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Metastasio, Pietro

(Encyclopedia)Metastasio, Pietro pyĕˈtrō mātästäˈzēō [key], 1698–1782, Italian poet and librettist, whose original name was Antonio Bonaventura Trapassi. A prodigy at poetic improvisation, he became cour...

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 ...

Scala, La

(Encyclopedia)Scala, La [Teatro alla Scala], one of the world's great opera houses, located in Milan, Italy. It opened in 1778 with a production of Antonio Salieri's Europa Riconosciuta. Built on the site of the Ch...

Weingartner, Felix

(Encyclopedia)Weingartner, Felix fāˈlĭks vīnˈgärtnər [key], 1863–1942, Austrian conductor and composer, b. Dalmatia, studied at the Leipzig Conservatory and with Liszt. After holding several appointments i...

Ashton-under-Lyne

(Encyclopedia)Ashton-under-Lyne, town, Tameside metropolitan district, NW England, in the Greater Manchester metropolitan area on the Tame River. Its industries include engineering, leather, plastics, t...

Flotow, Friedrich von

(Encyclopedia)Flotow, Friedrich von frēˈdrĭkh fən flōˈtō [key], 1812–83, German operatic composer. Flotow's operas show the influence of French opéra comique, which set the tone for light opera in the 19t...

D'Urfey, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)D'Urfey, Thomas dûrˈfē [key], 1653–1723, English songwriter and dramatist. His comedies for the stage were forerunners of the ballad opera. In 1699–1700 Wit and Mirth; or, Pills to Purge Melanc...

Nelsons, Andris

(Encyclopedia)Nelsons, Andris, 1978–, Latvian conductor. He studied piano and trumpet, and was a trumpeter with the Latvian National Opera as a teenager. After studying conducting in St. Petersburg, Russia, he ma...

Leigh

(Encyclopedia)Leigh lē [key], town (1991 pop. 42,627), Wigan metropolitan district, NW England, in the Greater Manchester metropolitan area. Industries include cotton and rayon mills, metalworks, and machinery and...

Hebburn

(Encyclopedia)Hebburn hĕbˈûrn [key], town, South Tyneside metropolitan district, NE England, on the Tyne ...