1725–92, Italian The castrato Gaetano Guadagni first sang as a contralto, but later retrained as a soprano. Although he had no early training, Handel hired him to sing in his oratorios Messiah and Samson. In 1754–55, Guadagni made up for his lack of training by studying with Gioacchino Gizziello (1714–61) in Lisbon and with the English actor ...
(Ga-a-ta’-no Don-it-set’-te) 1797–1848 Italian composer Between the death of Bellini (1835) and the emergence of Verdi, Donizetti was the dominant figure in Italian opera. He studied with Mayr and Padre Mattei. After composing numerous apprentice operas and various sacred, orchestral and instrumental works, he had his first real success with Zoraida di Granata (‘Zoraida of Granada’, 1822), which gave ...
1797–1848, Italian Gaetano Donizetti, who was born in Bergamo, wrote seven operas, some of them while still a student in Bologna, and several of them unproduced, before he scored his first success with Zoraide di Grenata (‘Zoraide of Granada’, 1822), which was performed in Rome. Zoraide attracted the attention of impresario Domenico Barbaia, who ...
‘The Elixir of Love’ Donizetti’s prolific output owed a great deal to the speed with which he was able to compose. He could compose operas at the rate of three or four a year. However, even this rate of production was overtaken by the mere fortnight it took him to write the music for L’elisir d’amore. This pastoral comedy was ...
While writing Lucia di Lammermoor, Donizetti observed a common custom of the 1830s; tailoring his music to the voices of the original cast. For example, Fanny Tacchinardi-Persiani (1812–67), who created the role of Lucia, was technically brilliant and Donizetti’s writing reflected her outstanding abilities. Matching music to performers was a shrewd move: the formula increased the popularity of ...
‘The Daughter of the Regiment’ Donizetti’s opéra comique La fille du régiment acquired its French title because of its French librettists, Jules-Henri Vernoy, Marquis de Saint-Georges (1799–1875) and Jean-François-Alfred Bayard (1796–1853), and its first night was at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 11 February 1840. La fille, which was set in the Tirol, in Austria during the ...
Donizetti’s three-act comic opera, Don Pasquale, full of fun and infectious humour, was first performed at the Théâtre Italien in Paris on 3 January 1843. There was no hint here of Donizetti’s failing health, but as time proved, Don Pasquale was among the last of his remarkable total of 67 operas. The first performance was a ...
‘Orpheus and Eurydice’ When the Emperor Franz I and his retinue attended the premiere of Orfeo ed Euridice at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 5 October 1762, they were doubtless expecting a lightweight pastoral entertainment. The occasion – the emperor’s name day – and the opera’s billing as an azione teatrale (literally ‘theatrical action’) promised as much. What they got ...
1741–1813, French Grétry, who was born in Liège, composed two intermezzi before he headed for Paris and his preferred genre, the opéra comique. His first success, Le Huron (1768), came a year after his arrival and was followed in 1769 by the equally well received Lucile and Le tableau parlant (‘The Talking Picture’). Grétry charmed French ...
The Teatro alla Scala – known outside Italy as La Scala, Milan – is one of the world’s most famous opera houses and originally opened in the sixteenth century as the Salone Margherita in the Palazzo Ducale. Both this theatre and another built on its site, the Teatro Regio Ducale, burned down, in 1708 and 1776 respectively. ...
Understanding how to use friction to produce sounds in glass goes back to Galileo Galilei (1564–1642), who discussed the singing effect achieved by running a moistened finger around the rim of a glass. In 1743, the Irish musician Richard Puckeridge created an angelic organ, or seraphim, from glasses rubbed with wet fingers. The glasses were filled with water ...
The saxophone occupies an unusual position in that it is a bespoke instrument that has barely changed since its creation. Although it does not occupy the position in the orchestra its creator had envisaged, Adolphe Sax’s invention has played a central part in music ever since it burst on to the scene in the 1840s. Sax’s father, Charles, ...
A conically bored baritone instrument, the serpent is supposed to have been invented by Edmé Guillaume in 1590. Like its close relative, the cornett, it is sounded by buzzing the lips into an ivory-, horn- or metal-cup mouthpiece which, in turn, agitates the air column. Its 213-cm (84-in) length is undulating in appearance, giving it ...
Following the social and political upheaval of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, Europe enjoyed a short period of relative stability with Napoleon’s exile, the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in France and the establishment of the Vienna Peace Settlement in 1815. However, in the early 1820s a number of minor revolts broke out in Naples and ...
The Romantic period in opera, music, literature and art lasted more than a century overall, from around 1790 – the year after the French Revolution – to 1910, four years before the outbreak of the First World War. In this context, the meaning of ‘romantic’ went far beyond the usual amorous connotations: it stood for the ...
AUTHORITATIVE
An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...
CURATED
Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.
David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
his life, music, art and movies, with a
sweep of incredible photographs.