"from production and incorporated parts of its music into the new opera. The first performance of ""Les pêcheurs de perles"", by the Théâtre Lyrique company, was on 30 September 1863. Critical opinion was generally hostile, though Berlioz praised the work, writing that it ""does M. Bizet the greatest honour"". Public reaction was lukewarm, and the opera's run ended after 18 performances. It was not performed again until 1886. In 1862, Bizet had fathered a child with the family's housekeeper, Marie Reiter. The boy was brought up to believe that he was Adolphe Bizet's child; only on her deathbed in 1913"
"in the live performance as a cover song. Au fond du temple saint """" (""At the back of the holy temple"") is a duet from Georges Bizet's 1863 opera ""Les pêcheurs de perles"". The libretto was written by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. Generally known as ""The Pearl Fishers' Duet"", it is one of the best-known numbers in Western opera. It is sung by Nadir (tenor) and Zurga (baritone) in act 1. After a self-imposed absence, Nadir returns to the shores of Ceylon, where his friend Zurga has just been elected Fisher King by the local pearl fishermen. The two"
"Au fond du temple saint """" (""At the back of the holy temple"") is a duet from Georges Bizet's 1863 opera ""Les pêcheurs de perles"". The libretto was written by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. Generally known as ""The Pearl Fishers' Duet"", it is one of the best-known numbers in Western opera. It is sung by Nadir (tenor) and Zurga (baritone) in act 1. After a self-imposed absence, Nadir returns to the shores of Ceylon, where his friend Zurga has just been elected Fisher King by the local pearl fishermen. The two had once fallen in love with the same"
"mateship and loyalty between a pair of doomed soldiers. A different view is possible by a reading of the duet as a ""pair of parallel monologues"", emphasizing the rivalry and deceit between the men. This duet reappears at the end of the opera, but is sung in unison as the soprano Leila and the tenor Nadir sing together of their love which will transcend all their trials--while Zurga sacrifices himself, knowing of their love, as he lets them flee to safety. The duet starts in the key of E-flat major and the time signature of common time (); after a"
"which Zurga bids a last farewell to his dreams of love, the friendship theme from the act 1 duet sounds for the final time. According to Lacombe, """" is characteristic of French ""opéra lyrique"", in particular through Bizet's use of arioso and dramatic recitative, his creation of atmospheres, and his evocation of the exotic. Berlioz described the opera's score as beautiful, expressive, richly coloured and full of fire, but Bizet himself did not regard the work highly, and thought that, a few numbers apart, it deserved oblivion. Parisian critics of the day, attuned to the gentler sounds of Auber and"
"Giuditta Giuditta is an operatic """" (German for ""musical comedy"") in five scenes, with music by Franz Lehár and a German libretto, by and Fritz Löhner-Beda. Scored for a large orchestra, it was Lehár's last and most ambitious work, written on a larger scale than his previous operettas. Of all his works it is the one which most approaches true opera, the resemblances between the story and that of Bizet's ""Carmen"" and its unhappy ending heightening the resonances. Perhaps the best known song in the work is the soprano aria """", sung by Giuditta in the fourth scene. Another strong"
"Zigor (opera) Zigor: (Basque: ""Punishment""), is the first opera in four acts written by Francisco Escudero in 1962, commissioned by the Bilbao Association of Friends of the Opera (Asociación Bilbaina de Amigos de la Ópera, ABAO.) Its libretto was written in Basque by Manuel Lekuona and Escudero. It is based on a story by José Zinkunegi. Zigor first performance was an abridged concert version on 4 October 1967 in the Coliseo Albia in Bilbao. One year later, on 6 June 1968, it was presented for the first time in the Zarzuela Theatre in Madrid, with great success among the public"
"Zazà Zazà is an opera by Ruggero Leoncavallo, with the libretto by the composer. The story concerns the French music hall singer, Zazà and her affair and subsequent decision to leave her lover, Milio, when she discovers that he is married. The music is influenced by the French music halls where Leoncavallo had spent his early years as a composer. Its premiere was at the Teatro Lirico di Milano on 10 November 1900, starring Rosina Storchio as Zazà, Edoardo Garbin as Milio, Mario Sammarco as Cascart and Clorinda Pini-Corsi as Anaide, and conducted by Arturo Toscanini. It was later seen"
"controversy helped Gervex's career. Numerous (often French) composers wrote works using Musset's poetry during the 19th and early 20th century. Georges Bizet's opera ""Djamileh"" (1871, with a libretto by Louis Gallet) is based on Musset's story ""Namouna"". Bizet also set Musset's poem ""A Une Fleur"" for voice and piano. Ruggero Leoncavallo's symphonic poem ""La Nuit de Mai"" (1886) was based on Musset's poetry. The play ""La Coupe et les lèvres"" was the basis of Giacomo Puccini's opera ""Edgar"" (1889). Dame Ethel Smyth composed an opera based on ""Fantasio"" that premiered in Weimar in 1898. The Welsh composer Morfydd Llwyn Owen"
"Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875), registered at birth as Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ""Carmen"", which has become one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertoire. During a brilliant student career at the Conservatoire de Paris, Bizet won many prizes, including the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1857. He was recognised as an outstanding pianist, though he chose not to"
"the occasional inspiring melody. The listing is based on the 1977 EMI recording, which used the 1863 vocal score. In the post-1886 revisions the act 1 """" duet was replaced with a reprise of """". In act 3 the sequence of numbers after the chorus """" was changed after 1886, together with cuts from and additions to the original. """", was recomposed by Benjamin Godard as a trio for Nadir, Leila and Zurga. Act 1 Act 2 Act 3 Having completed the score of """" in August 1863, Bizet fell out with his publisher, Choudens, over publication rights. The quarrel"
"as Charlotte in 2004, nevertheless pointed out that ""neither quite has the ideal subtlety of the best Massenet singers, such as Vallin and Thill on the classic, pre-war set, now on Naxos"". In addition, many of the greatest French and Italian singers of the past century or more have recorded individual arias from Massenet's masterwork. Notes Sources Werther Werther is an opera (""drame lyrique"") in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann (who used the pseudonym Henri Grémont). It is loosely based on the German epistolary novel ""The Sorrows of"
"physically, when he accidentally wounds his daughter, Lore, fatally. Zigor (opera) Zigor: (Basque: ""Punishment""), is the first opera in four acts written by Francisco Escudero in 1962, commissioned by the Bilbao Association of Friends of the Opera (Asociación Bilbaina de Amigos de la Ópera, ABAO.) Its libretto was written in Basque by Manuel Lekuona and Escudero. It is based on a story by José Zinkunegi. Zigor first performance was an abridged concert version on 4 October 1967 in the Coliseo Albia in Bilbao. One year later, on 6 June 1968, it was presented for the first time in the Zarzuela"
"Der Zwerg Der Zwerg (""The Dwarf""), Op. 17, is an opera in one act by Austrian composer Alexander von Zemlinsky to a libretto by Georg Klaren, freely adapted from the short story ""The Birthday of the Infanta"" by Oscar Wilde. Zemlinsky's choice of this story was a reflection of the end of his relationship with Alma Mahler, and the identification he felt with the drama's main character. He completed the short score in December 1919 and the orchestration in January 1921. The score was published by Universal Edition Vienna. The opera's premiere took place on 28 May 1922 at the"
"Berg's ""Lulu"", also written 1933, but not premiered till 1937. Gurlitt's ""Nana"" had a libretto by Max Brod, and productions were cancelled because Brod's Judaism and Zola's politics offended Nazi ideology in Cologne and Mannheim. Gurlitt's music was banned by the Nazis when they assumed power, but his presence in Berlin was tolerated as he undertook to bring his music in line with the aesthetics of the Third Reich. His mother Annarella tried to satisfy the Nazis of his non-Jewish heritage by certifying first that his Jewish paternal grandmother had converted to Protestantism and second that Gurlitt was not the"
"Zaira (opera) Zaira is a ""tragedia lirica"", or tragic opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini set to a libretto by Felice Romani which was based on Voltaire's 1732 play, ""Zaïre"". The story takes place in the time of the Crusades and the opera's plot involves the heroine, Zaira, struggling between her Christian faith and her love for Orosmane, the Muslim Sultan of Jerusalem. It was Bellini's fifth opera, following quickly after his February 1829 composition and premiere of ""La straniera"" at La Scala. ""Zaira"" received its first performance at the ""Nuovo Teatro Ducale"" in Parma (now the Teatro Regio"
"is the opera which is considered to have permanently established Verdi's reputation as a composer. He commented that ""this is the opera with which my artistic career really begins. And though I had many difficulties to fight against, it is certain that ""Nabucco"" was born under a lucky star"". It follows the plight of the Jews as they are assaulted, conquered and subsequently exiled from their homeland by the Babylonian King Nabucco (in English, Nebuchadnezzar II). The historical events are used as background for a romantic and political plot. The best-known number from the opera is the ""Chorus of the"
"12, 1778 wrote, ""The piece I saw was Benda’s ""Medea"". He has composed another one, ""Ariadne auf Naxos"", and both are really excellent. You know that of all the Lutheran Kapellmeisters Benda has always been my favorite, and I like those two works of his so much that I carry them about with me."" Although Mozart never wrote a full melodrama, he did create a miniature melodrama within his unfinished operetta, ""Zaide"" (1780), that is highly reminiscent of the style of Benda's ""Medea"". Mozart’s imagination was much fired by Benda’s new vehicle for dramatic expression, and in 1778 he wrote"
"consecutive seasons. He also sang frequently at the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company between 1963 and 1968, making his debut on 22 February 1963 as Zurga in Bizet's ""Les pêcheurs de perles"" with Ferruccio Tagliavini as Nadir and Adriana Maliponte as Leïla. His other roles in Philadelphia included Nilakantha in ""Lakmé"" opposite Joan Sutherland in the title role, Germont with Sutherland as Violetta and John Alexander as Alfredo, Iago in ""Otello"", Scarpia in ""Tosca"", and Escamillo in ""Carmen"". He made his debut at the San Francisco Opera in 1971 as Michele in ""Il tabarro"". Though closely associated with the French repertory,"
"are destroying the Basque coasts) and treason of love (a romance with Sorgin, the daughter of a Norman who lives in the Basque lands). San Leon assures the captured Basques that God will break their chains, allowing them to defeat the enemy, as anything that disrupts or circumvents the divine balance will be punished. This is where the title ""Zigor"", punishment, comes from. At the end of the opera, the punishment begins: the Normans who try to gain power in Navarre lands are punished with defeat. The evil Zunbeltz is punished both psychologically (remorse, hallucinations, murder of a child) and"
"Gomatz as a man, not as a slave. The final surviving quartet suggests Zaide and Gomatz are sentenced to punishment or execution. This is where Mozart's manuscript breaks off. There are similarities with Voltaire's play ""Zaïre"" (""Zara"") in which Zaïre, a Christian slave who had been captured as a baby falls in love with Osman, the Sultan of Jerusalem. Osman wrongly believes Zaïre and another Christian slave Nerestan (Gomatz in Mozart's opera) are lovers and kills Zaïre in a jealous rage and then kills himself. The elderly Lusignan, a prisoner of the Sultan (paralleled in the character Allazim) recognizes Zara"
"in 1775 and four times in occupied New York between 1780 and 1781. ""Zaïre"" has been the inspiration for at least thirteen operas. One of the earliest operatic adaptations was Peter Winter's ""Zaire"" which premiered in 1805 at The King's Theatre in London with the famous Italian contralto, Giuseppina Grassini, in the title role. Bellini's 1829 ""Zaira"", also based on the play, was expressly written for the inauguration of the Teatro Regio di Parma. A failure at its premiere, it has rarely been performed since. Johann Andreas Schachtner's libretto for Mozart's unfinished opera ""Zaïde"", was directly based on a 1778"
"18th century. When two actors have involved the term duodrama may be used. Georg Benda was particularly successful with his duodramas ""Ariadne auf Naxos"" (1775) and ""Medea"" (1778). The sensational success of Benda's melodramas led Mozart to use two long melodramatic monologues in his opera ""Zaide"" (1780). Other later, and better-known examples of the melodramatic style in operas are the grave-digging scene in Beethoven's ""Fidelio"" (1805) and the incantation scene in Weber's ""Der Freischütz"" (1821). After the English Restoration of Charles II in 1660, most British theatres were prohibited from performing ""serious"" drama, but were permitted to show comedy or"
"Zemira Zemira is an ""opera seria"" in three acts by Francesco Bianchi. The libretto was by Gaetano Sertor. ""Zemira"" like other works by Bianchi, was innovative. As Marita P. McClymonds explains, """"Unusual components in this work are the opening trio with storm music, the short duet for two men, the programmatic battle music, the extensive quartet . . . The version for Naples features extensive use of clarinets . . . available there some ten years earlier than in other Italian cities."""" The opera was first performed at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples on 4 November 1781. It"
"bohème"" (as Musetta) with Renata Tebaldi, Giacinto Prandelli, Fernando Corena and Alberto Erede (cond.); Orchestra e coro dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Roma; rec.1950 (Decca) 13. Giuseppe Verdi: ""Rigoletto"" (as Gilda) with Aldo Protti, Mario Del Monaco, Cesare Siepi and Alberto Erede (cond.); Chorus and Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome; rec.1954 (Decca) Hilde Gueden The Austrian soprano Hilde Gueden, or Güden (15 September 1917 – 17 September 1988), was one of the most appreciated Straussian and Mozartian sopranos of her day. Her youthful and lively interpretations made her an ideal interpreter of roles like Zerbinetta in ""Ariadne auf"
"La zingara La zingara (""The Gypsy Girl"") is an opera semiseria in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti, set to a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola after ""La petite bohémienne"" (""The Little Gypsy"") by Louis-Charles Caigniez, which was itself derived from a work of August von Kotzebue. It was Donizetti's first opera written for Naples, and the first performance of this ""rescue opera"" took place at the Teatro Nuovo on 12 May 1822. One critic reviewing the 2001 recording from the Festival della Valle d'Itria, the opera's first performance outside Italy, made the following observations: Despite its moronic libretto, the opera"
"24, 2018 on Deutsche Grammophon. Sierra has been awarded the following awards and scholarships: Nadine Sierra Nadine Sierra (born May 14, 1988) is an American soprano. She is most well known for her interpretation of Gilda in Verdi's ""Rigoletto,"" and Lucia in Donizetti's ""Lucia di Lammermoor."" Currently performing in leading roles in the top opera houses around the world, she received the 1st Prize and People's Choice Award 2013 at the Neue Stimmen competition, is the 2017 Richard Tucker Music Foundation Award Winner, and was awarded the Beverly Sills Artists Award in 2018. Her debut album on the Universal Music"
"concert in several other cities. A number of live recordings exist of the Caballé performances from Naples, Paris and New York. Notes Cited sources Other sources Gemma di Vergy Gemma di Vergy is an 1834 ""tragedia lirica"" (tragic opera) in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti from a libretto by Giovanni Emanuele Bidera. It is based on the tragedy ""Charles VII chez ses grands vassaux"" ""(Charles VII and His Chief Vassals)"" (1831) by Alexandre Dumas ""père"", which was later to become the subject of the opera ""The Saracen"" by the Russian composer César Cui. The heroine is the childless wife of"
"Egypt"", also from the same period of Mozart's career. ""Zaide"" can neither be described as opera buffa or opera seria; it contained elements of both forms, and parallels may be drawn to both genre in Mozart's work. ""Zaide"" is also notable as being one of only two dramatic pieces by Mozart to contain melodrama (the other being ""Thamos, King of Egypt""). Most of the spoken dialogue to ""Zaide"" has been lost, though there have been various attempts in modern times to write new dialogue to substitute for Schachtner's lost words. In 1995, le Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels"
"commented later that had they been aware of Bizet's quality as a composer, they would have tried harder. Carré was worried about the weak ending, and constantly sought suggestions for changing it; Curtiss records that in exasperation, the theatre manager Carvalho suggested that Carré burn the libretto. This facetious remark, Curtiss asserts, led Carré to end the opera with the fishermen's tents ablaze as Leila and Nadir make their escape. Because he did not receive Carvalho's commission until April 1863, with the projected opening night set for mid-September, Bizet composed quickly with, Curtiss says, ""a tenacity and concentration quite foreign"
"Zar und Zimmermann Zar und Zimmermann (""Tsar and Carpenter"") is a comic opera in three acts, music by Albert Lortzing, libretto by the composer after Georg Christian Römer's ""Der Bürgermeister von Saardam, oder Die zwei Peter"", itself based on the French play ""Le Bourgmestre de Saardam, ou Les deux Pierre"" by Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier de Mélésville, Jean-Toussaint Merle, and Eugène Centiran de Boirie. Ultimately, it goes back to the historical Grand Embassy of Peter the Great. Gaetano Donizetti had set the same story in his 1827 opera ""Il borgomastro di Saardam"". The opera was first performed at the Stadttheater in Leipzig,"
"Zandonai's, “I Cavalieri di Ekebu.” For the Spoleto Festival in Italy, he performed Menotti's opera, “Goya,” (recorded for Nuova Era), Puccini's “Il Trittico,” Berg's “Wozzeck,” Korngold's, “Die Tote Stadt,” Shostakovich's “The Nose,” and John Corigliano's “Symphony No. 1. Among his accomplishments was the highly acclaimed Italian premiere of the complete version of Zemlinsky’s “Der Zwerg,” for the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, the Italian premiere of André Previn's, “Streetcar Named Desire,” in Torino and the Italian premiere of Kurt Weill's “Lady in the Dark” in Palermo and Rome. He conducted a new production of Verdi's “La Traviata,” for the Staatsoper Bonn,"
"Hilde Gueden The Austrian soprano Hilde Gueden, or Güden (15 September 1917 – 17 September 1988), was one of the most appreciated Straussian and Mozartian sopranos of her day. Her youthful and lively interpretations made her an ideal interpreter of roles like Zerbinetta in ""Ariadne auf Naxos"" and Susanna in ""Le nozze di Figaro"". She was born Hulda Geiringer in Vienna, and studied singing with Otto Iro, piano with Maria Wetzelsberger, and dancing at the Vienna Music Academy. She debuted, as Hulda Gerin, in 1937 in Benatzky's operetta ""Herzen im Schnee"" at the Vienna Volksoper. Her operatic debut came in"