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Bartoli, Cecilia

(Encyclopedia)Bartoli, Cecilia chāchēlˈyä bärtōˈlē [key], 1966–, Italian mezzo-soprano, b. Rome. Bartoli debuted at Verona (1987), first performed in the United States at Lincoln Center (1990), and in 199...

humanism

(Encyclopedia)humanism, philosophical and literary movement in which man and his capabilities are the central concern. The term was originally restricted to a point of view prevalent among thinkers in the Renaissan...

Don Juan

(Encyclopedia)Don Juan dŏn wän, jo͞oˈən, Span. dōn hwän [key], legendary profligate. He has a counterpart in the legends of many peoples, but the Spanish version of the great libertine has become the most un...

Mendele mocher sforim

(Encyclopedia)Mendele mocher sforim [Yid.,= Mendele the book peddler] shōˈləm yäˈkôv əbräməˈvĭch [key], 1836–1917, Yiddish novelist. Born in Minsk, and orphaned at 14, he traveled with beggars through ...

Albornoz, Gil Álvarez Carrillo de

(Encyclopedia)Albornoz, Gil Álvarez Carrillo de hēl älˈvärĕth kärēˈlyō dā älbôrnôthˈ [key], 1310?–1367, Spanish and papal statesman and general, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Under Alfonso...

Orff, Carl

(Encyclopedia)Orff, Carl ôrf [key], 1895–1982, German composer and educator. After studying at the Academy of Music at Munich, he helped to found the Günter School there in 1924. As a composer Orff wished to si...

Innocent VI

(Encyclopedia)Innocent VI, d. 1362, pope (1352–62), a Frenchman named Étienne Aubert; successor of Clement VI. He was a well-known jurist and was created cardinal in 1342. He lived at Avignon. He was one of the ...

Svevo, Italo

(Encyclopedia)Svevo, Italo ēˈtälō zvāˈvō [key], 1861–1928, Italian novelist, whose real name was Ettore Schmitz, b. Trieste. A businessman, he wrote several works of fiction, but remained practically unkno...

Caccini, Francesca

(Encyclopedia)Caccini, Francesca fränchĕsˈkä kät-chēˈnē [key] b. 1587, d. after 1641, Italian composer and singer, known as La Cecchina; daughter of Giulio Caccini. For most of her career she was a musician...

Fontana, Domenico

(Encyclopedia)Fontana, Domenico fōntäˈnä [key], 1543–1607, Italian architect. He went to Rome, where he built (c.1580) the Sistine Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore for Cardinal Peretti. When his ...