Serva Padrona, A Serpina penserette, (On Serpina think with pleasure)

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This CD offers a wide range of Russian composers who composed in the tradition of Orthodox Church music, ranging from Mikhail Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Sergei Taneyev and Sergei Rachmaninoff to Alfred Schnittke and Sofia Gubaidulina, from romanticnationalist musical settings of the 19th century to the more intensely expressionist sounds of the two more recent composers. This CD is a treat for the ears: With some unusual takes on the standard repertoire already in their catalogue, this time the two musicians set out to do something very special: In addition, there are two encores by Ignaz Moscheles and Leopold Godowsky, created as a tribute to Weber based on his immortal melodies.

Written for soprano, violin, tampura and strings it features Eastern elements and a glittering setting of the Song of Simeon; Patricia Rozario and Cleo Gould are outstanding soloists in this beautiful piece. Containing Stravinskian flourishes whilst balancing fanfare-like passages with solemn chorales, the players more than meet the virtuosic challenges. Melodiya presents receordsings with performance of outstanding violinist Liana Isakadze.

At the age of nine Liana Isakadze performed with a symphony orchestra for the first time, received the first prize at the Trans-Caucasian Competition of Violinists at twelve, and two years later the second prize at the All-Union Competition of Performing Musicians in Moscow. Then she was admitted to the Moscow Conservatory without examinations where she studied under David Oistrakh. A pianist, distinctive composer and educator who created his performing school, he equally showed his worth in each of the roles being notable for the integrity of his personality and creative aspirations.

This album, like the previous one, is dedicated to the festival World of Romanticism. Old age and disease have barely interrupted a long list of masterpieces. Richard Strauss composed the Metamorphoses for 23 solo strings in , under the impression of Germany destroyed after the war. Dmitrij Kitajenko has chosen Rachmaninoff; this composer fits the orchestra and especially the conductor perfectly. The beginning of a new success story …. More or less as an overture, he makes a virtuoso piece out of it — a veritable display of fireworks in the style of Vladimir Horowitz and Franz Liszt who wrote the piano transcription of the Symphonie fantastique.

They are my friends and colleagues, Iskandar Widjaja on the violin and Ander Perrino on the double bass. I hold both of them in very high esteem for their virtuosity and joy of playing. All three of us come from different countries and different musical cultures. But when we play together, we develop a common language, not only in my tangos but also in many other wonderful pieces: OC Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her: Christmas in the Ancient Church in Krakow.

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, Op. Moderato ; Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her, Op. Andantino ; Lucis Creator optime, Op. Allegro Otto Malling — Die Geburt Christi, Op. Orange Mountain Music presents the long-awaited new album by the Dublin Guitar Quartet performing the string quartets by Philip Glass on classical guitars. The video was seen by Orange Mountain Music which immediately resolved to collaborate with the group.

This new album is the fruit of that collaboration. The recital presents Glass quartets Nos. The transcriptions are thoughtful adaptations that show unusual insight and understanding of the music. It has become one of the key works and principal musical manifestations of the s bringing together collage technique and modernism.

This disc also includes Calmo for mezzo-soprano and 22 instruments written by Berio after the death of a fellow composer and a friend Bruno Maderna. This new recording conducted by Glass champion Dennis Russell Davies is a shimmering rendition of the work. Recorded less than a year after the Orange Mountain Music recording of the companion piece Symphony No. Just as composers of the past have turned to music of their time to fashion new works, the work of Bowie and Eno became an inspiration and point of departure of symphonies of my own.

The album includes two works where the solo instrumentalist plays a significant role. The music reflects energetic leves of this phenomenom. The French-Armenian violinist Chouchane Siranossian is one of the most interesting talents of her generation. It is not surprising, therefore, that Chouchane Siranossian has conceived a mixture of baroque and modern music for her first CD from OehmsClassics — and the aim has been achieved, as can be easily confirmed by listening to this CD.

Spuren der Verirrten The Lost which had its world premiere on April 12, at the opening of the new opera house in Linz, Austria. With a deluxe digipack, full libretto, page booklet with photos from the production and essays about the work. The opera is based on a play by the same title by Peter Handke. The opera combines the two distinct voices - composer Philip Glass and playwright Peter Handke — created to celebrate the opening of the newest opera house in Europe, the Musiktheater am Volksgarten Linz. The Zurich Ensemble, consisting of four award-winning Swiss soloists, make their paladino debut with two of their own spectacular transcriptions: This set allows for discovering or rediscovering many of the major works of Baroque music.

The violinist Gunar Letzbor is an established specialist in performing Austrian baroque music; in particular, he has especially intensively grappled with works of Biber, Muffat and Schmelzer, to name three examples. In so doing, he is constantly searching for a specifically Austrian baroque string sound. After having repeatedly performed these works in concerts and intensively occupying himself with them, Letzbor is now introducing them on CD. The first part of his complete recording with the three sonatas is now followed by Vol.

II, the recording of the three partitas. In making it, he has pursued an unusual approach: Through the positioning of the microphones in direct proximity to the violin, the listener becomes a participant to a certain extent, and has the opportunity to perceive even the finest nuances. Naples was famous throughout Europe in the 17th century for the variety of musical performances that took place during the course of the church year. Christmas was one of the feasts that was celebrated with particular splendour. At the turn of the 18th century, Veneziano was one of the most important Neapolitan composers in the area of sacred music.

Beginning in he was a member of the Cappella Reale, the direction of which he took over as successor to Alessandro Scarlatti in The music of the Christmas pieces recorded here is notable for great richness of invention and particularly festive sounds. He was admired by such significant personalities as Hasse and Metastasio. Unlike opera, this genre is concerned with showing great emotionality in the shortest possible form by means of arias and recitatives. The realisation of this was solely the task of the music, for chamber cantatas were performed in purely concertante form and, unlike operas, not staged.

In view of the vast number of recordings of concertos by Antonio Vivaldi, it may come as a surprise that there are still works that have not so far been documented on recordings. In these works, Vivaldi shows a rather unusual aspect of himself - very diversified and variegated. Lina Tur Bonet, at the helm of her ensemble Musica Alchemica, plays with a full and round tone: This fusion of elements brilliantly demonstrates the synergy between Steinbacher and Kulek, something we have witnessed during their recital performances over the past few years.

Needless to say, both artists possess superb technique. Steinbacher demonstrates her delicate yet fiery touch, most notably in the robust Franck score, while Kulek plays with resolute intonation, steadfast tempo, and broad dynamics. Steinbacher maintains her performance as an equal partner without dominating her counterpart. The recordings by these two brilliant German artists, Julia Fischer and Martin Helmchen — which were originally launched in in Vol 1 and Vol 2 — were remarkably successful from both a critical and a commercial standpoint.

As it is the violin and piano works that constitute the essential enchantment, one can hardly imagine that somebody would be interested in one without wanting the other as well. These performances, which were charmingly recorded in a warm acoustic space form, perfectly balanced conversations between two vibrant young personalities. The release uniquely features Fischer as a pianist in the four-hand piece, Fantasia for Piano Duet D.

She had previously performed as a pianist in concert, but this was her recording debut. On the contrary, we experience here a remarkable synthesis of the various European national styles. Alongside German influences, those of both French and Italian opera are unmistakeable. Boxberg was himself a pupil at St. When the latter, fearing his creditors, no longer dared appear in the city, Boxberg filled the breach, writing several operas for the Leipzig Opera House - none of which has survived to the present day. As luck would have it, the members of the Leipzig Opera undertook a journey in to Ansbach, where a copy of the score of Sardanapalus was preserved; it is thus one of the earliest surviving operas in the German language.

The performers are the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Sebastian Weigle, with the solo part played by Samuel Seidenberg, solo horn player of the Frankfurt RSO and one of the outstanding horn players of our time. This work is still completely in the romantic tradition and is considered successful proof of a youthful talent with its catchy tone and the signal motifs typical of horn writing.

Sixty years later, in , Strauss composed his Horn Concerto No. This work is frequently regarded as a review of a highly successful musical life; in contrast to his youthful First Horn Concerto, it is marked by the maturity of age. Founded in , the Edding Quartet has quickly become a reference in the interpretation of the Classical and Romantic string quartet repertoires, proposing refined, intelligent readings of these often-heard works.

In , the members of the Quartet, along with clarinettist Nicola Boud, bassoonist Julien Debordes, horn player Nicolas Chedmail and bass player Damien Guffroy, founded Northernlight, an ensemble, exploring the masterpieces for string and winds from the Classical and Romantic periods. The pun in the title also points to the idea behind this album: And although Hindemith is not known as a composer of brass music he has written for this family of instruments, too.

This album is full of surprises! Again devoted to the German Baroque religious repertoire, this appropriate release focuses on the Nativity repertoire, extending from the early 17th century to the generation of Johann Sebastian Bach who is represented here by a few very beautiful Christmas cantatas. Released in connection with the exhibition Rubens and his Heritage Bozar, Brussels from 29 September to 4 January , this CD presents examples of the major musical genres that Rubens would have heard during his visits to Brussels, London, Rome, Venice, Mantua, Madrid and Paris.

The repertoire tackles the free forms of the new stylus fantasticus but also proposes different forms of pieces inspired by chorale tunes, including two monumental fantasias in several sections. Bernard Foccroulle made this recording on three historic organs: This constitutes an event that will enchant enthusiasts! Let us recall that, with this double album, Ricercar can offer its faithful public the complete works of Matthias Weckmann, the cantatas having been recorded by the Ricercar Consort RIC , and the instrumental music by La Fenice and the harpsichordist Siebe Henstra RIC Heinrich Laufenberg lived and worked between c.

He was the author of a vast body of works, comprising spiritual hymns, didactic epics and religious prose. A manuscript housed in the Strasbourg Library, which took up the major part of his work, was completely destroyed in a fire in Happily, a copy had been made of it, so part of his oeuvre was able to be passed on to posterity. The surviving songs of Heinrich Laufenberg are of great beauty, in terms of both music and content: This programme, entitled Royaume des cieux, offers us the joy of hearing songs that had remained silent since the 15th century.

Thus, in an enthusiastic, authentic way, the ensemble Dragma gives life to the music of the late Middle Ages, in a glittering kaleidoscope. Three highly-regarded musicians are at the heart of Ensemble Dragma: Their flexible configuration two voices, vielle, lute, and harp allows them to bring the repertoire of the high and late Middle Ages to life, in all its colour and variety.

Performances at the various Bach-churches in Thuringia, e. Cello suites on an electric bass: A high degree of concentration and vital energy are the preconditions for such a bold undertaking, to say nothing of the most thorough preparation and years of experience on the concert podium. The advantages of avoiding short takes are self-evident: She prefers to avoid long pauses between the groups of variations, though she feels that it is advisable to take time to catch her breath before the start of the second half of the work from Var. Time and again the multi-awardwinning Moscow-born pianist engaged with this demanding set of variations, practising them intensely and finally playing them repeatedly in the concert hall.

Bach has already written out the ornaments in detail and she has no wish to try to outdo the composer by improvising additional ornaments of her own. Nor does she regard it as indispensably necessary to observe all of the repeats. Led by Reza, with a background from the Music Academy and the hiphop-scene, the foremost of male Norwegian opera soloists do Grieg their own way.

Here are 13 Grieg songs like you have never heard them before. Reza Aghamir have gathered the cream of the crop in Reza e iRagazzi — Reza and the boys. The different and unique qualities of each individual singer is at the centre of attention. This is not Grieg like we are used to hearing it!

They pick-and-choose favourites, arrange them if needed, and perform them with a passion that is really remarkable. Cover design by Martin Kvamme. Olsen and St Martin in the Fields with a phenomenal Villa-Lobos guitar concerto Stein-Erik Olsen has released many highly acclaimed albums throughout his career. For his first guitar concerto recording he teams up with The Academy of St Martin in the Fields, renowned for its outstanding sound - rooted in outstanding musicianship. These three works cover much of the expressive range of the 20th century Guitar Concerto in the hands of three masters of both writing for the guitar and contemporary composition.

Each represents a quite different musical sensibility and cultural background. Nikita Koshkin, born in Moscow, Russia, is a virtuoso guitarist but his international reputation has been established by his superb compositions performed worldwide. His music is not so largely known. Kramer on this CD. It gets a new timbre performed by Cremeloque Trio.

In this version, the melody brought by oboe and bassoon gets on its meditative profoundness making it easy for the listener to evoke the atmosphere of the slow processional court dance of 16th and 17th centuries. It is written in best French neoclassical tradition and probably is one of the most performed pieces within the repertory for this ensemble.

Allusions to 18th century classicism is dense, the proliferation of classical themes is extended to the point when this Trio could be called not even neo-classical but hyper-classical music. Until now it has never been formally released but has brought us many concert invitations. We generally struggle listening to our old recordings, as there is always something we feel we could have improved, and small imperfections become glaringly obvious. However, this recording is different which is why we decided to make it available to the public.

We love the fresh energy and raw, innocent dynamism of these recordings. We still remember as if it was yesterday: It was a bitterly cold winter evening in Budapest and at first, we found even moving our fingers difficult. However just as we started recording the church warmed and it began to snow. Our fingers started moving and the large snowflakes muffled the outside noise.

A blessing that we like to interpret as a sign of approval from heaven. Recorded by Grammy-winning producer Steven Epstein, the album celebrates an underrated composer whose music deserves a wide audience. Actively promoted to media throughout the US and Canada, The Flatterer, as with previous Steinway releases, is expected to receive steady radio airplay starting in autumn When she reached her own compositional maturity in the s, she made her first mark writing in genres associated with these recognized masters.

Yet her true voice emerged later, writing smaller character pieces for piano. The juxtaposition of Bellini and Chopin, coeval romantic composers, is significant because of the affinity they show in their melodic inspiration. It is essential, however, to investigate the roots of their style as composers by delving into their breeding grounds, respectively in the history of Italian and Polish music, in order to define their integration into the Middle-European musical world.

The two composers were equal in their love for their native land beyond death. In , also thanks to the good offices of Florimo, the mortal remains of Bellini were transferred to Catania. The coffin in which they were carried to Catania is now preserved in the Museo Belliniano, in the house where he was born on 3 November His tomb, made by Tassara, is inside the Duomo of Catania, in front of the second pillar of the right-hand nave.

The words on the gravestone are the beginning of an aria of La sonnambula: Why should we be surprised at the fact that Pergolesi composed always the same music, no matter whether it was an intermezzo, a serious opera or a piece meant to accompany a religious ceremony? This is precisely why he was appreciated. He brought the theatre into churches, and religious seriousness into theatres, even in an intermezzo: Pergolesi is also the first musician who was never dropped from the repertory, either in theatres or in churches. Before him, only contemporary music was played and sung.

His Stabat Mater and La serva padrona never stopped being performed, admired and applauded. They were so appreciated, actually, that many pieces which were not by Pergolesi circulated under his name, because this was enough to ensure that they would be liked.

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That was modern music, they declared. And they were right: This is what Schubert said after hearing Paganini play in a concert: In order to attempt this feat, that is to move back two centuries, it is necessary to add to the wood, horsehair and strings a painstaking attention to the directions left by Paganini in his scores this was the advice of A.

Grumiaux , and the talent of a present-day virtuoso — in the reasonable hope that talent is less subject to the harsh law of time and can find another way of bringing back to our time the masterpieces of the past. In the last few years, it has become very popular in Berlin to play classical music in clubs. Inspired and fascinated by this concept we had the idea of recording a CD featuring contemporary music that would work in both environments: So check out the list in the German section!

Clair-obscur, a painting technique from the Renaissance, in which opposing light and dark tones are used to symbolise heavenly and earthly elements, is the visual equivalent of the sounds the quartet draw from their instruments: These two poles can also be found in the composition of the quartet: After the success of his first opera, Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio, Verdi was given by the impresario Bartolomeo Merelli the task of composing a comic opera for the Teatro alla Scala; but this work coincided with the death of his wife, which took place shortly after the death of his two sons.

His opera was a complete fiasco at the premiere of 5 September , in Milan, and was withdrawn that very evening. Five years after its first night, after Verdi had met with a real triumph with Nabucco, Un giorno di regno was quite successful in Venice at the Teatro San Benedetto. As a matter of fact, to present-day listeners, this opera is far from being as disastrous as it has been considered for many years.

Nigel made his orchestra debut in as a soloist with the Baroque Sinfonia and has since performed concertos with the symphony orchestras in Dusseldorf, Oslo, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Buenos Aires among others. As a soloist, Nigel remains a personal favorite of Sir Neville Marriner, who looks forward to his next performances with Nigel. After recording the Korngold concerto on this album, Sir Neville and Nigel gave three more performances of the work with orchestras in Europe. Nigel also took first place in the Boston Symphony Orchestra concerto competition. Bach, made by Amandine Beyer and her ensemble, Gli Incogniti.

In addition, this set proposes, at a low price, particularly significant works by the Cantor of Leipzig and his son Carl Philipp-Emanuel. But how, with a chamber ensemble, does one perform this music that was written for orchestra or piano? It means finding transcriptions! And the icing on the cake: Het Collectief plays these arrangements under the direction of… Reinbert de Leeuw himself! The Zig-Zag Territoires label, like the Outhere Music group of which it is a part, is particularly attentive to the emergence and support of new talents, of which this CD, the first by the young pianist Andrew Tyson, is a good illustration.

But it is also much more than that for it bears witness to the interpretation, already enlightening, of a very great talent and to the birth, on disc, of a singular, poetic voice. He excels therein thanks to the fantastic variety of timbres that he manages to make blossom on the piano of the Teldex studio in Berlin, and also to an extraordinary contrapuntal capacity. It was at once acclaimed by the press, and rightly so: His affinity with this music is complete he has also performed chamber music works in the complete Timpani edition.

All of the CDs in this set were unanimously hailed by the press. Anima Eterna tackles Carmina Burana! This has now been done, thanks to Jos van Immerseel and the absolutely exceptional musical team that he assembled. Faithful to what accounts for the force of his musical approach, Jos van Immerseel profoundly revolutionizes the sound image and interpretation of this score, thanks both to the very high quality of the chosen performers and to the singularity of the instruments and timbres of his orchestra.

So it is a very new way of approaching this work that Jos van Immerseel proposes, openminded, without concession but with the great pleasure and joy of simply making music. This set is a journey to the heart of the Tango and also the occasion to be convinced, if need be, of the importance of this music and of the full singularity of a language that crosses styles and strikes a profound chord in us. In fact, this set constitutes a quadruple portrait of the Tango, bringing together four recordings from the Outhere Music catalogue, made by four different ensembles: This low-priced set also traces the evolution of this language, from Piazzolla to Beytelmann, including the byways taken by the Salque Peirani duo.

By the father, we can hear, in particular, the Sonatas for violin and harpsichord, the Sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord, the Violin Concertos The son is represented by the Trio Sonatas for two equal flutes and continuo and the Sonatas for violin and pianoforte. After a notable Debussy recital hailed by the international press, Nelson Goerner continues his collaboration with Zig-Zag Territoires in the company of another composer: Dale Bruning, the great jazz guitarist and mentor to Ron Miles, Bill Frisell, and many others once told me something poignant concerning performing: I mean joy in a rather particular, dare I say, spiritual way here.

The collective playing exhibits jouissance — a sense of joy that transcends a spectrum of pleasure and pain but that is nevertheless informed by witnessing the lives we are thrown into. Leading choreographers have also turned to directing opera, with the lengthy musical interludes in 17thand 18th-century works offering the best opportunity to combine song and dance. Mark Morris, who also directed Orfeo ed Euridice, chose to place the singers in theater boxes, leaving the stage entirely to dancers. Still, some directors are known principally for their opera productions. Other directors have been more daring, and three Americans stand out.

Then there are opera directors, led by the Catalan Calixto Bieito, who set out to shock audiences with sex and gore. They often draw full houses and loud protests, but their antics can also distract from the music, leading many conductors to feel that their authority has been further eroded. More than ever, then, the opera stage is an arena in which different artistic elements vie for dominance. It is a high-risk business in which many directors become unstuck. Still more critically, they keep the art of opera alive by commissioning new works and bringing cherished classics to new audiences.

Enormously costly to run, they live off government subsidies or private patronage. They are vulnerable to lastminute strikes by the unseen technicians who make every performance happen. And they can present productions that send audiences into paroxysms of rage. Yet for all the headaches they cause, opera houses are loved with a passion. A typical opera house is still one built in the late 18th or 19th century, its exterior Neoclassical, a marble foyer leading to a red and gold horseshoe auditorium, with boxes which originally offered perfect view of the presiding monarch or nobles in the royal box.

Indeed, for a long time, the social life of the opera house was as important as what occurred on stage. Dressed in their finery, the wealthy went to the O PERA HOUSES opera to observe each other, while the less prosperous crowded the highest gallery, waited in a nearby bar, or stood below, eating and talking, until some stirring aria demanded their attention.

Certainly, the earliest opera houses, built in 17th-century Venice, reached out to all classes. It was this accessibility that quickly turned opera into popular entertainment across the Italian peninsula and beyond. First in Venice, soon in Bologna, Naples, and Milan, and later in London, Vienna, and Paris, opera houses multiplied and competed for audiences.

Of these, few survive. But by the 19th century, notably in the Italian states and German principalities, every self-respecting European city boasted an opera house as a symbol of status. Operas by Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi all had their premieres there. To this day, Venetians walk through its doors with a sense of pride. Every 19th-century Italian composer wanted his opera to premiere there, with none more present than Verdi. For rising soloists, consecration at La Scala also became a vital rite of passage. Elsewhere in Europe, the history of opera houses is no less a record of fires and war damage.

In Vienna, several opera houses preceded the opening of the grand Hofopernhaus in In , with the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy, the Hofopernhaus became the Staatsoper Wien. Then, while it functioned under the Nazi occupation, it too was damaged by Allied bombers in and only reopened in The elegant 18th-century Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin and the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich were reconstructed, but in most cases new buildings were necessary.

To this day, no country has more opera houses than Germany, most working on a repertory system: Whether a theater presents top singers, exciting productions, and new operas depends on who is in charge. Inaugurated in , the Royal Opera House survived the war and was finally modernized and expanded in the late s. Built on the orders of Napoleon III and inaugurated after his overthrow in , the Palais Garnier in Paris has long been considered the pinnacle of operatic opulence.

And peripatetic soloists have no time to learn the same role in several languages. The preferred solution, then, is to provide translation, either above the proscenium stage or on the backs of seats. The opera fad spread still further afield: With its large European immigrant population, the United States also quickly embraced opera: Gold and silver boom towns in the West were among the first to build opera houses. Until World War II, it was traditional for operas to be sung in the language of the audience. In fact, audiences everywhere wanted to hear words sung in their own language.

It was also easier for the singers, who were usually employed by opera houses. Today, however, operas are performed in their original language almost everywhere: The reason for the change was practical. With Richard Strauss among its founders in , the Salzburg Festival flourished until the Nazis occupied Austria in Then, in the post-war era, with the Vienna Philharmonic again its resident orchestra, it became the fiefdom of Herbert von Karajan who, in , added the Salzburg Easter Festival. A busy night in the Festival Quarter in Salzburg. And it preserved generate opera houses.

None is more its reputation for offering star singers iconic than the Sydney Opera House, after it moved to its far larger current which opened in But Paris now home in Lincoln Center in Academy of Music Festivals have also auditorium was multiplied, with modelled on La Aldeburgh in Scala. San Francisco, England, Aix-enwhich lost many theaters in the The Glyndebourne Festival in England is famous Provence in France, earthquake, moved for the picnics in its elegant gardens during the Verona in Italy, and interval of evening operatic performances.

Today, opera growing interest in the art, with houses flourish across America, from opera houses opening in Tokyo in Seattle to Washington, Los Angeles , Shanghai in , and Beijing to Miami, Chicago to Houston. Over the centuries, a small number of singers with exceptional voices and powerful personalities have come to personify all the passion and drama of opera. And opera fans have always responded to them — with excitement, adulation, even hysteria. Together, they have played a central role in perpetuating the mysterious appeal of opera.

What is their secret? A talent for reaching extraordinarily high notes is almost a must: A high C, well sung and long held by a soprano or a tenor, electrifies audiences. The reigning opera vocalists are also gifted actors, bringing roles to life with the conviction of their singing. Yet just as important are their glamorous and volatile personalities. It is little wonder that many divas became muses to the best opera composers and conductors.

But it is among opera lovers that diva addiction thrives. The reigning diva, or diva assoluta, can even acquire a telling alias. Certainly, top singers can be moody and demanding, and many have been infamously capricious and narcissistic. But they can afford to be: Their mere presence sells out an opera house. So, along with enduring weighty costumes, itchy wigs, ungainly props, and bizarre special effects, they carry heavy commercial responsibilities.

And, since the early period of public opera houses in Venice, they have commanded exorbitant fees. Even today, they are often paid in cash in their dressingrooms during the first interval of an opera performance. Castratos were the first opera stars, and established the rules for the divas who followed. For some castratos, special treatment began with vocal training. Even before opera emerged, promising Farinelli, whose real name was Carlo Broschi — boy singers schooled in Italian , traveled throughout Europe. For a time, he conservatories were fed richer foods, appeared with the Opera of the Nobility in London.

Under the name enhancing their voices. With females Farinelli, he earned cult followings in in the Papal Roman states forbidden opera houses and courts throughout to sing in church or in public over the Europe. Another 18th-century first years of opera, castratos castrato, Luigi Marchesi, had such a were highly prized.

He was to of a duct, and not the removal of enter the stage sporting a plumed an organ. Officially banned, it was helmet, riding a horse, and singing any nonetheless practised since medieval times in order to supply church choirs aria his heart desired, even if it was with glorious, high male voices. When not in the opera he was performing. Castratos also bequeathed to divas opera appeared in the 17th century, their often stormy natures. Gaetano castratos readily sang male as well as Majorano riveted audiences under the female roles. Does sight matter more than sound?

Marietta Alboni — stopped performing only when her girth prevented her from standing long enough, while Luisa Tetrazzini famously breakfasted on whole chickens, unconcerned about weight. Maria Callas dropped pounds 45kg over one summer to please the eye, but her voice consequently suffered. The real nightmare for divas is audience rejection.

But the Golden Age for divas arrived with Verdi. And with opera houses and conservatories opening prima donnas were cherished. By the end of the 18th century, Caterina Gabrielli had also spread diva joy — and wreaked diva havoc — from Russia to Sicily. Like her castrato compatriot Caffarelli, the headstrong Gabrielli served a brief prison sentence for outrageous conduct while performing. The Romantic era ushered out the castrato, but welcomed new voice types and divas to go with them.

Soprano Angelica Catalani drove Europe wild with her voice and stage presence, even as her high fees and defiance scandalized imperial leaders from Catherine the Great to Napoleon. Wagnerian opera demanded more stamina and distinct vocal technique. The controversial vibrato, with the voice seeming to wobble, allowed voices to be heard over a more sonorous and sizeable orchestra.

Operas by Richard Strauss called for yet another kind of prima donna to set singing on a new course over the 20th century. But with few exceptions, the modernday diva prefers dramatic characters of former eras over the more abstract roles of contemporary opera. For the last years, too, star singers have gained still greater notoriety as recording artists. But even fine recordings of top singers fail to capture the thrill of a live performance in an opera house. In the s, the Italian Giovanni-Battista Rubini amazed opera houses with a high voice modeled on florid castrato effects.

She fills each of her roles, from Mozart to bel canto to Verdi, with an irresistible charm. Venerated as opera performers and The Three Tenors. Such was their recording stars alike were Enrico importance to opera houses, recording Caruso, the Italian whose glorious companies, and fans, that expectations voice brought new audiences to opera, rise every time an impressive young and Danish Wagnerian Heldentenor tenor — and potential successor — Lauritz Melchior, whose performances appears on stage.

And the same and recordings of the early half of the applies to striking new sopranos 20th century remain legendary. Unusually for the history of opera, Certainly, it is hard to imagine that the biggest stars of the late 20th century opera would have survived years were tenors: Luciano Pavarotti and without its beloved vocalists. Paris in the s saw rival mezzo-sopranos: The Verdi role unleashed diva Tetrazzini and Melba, aptly caricatured as dueling gramophones in Punch magazine, With its mix of music, drama, and spectacle, opera awakened powerful new appetites for a new art form.

Indeed, opera dramatized emotions so extreme as to resemble sacred passions. Great roles of the day portrayed larger-than-life figures in dramas adapted from mythology or chivalric romances. They wielded supernatural powers and magic charms. Roman emperors and Persian princesses were among the storied high-born stars of opera before Mozart. Their emotional turmoil was amplified through beautiful music, stunning costumes and scenery, and pyrotechnical stagecraft. In the dynamic business world of Venice, entrepreneurs were quick to respond to popular interest.

The 18th soon offered vigorous century brought competition. By the end Antonio Vivaldi, of the century, some who claimed to have operas were created written over 90 operas. Orlando furioso, used Already in the s, orchestral resources theaters teemed with to sublime effect. Venice in the the striking costumes used. Monteverdi and with such intoxicating castrato drew audiences to a rival theater with singers as Farinelli.

Most prized in Naples was the gifted and studious young castrato whose exquisite high voice would be preserved in adulthood. In principle sacrilegious, castration was performed on boys, usually by family members hoping to assure them well-paid careers. Indeed, in the 18th century, Neapolitans such as Nicola A midth-century painting of music-makers by Pietro Fabris depicts the vibrant cultural life of an aristocratic household in Naples. Young composers including Giovanni Battista Pergolesi first wrote intermezzos, works performed between acts of solemn operas. But Mozart later combined elements of opera seria and opera buffa to create his own brand of opera.

Like the castratos, whose voices were relished from the steppes of Russia to the tip of Spain, Neapolitan composers and librettists often served foreign courts and theaters. Porpora led a commercial opera company in London, and Metastasio became Court Poet to the theater in Vienna. But competition for audiences was stiff. But Lully, of its expression.

Lully at once began fresh approach to language and a long-term collaboration with orchestration sounded the arrival librettist Philippe Quinault. His love of Classical opera when his works of dance, shared by his monarch, left were heard in Paris in the s. For Seeds of the French Revolution three decades of the 18th century, were then taking root, and so was Lullian dance elements animated the the signature sound of another operas of Jean-Philippe Rameau. Handel, by then managing his own opera company, entered into a fierce rivalry with the Opera of the Nobility, an Italian company led by the Neapolitan Nicola Porpora.

No other opera composer made such a leap. When Monteverdi arrived in Mantua in as a young string-player for Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga, the court was bubbling with cultural innovation. The setting was ideal for a rising composer with an ear for polyphony and a keen sense of dramatic action. Following studies in Cremona, Monteverdi composed madrigals popular across Europe. But Mantua offered new musical horizons. By the late 15th century, the court had assembled musicians, poets, dancers, and painters to stage heroic and pastoral stories.

In , Venice saw the opening of the first commercial opera house. Until then, operas addressed the noble and mythological themes preferred by their commissioners. But success was now in the hands of paying audiences. They wanted marvellous sets, gripping dramas, and exhilarating arias delivered by virtuoso singers. The opera opens in joy, and passes through shock and grief before descending further, into regions of Hell.

Indeed, the work oscillates between hope and despair, praise and lament. Immortalized, Orfeo finally transcends his extreme passions. Following Monteverdi, strong emotions would remain the essence of great opera. Euridice returns his love, and all prepare to pray that the gods preserve her life. He sings of the former suffering that makes present joy all the more blissful. Suddenly, Silvia reports horrifying news: When a new tune lulls the ferryman to sleep, Orfeo passes unnoticed into hell. Underworld spirits sing of human success achieved through courageous defiance of obstacles.

Moved, Plutone agrees that Euridice may regain life on the condition that Orfeo does not behold her during their return journey from hell. Yet, unsure that Euridice follows him, Orfeo turns to behold his beloved. He briefly sees her before she disappears, then cries out in song for losing what he loved too much. Orfeo is drawn back into daylight as Spirits note that he is defeated by his own affections. Echo, the signal voice of bereavement, returns his words. His father, the god Apollo, descends from heaven to discourage ignoble excess of both joy and grief.

Even so, he adapted to the tastes of his new audience, introducing comic figures, such as the glutton Iro, and stage effects, including those that would deliver the goddess Minerva from the heavens. The opera was successful enough to be given in Bologna the same year as its Venice premiere, and to return to Venice the following year.

Then, when she recognizes her husband, Ulisse, she joins him in a glorious duet. Her servant, Melanto, hopes that Penelope will choose one of her many suitors. He invented stage technology allowing elaborate scenes to change in mere seconds. She gives Ulisse the appearance of an old man so he may face his rivals incognito. Learning that his servant Eumete awaits him, and that his son Telemaco will arrive, he rejoices in the strength that allows mortals to bear joy and torment. Reunited with his powerful bow, Ulisse uses the weapon to slay his rivals. At a nearby fountain, Eumete chases the gluttonous Iro from his flock, and offers refuge to Ulisse, whom he takes to be a beggar.

From her chariot, Minerva presents Telemaco. In a wood, Minerva instructs Ulisse: All suitors fail even to bend the bow. Minerva guides the arrow to slay the suitors. In heaven, Nettuno finally agrees to forgive Ulisse. Within the palace, Penelope at first suspects sorcery when she sees the undisguised Ulisse.

Ulisse reminds his wife of images of Diana that she wove into their bed sheets. Penelope begs his forgiveness and the couple rejoices. The libretto draws on spicy Ancient Roman biographical portraits of Emperor Nero to explore adultery, lust, and ambition.

The opera premiered during Carnival, when licence to push moral boundaries was freer than usual. Love commands the world. Seneca notes the virtuous strength her fate has given her.

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Alone, he considers the sufferings of the crowned, and greets Athena, who descends from heaven to forewarn him of his death. Then, Nerone tells Seneca that Poppea will be empress, and is enraged when Seneca questions the wisdom of this. But in his heart he knows that he still belongs to Poppea. But Renzi rose to fame in the public opera houses of Venice, where the papal Roman decrees preventing women from performing on stage were not enforced. Having created Ottavia as a young woman, Renzi went on to enjoy a long career as the best-loved prima donna of Venice.

Once it is carried out, Nerone requests a love song from Lucano. Ottone realizes he is still deeply in love with Poppea, but Ottavia commands him on pain of death to disguise himself as a woman and slay Poppea. He confides in Drusilla, who offers clothes for his disguise. Instead, she is arrested for Rome farewell v.

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Rome, Consuls and Nerone. Tribunes crown Poppea empress. And, with the blessing of But Ottone confesses, explaining that Venere, goddess of beauty in heaven, Ottavia ordered the murder. Nerone Amore crowns Poppea goddess of beauty on earth. Cavalli sang in the choir of the Basilica of St Mark under maestro di cappella Monteverdi, and in assumed the post himself. They offered Calisto soprano Venice well-mixed cocktails of romantic love, silliness, Follower of Diana and a dash of outrage.

The subject is doubly Mercurio Mercury tenor Messenger god racy when Giove Jove , disguised as the goddess Diana soprano Diana, enjoys erotic meetings with Calisto. As a Goddess musician of the Basilica of St Mark, Cavalli may Endimione alto Shepherd in love with Diana seem an improbable composer for such a work, but, like the unfettered Calisto of this opera, the Republic of Venice enjoyed unusual freedom from religious and moral strictures.

Cavalli responded to the story with his uniquely sensuous and sweetly varied music. Some Gioves enjoy this rare onstage chance to mock singers with higher voices, imitating their excesses or vanity. The reasons for the request are secret. Calisto joins the firmament as Ursa Major. When Calisto suffers in the drought afflicting Nature, Giove conjures ambrosia from a fountain for her to drink. A confirmed virgin, Calisto rejects the liquid, and his lust. Mercurio counsels Giove to take the form of Diana, whom the girl clearly adores, and is sure to embrace freely.

The shepherd Endimione rejoices to see water flowing again, but his heart still burns for Diana. He finds her out hunting, and they confess their love to one another, but the goddess refuses to break her vows of chastity. Diana is then surprised to hear from a blissful Calisto tales of their recent kissing session. Pan, who is also in love with Diana, considers a scheme to kill his rival. The former flees, but Endimione is captured.

Calisto aches with love for Diana v. But Giove promises his beloved Calisto immortality. When she dies, she is to remain beside him forever in the firmament t. Calisto returns joyfully to her forest, and Giove remains in heaven to await her return. As politically cunning as he was musically gifted, Lully composed regal operas enhanced by dances and divertissements.

They remained a reference point for French opera through the dawn of the French Revolution. Born in Florence, Lully arrived in Paris at At age 20, he was a noted violin player in the court ensemble of the young monarch, Louis XIV.

As the king flourished, so did Lully. The budding composer rose to prominent posts, and earned acclaim as a musician and exceptional dancer. Librettos by long-term collaborator Philippe Quinault treated heroic myths and medieval chivalric exploits; Lully responded with music of refined precision and glorious pomp. The opera is framed by the personage of the king, whose absence is lamented in the prologue, and whose symbolic double, the sun god Apollo, glorifies celebrations in the final act. Still, Paris was won over.

Finally, with wounded t.

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Alcide offers to return Alceste from Hades if he can then keep her for himself. Touched by their devotion, Alcide returns Alceste to her beloved. The god Apollo descends from the heavens to preside over a grand celebration of love and of the generosity of Alcide. Atypical of Lullian opera, Atys concludes with the tragic deaths of its lovers. Preparing for his war campaign, the Hero attends the story of Atys. He reluctantly reveals to a fellow Phrygian that he is in love, but to Sangaride denies that love is of interest to him.

Finally, Atys reveals his feelings to Sangaride. Her mood darkens as she realizes he loves Sangaride. His senses regained, Atys attempts suicide. Quel pine tree, and laments his malheur! His new wife, Madame de Maintenon, cast a more pious shadow over royal entertainments. Pyrotechnical stagecraft and fanciful divertissements were not banned, but a moralistic tone is established in the prologue. All pay her homage save one: Her uncle Hidraot urges her to select a husband, but Armide vows to marry only the man who defeats Renaud.

Ubalde uses a magic diamond shield to vanquish monsters and block spells cast by Armide. She tries many tactics to detain her beloved Renaud v. But the opera possesses a timeless brilliance. Personifications of Victory and Fame glorify France. She has sacrificed much for her husband Jason, yet he is ungrateful. Argians and Corinthians join in dancing and mock battling devoted to Victory. Outraged, he orders her arrest. She orders him to mourn forever the woes released by the flames of his passion. With this, the palaces become a blaze of ruins inhabited by monsters, and fire hails down on Corinth.

And with this single short work, he became the most important composer of opera in English for a period of over two hundred years. Purcell turned to opera only in the last years of his life. He had studied music in London and his early posts led him to compose mainly for the court. In , he succeeded the celebrated John Blow as organist of Westminster Abbey. But in , when the reign of William and Mary brought hard times for artists, he began accepting commissions.

The first of these popular plays featuring elaborate musical segments was The Prophetess, or The History of Dioclesian , for which the famous Shakespearean actor Thomas Betterton provided the libretto. He died while writing this tragic semi-opera, but his younger brother, Daniel Purcell, completed the score. They were essentially plays in which non-singing actors interpreted the lead roles. But dramatic action was rather spare, and shaped to absorb interspersed musical episodes and lively masques, which were performed by singers and dancers.

Their colorful plots and mixed casts were popular with the audiences of the day. The score was lost, then neglected, for years before its rediscovery in He requests music from Titania. The two pairs of lovers marry. The fairies entertain Titania until she asks for a lullaby. Oberon sprinkles a love potion over her eyes.

Titania falls in love with Bottom and conjures a bucolic scene to court him. It is the only major work of music theater in English before the operas of Benjamin Britten, in the 20th century. Purcell integrated the dances favored in French opera, and followed Italian fashion by dwelling on arias. But he broke new ground with his treatment of lyrics and action. The opera was publicly given in , but only entered the repertoire in Belinda encourages Dido to express her love for the Trojan prince Aeneas, and courtiers praise their political union.

Aeneas asks Dido when he will be blessed with her love. She replies that fate forbids her to love him. He begs Dido to pity him, if not for his own sake, then for the sake of Empire-building — he is destined to found a new Troy, and her rejection Dancers Mark Morris and Guillermo Resto as Dido and would spell failure. Aeneas and Dido are hunting, but a conjured storm will lure Aeneas to their cave, where a Spirit resembling the god Mercury will order him to leave Carthage.

Aeneas agrees to obey, but laments his loss of Dido. Fellow sailors respond in song and dance. Dido complains to Belinda that her advice on love matters has failed. She urges him to depart and found the new Empire, while she dies. Aeneas proposes to stay instead. But Dido will not hear of his remaining. When Aeneas leaves, Dido welcomes her new guest, Death. Music alternately caresses and resists lyrics, illustrating their sense, or conveying their expressive limits.

As the opera opens, Dido is isolated by inner turmoil. But the action switches to a hurried exterior world, as a storm requires the lovers to seek shelter. While only 16 complete operas survive, partial scores continue to be discovered. Like his father, Antonio Vivaldi was a celebrated violinist. From his native Venice, he also became the reigning Italian concerto composer. His first opera, Ottone in villa, already captures distinctive instrumentation.

Like his contemporary, Handel, the prolific Vivaldi also struggled as an impresario. Following a period in Mantua, he returned to Venice in , but only briefly; his operas were attacked in a satirical essay by Benedetto Marcello. Five years later he was back, but then to contend with the new fervor for Neapolitan opera, in which the orchestra mainly served virtuoso vocalists.

At the end of the decade, Prague proved more welcoming to the Red Priest. Then, in the s, he donned his impresario hat for the last time, to tour operas through the Italian provinces. Vivaldi travelled in to Vienna, where he died penniless. Exquisite roles, glorious music, and luminous vocal lines form a far-fetched yet coherent drama. Alcina finds Medoro shipwrecked on the shore. Angelica cruelly sends the worshipful Orlando on a mission that traps him. Escaped, Orlando loses his senses when he sees the newly-weds. Her island now deserted, she departs vowing revenge. Orlando comes to his senses, reconciles with Angelica, and approves her marriage to Medoro.

He wrote masterful sacred music and oratorios in his teens and, at 22, presented his first opera seria and first comedy. His fame came almost accidentally when he added a humorous intermezzo to the opera seria, Il prigionier superbo. This intermezzo, La serva padrona, gained huge popularity and is now considered the archetypal opera buffa.

Having completed a final comedy and Stabat Mater, his instrumental masterpiece, he died near Naples aged Uberto bass An elderly bachelor It then served as a literal intermezzo: La serva padrona was sandwiched into Il prigionier superbo, an opera seria also by Pergolesi, and was the first intermezzo to be performed independently. Within 20 years, its revolutionary portrayal of a man in love with his servant enthralled audiences in Florence, Venice, Dresden, Hamburg, Prague, Paris, Vienna, Copenhagen, London, and Barcelona.

Given in Baltimore, Maryland, in , it is also among the earliest operas performed in the United States. Uberto is shocked by the sum, but learns that the alternative is to marry Serpina himself. But Uberto is by now sure he adores her, and wishes to marry anyway. He has been waiting for three hours, and she has yet to bring him hot chocolate. Serpina finally enters, without the hot chocolate, to beat Vespone. She asks Uberto for respect, but her every word only adds to his despair.

Uberto then begs Vespone to find him a wife, even if she resembles a monster. Serpina suggests he should marry her instead. Uberto erupts in protest. She asks if he does not find her attractive. Uberto says no over and over, while Serpina counters with yes. Reactions were extreme, but far from harmonious. War was instantly declared: Tension mounted with each successive opera until, in , Dardanus so enraged the Lulliste librettist Charles-Pierre Roy that he and the composer traded punches. Rameau grew up in Dijon and studied under his father, an organist.

From , he was also an organist, mainly in provincial cathedrals. Like Lully, Rameau composed glorious music for dances, a vital element in French opera. The opera presents a sequence of four independent lyrical dramas linked by a theme established in its prologue: That Love unites distinct cultures. Turkey, Peru, Persia, and North America. Melodic lines, rhythms, and his signature wealth of harmonic invention present a mosaic of worlds united by love, and by music.

But from the time of Lully, dance or ballet interludes were essential in French opera. Rameau perpetuated this tradition, which continued well into the 19th century. Huascar, the High Priest of the Sun, is also in love with Phani. When the volcano erupts during a festival worshipping the Sun god, Huascar tries to persuade Phani that the god protests her love for the enemy officer.

Don Alvar of Spain, who is possessive, and Damon of France, who advocates freer love. Zima finds each too extreme v. The ceremony of the Great Pipe of Peace marks reconciliation between Indians and Europeans, and celebrates the union of Zima and Adario. Still, while a risky venture, the piece was well received.

Cross-dressed as the ugly and vain marsh nymph, Jelyotte held his royal audience spellbound. Some experts have gleaned Masonic themes, and believe that the work was barred as subversive. The music responds to the quick pace of its fairy-tale story with brilliant harmonic innovation and forceful rhythms. It also contains gorgeous vocal parts and a stunning array of spirited dances. William Christie led musicians of his ensemble, Les Arts Florissants in this production. He threatens Alphise with slavery if she does not marry according to tradition.

But Apollo arrives to priest Adamas exhorts Abaris to abandon enlighten all: Abaris prays to Alphise and Abaris are finally united. Apollo, and resolves to love Alphise. Together, his extraordinary works and vibrant career establish him as the first truly European composer. At 19, he played violin for the opera in Hamburg, where he became its harpsichordist. His first two operas premiered in Hamburg in , but only the first, Almira, set to a libretto in German, survives.

The composer then traveled to Florence, which saw the premiere of Rodrigo, his first opera in Italian, and Venice, where Agrippina brought success. By then, Handel was residing in London. His first opera for an English audience, Rinaldo, was given in It was a phenomenal success, and it served to fire up entrepreneurial spirits at the Haymarket Theater, which was in the risky business of presenting Italian operas to English patrons.

Acclaimed casts were led by prima donnas Faustina Bordoni and Francesca Cuzzoni, and by the alto castrato Senesino. Bolstered by newly recruited singers, he then waged a sporadically successful opera war on Porpora. Two operas from this period, Ariodante and Alcina, even offered the curiosity of a French ballet troupe. Still, Handel wrote several more, including the magnificent Serse. But his last opera, Deidamia, was given in London the same year that his Messiah premiered in Dublin, Ireland: Indeed, whether closer to opera or oratorio, his great works of this era, including Samson, Semele, Judas Maccabeus, and Jeptha, defied neat classification.

Yet through powerful music and story-telling, they continue to win devoted listeners today. Spoken dialogue and nearly 70 numbers advance the action. With its love story set amid pageantry in magical realms, it calls for elaborate stagecraft. Popular in London before Handel first arrived in , his star appearances added to the success of Rinaldo. Furious, she changes out of her disguise to declare war on Argante. In the palace, Rinaldo saves Almirena from Armida. There, Armida and Argante end their personal quarrel and prepare for battle. But Rinaldo takes them captive. Christians celebrate their victory and welcome the now-married Rinaldo and Almirena.

With grand themes of historical warfare and passionate love, of heroic action and inner turmoil, it offers lyric drama on a truly epic scale. Its wide scope is matched by its prodigious number of arias, with Cleopatra and Cesare alone allotted eight each.

The opera enjoyed an initial run of 13 performances, and Handel revived it twice in London with continued success. Today, it is the most often performed Handel opera. And, with its many strongly drawn principal roles, it is also a favorite among singers of Baroque repertoire. Cleopatra arranges a set piece of nine Muses atop Mount Parnassus to help her to seduce Cesare, and the Muses are accompanied by onstage musicians. The Roman tribune Curio offers to make Cornelia his wife and to avenge Pompeo.

Alone, Sesto resolves to be the man to avenge his father. Achilla offers to kill Cesare if Tolomeo will give Cornelia as a reward. In his camp, Cesare honors Pompeo, grieving over his coffin v. Cornelia takes up a blade to avenge Pompeo, but her son Sesto stops her: This is his task. Still incognito, Cleopatra offers to lead them to Tolomeo.

Tolomeo warmly welcomes Cesare, who detects the scheme to murder him. When Cornelia appears with Sesto, Tolomeo also falls in love with her, and plans to betray his promise to Achilla. Sesto arrives just in time to prevent her suicide. Before dying, Achilla hands over a seal that commands a secret army.

Using the seal, Cesare leads the secret army to rescue Cleopatra, and then to complete the conquest of Egypt. After embracing Sesto and Cornelia in mutual friendship, Cesare and Cleopatra declare their everlasting love for each other. In , having created the love-struck Medoro in Orlando, Senesino moved to the rival Opera of the Nobility. There, composer Nicola Porpora set his contralto voice to maximum effect in operas co-starring the younger castrato sensation Farinelli, a soprano. It pits love against duty in a troubled political context.

The historical Asian conqueror Tamerlane, a popular stage subject at the time, is treated dramatically, not factually. Noted for its brilliant structure, the opera opens with captive emperor Bajazete attempting suicide, and ends only when his renewed attempt succeeds.

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The higher, more ornamented voices of women and castratos were deemed more beautiful. Irene is shocked that she is to marry Andronico, who agonizes over his situation. Tamerlano tells Asteria to walk over her father to take her place as his empress. She refuses, and Bajazete defies orders to rise. Outraged, Tamerlano orders the executions of Asteria and Bajazete. Tamerlano has Bajazete brought into the Imperial Hall to be humiliated by banquet splendors.

But Bajazete poisons himself, cursing Tamerlano as he expires. Dominated by a series of over 30 da capo arias, solo pieces meant to show off one singer at a time, it contains only two duets and one ensemble number. But Handel paced the opera with artistry, using contrasting tempos, keys, and orchestration to build maximum tension. The music for Rodelinda herself is perfectly in tune with her martial devotion to marriage.

She is interrupted by the usurper Grimoaldo and declines his offer of marriage. Garibaldo offers him help but secretly intends to occupy the throne himself. They spy Rodelinda, who agrees to marry Grimoaldo when Garibaldo threatens to murder her son. Distraught, Bertarido considers Rodelinda faithless. When Garibaldo advises him to accept the offer, Unulfo chides Garibaldo for his barbarity. As husband and wife reunite, Grimoaldo arrives to inform Bertarido that the hour of his death has come.

Garibaldo is about to assassinate Grimoaldo, but Bertarido saves him. Grimoaldo gratefully returns Bertarido to the throne. She and Garibaldo conspire to share the throne. Both vocalists joined a rival opera company just after creating Orlando. Orlando will serve Glory. But Orlando dedicates himself to Love. The shepherdess Dorinda tells Medoro, who once courted her, she still loves him. Angelica gives a gem to Dorinda, who finds it a poor substitute for Medoro. Pursuing the lovers, Orlando almost seizes Angelica, but she is borne off in a magic cloud.

But the demented Orlando soon arrives. Crazed, Orlando mistakes Angelica for a sorceress, throws her into the cavern, and sleeps. Alice Coote seated interprets the role of Orlando in The other three were Rinaldo, Orlando, and Ariodante. Following Alcina, Handel wrote eight final operas, but Alcina was the last of his operatic successes. Handel reputedly cursed the vocalist and threatened not to pay him unless he sang the part as scored. When Alcina learns that Alcina transforms men Ruggiero has betrayed her into rocks and beasts on and plots to escape from her island.

Now, she her island, she is crushed has fallen in love with by grief v. It sinks into the sea, Alcina vanishes, and the men she had over Ruggiero, who finally remembers transformed regain human form. Against all odds, Gluck achieved this goal. Christoph Willibald Gluck, a composer of formidable influence, composed over 40 works of music theater.

Following studies in Prague, Milan, and Venice, he worked in opera capitals across Europe, finally settling in Vienna. But by , change was in the air. A pivotal composer, Gluck closed the Baroque era of Monteverdi, Lully, and Handel, and opened the Classical one that flourished in the masterpieces of Mozart and Cherubini. But his impact did not stop there. Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss were deeply influenced by Gluck, and composers contend with his operas even today. But if Gluck appeared to be looking back, this work took opera on a forward path.

The opening captures its unique place in music Orfeo alto Shepherd and musician history: Amore soprano This hybrid of two distinct sound-worlds is pure Gluck. He calls to his lost love, Euridice, but in vain, since the only reply he receives is echoes. With the courage of a hero, he will descend into hell to search for his beloved wife. If his music calms the dark spirits of the underworld, Orfeo may return Euridice to daylight. But he will lose her forever and live in misery if he beholds her before emerging from the caves of the River Styx.

Alone, Orfeo resolves to succeed. When he accepts the challenge that the gods have laid down, thunder sounds and lightning flashes. A watercolor set design from presents the vision of Russian designer Aleksander Jakovlevic Golovin for an Art Nouveau staging of the opera. Creating the role of Orfeo was castrato Gaetano Guadagni.

He had sung oratorios for Handel in London, where he also studied acting with the famous Shakespearean David Garrick. Rare for a castrato, he was noted for avoiding excess. Orfeo rejoices in its blissful perfection, but cannot find Euridice. Without beholding her, Orfeo escorts Euridice away from the Elysian Fields. She asks if he is alive, and if she is. Each question tortures Orfeo, who hurries her along. When he refuses her requests for an embrace or even a glance, she finally calls him a traitor.

As Orfeo il tuo consorte! At last, Orfeo turns around only to see his Euridice die before him. He tries in vain to revive her v. Then, as if rising from sleep, Euridice is renewed to life. The lovers reunited, Amore beckons them to return to earth. French opera, teeming since Lully with dances and divertissements, would never be the same. This work of love and law colliding in Antiquity won acclaim across Europe.

Highlights include its magnificent overture, subtle orchestration, and forceful characterizations. For the first time, the king was forced to adjust his schedule at the last minute. The priest Calchas assures Greek warriors that a victim is arriving, and persuades Agamemnon to approve the sacrifice. Denying betrayal, Achille regains her love. Inflamed by love, Achille challenges Agamemnon, who only hastens to complete the sacrifice.

He pleads with Diane to take his own life instead. Its stark and unrelenting examination of tormented souls concludes with a rapid succession of glorious recognition, satisfying revenge, and merciful salvation. They found the castrato disturbing. Her mother killed her father, and she herself murdered her dear brother, Oreste. She prays to be reunited with Oreste. Thoas reports that two strangers have come ashore. The Sythians demand that the Greek captives be sacrificed.

Alone, Oreste feels curiously serene v. She orders Oreste to leave for Mycenae, but he persuades her to send Pilade instead. As Oreste is ritually presented, they finally recognize one another. Thoas tries to kill them, but Pilade arrives with Greek guards to slay him. Nonetheless, he always had a special passion and a unique gift for opera. During the last decade of his life, he transformed the genre beyond all recognition. Like no composer before him, Mozart understood that, by exploiting the emotional power of the singing voice, he could give flesh and blood to the serio and buffo heroes of traditional opera.

Inspired by challenging librettos, he painted fully fledged characters through subtle orchestration, harmonically ambitious recitatives, memorable arias, and intricate ensembles. It took Mozart 25 years to reach this pinnacle. His precocious talent was immediately recognized by his father, Leopold, a respected Salzburg musician, who even helped the boy with his early compositions. But it was as a performer that Mozart first astonished. He was only five when he and his gifted sister, Maria Anna, played the harpsichord at the Bavarian court in Munich. With opera flourishing as never before outside Italy, young Mozart was soon drawn to the genre.

Returning to Salzburg in , he wrote his first opera, Apollo et Hyacinthus, a three-act intermezzo in Latin. In contrast to instrumental music, opera required not only a commission, but also a libretto and singers — and Salzburg had neither a proper theater nor an opera house. By now, he parts. Then, having after his premature death. Archbishop Colloredo at the same time as escaping the loving but controlling embrace of his father. In , he married the young soprano Constanze Weber, whose sister he had previously wooed. She was frequently ill and bills for her health care often led to Mozart being swamped in debt.

The job he coveted as court composer was also firmly held by Antonio Salieri. But Mozart worked hard, composing few months later, he presented Bastien und Bastienne, a German Singspiel, in Vienna. Before he was 13, he had written operas in three distinct styles and languages. Leopold Mozart accompanies the young Wolfgang and his sister, Maria Anna as they perform in Paris in But the turningpoint came in when he met the Italian poet and librettist Lorenzo da Ponte.

What has put these works at the heart of every opera repertory, however, is their music: Born into an Italian-Jewish family in , da Ponte became a priest and a poet before legal troubles forced him to flee Venice. He then resumed his wanderings as a down-at-heel poet, playwright, and librettist, eventually reaching the United States, where he died in Emperor Leopold II in Prague. But only weeks later he was struck down with fever, perhaps brought on by infection.

He died on 5 December , just seven weeks short of his 36th birthday. His last great choral work, Requiem, was left unfinished. As was common, the composer was given a libretto, one set only three years earlier by Quirino Gasparini. But Mitridate was then largely forgotten for two centuries. The siblings also compete for Aspasia, who favors Sifare. Mitridate returns with Ismene, a bride for Farnace.

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