Pietro Marc'Antonio Cesti, known today primarily as an Italian composer of the Baroque era, was also a singer (tenor), and organist. He was "the most celebrated Italian musician of his generation".
Gottfried von Einem was an Austrian composer. He is known chiefly for his operas influenced by the music of Stravinsky and Prokofiev, as well as by jazz. He also composed pieces for piano, violin and organ.
König Hirsch is an opera in three acts by Hans Werner Henze to a German libretto by Heinz von Cramer after Il re cervo, a theatrical fable (1762) by Carlo Gozzi.
Tarquin is a chamber opera by Ernst Krenek to an English libretto by Emmet Lavery. Written in 1940, it is Krenek's only unpublished opera, though a premiere in German translation took place in 1950 in Cologne.
Nigel Levings is an Australian stage lighting designer. He has designed lights for over 400 productions. He works extensively on operas, and has designed a large portion of Opera Australia's repertoire. Some of his most significant works include operas such as The Demon at the Bregenz Festival and for Zurich Opera; Billy Budd for the Welsh National Opera, Opera Australia, Canadian Opera Company, and for the English National Opera; Nabucco for Opera Australia; Wozzeck for Opera Australia; L'Orfeo for Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik and the Berlin State Opera; A Midsummer Night's Dream for the 1994 Edinburgh Festival; La Belle Vivette for the English National Opera; Simon Boccanegra for the Royal Opera House, Washington National Opera, and Dallas Opera; Falstaff for Théâtre du Châtelet; Idomeneo, Turandot, and The Barber of Seville for the Houston Grand Opera; and Queen of Spades for the Dallas Opera.
The Innsbruck Festival of Early Music is a festival of historically informed performances of music from the late Renaissance, Baroque and early Classical periods which takes place annually in Innsbruck, Austria. It was founded in 1976.
Donnerstag aus Licht is an opera by Karlheinz Stockhausen in a greeting, three acts, and a farewell, and was the first of seven to be composed for the opera cycle Licht: die sieben Tage der Woche. It was written between 1977 and 1980, with a libretto by the composer.
Janet Williams is an American soprano who has won international critical acclaim for performances at the Metropolitan Opera, Berlin Staatsoper, Paris Opera, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Opera de Lyon, Nice Opera, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Opera Geneva, Frankfurt Opera, Cologne Opera, Leipzig Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington Opera, Dallas Opera, and Michigan Opera Theatre as well as in concerts throughout Europe, North America, Canada, Israel and Japan with conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Daniel Barenboim, Myung-whun Chung, Philippe Herreweghe, René Jacobs, Marek Janowski, Neeme Järvi, Raymond Leppard, Fabio Luisi, Sir Neville Marriner, Nicholas McGegan, Zubin Mehta, Kent Nagano, John Nelson, Donald Runnicles, Gerard Schwarz and Michael Tilson Thomas.
Don Quichotte auf der Hochzeit des Comacho, TVWV 21:32, is a one-act comic serenata by Georg Philipp Telemann. The libretto by the student poet Daniel Schiebeler is based on chapter 20 of volume 2 of Cervantes's novel Don Quixote. The opera premiered on 5 November 1761 in Hamburg. When first performed, it was given the title: Don Quichotte auf der Hochzeit des Comacho; later it was also known as Don Quixote der Löwenritter.
Steven Cole is an American opera singer. He is particularly known for his portrayal of tenor character roles in an international career spanning more than 30 years. He sang in the world premieres of Jean Prodromides's La Noche Triste, Gavin Bryars's Medea, and the revised version of György Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre.
Die Hamletmaschine is an opera composed by Wolfgang Rihm to a German-language libretto based on Heiner Müller's 1977 play of the same name. The libretto, subtitled Musiktheater in 5 Teilen, was written by the composer. The opera was composed between 1983 and 1986 and premiered on 30 March 1987 at the Nationaltheater Mannheim.
Matthias Rexroth is a German countertenor. He was raised in Coburg and completed studies as an oboist, playing professionally before discovering his countertenor voice. He usually refers to himself as an Altus.
Markus Schäfer is a German lyric tenor, a soloist in opera, oratorio and Lied. He has performed with major opera houses and with the ensemble La Petite Bande. He has been a professor of voice at the Musikhochschule Hannover.
Antigono is a three act opera seria composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck. It premiered February 9, 1756, at the Teatro di Torre Argentina in Rome, Italy. The Italian libretto was written by Pietro Metastasio, who was considered to be the most important opera seria librettist. Antigono was the only opera that Gluck ever premiered in Rome. This allowed him to reuse several arias and an entire introduction from some of his other operas, L’innocenza Giustificata, L’cinesi, and La Danza.
Daniel Behle is a German classical composer and operatic tenor. He has performed at international opera houses and festivals, and has recorded both operas and Lieder recitals.
Heinz Hoppe was a German lyric tenor in opera, lied and operetta, who performed internationally. A long-time member of the Hamburg State Opera, he appeared in world premieres. A regular guest also on radio and television, he was one of the most popular tenors of his time.
