke at the bottom: ३. The Indian digits spread to the Caliphate in the 9th ce ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Operas
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble, which since the early 19th century has been led by a conductor. Although musical theatre is closely related to opera, the two are considered to be distinct from one another. Opera is a key part of the Western classical music tradition. Originally understood as an entirely sung piece, in contrast to a play with songs, opera has come to include numerous genres, including some that include spoken dialogue such as '' Singspiel'' and ''Opéra comique''. In traditional number opera, singers employ two style ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mikko Franck
Mikko Franck is a Finnish conductor and violinist. Biography Franck was born in Helsinki. He began learning the violin at the age of 5 and started violin studies at the Sibelius Academy in 1992. The Academy let Franck conduct an orchestra in 1995, whereupon Jorma Panula enlisted him as a private student. Franck entered Panula's conducting class at the Academy in 1996, leaving in 1998 as his international career began. He said Panula "gave me everything that can be taught about this profession." Before age 23, Franck had made his conducting début with all leading Scandinavian orchestras, with the London Philharmonia, London Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Berlin State Opera Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic. His first recording, of Jean Sibelius, received a Grammy nomination for "Best Orchestral Performance". He champions Einojuhani Rautavaara's works. Franck was the Belgian National Orchestra's artistic director from 2002 to 2007. He became the Finnish National ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Finnish National Opera
The Finnish National Opera and Ballet ( fi, Suomen Kansallisooppera ja -baletti; sv, Finlands Nationalopera och -balett) is a Finnish opera company and ballet company based in Helsinki. It is headquartered in the Opera House on the coast of the Töölönlahti bay in Töölö, which opened in 1993, and is state-owned through Senate Properties. The Opera House features two auditoriums, the main auditorium with 1,350, seats and a smaller studio auditorium with 300–500 seats. History Regular opera performances began in Finland in 1873 with the founding of the Finnish Opera by Kaarlo Bergbom. Prior to that, opera had been performed in Finland sporadically by touring companies, and on occasion by Finnish amateurs, the first such production being '' The Barber of Seville'' in 1849. However, the Finnish Opera company soon plunged into a financial crisis and folded in 1879. During its six years of operation, Bergbom's opera company had given 450 performances of a total of 26 operas ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vladimir Purishkevich
Vladimir Mitrofanovich Purishkevich ( rus, Влади́мир Митрофа́нович Пуришке́вич, p=pʊrʲɪˈʂkʲevʲɪt͡ɕ; , Kishinev – 1 February 1920, Novorossiysk, Russia) was a far-right politician in Imperial Russia, noted for his monarchist, ultra-nationalist, antisemitic and anticommunist views. Because of his restless behaviour, he was regarded as a loose cannon. At the end of 1916, he participated in the killing of Grigori Rasputin. Early career Born as the son of a poor nobleman in Bessarabia, now Moldova, Purishkevich graduated from Novorossiysk University with a degree in classical philology. Around 1900, he moved to Saint Petersburg. He became a member of the Russian Assembly group and was appointed under Vyacheslav von Plehve. During the Russian Revolution of 1905, he helped organise the Black Hundreds as a militia to aid the police in the fight against left-wing extremists and to restore order. After the October Manifesto, he was one of t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dimitri Pavlovich
Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia (russian: Великий Князь Дмитрий Павлович; 18 September 1891 – 5 March 1942) was a son of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia, a grandson of Tsar Alexander II of Russia and a first cousin of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, Nicholas II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (consort of Queen Elizabeth II). His early life was marked by the death of his mother and his father's banishment from Russia after marrying a commoner in 1902. Grand Duke Dmitri and his elder sister Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, to whom he remained very close throughout his life, were raised in Moscow by their paternal uncle Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and his wife Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia, a sister of Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. His uncle was killed in 1905 and as his aunt entered religious life, Dmitri spent a great deal of his youth in the company of Tsar Nicholas II and his immediate family at the Alexander Palace as ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Anya Vyrubova
Anna Alexandrovna Vyrubova (''née'' Taneyeva; russian: А́нна Алекса́ндровна Вы́рубова (Тане́ева)); 16 July 1884 – 20 July 1964) was a Russian Empire lady-in-waiting, the best friend and confidante of Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna. Early life Anna Alexandrovna Taneeva was born in Oranienbaum as the daughter of Aleksandr Taneyev, Chief Steward to His Majesty's Chancellery and a noted composer. Her mother, Countess Nadezhda Tolstoy, was descended from Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov. Due to these connections, she was attached to the imperial court at an early age. She had two younger siblings: Sergei and Alexandra. She was a childhood playmate of Felix Yussupov, who later spearheaded the murder of Rasputin. Yussupov found her unattractive: Life at court The Tsarina valued Anna's devotion to her and befriended her, ignoring women of more distinction at the court. In 1905, at the age of twenty, she was given a position at court for the fi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Matti Salminen
Matti Kalervo Salminen (born 7 July 1945) is a Finnish operatic bass, now retired, who has sung at the most important opera houses of the world, including the Metropolitan and Bayreuth Festival. He is distinguished by an imposing figure and height (6' 5"), a cavernous, heavy, dark voice with an expansive upper register, and an expressive face. According to one reviewer, in his prime Salminen was "... simply the largest bass voice in captivity. It is not just its roar in powering over Wagner's maximum orchestra, but the way he carves the sonority and forms the color." Salminen has a special gift for playing menacing, threatening characters. He performed as Fafner and Hagen in the PBS video broadcast ''Ring Cycle'' from the Metropolitan Opera, for the largest viewing-audience of the ''Ring'' in history. Biography Salminen was born in Turku. In his youth he earned money for voice lessons by singing Finnish tangos in night clubs. He has published an anthology of Finnish tangos. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Irina Yusupova
Countess Irina Felixovna Sheremeteva (née Princess Yusupova; russian: Графиня Ирина Феликсовна Шереметева née Княгиня Юсупова; 21 March 1915, Petrograd, Russian Empire – 30 August 1983), known affectionately as Bébé, was a Russian aristocrat and the only daughter of Prince Felix Yusupov and Princess Irina of Russia. Life Early life Prince Felix was the heir of one of the wealthiest families of Russia and of Europe. Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia was the daughter of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich and Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, the elder daughter of Tsar Alexander III and sister of Tsar Nicolas II. Through her mother's side, she was a descendant of Christian IX of Denmark. After the February Revolution, the Yusupovs fled Russia and settled in Paris, leaving behind most of their wealth. At first, the little girl was raised by her paternal grandparents until, at the age of nine, they returned the little pri ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nicholas II Of Russia
Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland and Grand Duke of Finland, ruling from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. During his reign, Nicholas gave support to the economic and political reforms promoted by his prime ministers, Sergei Witte and Pyotr Stolypin. He advocated modernization based on foreign loans and close ties with France, but resisted giving the new parliament (the Duma) major roles. Ultimately, progress was undermined by Nicholas's commitment to autocratic rule, strong aristocratic opposition and defeats sustained by the Russian military in the Russo-Japanese War and World War I. By March 1917, public support for Nicholas had collapsed and he was forced to abdicate the throne, thereby ending the Romanov dynasty's 304-year rule of Russia (1 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |