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Shuna Scott Sendall
Shuna Scott Sendall (born 28 December 1975) is a Scottish dramatic soprano opera singer. Sendall originates from Irvine, North Ayrshire. She is best known as the 2010 winner of the BBC Radio 2 Kiri Prize competition. Biography Shuna Scott Sendall was born in Irvine, North Ayrshire in Scotland the daughter of actress Anne Myatt and pianist Robert Sendall. Shuna attended Hillhead High School in Glasgow, where she was inspired by music teacher, Irene McLennan, to become involved in music as a career. Shuna entered the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 1993, where she studied under the tutelage of Patricia MacMahon and Jane Irwin until 2003 when she graduated from the Alexander Gibson Opera School with; DRSAMD (Performance) in Voice, CPGS - Concert Singer, MMus - Concert Singer, ACE, MMus – Opera and Mopera. The Kiri Prize In January 2010, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa along with BBC Radio 2, launched an initiative find a gifted opera singer of the future. The initiative was th ...
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Dramatic Soprano
A dramatic soprano is a type of operatic soprano with a powerful, rich, emotive voice that can sing over, or cut through, a full orchestra. Thicker vocal folds in dramatic voices usually (but not always) mean less agility than lighter voices but a sustained, fuller sound. Usually this voice has a lower tessitura than other sopranos, and a darker timbre. They are often used for heroic, often long-suffering, tragic women of opera. Dramatic sopranos have a range from approximately low A ( A3) to "high C" (C6).Coffin (1960) Some dramatic sopranos, known as Wagnerian sopranos, have an exceptionally big voice that can assert itself over a large orchestra (of more than 80 or even 100 pieces). These voices are substantial, often denser in tone, extremely powerful and, ideally, evenly balanced throughout the vocal registers. Wagnerian sopranos usually play mythic heroines. Successful Wagnerian sopranos are rare and often Wagnerian roles are performed by Italianate dramatic sopranos. ...
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West Side Story
''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid-1950s in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, then a multiracial, blue-collar neighborhood. The musical explores the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds. The Sharks, who are immigrants from Puerto Rico, and the Jets, who are white, vie for dominance of the neighborhood, and the police try to keep order. The young protagonist, Tony, a former member of the Jets and best friend of the gang's leader, Riff, falls in love with Maria, the sister of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks. The dark theme, sophisticated music, extended dance scenes, tragic love story, and focus on social problems marked a turning point in musical theatre. The original 1957 Broadway production, ...
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Alfredo Catalani
Alfredo Catalani (19 June 1854 – 7 August 1893) was an Italian operatic composer. He is best remembered for his operas '' Loreley'' (1890) and ''La Wally'' (1892). ''La Wally'' was composed to a libretto by Luigi Illica, and features Catalani's most famous aria "Ebben? Ne andrò lontana." This aria, sung by American soprano Wilhelmenia Fernandez, was at the heart of Jean-Jacques Beineix's 1981 film ''Diva''. Catalani's other operas were much less successful. Life and career Born in Lucca, Catalani came from a musical family. He was trained at the Milan Conservatory, where his teachers included Antonio Bazzini. Despite the growing influence of the ''verismo'' style of opera during the 1880s and early 1890s, Catalani chose to compose in a more traditional manner, which had traces of Richard Wagner, Wagner in it. As a result, his operas (''La Wally'' excepted) have largely lost their place in the modern repertoire, even compared to those of Jules Massenet, Massenet and Giacomo P ...
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Comic Relief
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episode interposed in the midst of serious or tragic elements in a drama. Comic relief is often seen but is not limited to, taking the form of a bumbling, wisecracking sidekick of the hero or villain in a work of fiction. A sidekick used for comic relief will usually comment on the absurdity of the hero's situation and make comments that would be inappropriate for a character who is to be taken seriously. Other characters may use comic relief as a means to irritate others or keep themselves confident. Application Sometimes comic relief characters will appear in fiction that is comic. This generally occurs when the work enters a dramatic moment, but the character continues to be comical regardless. External comic reliefs and internal comic re ...
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BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also featuring. The station describes itself as "the world's most significant commissioner of new music", and through its New Generation Artists scheme promotes young musicians of all nationalities. The station broadcasts the BBC Proms concerts, live and in full, each summer in addition to performances by the BBC Orchestras and Singers. There are regular productions of both classic plays and newly commissioned drama. Radio 3 won the Sony Radio Academy UK Station of the Year Gold Award for 2009 and was nominated again in 2011. According to RAJAR, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 1.7 million with a listening share of 1.3% as of September 2022. History Radio 3 is the successor station to the Third Programme which began broadcasting on 29 ...
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Samson (Handel)
''Samson'' ( HWV 57) is a three-act oratorio by George Frideric Handel, considered one of his finest dramatic works. It is usually performed as an oratorio in concert form, but on occasions has also been staged as an opera. The well-known arias "Let the bright Seraphim" (for soprano), "Total eclipse" (for tenor) and "Let their celestial concerts" (the final chorus) are often performed separately in concert. Background and composition The German-born Handel had been resident in London since 1712 and had there enjoyed great success as a composer of Italian operas. His opportunities to set English texts to music had been more limited. He had spent the years 1717 to 1719 as composer in residence to the wealthy Duke of Chandos, where he had written church anthems and two stage works, '' Acis and Galatea'' and ''Esther''. He had composed vocal music to English words for various royal occasions, including a set of Coronation anthems for George II in 1727, which had made a huge impa ...
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George Frideric Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training in Halle (Saale), Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712, where he spent the bulk of his career and Handel's Naturalisation Act 1727, became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the middle-German polyphony, polyphonic choral tradition and by composers of the Italian Baroque. In turn, Handel's music forms one of the peaks of the "high baroque" style, bringing Italian opera to its highest development, creating the genres of English oratorio and organ concerto, and introducing a new style into English church music. He is consistently recognized as one of the greatest composers of his age. Handel started three c ...
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Secular Humanism
Secular humanism is a philosophy, belief system or life stance that embraces human reason, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basis of morality and decision making. Secular humanism posits that human beings are capable of being ethical and moral without religion or belief in a deity. It does not, however, assume that humans are either inherently good or evil, nor does it present humans as being superior to nature. Rather, the humanist life stance emphasizes the unique responsibility facing humanity and the ethical consequences of human decisions. Fundamental to the concept of secular humanism is the strongly held viewpoint that ideology—be it religious or political—must be thoroughly examined by each individual and not simply accepted or rejected on faith. Along with this, an essential part of secular humanism is a continually adapting search for truth, primarily through s ...
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River Oykel
The River Oykel ( gd, Òiceall or , ) is a major river in northern Scotland that is famous for its salmon fishing. It rises on Ben More Assynt, a few miles from Ullapool on the west coast of Scotland, and drains into the North Sea via the Kyle of Sutherland. Traditionally it has marked the boundary between Ross to the south and Sutherland to the north. Etymology The name ''Oykel'' is of uncertain derivation, but may be of Pictish origin. Firstly, this an other similar hydronyms may involve the element ''og'', meaning "lively" (c.f River Ogwen, Wales), suffixed by the diminutive ''-ell''. Secondly, ''Oykel'' may represent Pictish ''*ogel'' meaning "ridge", although long rivers are rarely named after minor local features. The hypothesis of a derivation from an equivalent of Welsh ''uchel'' has been suggested, but judged unlikely. Geography The river rises at a height of on the southern side of Ben More Assynt, and flows just over . The upper valley is known as Glen Oykel (' ...
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Ian Partridge
Ian Partridge (born 12 June 1938) is a retired English lyric tenor, whose repertoire ranged from Claudio Monteverdi, Monteverdi, Johann Sebastian Bach, Bach and George Frideric Handel, Handel, the Elizabethan era, Elizabethan lute songs, German, French and English songs, through to Arnold Schoenberg, Schoenberg, Kurt Weill, Weill and Benjamin Britten, Britten, and on to contemporary works. He formed a renowned vocal-piano duo with his sister Jennifer Partridge, with whom he worked for over 50 years. While concentrating mainly on songs, oratorio and lieder, he also recorded opera, and has an extensive discography. He is now a teacher and adjudicator, and conducts master classes in many countries. Biography Ian Harold Partridge was born in 1938 in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon. He was a chorister at New College, Oxford#Choir, New College, Oxford 1948–52, and a music scholar at Clifton College. He studied at the Royal College of Music from 1956, studying piano and voice. Leaving a ...
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Malcolm Martineau
Malcolm Martineau, OBE (born 3 February 1960) is a Scottish pianist who is particularly noted as an accompanist. Life Martineau was born to the pianist Hester Dickson Martineau and Canon George Martineau in 1960. He was an only child but he had several step siblings from his parents' previous marriages. He was born in Edinburgh, and educated at George Watson's College. He studied at St Catharine's College, Cambridge between 1978 and 1981 and went on to study at the Royal College of Music between 1981 and 1984. Malcolm Martineau has played in Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, Vienna, Milan, Berlin, throughout the United Kingdom and in North America accompanying many of the world's leading singers including Thomas Allen, Dame Janet Baker, Barbara Bonney, Susan Graham, Della Jones, Simon Keenlyside, Tom Krause, Dame Felicity Lott, Ann Murray, Anne Sofie von Otter, Frederica von Stade, Sonya Yoncheva, Bryn Terfel, Sarah Walker and Ainhoa Arteta. Among many noted instrumentalists h ...
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STV (TV Network)
STV is a Scottish free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the STV Group. It is made up of the Central Scotland and Northern Scotland Channel 3 public broadcaster licences, formerly known as Scottish Television (now legally STV Central Ltd) and Grampian Television (now legally STV North Ltd) respectively. The STV brand refers to the on-air name used by Scottish Television for much of its history - notably in the 1970s and early 1980s. This brand remained in conversational use amongst the local public afterwards. The modern STV brand was adopted on Tuesday 30 May 2006 replacing both franchises' previous identities. The sense of continuity in the name was demonstrated when STV celebrated its 60th birthday in 2017, with special programmes broadcast on STV itself and the now defunct STV2. STV is now the only part of the Channel 3 network which is not owned by ITV plc. The station does not carry ITV branding or show ITV's network presentation, alt ...
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