(Vocal group, 1961–77) The jewels in the crown of Motown’s golden years, The Supremes’ sophisticated act and sound were the TV-friendly face of soul music, winning them 12 No. 1s including a 1964–65 run of five in a row from hitmakers Holland-Dozier-Holland. Many, like: ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’ and ‘You Keep Me Hanging On’, became pop classics. ...
Vince Gill (b. 1957) broke out of a respected but static 10-year career as a bandmember and solo act and into country stardom with the 1990 hit ‘When I Call Your Name’. Gill was in the forefront of the neo-traditional country movement and became one of the biggest crossover singing stars in Nashville. It helped that he was an excellent country ...
The twin-guitar partnership of Francis Rossi (b. 1949) and Rick Parfitt (b. 1948) has been at the heart of Status Quo since 1967. Francis Rossi (originally known as Mike) was born in Forest Hill, London. He formed the band that evolved into Status Quo with bassist Alan Lancaster while at school in 1962. Rick Parfitt, born Richard Harrison in ...
(Loo-e’-je Rôs’-se) 1598–1653 Italian composer Rossi was one of the early Roman composers of opera and cantata. After studying in Naples he entered the service of the Borghese family in Rome in 1621. In 1633 he was appointed organist of S Luigi dei Francesi and in 1641 moved to the Barberinis. His first opera, Il palazzo incantato (‘The Enchanted Palace’), was ...
(Sa-la-mo’-na Rôs’-se) c. 1570–c. 1630 Italian composer Rossi was a Mantuan composer, teacher and instrumentalist associated with the court music of Duke Guglielmo Gonzaga. He lived in the Jewish quarter of Mantua, where he may have died after the city was sacked in 1630. His five books of madrigals are progressive in their requirement of an instrumental bass with and ...
(Jo-ak-ke’-no Ros-se’-ne) 1792–1868 Italian composer Rossini dominated Italian opera during the first half of the nineteenth century, writing nearly 40 operas in less than 20 years. He established new conventions in the genre, and was the first Italian composer to abandon unaccompanied recitative in an attempt to create a more continuous flow in the music. He also developed rhythm and ...
(Vocals, piano, b. 1964) From western Canada, Diana Krall attended Berklee School of Music, was encouraged to sing by Los Angeles-based pianist-singer Jimmy Rowles and was mentored by bassist Ray Brown. Her first trios, co-led by guitarist Russell Malone, emulated Nat ‘King’ Cole’s. Her accessible stylings led to international festival tours, bestselling recordings and ...
c. 1597–1653, Italian Luigi Rossi served for a time at the Neapolitan court before joining the Borghese family in his native city of Rome in 1621. Twenty years later, he entered the service of the Barberini family, who were influential patrons of opera. Rossi’s first opera, Il palazzo incantato (‘The Enchanted Palace’, 1642), received its first performance ...
Premiered: 1647, Paris Libretto by Francesco Buti Prologue The figure of Vittoria (Victory) and French soldiers sing of their victories and the power of their kingdom. Act I Euridice and her father, Endimione, consult a soothsayer regarding her forthcoming wedding to Orfeo. The omens are bad. Orfeo and Euridice celebrate their love for each other, while Aristeo ...
1653–97, Italian Castrato Siface made his singing debut in Rome in 1672. He enjoyed considerable early success in Italy and created a sensation in Venice as Syphax in Cavalli’s Sciopine affricano (‘Scipio Africanus’, 1685). Siface became so identified with the part that ‘Syphax’ became his nickname. Siface was taken up by many important personalities, including ex-Queen Christina of Sweden ...
1792–1868, Italian By the age of 14, Gioachino Rossini could play the violin, cello, harpsichord and horn, and had written a buffo-style cavatina, a short solo song. In 1806, Rossini was studying at the Bologna Conservatory and wrote his first opera, Demetrio e Polibio. The next year he produced his first professional work ...
‘The Italian Girl in Algiers’ Despite its North African setting, Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri was a resolutely Italian opera. Unlike Aida (1871), in which Verdi took care to evoke the mysterious atmosphere of ancient Egypt, Rossini made no particular attempt to reflect the exotic nature of Algiers. However, given the good-natured harum-scarum fun of this two-act comic opera ...
‘The Barber of Seville’ Rossini’s opera was given its first performance, in Rome, on 20 February 1816, but not under the name by which it is now known. The reason was that Rossini’s Il barbiere was faced with a rival – an opera on the same subject by Giovanni Paisiello, that had first been produced in St Petersburg ...
Rossini’s two-act version of the Cinderella story, his twentieth opera and last Italian comic opera, received its first performance at the Teatro Valle in Rome on 25 January 1817. This was followed by performances in London (1820), Vienna (1822) and New York (1826). The Teatro Valle, which had commissioned Rossini to write the opera for the carnival in ...
Le Comte Ory (1828) was another of Rossini’s bright, brilliant operas buffa. This one, based on an old Picardy legend, premiered at the Paris Opéra on 20 August 1828. The first performance in London took place at the Haymarket on 28 February 1829, and was possibly intended as a celebration for Rossini’s thirty-seventh birthday, the best ...
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David Bowie
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