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Peters, Roberta

(Encyclopedia)Peters, Roberta, 1930–2017, American coloratura soprano, b. New York City as Roberta Peterman. Discovered by Jan Peerce, she auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera in 1950. Scheduled to debut as the ...

Bedford, Sybille

(Encyclopedia)Bedford, Sybille, 1911–2006, English writer, b. Charlottenberg, Germany, as Sybille von Schoenebeck. She worked as a legal reporter for various publications, covering more than 100 trials including ...

Tolkien, J. R. R.

(Encyclopedia)Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel Tolkien) tälˈkēn, tōlˈ– [key], 1892–1973, British novelist, b. South Africa. A fantasy writer and Oxford don, Tolkien wrote The Hobbit (1937), adapted fro...

Słowacki, Juliusz

(Encyclopedia)Słowacki, Juliusz yo͞olˈyo͞osh slôvätsˈkē [key], 1809–49, Polish writer, one of the foremost Polish romantic poets. A revolutionist, he joined the Polish expatriates in Paris and died there ...

Kotelawala, Sir John Lionel

(Encyclopedia)Kotelawala, Sir John Lionel, 1895–1980, Sri Lankan political and military leader. After studying at Christ College, Cambridge, he returned to Sri Lanka (then the British colony of Ceylon), joining t...

Hooker, John Lee

(Encyclopedia)Hooker, John Lee, 1917–2001, American blues singer and guitarist, b. near Clarksdale, Miss. From a cotton-sharecropping family, he learned the blues from his stepfather and various visiting Delta bl...

Domingo, Plácido

(Encyclopedia)Domingo, Plácido plăˈcēdō dōmēˈgō [key], 1941–, Spanish operatic tenor, b. Madrid, Spain. He made his operatic debut in Mexico City in 1961 and his New York debut at the Metropolitan Opera ...

Donizetti, Gaetano

(Encyclopedia)Donizetti, Gaetano gītäˈnō dōnēdzĕtˈtē [key], 1797–1848, Italian composer. He studied music in Bergamo and Bologna and achieved success with his first opera, Enrico di Borgogna (1818). His ...

Amadis of Gaul

(Encyclopedia)Amadis of Gaul ämädēsˈ də gōl [key], famous prose romance of chivalry, first composed in Spain or Portugal and probably based on French sources. Entirely fictional, it dates from the 13th or 14t...

Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich

(Encyclopedia)Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich dēˈtrĭkh fĭshˈər-dēsˈkou [key], 1925–2012, German baritone. Possessed of a sensitive voice capable of a wide variety of range and expression, Fischer-Dieskau was th...