Opera buffa

I attended the Metropolitan Opera Rising Stars Concert series on Sunday, February 28, 2016 in Wright Auditorium. The stars consisted of Janai Brugger a soprano, Sarah Mesko a mezzo-soprano, Sean Panikkar a tenor, Trevor Scheunemann a baritone, and lastly Brent Funderburk the pianist. These performers are apart of the S. Rudolph Alexander performing arts series. The audience consisted of a wide range of people; from college students to the elderly citizens of Greenville, NC. First, I would like…

Discovery of Uranus by William Herschel in 1781 William Herschel was born November of 1738, in Germany. As he grew up, he loved music and played in a band. In 1759 he moved with his family to Great Britain. In Great Britain, he taught music and became an organist. In 1772, with his sister Caroline, he began his study of the stars. Herschel and Caroline loved the night sky. As they were observing the sky one night in 1781, Herschel saw something moving ever so slowly in the sky. At first they…

Frank Sinatra’s accomplishments had an immediate impact on society following his death. Music had become a huge part of schools in the mid-1900’s. Douglas Fisher, an associate professor of teacher education at San Diego State University, felt that “music samples used in conjunction with children’s literature can enhance appreciation of the history and variety of jazz music's” (Children’s Literature and Authentic Music Samples 2). Children have been exploring the different styles and types of…

Chapter One: Sinatra and the Music The biggest impression Frank left on popular music and culture lives on in the heart of the music itself. The influence he had on the world can still be heard on his recordings today. His style of singing carried such meaning and depth that it transcended cultural boundaries. In a poem by Gerald Early, from Mustazza’s collection of essays entitled “Frank Sinatra and Popular Culture”, he recalls going to a freak show as a boy and hearing the wonderful sounds…

Spanning approximately forty minutes, Ralph Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem was first performed on October 2, 1936. Following World War I and preceding World War II, this suite of choral pieces appears to be a call for peace and a warning against war, perhaps directly referencing R. Vaughan Williams' own personal beliefs. Divided into six sections or movements, the text is taken from poems by Walt Whitman, John Bright, and passages of the Bible. These pieces are: "Agnus Dei", "Beat, beat,…

Verdi's Requiem, Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 in A Major, and "The Mountain Whippoorwill" by Jess Turner are three very different pieces. The first is an opera with fantastic musical continuity accented by a broad spectrum of emotions. The second is an instrumental piece in the minor key, and it is very quick and lively. The latter is a longer piece than the first two, an instrumental like the second, but it is happen set to match a poem, which makes it somewhat similar to the first. Verdi’s…

solo part in the debut of William Walton's Viola Concerto. In the 1930s, he made a visit to Cairo and a few visits to Ankara. He led the duty of rearranging Turkish music instruction and the early endeavors for the foundation of the Turkish State Opera and Ballet. Hindemith did not stay in Turkey the length of numerous different exiles. In any case, he significantly affected the improvements of Turkish musical life; the Ankara State Conservatory owes much to his endeavors. Indeed, youthful…

say the least; receiving three heavy commissions almost simultaneously, Mozart was under a presumably demanding and stressful schedule. Upon returning to Vienna, Mozart completed “The Magic Flute,” and went on to conduct the first performance of the opera. While working on his final piece, the requiem, his wife Constanze was in dismay at Wolfgang’s decline in health and demanded that he stop working on the piece. Mozart’s illness came on suddenly, the sickness started with rapid swelling and…

The co-director, Jennifer Lee, has indeed been innovative in her use of camera techniques, special effects, music, lighting, etc. Jennifer Lee use a mixed of 3D and 2D camera effects to bring the film the way it is. The studio also developed several new tools to generate realistic and believable shots, particularly the heavy and deep snows and its interactions with the characters. The need to create new tools take a serious action of creativity and dedication. The use of special effects such as…

The Chinese zodiac signs occupy twelve animal signs, and every year relates to an animal. The signs have diverse meanings, personality traits, and fortune. Waverly Jong is a Chinese American character that made an appearance in the novel, “The Joy Luck Club”, written by Amy Tan. She knows how to disguise her strategies and thoughts. Waverly is single-handed, has “invisible strength", and sharp-witted. Though in the novel, she was born on March 17, 1951, in the year of the rabbit. Her Chinese…