Christopher Webber (born 27 May 1953) is an English musicologist, dramatist, actor, theatre director and writer.
Christopher Webber (born 27 May 1953) is an English musicologist, dramatist, actor, theatre director and writer.
Webber was born in Bowdon, Cheshire (now Greater Manchester) and educated at The Manchester Grammar School and the University of Kent at Canterbury. [1] Starting his professional career with theatre directing work, for companies such as Orpheus Opera (of which he was Artistic Director 1980–87), Kent Opera, the new D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in Britain and the USA, and various other English companies, he soon broadened his portfolio to include musical journalism, as Opera and Classical Music Editor for Richard Branson's Event Magazine, as well as Music and Musicians Magazine. [2]
As a writer, his early work included Bluff Your Way at the Races (Ravette) as well as many opera translations into English. Play commissions soon followed, beginning with a new English version of Sophocles's Philoctetes written for Offstage Downstairs. Later successes include Tatyana commissioned by Nottingham Playhouse, with Josie Lawrence in the title role, and Beverly Klein as her sister Olga; [3] Dr Sullivan and Mr Gilbert (Mull Theatre, [4] revived at Glasgow Citizens' Theatre and on tour throughout Scotland [5] ); and Green Tea, shortlisted for a Guinness Prize.
He is an authority on the Spanish zarzuela, [6] and his book The Zarzuela Companion (Scarecrow Press 2002, Foreword by Plácido Domingo) is a standard English work on the subject. [7] He contributed the chapter on zarzuela to The Cambridge Companion to Operetta (Cambridge University Press 2019); [8] has written on Hispanic and Portuguese Music for The Oxford Companion to Music , Opera Magazine , [9] Opera Now , [10] Royal Opera Covent Garden [11] and many other publications; has provided programme notes and translations for many concert and festival organisations including the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, [12] Wexford Festival [13] and Edinburgh Festival; [14] and been Visiting Lecturer on the subject at various academic institutions, including the University of Tübingen [15] and University of Valencia. [16] For Oxford University Press's Bibliographies project, he wrote and curates the article on zarzuela (2016). In December 2022, he was appointed Editor (with Enrique Mejías García) of the Cambridge History of Spanish Opera and Music Theatre.
He is also an advisory editor and contributor to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , having written over forty entries including those on his Manchester Grammar School contemporary Steven Pimlott, [17] Sir Jimmy Young [18] and Joyce Hatto. [19] Webber has since been featured on British TV's Channel 4 and BBC Radio 4, in documentaries about Hatto, "the fraudster pianist". [20] [21]
As an actor, he has worked in England's West End and Repertory Theatre, creating the role of Owl in the first stage version of Winnie-the-Pooh (London Royalty Theatre and national tour) and taking part in world and/or international premières of plays by Alan Ayckbourn [22] and Alan Bennett [23] [24] amongst others. He has also been an exponent in the field of corporate and medical professional actor-based roleplaying, especially noted for his work on development of feedback techniques, including his formulation of Advocate Feedback. [25]
Zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name of a royal hunting lodge, the Palace of Zarzuela, near Madrid, where that type of entertainment was allegedly first presented to the court. The palace in turn was named after the brambles that grew there.
Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its shorter length, the operetta is usually of a light and amusing character. It sometimes also includes satirical commentaries.
José Plácido Domingo Embil is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, German, Spanish, English and Russian in the most prestigious opera houses in the world. Although primarily a lirico-spinto tenor for most of his career, especially popular for his Cavaradossi, Hoffmann, Don José and Canio, he quickly moved into more dramatic roles, becoming the most acclaimed Otello of his generation. In the early 2010s, he transitioned from the tenor repertory into exclusively baritone parts, most notably Simon Boccanegra. As of 2020, he has performed 151 different roles.
Género chico is a Spanish genre of short, light plays with music. It is a major branch of zarzuela, Spain's form of popular music theatre with dialogue, and differs from zarzuela grande and most other operatic forms both in its brevity and by being aimed at audiences of a wide social spectrum.
Tomás Bretón y Hernández was a Spanish conductor and composer.
Carlos Fernández Shaw was a Spanish poet, playwright, and journalist. He wrote the texts for many zarzuelas, including La revoltosa, La chavala and Las bravías, all in collaboration with José López Silva and with music by Ruperto Chapí. He also wrote the libretto for Chapí's through-written opera Margarita la tornera. He later wrote the libretto for La vida breve by Manuel de Falla, based on his tragic poem of gypsy life La chavalilla and drawing on ideas from La chavala. He wrote articles for La epoca, La illustración and El correo. He was also among the contributors of the Madrid-based avant-garde magazine Prometeo.
Margarita la tornera is an opera in three acts composed by Ruperto Chapí to a libretto by Carlos Fernández Shaw, based on a dramatic poem by José Zorrilla. It premiered on 24 February 1909 at the Teatro Real in Madrid in a performance conducted by the composer. An acclaimed recording of the opera came out in 1999 with Plácido Domingo and Elisabete Matos.
Amadeu Vives i Roig was a Spanish musical composer, creator of over a hundred stage works. He is best known for Doña Francisquita, which Christopher Webber has praised for its "easy lyricism, fluent orchestration and colourful evocation of 19th Century Madrid—not to mention its memorable vocal and choral writing", and characterizes as "without doubt the best known and loved of all his works, one of the few zarzuelas which has 'travelled' abroad".
Gerónimo Giménez y Bellido was a Spanish conductor and composer, who dedicated his career to writing zarzuelas, such as La tempranica and La boda de Luis Alonso. He preferred to spell his first name with a "G", even though his name at birth officially began with a "J".
Nancy Fabiola Herrera is a Canarian mezzo-soprano opera singer. Born in Venezuela to Canarian parents, Herrera is the recipient of the "Best Zarzuela Singer of 2007" award presented by the Fundación Premios Liricos Teatro Campoamor, for her performance in Ruperto Chapí's La Bruja.
Spanish opera is both the art of opera in Spain and opera in the Spanish language. Opera has existed in Spain since the mid-17th century.
The Teatro de la Zarzuela is a theatre in Madrid, Spain. The theatre is today mainly devoted to zarzuela, as well as operetta and recitals.
Andrew Martin Lamb is an English writer, music historian, lecturer and broadcaster, known for his expertise in light music and musical theatre. In addition to his musical work, Lamb maintained a full-time career as an actuary and investment manager.
Richard Traubner was an American journalist, author, operetta scholar and historian, and lecturer on theatre and film. His best-known book, Operetta: A Theatrical History, was first published in 1983.
Joaquín Valverde Durán was a Spanish composer, conductor and flautist. As a composer he is known for his collaborations on zarzuelas. He was also the father of Joaquín "Quinito" Valverde Sanjuán, who achieved a greater level of fame.
Antonio Videgain García was a Spanish conductor and composer, who dedicated his career to writing zarzuelas, such as A vuela Pluma and El vals coqueto.
Peter Gammond was a British music critic, writer, journalist, musician, poet, and artist.
Matilde Pretel was a Spanish singer. A soprano from Valencia, she is remembered for her performances in opera and zarzuela.
La serenata is a one-act opera by Ruperto Chapí to a libretto by José Estremera. It was first performed on 5 November 1881 at the Teatro Apolo in Madrid.
Roger de Flor is an opera in three acts by Ruperto Chapí for libretto by Mariano Capdepón. It is the third of the three operas composed by Chapí during his studies in Paris and Italy. It was staged for the first time at the Teatro Real in Madrid on 23 January 1878. The first modern performance was on 10 March 2012 in Palau de la Música de València in a concert performance.
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