1840–1902, French Zola’s influence on French opera extended beyond his libretti for the composer Alfred Bruneau as his realist credo became known not only through his novels but also through public exposure. While Bizet’s Carmen began the trend for realistic events, Zola’s ideas confirmed it. Charpentier’s Louise is notable, and there are also works by Gabriel Dupont, ...
The early nineteenth century was a period of insurgence in Europe, from the French Revolution in 1789 to the uprisings of around 1848. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Britain before spreading south to the rest of Europe, was also making its mark. These two strands of revolution transformed society, with a growing awareness of national identity ...
The Enlightenment was a great wave of thought in the eighteenth century that combated mysticism, superstition and the supernatural – and to some extent the dominance of the church. Its origins lie in French rationalism and scepticism and English empiricism, as well as in the new spirit of scientific enquiry. It also affected political theory in the writings of ...
The 1860s saw a number of major reorganizations in European politics. Italy became a united country under the king of (former) Piedmont-Sardinia, Victor Emmanuel II, in 1861 and its new national government tried to retain the kingdom’s liberal ideals, such as removing instances of operatic and intellectual censorship. However, Italy’s liberalism was not aspired to by other ...
The schools of naturalism and realism had an immediate effect in Italy. With scant literary tradition to draw on from this period, Italian writers in the second half of the nineteenth century seized upon Zola’s beliefs as a potent dramatic source. The style they developed came to be known as verismo and was exemplified by writers such as Giovanni Verga ...
‘The Huguenots’ Composed: 1836 Premiered: 1836, Paris Libretto by Eugène Scribe, Emile Deschamps and Gaetano Rossi Act I Nevers, a Catholic, has invited the Huguenot Raoul to a feast, as the king desires peace between the two factions. The guests describe their experiences of love. Raoul has fallen for a lady whom he saved from some ...
1876–1949, Italian Zenatello studied as a baritone at Verona and debuted at Belluno in 1898 as Silvio in Pagliacci. He sang Canio in the same opera the following year in Naples. His La Scala debut in 1902 was a success and he regularly appeared there in the years immediately afterwards. He worked extensively in South America and appeared occasionally at ...
1831–97, French Henri Meilhac, the French dramatist and librettist, wrote most of his texts for operas in collaboration with other writers. Meilhac’s most renowned partnership, which began after a chance meeting outside a Paris theatre in 1860, was with Ludovic Halévy. They produced libretti for Bizet, Léo Delibes (1836–91) and most famously for Offenbach. Meilhac ...
A pioneering guitarist and the principal creative force behind The Who, Pete Townshend was born in Chiswick, London in 1941. The Townshends were a musical family – Pete’s grandfather was a musician, his father a dance-band saxophonist and his mother a singer. Consequently, a career in music seemed natural for Pete, and his parents encouraged him. ...
(Vocal group, 1953–present) Manager/producer Buck Ram formed The Platters in Los Angeles in 1953 with original members Tony Williams (lead vocalist), David Lynch (tenor), Alex Hodge (baritone), replaced by Paul Robi, Herb Reed (bass) and Zola Taylor. Signed to Mercury Records, their smooth harmonies brought hits with 1955’s million-selling ‘Only You (And You Alone)’, followed two months later ...
While many hit doo-wop records featured full instrumental accompaniment, the groups themselves had usually started out singing a cappella. It was, in short, a music that required collaborative effort but no instrumental outlay or expertise, to be performed on street corners as a means of escape, public entertainment, personal fulfilment and professional ambition. Deriving its ...
The term has been liberally applied to a range of musical styles but, properly, it refers to a movement in Italian literature of which the main exponent was Giovanni Verga. The major influence on the veristic writers was Émile Zola who believed that reality could be best understood by objective observation. For instance, a character would be placed ...
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