Michael William Balfe was an Irish composer, best remembered for his operas, especially The Bohemian Girl.
Sir Charles Santley was an English opera and oratorio singer with a bravura technique who became the most eminent English baritone and male concert singer of the Victorian era. His has been called 'the longest, most distinguished and most versatile vocal career which history records.'
Ariadne auf Naxos, Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one of the work's principal themes: the competition between high and low art for the public's attention.
William Vincent Wallace was an Irish composer and pianist. In his day, he was famous on three continents as a double virtuoso on violin and piano. Nowadays, he is mainly remembered as an opera composer of note, with key works such as Maritana (1845) and Lurline (1847/60), but he also wrote a large amount of piano music that was much in vogue in the 19th century. His more modest output of songs and ballads, equally wide-ranging in style and difficulty, was also popular in his day, some numbers being associated with famous singers of the time.
Berenice is an opera in three acts by George Frideric Handel to a 1709 Antonio Salvi libretto, Berenice, regina d'Egitto, or Berenice, Queen of Egypt. Handel began the music in December 1736; the premiere took place at Covent Garden Theatre in London on 18 May 1737 — but was unsuccessful, with just three further performances. Set circa 81 B.C., Berenice traces the life of Berenice III of Egypt, daughter of Ptolemy IX, the main character in another Handel opera, Tolomeo.
Esclarmonde is an opéra in four acts and eight tableaux, with prologue and epilogue, by Jules Massenet, to a French libretto by Alfred Blau and Louis Ferdinand de Gramont. It was first performed at the Exposition Universelle on 15 May 1889 by the Opéra-Comique at the Théâtre Lyrique on the Place du Châtelet in Paris.
The Bohemian Girl is an Irish Romantic opera composed by Michael William Balfe with a libretto by Alfred Bunn. The plot is loosely based on a Miguel de Cervantes' tale, La gitanilla.
Chris Merritt is an American tenor.
A Village Romeo and Juliet is an opera by Frederick Delius, the fourth of his six operas. The composer himself, with his wife Jelka, wrote the English-language libretto based on the short story "Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe" by the Swiss author Gottfried Keller. The first performance was at the Komische Oper Berlin on 21 February 1907, as Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe. Thomas Beecham conducted the British premiere at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London on 22 February 1910. The US premiere was on 26 April 1972 in Washington, D.C.
The Rhinemaidens are the three water-nymphs who appear in Richard Wagner's opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. Their individual names are Woglinde, Wellgunde and Flosshilde (Floßhilde), although they are generally treated as a single entity and they act together accordingly. Of the 34 characters in the Ring cycle, they are the only ones who did not originate in the Old Norse Eddas. Wagner created his Rhinemaidens from other legends and myths, most notably the Nibelungenlied which contains stories involving water sprites (nixies) or mermaids of the Danube.
Lauris Margaret Elms is an Australian retired contralto, renowned for her roles in opera and lieder and as a recording artist.
The Desert Flower is an opera in three acts composed by William Vincent Wallace. The libretto was an English translation and adaptation by A. Harris and Thomas J. Williams of the libretto by Henri Saint-Georges and Adolphe de Leuven for Halévy's Jaguarita l'Indienne. The Desert Flower premiered on 12 October 1863 in London at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in a performance by the Pyne and Harrison English Opera Company with Louisa Pyne in the title role.
Monica Sinclair was a British operatic contralto, who sang many roles with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden during the 1950s and 1960s, and appeared on stage and in recordings with Dame Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Maria Callas, Sir Thomas Beecham, Sir Malcolm Sargent and many others. She had a great gift for comedy, and sang in recordings of many of the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, as well as in recordings from the standard operatic repertory.
The Rose of Castille is an opera in three acts, with music by Michael William Balfe to an English-language libretto by Augustus Glossop Harris and Edmund Falconer, after the libretto by Adolphe d'Ennery and Clairville for Adolphe Adam's Le muletier de Tolède (1854). It was premiered on 29 October 1857, at the Lyceum Theatre, London.
Diana Montague is an English mezzo-soprano, known for her performances in opera and as a concert singer. She is Married to the English Tenor David Rendall
Bernadette Eileen Cullen is an Australian dramatic mezzo-soprano.
William Harrison was an English tenor and opera impresario. He was best known for creating roles in new operas by British composers from the 1840s to the early 1860s. Among those who composed for him were William Vincent Wallace, Michael William Balfe and Julius Benedict. After working for Alfred Bunn at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, Harrison set up a company in partnership with the soprano Louisa Pyne, which enjoyed success in North America and London in the 1850s.
Satanella is an English-language opera in four acts by Michael William Balfe, written to a libretto by A. Harris and Edmund Falconer, and premiered at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 20 December 1858. It was the first opera to receive its world premiere at the newly-rebuilt theatre.
Fiona Janes is an international Australian mezzo-soprano and Arts Administrator.
Rosemary Tuck is an Australian-British concert pianist and recording artist. She has researched and performed significant world premiere recordings, including the complete concerti and concertinos of Carl Czerny.
