a letter he has written to them. Angels encourage everyone to celebrate along with Religione, who praises Alessio’s admirable conduct and dedicates a church to him. Personalities | Stefano Landi | Early & Middle Baroque | Opera ...
c. 1586–1639, Italian Stefano Landi, who was born and gained his musical training in Rome, became maestro di cappella to the bishop of Padua in around 1618. The next year, Landi’s La morte d’Orfeo (‘The Death of Orpheus’, 1619) was performed in Rome, where the composer returned in 1620. Four years later, Landi was appointed ...
c. 1586–1639 Italian composer Although Stefano Landi was active as a church musician in his own time, he is chiefly remembered nowadays as one of the most gifted and successful opera composers of the period between Monteverdi’s Florentine dramas and those that the composer wrote for Venice. During the 1630s, the focus on dramma per musica (‘drama through music’) ...
, Italian Priest and librettist Giulio Rospigliosi served the opera-loving Barberini pope Urban VIII. Urban’s family gave Rospigliosi a magnificent setting for his libretto for Il Sant’Alessio (1632) by Stefano Landi, which was performed at the opening of the opera house in the Barberini palace in 1632. Three more libretti in the next decade included Rossi’s Il palazzo incantato. Rospigliosi ...
vivid word-painting. Recommended Recording: Verse Anthems soloists, Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, Romanesca (dir) Nicholas McGegan (Harmonia Mundi) Introduction | Early Baroque | Classical Personalities | Stefano Landi | Early Baroque | Classical ...
output only 19 complete operas have survived. Introduction | Early & Middle Baroque | Opera Major Operas | Octavia by Reinhard Keiser | Early & Middle Baroque Personalities | Stefano Landi | Early & Middle Baroque | Opera ...
the oratorio and sacred Jesuit drama. The text was by one of Urban VIII’s close associates, Cardinal Giulio Rospigliosi, later Pope Clement IX. The music was by Stefano Landi (c. 1586–1639). Other operas followed and for a brief but significant period in the 1630s, Rome became the centre of opera production in Italy. Medici Florence The pageantry of ...
Barberini (1568–1644), elected Pope Urban VIII in 1623, was an influential opera enthusiast, and Roman opera basked in the favours that flowed from his direction. Composers such as Landi and Rossi received financial support and a magnificent new opera house for their works: the family had the auditorium – audience capacity 3,000 – built in the Barberini palace. ...
The English horn, or cor anglais, is a member of the oboe family. It is neither English nor a horn, and the name is usually written off as a mystery. Pitched a fifth below the oboe, it had been developed in 1760 by Ferlandis of Bergamo, but was rarely heard in the orchestra before the Romantic ...
Composed: 1984–87 Premiered: 1987, Houston Libretto by Alice Goodman Act I On 21 February 1972, representatives of the Chinese armed forces are waiting at an airfield outside Beijing in order to greet President Richard Nixon on his arrival. The presidential Boeing, The Spirit of ’76, taxies to a halt. Nixon disembarks with his wife, Pat, ...
One of the greatest achievements any guitar player can attain is an immediately recognizable signature tone and style. And though many guitarists have realized this goal, few have done it as emphatically as Police guitarist Andy Summers (b. 1942). From the chord stabs of ‘Roxanne’ and ‘Don’t Stand So Close To Me’ to the arpeggios of ‘Message In A Bottle’ ...
(Or’-liss Sal’-li-nan) b. 1935 Finnish composer Early dabbling in serialism was swiftly replaced with a strong feeling for simple, expressive themes, diatonicism and clarity of structure (Elegy for Sebastian Knight, 1964). Like his compatriot Jean Sibelius (1865–1957), Sallinen developed a strong interest in the folk traditions of his country, evident in his use of both folk melodies ...
(Vocals, b. 1965) Lead singer with native Icelandic band The Sugarcubes, Björk Gudmundsdóttir went solo in 1991. Debut (1993) was a starting collection of songs yielding hits like the dance entrancing ‘Human Behaviour’ and ‘Venus As A Boy’ complete with Indian soundtrack string arrangements. Björk’s unique keening and infectiously enthusiastic singing style was a refreshing change and Debut charted ...
Charlie Christian was the last great figure to emerge from the jazz scene of the 1930s. He not only brought a perfectly formed approach to his music, but also an entirely new musical platform – the electric guitar. His career in the big time was brief, but Christian was a lighthouse whose beam still illuminates anyone with serious intentions ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1982–86, 1998–99) The larger-than-life George O’Dowd is better known as Boy George. His smooth pop tenor, his outlandish get-up and the band’s catchy tunes made them unmissable. Roy Hay (guitar), Mikey Craig (bass) and Jon Moss (drums) provided the music for the lilting ‘Do You Really Want To Hurt Me’ which topped the UK chart in ...
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.