SEARCH RESULTS FOR: Jenny Lind
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1820–87, Swedish The soprano Jenny Lind was nicknamed ‘the Swedish nightingale’ because of her fresh, pure voice. She sang as a child performer before making her operatic debut in Stockholm in 1838 as Agathe in Weber’s Der Freischütz. In the next three years, Lind sang several demanding roles, including Lucia di Lammermoor and Norma, and her ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

Blind Lemon Jefferson (c. 1893–1929) opened up the market for blues records in 1926 when ‘Got The Blues’, backed with ‘Long Lonesome Blues’, became the biggest-selling record by a black male artist. It brought him the trappings of success, including a car and chauffeur, and he released nearly 100 songs over the next four years, before his death. ...

Source: Rock Guitar Heroes, consultant editor Rusty Cutchin

Although he is often cited as the first ‘folk’ bluesman to record, Blind Lemon Jefferson was actually much more than that: he was America’s first male blues pop star. On the strength of his recordings for the Paramount label – some of which are said to have sold upwards of 100,000 copies – Jefferson became a celebrity throughout the ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues, founding editor Howard Mandel

(Vocals, guitar, c. early 1890s–c. 1933) Among the most influential instrumentalists in the blues, Blind Blake remains a mystery man in terms of his personal life. Born either Arthur Blake or Arthur Phelps, probably in Florida (Jacksonville or Tampa), he purveyed a ragtime-influenced, polyrhythmic picking technique that combined jaw-dropping technical virtuosity with an impeccably crafted symmetry. ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues, founding editor Howard Mandel

(Vocals, guitar, c. 1902–47) Texas-born Willie Johnson, a purveyor of sacred material who would probably have been appalled at being categorized as a ‘blues’ artist, was blinded at the age of seven when his stepmother threw lye in his face after being beaten by his father. He sang in a hoarse, declamatory voice and his fretwork ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues, founding editor Howard Mandel

(Vocals, guitar, 1901–59) A skilled purveyor of the ragtime-influenced Piedmont fingerpicking style, Atlanta-based Blind Willie McTell incorporated pop songs and novelty numbers, as well as blues, into his repertoire – befitting an entertainer who got his start in tent shows, medicine shows and carnivals. His voice was unusually tender and expressive for a musician who ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues, founding editor Howard Mandel

(Guitar, vocals, 1908–41) Fuller was born Fulton Allen in Wadesboro, North Carolina and was one of 10 children. He learned to play guitar as a teenager and by the mid-1920s was working for tips around Rockingham, North Carolina. He had lost his sight by 1928. He teamed up with artists such as Gary Davis, Bull City ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues, founding editor Howard Mandel

(Vocals, songwriter, 1885–1957) The Rev. Andrew Jenkins, a blind Georgia minister, made numerous records in the 1920s, both solo and with family members, but his importance lies chiefly in his huge folio of songs, particularly topical pieces like ‘The Death Of Floyd Collins’ and ‘Ben Dewberry’s Final Run’ (recorded by Jimmie Rodgers), and gospel ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen

(Vocals, fiddle, 1880–1956) Reed, a singer and fiddler from Princeton, West Virginia, made his living playing at dances and church meetings and giving music lessons. Recording in the late 1920s, he observed contemporary life in songs like ‘How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live ?’– a catalogue of the ills that afflicted ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen

(Vocals, b. 1946) Linda Ronstadt has had success with many different kinds of music – folk, rock, soul, operetta, show tunes and Tex-Mex – but much of her biggest success is associated with country music and she has been cited as a major influence by such singers as Trisha Yearwood, Patty Loveless and Terri Clark. ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen

(Vocals, songwriter, b. 1929) Long regarded as an Australian treasure, Lindsay has written more than 500 songs, and has been the winner of three Golden Guitars at the Australasian Country Music Awards, as well as the recipient of the Order of Australian Merit for services to music. He gained his first break on radio in Sydney in 1951 ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen

Composed in 1725, Rodelinda is remarkable for its quality. Handel composed many exceptional accompanied recitatives for Senesino throughout their collaborations, and in this opera the dethroned King Bertarido, believed dead by his steadfast wife, laments his misfortune in an accompanied recitative and aria, ‘Pompe vane di morte! … Dove sei amato bene’, which shows Handel ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

‘Ernelinde, Princess of Norway’ Composed: 1767 Premiered: 1767, Paris Libretto by Antonine Alexandre Henri Poinsinet after Francesco Silvani’s libretto La fede tradita, e vendicata Prologue The brother of Ricimer, King of the Goths (Sweden), has been killed by Rodoald, King of Norway. In revenge, Ricimer has attacked Rodoald’s capital at Nidaros (now Trondheim). Sandomir, ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

b. 1958 Finnish composer He studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and later with Ferneyhough and Lachenmann. He made several visits to IRCAM, the research institute founded by Boulez in Paris, and while electronics no longer feature extensively in his music, his distinctive harmonic language owes much to the experiments in spectral analysis he undertook there. ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

(Vocal/instrumental group, 1969) Billed as ‘the supergroup of all times’, Steve Winwood (keyboards, vocals), Eric Clapton (guitar), Rick Grech (bass) and Ginger Baker (drums) were an amalgam of ex-members of Cream, Traffic and Family. Launched with a free concert in London’s Hyde Park, they broke up after a troubled US tour. Winwood then reformed a Traffic that ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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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...

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