1802–85, French Like the Scots novelist Sir Walter Scott, the French writer Victor Hugo had the happy facility for writing fiction that naturally lent itself to opera. Apart from his genius as a story-teller, Hugo’s secret lay in his vigorous attachment to Romantic principles, which exercised profound influence over librettists and composers of Romantic opera. Hugo himself ...
(To-mas’ Loo-es’ da Vik-tôr’-ya) 1548–1611 Spanish composer After training as a choirboy at Avila Cathedral, Victoria spent his early adult life in Rome, principally at the Jesuit Collegio Germanico, as both pupil and teacher. He returned to Spain permanently in the 1580s, where he became the chaplain to Philip II’s sister, Maria; he remained there as organist ...
(Hoo’-go Vulf) 1860–1903 German composer A fervent Wagnerian, Wolf worked in Vienna as a music critic. As a composer he was master of the miniature: his songs are mini-dramas which encapsulate Wagnerian expression within a lyrical, intimate form, the subtle vocal melodies matched by an equally important, symphonic piano part. The first collections, settings of poems by ...
(Vocals, piano, 1906–76) Houston native Victoria Spivey cut her first sides for OKeh in 1926 and she was soon one of the most popular artists of the ‘classic blues’ era. An eloquent lyricist alongside her vocal gifts, Spivey worked steadily into the 1940s; in 1962 she emerged from retirement as the head of blues label Spivey Records, ...
1874–1929, Austrian Hofmannsthal was a precocious talent. His first published poem appeared when he was just 16 and he rapidly made the acquaintance of some of the leading literary figures of the day. Most important was a paternalistic relationship with the German poet Stefan George (1868–1933). Hofmannsthal’s youthful ability led to a creative crisis in his mid-twenties from which he ...
1848–1923, French Maurel studied in Paris and made his debut in Marseilles in Rossini’s Guillaume Tell in 1867. He appeared in Paris shortly afterwards and steadily expanded his international career by appearing in Cairo, Venice and St Petersburg. Maurel was much admired by Verdi, who chose him to create the first Iago in 1887 and the first Falstaff ...
1923–2005, Spanish Possessing fine musicianship and a warm, sincere stage presence, soprano de Los Angeles gained recognition when she won first prize in the 1947 Geneva International Competition. She performed the following year in London, then at the Paris Opéra in 1949 and the Salzburg Festival in 1950. After her Met debut in 1951, she was ...
1892–1967 Italian conductor After an early career as a composer, de Sabata became conductor of the Monte Carlo Opera. In 1930 he began his association with La Scala, Milan, which lasted beyond his retirement in 1957. He conducted fiery performances of Wagner and Verdi, and made an outstanding recording of Tosca. Introduction | Modern Era | Classical ...
Verdi’s four-act opera Ernani, which has been called his ‘most romantic’ work, was first performed at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice on 9 March 1844. An immediate success, it was based on the tragedy Hernani by the French writer Victor Hugo. Politically, the treatment of the subject was far more overt than Nabucco, featuring a ...
‘The Joyful Girl’ Composed: 1876 Premiered: 1876, Milan Libretto by Tobia Gorrio, after Victor Hugo Act I Gioconda leaves her blind mother, La Cieca, surrounded by revellers outside the Doge’s Palace while she looks for her betrothed, Enzo Grimaldi. When Gioconda refuses Barnaba’s advances, he has La Cieca accused of witchcraft. Laura, the wife ...
Verdi’s three-act opera Rigoletto, based on Victor Hugo’s play Le roi s’amuse (‘The King Amuses Himself’, 1832), was originally entitled La maledizione (‘The Malediction’) – a reference to the curse placed on the superstitious court jester Rigoletto, which fulfills itself in the final scene. The first performance of Rigoletto took place at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice on ...
1813–69, Russian Alexander Dargomïzhsky belonged to an aristocratic family in St Petersburg. He entered government service, but resigned his post in 1843. The musical training he received in his youth enabled him to build a reputation as a pianist and his acquaintance with during the winter of 1833–34 with Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804–57) involved him in the movement to ...
1776–1822, German E.T.A. Hoffmann, the German novelist, critic, composer and conductor was among the most influential literary figures of the Romantic movement. He was the first to suggest that Mozart’s Don Giovanni was a Romantic rather than a Classical opera because of its strong associations between love and death. Hoffmann wrote several operas with dialogue ...
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 ...
(Joo’-sep-pa Ver’-de) 1813–1901 Italian composer Verdi composed 28 operas over a period of 54 years. In his native Italy he became immensely popular early in his career, and by the time he died he was idolized as the greatest Italian composer of the nineteenth century. In other musical centres of Europe it took a little longer for Verdi’s genius to be ...
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.