b. 1934 American mezzo-soprano After three years in Europe, Horne sang Marie (Wozzeck) in San Francisco in 1960, repeating the role in her Covent Garden debut in 1964. She often sang with Sutherland, notably as Arsace in Semiramide (Rossini) and Adalgisa in Norma (Bellini). She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1970 as Adalgisa. She sang many Rossini ...
b. 1934, American One of the great mezzo-sopranos of the twentieth century, Horne studied with William Venard and dubbed the voice of Dorothy Dandridge in the 1954 film Carmen Jones. She was admired by Stravinsky, who invited her to perform in the 1956 Vienna Festival; she remained in Europe for three seasons at the Gelsenkirchen Opera. She returned ...
1940s and was one of the earliest white bandleaders to employ black musicians, beginning with Benny Carter as a guest soloist and arranger in 1934. He introduced singer Lena Horne as an unknown in 1941 and featured many notable musicians in his line-ups. His style was based on an energized Basie-like riff formula, but he was also an undisguised ...
, the toreador, became a champion prize-fighter. This ran for over 500 performances, and a hugely successful film version followed in 1954, with the voice of Marilyn Horne (b. 1934) in the title role. Recommended Recording: Carmen, soloists, French Radio Chorus, French National Orchestra (cond) Lorin Maazel (Erato) Sounds Familiar ‘Beat Out Dat Rhythm’ In ...
(Vocals, composer, bandleader, 1889–1975) Sissle worked with bandleader James Reese Europe from 1916–19, before teaming up with Eubie Blake; together Sissle and Blake wrote hits for Sophie Tucker and the successful all-black musicals Shuffle Along (1921) and Chocolate Dandies (1924). Sissle led his own bands in Europe during the late 1920s before returning to America in 1931 ...
neither this nor Die Harmonie have enjoyed repeated exposure. Introduction | Modern Era | Opera Major Operas | Mathis der Maler by Paul Hindemith | Modern Era Personalities | Marilyn Horne | Modern Era | Opera Techniques | Expressionism | Modern Era | Opera ...
‘Song of America’ project was a collaboration with the Library of Congress designed to raise the profile of its American song collection. Introduction | Contemporary | Classical Personalities | Marilyn Horne | Contemporary | Classical ...
By the end of the 1930s, the Swing era was in full force, ushered in by big bands led by Benny Goodman, Chick Webb, the Dorsey brothers (Jimmy and Tommy) and Glenn Miller. New Orleans jazz and its stylistic off-shoot, Dixieland, had both largely faded from popularity. New Orleans pioneers King Oliver and Jelly Roll ...
Opera’s Coliseum is one example) even before one tackles the challenge of creating crystalline diction, it is often beneficial for supertitles to be used for English-language productions too. Marilyn Horne has even used them in her Lieder masterclasses. While one concern is that supertitles can divert attention from the action or a singer’s nuanced performance, audience members soon adjust ...
The bagpipe principle is simple: instead of the player blowing directly on a reed pipe, the air is supplied from a reservoir, usually made of animal skin, which is inflated either by mouth or by bellows. The result is the ability to produce a continuous tone, and the possibility of adding extra reed-pipes to enable a single ...
1907–82 English pianist Curzon studied in Berlin and Paris. He toured Europe from 1932 and America from 1939. He gave the first performance of works by Lennox Berkeley and Alan Rawsthorne, but was associated mainly with the Classical repertory, especially Mozart. His recordings include the First Piano Concerto by Brahms, conducted by Szell. Introduction | Contemporary | Classical ...
1874–1954 American composer Ives was drawn to music largely by the example of his father George, who had been a bandsman in the American Civil War and who encouraged his son in such experiments as playing a tune in one key and its accompaniment in another. Ives studied with the conservative composer Horatio Parker (1863–1919), but soon turned to his ...
(Vocals, 1899–2000) Born in rural Louisiana, Davis first made his name singing on radio station KWKH in Shreveport. From 1928 onwards, he was a popular recording artist, initially with sentimental and cowboy songs, then with raunchy blue yodels in the manner of Jimmie Rodgers. These included ‘She’s A Hum Dum Dinger From Dingersville’ and ‘Bear Cat ...
America’s most successful pop group, graduating from fun-in-the-California-sun surf and hot-rod songs to multi-textured, intricately arranged numbers of exquisite harmonic structure, The Beach Boys initially achieved fame with a line-up consisting of the Wilson brothers, Brian (born 20 June 1942), Dennis (1944–83) and Carl (1946–98), together with their cousin Mike Love (born 15 March 1941) and Brian’s ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 2005–present) Formed by The White Stripes’ Jack White and friend/songwriter Brendan Benson (along with Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler from Detroit’s Greenhornes), The Raconteurs fuse White’s guitar know-how with Benson’s songwriting panache. The concoctions are heady, if openly throwback, and those recorded for debut Broken Boy Soldiers (2006) are interesting in the way they were recorded ...
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