Name	Opera
Caption	The Palais Garnier of the Paris Opéra, one of the world's most famous opera houses.
Ancestor	Drama
Culture	Italy
Era	late 1500s}}

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text (called a libretto) and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble.

Opera started in Italy at the end of the 16th century (with Jacopo Peri's lost Dafne, produced in Florence around 1597) and soon spread through the rest of Europe: Schütz in Germany, Lully in France, and Purcell in England all helped to establish their national traditions in the 17th century. However, in the 18th century, Italian opera continued to dominate most of Europe, except France, attracting foreign composers such as Handel. Opera seria was the most prestigious form of Italian opera, until Gluck reacted against its artificiality with his "reform" operas in the 1760s. Today the most renowned figure of late 18th century opera is Mozart, who began with opera seria but is most famous for his Italian comic operas, especially The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte, as well as The Magic Flute, a landmark in the German tradition.

The first third of the 19th century saw the highpoint of the bel canto style, with Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini all creating works that are still performed today. It also saw the advent of Grand Opera typified by the works of Meyerbeer. The mid-to-late 19th century was a "golden age" of opera, led and dominated by Wagner in Germany and Verdi in Italy. The popularity of opera continued through the verismo era in Italy and contemporary French opera through to Puccini and Strauss in the early 20th century. During the 19th century, parallel operatic traditions emerged in central and eastern Europe, particularly in Russia and Bohemia. The 20th century saw many experiments with modern styles, such as atonality and serialism (Schoenberg and Berg), Neoclassicism (Stravinsky), and Minimalism (Philip Glass and John Adams). With the rise of recording technology, singers such as Enrico Caruso became known to audiences beyond the circle of opera fans. Operas were also performed on (and written for) radio and television.

Operatic terminology

The words of an opera are known as the libretto (literally "little book"). Some composers, notably Richard Wagner, have written their own libretti; others have worked in close collaboration with their librettists, e.g. Mozart with Lorenzo Da Ponte. Traditional opera, often referred to as "number opera", consists of two modes of singing: recitative, the plot-driving passages sung in a style designed to imitate and emphasize the inflections of speech, and aria (an "air" or formal song) in which the characters express their emotions in a more structured melodic style. Duets, trios and other ensembles often occur, and choruses are used to comment on the action. In some forms of opera, such as Singspiel, opéra comique, operetta, and semi-opera, the recitative is mostly replaced by spoken dialogue. Melodic or semi-melodic passages occurring in the midst of, or instead of, recitative, are also referred to as arioso. During the Baroque and Classical periods, recitative could appear in two basic forms: secco (dry) recitative, accompanied only by continuo, which was usually a harpsichord and a cello; or accompagnato (also known as strumentato) in which the orchestra provided accompaniment. By the 19th century, accompagnato had gained the upper hand, the orchestra played a much bigger role, and Richard Wagner revolutionised opera by abolishing almost all distinction between aria and recitative in his quest for what he termed "endless melody". Subsequent composers have tended to follow Wagner's example, though some, such as Stravinsky in his The Rake's Progress have bucked the trend. The terminology of the various kinds of operatic voices is described in below.

History

Origins

The word opera means "work" in Italian (it is the plural of Latin opus meaning "work" or "labour") suggesting that it combines the arts of solo and choral singing, declamation, acting and dancing in a staged spectacle. Dafne by Jacopo Peri was the earliest composition considered opera, as understood today. It was written around 1597, largely under the inspiration of an elite circle of literate Florentine humanists who gathered as the "Camerata de' Bardi". Significantly, Dafne was an attempt to revive the classical Greek drama, part of the wider revival of antiquity characteristic of the Renaissance. The members of the Camerata considered that the "chorus" parts of Greek dramas were originally sung, and possibly even the entire text of all roles; opera was thus conceived as a way of "restoring" this situation. Dafne is unfortunately lost. A later work by Peri, Euridice, dating from 1600, is the first opera score to have survived to the present day. The honour of being the first opera still to be regularly performed, however, goes to Claudio Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, composed for the court of Mantua in 1607.

Italian opera

The Baroque era

, 1733]] Opera did not remain confined to court audiences for long; in 1637 the idea of a "season" (Carnival) of publicly attended operas supported by ticket sales emerged in Venice. Monteverdi had moved to the city from Mantua and composed his last operas, Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria and L'incoronazione di Poppea, for the Venetian theatre in the 1640s. His most important follower Francesco Cavalli helped spread opera throughout Italy. In these early Baroque operas, broad comedy was blended with tragic elements in a mix that jarred some educated sensibilities, sparking the first of opera's many reform movements, sponsored by Venice's Arcadian Academy which came to be associated with the poet Metastasio, whose libretti helped crystallize the genre of opera seria, which became the leading form of Italian opera until the end of the 18th century. Once the Metastasian ideal had been firmly established, comedy in Baroque-era opera was reserved for what came to be called opera buffa.

Before such elements were forced out of opera seria, many libretti had featured a separately unfolding comic plot as sort of an "opera-within-an-opera." One reason for this was an attempt to attract members of the growing merchant class, newly wealthy, but still less cultured than the nobility, to the public opera houses. These separate plots were almost immediately resurrected in a separately developing tradition that partly derived from the commedia dell'arte, (as indeed, such plots had always been) a long-flourishing improvisatory stage tradition of Italy. Just as intermedi had once been performed in-between the acts of stage plays, operas in the new comic genre of "intermezzi", which developed largely in Naples in the 1710s and '20s, were initially staged during the intermissions of opera seria. They became so popular, however, that they were soon being offered as separate productions.

Opera seria was elevated in tone and highly stylised in form, usually consisting of secco recitative interspersed with long da capo arias. These afforded great opportunity for virtuosic singing and during the golden age of opera seria the singer really became the star. The role of the hero was usually written for the castrato voice; castrati such as Farinelli and Senesino, as well as female sopranos such as Faustina Bordoni, became in great demand throughout Europe as opera seria ruled the stage in every country except France. Indeed, Farinelli was the most famous singer of the 18th century. Italian opera set the Baroque standard. Italian libretti were the norm, even when a German composer like Handel found himself writing for London audiences. Italian libretti remained dominant in the classical period as well, for example in the operas of Mozart, who wrote in Vienna near the century's close. Leading Italian-born composers of opera seria include Alessandro Scarlatti, Vivaldi and Porpora.

Reform: Gluck, the attack on the Metastasian ideal, and Mozart

]] Opera seria had its weaknesses and critics. The taste for embellishment on behalf of the superbly trained singers, and the use of spectacle as a replacement for dramatic purity and unity drew attacks. Francesco Algarotti's Essay on the Opera (1754) proved to be an inspiration for Christoph Willibald Gluck's reforms. He advocated that opera seria had to return to basics and that all the various elements —music (both instrumental and vocal), ballet, and staging— must be subservient to the overriding drama. Several composers of the period, including Niccolò Jommelli and Tommaso Traetta, attempted to put these ideals into practice. The first to succeed however, was Gluck. Gluck strove to achieve a "beautiful simplicity". This is evident in his first reform opera, Orfeo ed Euridice, where his non-virtuosic vocal melodies are supported by simple harmonies and a richer orchestra presence throughout.

Gluck's reforms have had resonance throughout operatic history. Weber, Mozart and Wagner, in particular, were influenced by his ideals. Mozart, in many ways Gluck's successor, combined a superb sense of drama, harmony, melody, and counterpoint to write a series of comedies, notably Così fan tutte, The Marriage of Figaro, and Don Giovanni (in collaboration with Lorenzo Da Ponte) which remain among the most-loved, popular and well-known operas today. But Mozart's contribution to opera seria was more mixed; by his time it was dying away, and in spite of such fine works as Idomeneo and La clemenza di Tito, he would not succeed in bringing the art form back to life again.

Bel canto, Verdi and verismo

, 1886 (National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome)]] The bel canto opera movement flourished in the early 19th century and is exemplified by the operas of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Pacini, Mercadante and many others. Literally "beautiful singing", bel canto opera derives from the Italian stylistic singing school of the same name. Bel canto lines are typically florid and intricate, requiring supreme agility and pitch control.

Following the bel canto era, a more direct, forceful style was rapidly popularized by Giuseppe Verdi, beginning with his biblical opera Nabucco. Verdi's operas resonated with the growing spirit of Italian nationalism in the post-Napoleonic era, and he quickly became an icon of the patriotic movement (although his own politics were perhaps not quite so radical). In the early 1850s, Verdi produced his three most popular operas: Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata. But he continued to develop his style, composing perhaps the greatest French Grand Opera, Don Carlos, and ending his career with two Shakespeare-inspired works, Otello and Falstaff, which reveal how far Italian opera had grown in sophistication since the early 19th century.

After Verdi, the sentimental "realistic" melodrama of verismo appeared in Italy. This was a style introduced by Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana and Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci that came virtually to dominate the world's opera stages with such popular works as Giacomo Puccini's La bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly. Later Italian composers, such as Berio and Nono, have experimented with modernism.

German-language opera

music drama Das Rheingold]] The first German opera was Dafne, composed by Heinrich Schütz in 1627, but the music score has not survived. Italian opera held a great sway over German-speaking countries until the late 18th century. Nevertheless, native forms developed too. In 1644 Sigmund Staden produced the first Singspiel, a popular form of German-language opera in which singing alternates with spoken dialogue. In the late 17th century and early 18th century, the Theater am Gänsemarkt in Hamburg presented German operas by Keiser, Telemann and Handel. Yet many of the major German composers of the time, including Handel himself, as well as Graun, Hasse and later Gluck, chose to write most of their operas in foreign languages, especially Italian.

Mozart's Singspiele, Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782) and Die Zauberflöte (1791) were an important breakthrough in achieving international recognition for German opera. The tradition was developed in the 19th century by Beethoven with his Fidelio, inspired by the climate of the French Revolution. Carl Maria von Weber established German Romantic opera in opposition to the dominance of Italian bel canto. His Der Freischütz (1821) shows his genius for creating a supernatural atmosphere. Other opera composers of the time include Marschner, Schubert, Schumann and Lortzing, but the most significant figure was undoubtedly Wagner.

Wagner was one of the most revolutionary and controversial composers in musical history. Starting under the influence of Weber and Meyerbeer, he gradually evolved a new concept of opera as a Gesamtkunstwerk (a "complete work of art"), a fusion of music, poetry and painting. In his mature music dramas, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Der Ring des Nibelungen and Parsifal, he abolished the distinction between aria and recitative in favour of a seamless flow of "endless melody". He greatly increased the role and power of the orchestra, creating scores with a complex web of leitmotivs, recurring themes often associated with the characters and concepts of the drama; and he was prepared to violate accepted musical conventions, such as tonality, in his quest for greater expressivity. Wagner also brought a new philosophical dimension to opera in his works, which were usually based on stories from Germanic or Arthurian legend. Finally, Wagner built his own opera house at Bayreuth, exclusively dedicated to performing his own works in the style he wanted.

Opera would never be the same after Wagner and for many composers his legacy proved a heavy burden. On the other hand, Richard Strauss accepted Wagnerian ideas but took them in wholly new directions. He first won fame with the scandalous Salome and the dark tragedy Elektra, in which tonality was pushed to the limits. Then Strauss changed tack in his greatest success, Der Rosenkavalier, where Mozart and Viennese waltzes became as important an influence as Wagner. Strauss continued to produce a highly varied body of operatic works, often with libretti by the poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal, right up until Capriccio in 1942. Other composers who made individual contributions to German opera in the early 20th century include Zemlinsky, Hindemith, Kurt Weill and the Italian-born Ferruccio Busoni. The operatic innovations of Arnold Schoenberg and his successors are discussed in the section on modernism.

French opera

at the Palais-Royal in 1761]] In rivalry with imported Italian opera productions, a separate French tradition was founded by the Italian Jean-Baptiste Lully at the court of King Louis XIV. Despite his foreign origin, Lully established an Academy of Music and monopolised French opera from 1672. Starting with Cadmus et Hermione, Lully and his librettist Quinault created tragédie en musique, a form in which dance music and choral writing were particularly prominent. Lully's operas also show a concern for expressive recitative which matched the contours of the French language. In the 18th century, Lully's most important successor was Jean-Philippe Rameau, who composed five tragédies en musique as well as numerous works in other genres such as opéra-ballet, all notable for their rich orchestration and harmonic daring. After Rameau's death, the German Gluck was persuaded to produce six operas for the Parisian stage in the 1770s. They show the influence of Rameau, but simplified and with greater focus on the drama. At the same time, by the middle of the 18th century another genre was gaining popularity in France: opéra comique. This was the equivalent of the German singspiel, where arias alternated with spoken dialogue. Notable examples in this style were produced by Monsigny, Philidor and, above all, Grétry. During the Revolutionary period, composers such as Méhul and Cherubini, who were followers of Gluck, brought a new seriousness to the genre, which had never been wholly "comic" in any case.

By the 1820s, Gluckian influence in France had given way to a taste for Italian bel canto, especially after the arrival of Rossini in Paris. Rossini's Guillaume Tell helped found the new genre of Grand Opera, a form whose most famous exponent was another foreigner, Giacomo Meyerbeer. Meyerbeer's works, such as Les Huguenots emphasised virtuoso singing and extraordinary stage effects. Lighter opéra comique also enjoyed tremendous success in the hands of Boïeldieu, Auber, Hérold and Adolphe Adam. In this climate, the operas of the French-born composer Hector Berlioz struggled to gain a hearing. Berlioz's epic masterpiece Les Troyens, the culmination of the Gluckian tradition, was not given a full performance for almost a hundred years.

In the second half of the 19th century, Jacques Offenbach created operetta with witty and cynical works such as Orphée aux enfers, as well as the opera Les Contes d'Hoffmann; Charles Gounod scored a massive success with Faust; and Bizet composed Carmen, which, once audiences learned to accept its blend of Romanticism and realism, became the most popular of all opéra comiques. Massenet, Saint-Saëns and Delibes all composed works which are still part of the standard repertory. At the same time, the influence of Richard Wagner was felt as a challenge to the French tradition. Many French critics angrily rejected Wagner's music dramas while many French composers closely imitated them with variable success. Perhaps the most interesting response came from Claude Debussy. As in Wagner's works, the orchestra plays a leading role in Debussy's unique opera Pelléas et Mélisande (1902) and there are no real arias, only recitative. But the drama is understated, enigmatic and completely unWagnerian.

Other notable 20th century names include Ravel, Dukas, Roussel and Milhaud. Francis Poulenc is one of the very few post-war composers of any nationality whose operas (which include Dialogues des carmélites) have gained a foothold in the international repertory. Olivier Messiaen's lengthy sacred drama Saint François d'Assise (1983) has also attracted widespread attention.

English-language opera

In England, opera's antecedent was the 17th century jig. This was an afterpiece which came at the end of a play. It was frequently libellous and scandalous and consisted in the main of dialogue set to music arranged from popular tunes. In this respect, jigs anticipate the ballad operas of the 18th century. At the same time, the French masque was gaining a firm hold at the English Court, with even more lavish splendour and highly realistic scenery than had been seen before. Inigo Jones became the quintessential designer of these productions, and this style was to dominate the English stage for three centuries. These masques contained songs and dances. In Ben Jonson's Lovers Made Men (1617), "the whole masque was sung after the Italian manner, stilo recitativo". The approach of the English Commonwealth closed theatres and halted any developments that may have led to the establishment of English opera. However, in 1656, the dramatist Sir William Davenant produced The Siege of Rhodes. Since his theatre was not licensed to produce drama, he asked several of the leading composers (Lawes, Cooke, Locke, Coleman and Hudson) to set sections of it to music. This success was followed by The Cruelty of the Spaniards in Peru (1658) and The History of Sir Francis Drake (1659). These pieces were encouraged by Oliver Cromwell because they were critical of Spain. With the English Restoration, foreign (especially French) musicians were welcomed back. In 1673, Thomas Shadwell's Psyche, patterned on the 1671 'comédie-ballet' of the same name produced by Molière and Jean-Baptiste Lully. William Davenant produced The Tempest in the same year, which was the first musical adaption of a Shakespeare play (composed by Locke and Johnson).

In the 20th century, English opera began to assert more independence, with works of Ralph Vaughan Williams and in particular Benjamin Britten, who in a series of works that remain in standard repertory today, revealed an excellent flair for the dramatic and superb musicality. Today composers such as Thomas Adès continue to export English opera abroad. More recently Sir Harrison Birtwistle has emerged as one of Britain's most significant contemporary composers from his first opera Punch and Judy to his most recent critical success in The Minotaur. In the first decade of the 21st century, the librettist of an early Birtwistle opera, Michael Nyman, has been focusing on composing operas, including Facing Goya, , and Love Counts.

Also in the 20th century, American composers like Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Gian Carlo Menotti, Douglas Moore, and Carlisle Floyd began to contribute English-language operas infused with touches of popular musical styles. They were followed by composers such as Philip Glass, Mark Adamo, John Corigliano, Robert Moran, John Coolidge Adams, and Jake Heggie.

Russian opera

as Ivan Susanin in Glinka's A Life for the Tsar]] Opera was brought to Russia in the 1730s by the Italian operatic troupes and soon it became an important part of entertainment for the Russian Imperial Court and aristocracy. Many foreign composers such as Baldassare Galuppi, Giovanni Paisiello, Giuseppe Sarti, and Domenico Cimarosa (as well as various others) were invited to Russia to compose new operas, mostly in the Italian language. Simultaneously some domestic musicians like Maksym Berezovsky and Dmitry Bortniansky were sent abroad to learn to write operas. The first opera written in Russian was Tsefal i Prokris by the Italian composer Francesco Araja (1755). The development of Russian-language opera was supported by the Russian composers Vasily Pashkevich, Yevstigney Fomin and Alexey Verstovsky.

However, the real birth of Russian opera came with Mikhail Glinka and his two great operas A Life for the Tsar (1836) and Ruslan and Lyudmila (1842). After him in the 19th century in Russia there were written such operatic masterpieces as Rusalka and The Stone Guest by Alexander Dargomyzhsky, Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina by Modest Mussorgsky, Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin, Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and The Snow Maiden and Sadko by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. These developments mirrored the growth of Russian nationalism across the artistic spectrum, as part of the more general Slavophilism movement.

In the 20th century the traditions of Russian opera were developed by many composers including Sergei Rachmaninoff in his works The Miserly Knight and Francesca da Rimini, Igor Stravinsky in Le Rossignol, Mavra, Oedipus rex, and The Rake's Progress, Sergei Prokofiev in The Gambler, The Love for Three Oranges, The Fiery Angel, Betrothal in a Monastery, and War and Peace; as well as Dmitri Shostakovich in The Nose and Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, Edison Denisov in L'écume des jours, and Alfred Schnittke in Life with an Idiot and Historia von D. Johann Fausten.

Other national operas

Spain also produced its own distinctive form of opera, known as zarzuela, which had two separate flowerings: one from the mid-17th century through the mid-18th century, and another beginning around 1850. During the late 18th century up until the mid-19th century, Italian opera was immensely popular in Spain, supplanting the native form.

Czech composers also developed a thriving national opera movement of their own in the 19th century, starting with Bedřich Smetana, who wrote eight operas including the internationally popular The Bartered Bride. Antonín Dvořák, most famous for Rusalka, wrote 13 operas; and Leoš Janáček gained international recognition in the 20th century for his innovative works including Jenůfa, The Cunning Little Vixen, and Káťa Kabanová.

The key figure of Hungarian national opera in the 19th century was Ferenc Erkel, whose works mostly dealt with historical themes. Among his most often performed operas are Hunyadi László and Bánk bán. The most famous modern Hungarian opera is Béla Bartók's Duke Bluebeard's Castle.

The best-known composer of Polish national opera was Stanisław Moniuszko, most celebrated for the opera Straszny Dwór (in English The Haunted Manor). In the 20th century, other operas created by Polish composers included King Roger by Karol Szymanowski and Ubu Rex by Krzysztof Penderecki.

Contemporary, recent, and Modernist trends

Modernism

Perhaps the most obvious stylistic manifestation of modernism in opera is the development of atonality. The move away from traditional tonality in opera had begun with Richard Wagner, and in particular the Tristan chord. Composers such as Richard Strauss, Claude Debussy, Giacomo Puccini, Paul Hindemith and Hans Pfitzner pushed Wagnerian harmony further with a more extreme use of chromaticism and greater use of dissonance.

.]] Operatic modernism truly began in the operas of two Viennese composers, Arnold Schoenberg and his student Alban Berg, both composers and advocates of atonality and its later development (as worked out by Schoenberg), dodecaphony. Schoenberg's early musico-dramatic works, Erwartung (1909, premiered in 1924) and Die glückliche Hand display heavy use of chromatic harmony and dissonance in general. Schoenberg also occasionally used Sprechstimme, which he described as: "The voice rising and falling relative to the indicated intervals, and everything being bound together with the time and rhythm of the music except where a pause is indicated".

The two operas of Schoenberg's pupil Alban Berg, Wozzeck (1925) and Lulu (incomplete at his death in 1935) share many of the same characteristics as described above, though Berg combined his highly personal interpretation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique with melodic passages of a more traditionally tonal nature (quite Mahlerian in character) which perhaps partially explains why his operas have remained in standard repertory, despite their controversial music and plots. Schoenberg's theories have influenced (either directly or indirectly) significant numbers of opera composers ever since, even if they themselves did not compose using his techniques. Composers thus influenced include the Englishman Benjamin Britten, the German Hans Werner Henze, and the Russian Dmitri Shostakovich. (Philip Glass also makes use of atonality, though his style is generally described as minimalist, usually thought of as another 20th century development.)

However, operatic modernism's use of atonality also sparked a backlash in the form of neoclassicism. An early leader of this movement was Ferruccio Busoni, who in 1913 wrote the libretto for his neoclassical number opera Arlecchino (first performed in 1917). Also among the vanguard was the Russian Igor Stravinsky. After composing music for the Diaghilev-produced ballets Petrushka (1911) and The Rite of Spring (1913), Stravinsky turned to neoclassicism, a development culminating in his opera-oratorio Oedipus Rex (1927). Well after his Rimsky-Korsakov-inspired works The Nightingale (1914), and Mavra (1922), Stravinsky continued to ignore serialist technique and eventually wrote a full-fledged 18th century-style diatonic number opera The Rake's Progress (1951). His resistance to serialism (which ended at the death of Schoenberg) proved to be an inspiration for many other composers.

Other trends

A common trend throughout the 20th century, in both opera and general orchestral repertoire, is the use of smaller orchestras as a cost-cutting measure; the grand Romantic-era orchestras with huge string sections, multiple harps, extra horns, and exotic percussion instruments were no longer feasible. As government and private patronage of the arts decreased throughout the 20th century, new works were often commissioned and performed with smaller budgets, very often resulting in chamber-sized works, and short, one-act operas. Many of Benjamin Britten's operas are scored for as few as 13 instrumentalists; Mark Adamo's two-act realization of Little Women is scored for 18 instrumentalists.

Another feature of 20th century opera is the emergence of contemporary historical operas. The Death of Klinghoffer, Nixon in China and Doctor Atomic by John Adams, and Dead Man Walking by Jake Heggie exemplify the dramatisation on stage of events in recent living memory, where characters portrayed in the opera were alive at the time of the premiere performance. Earlier models of opera generally stuck to more distant history, re-telling contemporary fictional stories (reworkings of popular plays), or mythical/legendary stories.

The Metropolitan Opera in the US reports that the average age of its audience is now 60. Many opera companies have experienced a similar trend, and opera company websites are replete with attempts to attract a younger audience. This trend is part of the larger trend of greying audiences for classical music since the last decades of the 20th century. In an effort to attract younger audiences, the Metropolitan Opera offers a student discount on ticket purchases. Major opera companies have been better able to weather the funding cutbacks, because they can afford to hire star singers which draw substantial audiences who want to see if their favourite singer will be able to hit their high "money notes" in the show.

Smaller companies in the US have a more fragile existence, and they usually depend on a "patchwork quilt" of support from state and local governments, local businesses, and fundraisers. Nevertheless, some smaller companies have found ways of drawing new audiences. Opera Carolina offer discounts and happy hour events to the 21–40 year old demographic. In addition to radio and television broadcasts of opera performances, which have had some success in gaining new audiences, broadcasts of live performances in HD to movie theatres have shown the potential to reach new audiences. Since 2006, the Met has broadcast live performances to several hundred movie screens all over the world.

From musicals back towards opera

Also by the late 1930s, some musicals began to be written with a more operatic structure. These works include complex polyphonic ensembles and reflect musical developments of their times. Porgy and Bess (1935), influenced by jazz styles, and Candide (1956), with its sweeping, lyrical passages and farcical parodies of opera, both opened on Broadway but became accepted as part of the opera repertory. Show Boat, West Side Story, Brigadoon, , Evita, The Light in the Piazza, The Phantom of the Opera and others tell dramatic stories through complex music and are now sometimes seen in opera houses. Some musicals, beginning with Tommy (1969) and Jesus Christ Superstar (1971) and continuing through Les Misérables (1980), Rent (1996) and Spring Awakening (2006), use various operatic conventions, such as through composition, recitative instead of dialogue, leitmotifs and dramatic stories told predominantly through rock, pop or contemporary music.

Acoustic enhancement with speakers

A subtle type of sound electronic reinforcement called acoustic enhancement is used in some concert halls where operas are performed. Acoustic enhancement systems help give a more even sound in the hall and prevent "dead spots" in the audience seating area by "...augment[ing] a hall's intrinsic acoustic characteristics." The systems use "...an array of microphones connected to a computer [which is] connected to an array of loudspeakers." However, as concertgoers have become aware of the use of these systems, debates have arisen, because some "...purists maintain that the natural acoustic sound of [Classical] voices [or] instruments in a given hall should not be altered."

Kai Harada's article "Opera's Dirty Little Secret" states that opera houses began using electronic acoustic enhancement systems in the 1990s "...to compensate for flaws in a venue's acoustical architecture." Despite the uproar that has arisen amongst operagoers, Harada points out that none of the major opera houses using acoustic enhancement systems "...use traditional, Broadway-style sound reinforcement, in which most if not all singers are equipped with radio microphones mixed to a series of unsightly loudspeakers scattered throughout the theatre." Instead, most opera houses use the sound reinforcement system for acoustic enhancement, and for subtle boosting of offstage voices, child singers, onstage dialogue, and sound effects (e.g., church bells in Tosca or thunder effects in Wagnerian operas).

Operatic voices

First of all Operatic voices needed enough volume to compete with the overwhelming volume of the orchestra. In times without electronic devices nor microphones that could amplify them they needed special techniques to make sure the people in the end rows of the theatre could enjoy them as much as the front rows did. Therefore a singing technique was developed to make sure they could stand out in the bombast of the orchestra, without the musicians having to compromise in volume.

Vocal classifications

Singers and the roles they play are classified by voice type, based on the tessitura, agility, power and timbre of their voices. Male singers can be loosely classified by vocal range as bass, bass-baritone, baritone, tenor and countertenor, and female singers as contralto, mezzo-soprano and soprano. (Men sometimes sing in the "female" vocal ranges, in which case they are termed sopranist or countertenor. Of these, only the countertenor is commonly encountered in opera, sometimes singing parts written for castrati – men neutered at a young age specifically to give them a higher singing range.) Singers are then classified by voice type – for instance, a soprano can be described as a lyric soprano, coloratura, soubrette, spinto, or dramatic soprano. These terms, although not fully describing a singing voice, associate the singer's voice with the roles most suitable to the singer's vocal characteristics. A particular singer's voice may change drastically over his or her lifetime, rarely reaching vocal maturity until the third decade, and sometimes not until middle age.

Historical use of voice parts

:The following is only intended as a brief overview. For the main articles, see soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, countertenor and castrato.

The soprano voice has typically been used as the voice of choice for the female protagonist of the opera since the latter half of the 18th century. Earlier, it was common for that part to be sung by any female voice, or even a castrato. The current emphasis on a wide vocal range was primarily an invention of the Classical period. Before that, the vocal virtuosity, not range, was the priority, with soprano parts rarely extending above a high A (Handel, for example, only wrote one role extending to a high C), though the castrato Farinelli was alleged to possess a top D (his lower range was also extraordinary, extending to tenor C). The mezzo-soprano, a term of comparatively recent origin, also has a large repertoire, ranging from the female lead in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas to such heavyweight roles as Brangäne in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (these are both roles sometimes sung by sopranos; there is quite a lot of movement between these two voice-types). For the true contralto, the range of parts is more limited, which has given rise to the insider joke that contraltos only sing "witches, bitches, and britches" roles. In recent years many of the "trouser roles" from the Baroque era, originally written for women, and those originally sung by castrati, have been reassigned to countertenors.

The tenor voice, from the Classical era onwards, has traditionally been assigned the role of male protagonist. Many of the most challenging tenor roles in the repertory were written during the bel canto era, such as Donizetti's sequence of 9 Cs above middle C during La fille du régiment. With Wagner came an emphasis on vocal heft for his protagonist roles, with this vocal category described as Heldentenor; this heroic voice had its more Italianate counterpart in such roles as Calaf in Puccini's Turandot. Basses have a long history in opera, having been used in opera seria in supporting roles, and sometimes for comic relief (as well as providing a contrast to the preponderance of high voices in this genre). The bass repertoire is wide and varied, stretching from the comedy of Leporello in Don Giovanni to the nobility of Wotan in Wagner's Ring Cycle. In between the bass and the tenor is the baritone, which also varies in weight from say, Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte to Posa in Verdi's Don Carlos; the actual designation "baritone" was not used until the mid-19th century.

Famous singers

, c. 1720]] Early performances of opera were too infrequent for singers to make a living exclusively from the style, but with the birth of commercial opera in the mid-17th century, professional performers began to emerge. The role of the male hero was usually entrusted to a castrato, and by the 18th century, when Italian opera was performed throughout Europe, leading castrati who possessed extraordinary vocal virtuosity, such as Senesino and Farinelli, became international stars. The career of the first major female star (or prima donna), Anna Renzi, dates to the mid-17th century. In the 18th century, a number of Italian sopranos gained international renown and often engaged in fierce rivalry, as was the case with Faustina Bordoni and Francesca Cuzzoni, who started a fist fight with one another during a performance of a Handel opera. The French disliked castrati, preferring their male heroes to be sung by a haute-contre (a high tenor), of which Joseph Legros was a leading example.

Though opera patronage has decreased in the last century in favor of other arts and media, such as musicals, cinema, radio, television and recordings, mass media and the advent of recording have supported the popularity of famous singers such as Maria Callas, Enrico Caruso, Kirsten Flagstad, Mario Del Monaco, Franco Corelli, Kathleen Ferrier, Montserrat Caballé, Joan Sutherland, Birgit Nilsson, Nellie Melba, Rosa Ponselle, Beniamino Gigli, Jussi Björling, Feodor Chaliapin, "The Three Tenors" (Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, and José Carreras), and others.

Funding of opera

Outside the US, and especially in Europe, most opera houses receive public subsidies from taxpayers.

For example, in Milan, Italy, 60% of La Scala's annual budget of €115 million is from sales and private donations, with the remaining 40% coming from public funds. In 2005, La Scala received 25% of Italy's total state subsidy of €464 million for the performing arts.

Cinema

Major opera houses and production companies have begun broadcasting their performances to local cinemas throughout the United States and in many other countries. The Metropolitan Opera, first opened in 1883, began high-definition television transmissions in 2006. Many of its performances are also shown live in movie theaters around the world. In 2007, Met performances were shown in over 424 theaters in 350 U.S. cities. La bohème went out to 671 screens worldwide. The Met remains the only company that transmits all of its performances live, although in many cases this is only via radio broadcast. San Francisco Opera, founded in 1923, began prerecorded broadcasts in March 2008. As of June 2008, approximately 125 theaters in 117 U.S. cities carry the broadcast. Their distribution company, Bigger Picture, screens the operas with the same HD digital cinema projectors used for major Hollywood films. European opera houses and festivals such as La Scala in Milan, the Salzburg Festival, La Fenice in Venice and the Maggio Musicale in Florence have also broadcast their productions to 91 theaters in 90 U.S. cities since 2006. The emergence of the Internet is also seemingly affecting the way in which audiences consume opera. In a first for the genre, in 2009 British Opera house Glyndebourne made available online a full digital video download of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, filmed two years previously.

See also

Outline of opera

Dance

Orchestral enhancement

Persian opera

List articles

Glossary of musical terminology

List of opera companies

List of important operas – an annotated, chronological, selected list of operas which are included for their historical significance, widespread popularity, or both.

List of major opera composers – an annotated compilation of the most frequently named composers on ten lists published by opera experts.

List of opera genres

List of opera directors

List of opera festivals

List of opera houses

List of operas by title – an alphabetical list by title of operas with Wikipedia articles.

The opera corpus – an extended list of more than 1900 works by more than 500 composers.

Voice type, the classification of singers by the tessitura, weight, and timbre of their voices.

Notes

References

Apel, Willi, ed. (1969). Harvard Dictionary of Music, Second Edition. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. SBN 674375017.

Cooke, Mervyn (2005). The Cambridge Companion to Twentieth-Century Opera. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-78009-8. See also Google Books partial preview. Accessed 3 October 2009.

Silke Leopold, "The Idea of National Opera, c. 1800", United and Diversity in European Culture c. 1800, ed. Tim Blanning and Hagen Schulze (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), 19–34.

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, edited by Stanley Sadie (1992), 5,448 pages, is the best, and by far the largest, general reference in the English language. ISBN 0-333-73432-7 and ISBN 1-56159-228-5

The Viking Opera Guide (1994), 1,328 pages, ISBN 0-670-81292-7

The Oxford Illustrated History of Opera, ed. Roger Parker (1994)

The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, by John Warrack and Ewan West (1992), 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5

Opera, the Rough Guide, by Matthew Boyden et al. (1997), 672 pages, ISBN 1-85828-138-5

Opera: A Concise History, by Leslie Orrey and Rodney Milnes, World of Art, Thames & Hudson

Further reading

DiGaetani, John Louis: An Invitation to the Opera, Anchor Books, 1986/91. ISBN 0-385-26339-2.

MacMurray, Jessica M. and Allison Brewster Franzetti: The Book of 101 Opera Librettos: Complete Original Language Texts with English Translations, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 1996. ISBN 9781884822797

Simon, Henry W.: A Treasury of Grand Opera, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1946.

External links

Operabase – Comprehensive opera performances database

StageAgent – synopses & character descriptions for most major operas

What's it about? - Opera plot summaries

Vocabulaire de l'Opéra

OperaGlass, a resource at Stanford University

HistoricOpera – historic operatic images

"America’s Opera Boom" By Jonathan Leaf, The American, July/August 2007 Issue

Opera~Opera article archives

Category:Opera history Category:Musical forms Category:Italian loanwords

Background	solo_singer
Name	Jackie Evancho
Birth name	Jacqueline Marie Evancho
Born	April 09, 2000
Origin	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Voice type	Soprano
Occupation	Singer
Instrument	Vocals, violin, piano
Label	SYCO/Columbia Records (2010–present)
Years active	2009–present
Genre	Classical crossover
Url

Jacqueline Marie "Jackie" Evancho ( ; born April 9, 2000) is an American classical crossover Mezzo-soprano who gained popularity after performing in the fifth season of America's Got Talent, coming in second place. Her newest CD/DVD "O Holy Night" debuted at #2 on the Billboard charts. "O Holy Night" recently achieved Platinum status.

Evancho sings in the "classical crossover" style of singers such as Sarah Brightman and Hayley Westenra. She studies singing with a voice coach, and also plays the violin and piano. She started singing when she was seven years old, after she watched the musical The Phantom of the Opera on DVD. Her mother heard Evancho singing songs from the musical and allowed her to enter the 2008 Kean Idol, a local talent contest. She sang "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again", finishing, at seven years old, as first runner-up; the winner was 20 years old. Eventually she participated in other talent contests and started a YouTube channel. Jackie began taking vocal lessons when she was 8, in June 2008, after her success in the 2008 Kean Idol contest. She was also a member of the Children's Festival Chorus of Pittsburgh during its 2008–09 season. Evancho lives in Richland Township, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Career

Evancho has performed onstage with producer David Foster, was an invited performer on the PBS Special "Celebrate America" with conductor/composer Tim Janis, also feature video from CreationScapes, sang the US National Anthem at an event honoring aviation pioneer General Chuck Yeager, as well as performing the anthem to start the Pittsburgh Pirates 2010 home opener baseball game at PNC Park. At the invitation of Pennsylvania State Senator Jane Orie, Jackie has also performed. Jackie also performs at numerous events and charity functions in and around her hometown.

She competed in the 15th U.S.A. World Showcase Talent Competition in early 2009, which took place in Las Vegas in which the winner receives $100,000 and the opportunity to create a demo CD. Jackie was invited to perform at the U.S. Open Tennis Championships in New York City, but due to scheduling conflicts with America's Got Talent, had to cancel.

Jackie performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on September 23, 2010, after giving her first late night interview, with Jay Leno. In her appearance on the The Oprah Winfrey Show along with singers Susan Boyle and Debby Boone on October 19, 2010, she named Josh Groban, Charlotte Church, and Andrea Bocelli among the artists that she would like to collaborate with in the future. She sang "Pie Jesu" and said that writing is her favorite subject. The episode also showed tape that was shot by Oprah's crew at Evancho's home and school. Evancho performed in the My Macy's Holiday Parade presented by WPXI in Pittsburgh on November 27. Jackie performed on The Today Show on November 9, 2010 which also featured a brief interview. Jackie is also filming a spot on Wizards of Waverly Place'' and is currently shooting her first music video. She went on The View on November 15, 2010, and is currently ranked #1 on the British site Classical-Crossover.co.uk. On November 30, 2010, Evancho sang "Silent Night" with Katherine Jenkins on NBC's Christmas Tree Lighting Special, "Christmas in Rockefeller Center".

"She is just truly blessed with a voice that's phenomenal", says classical-crossover composer/conductor Tim Janis, who invited Evancho to perform in his American Christmas Carol show (Dec. 2, 2010) at Carnegie Hall in New York City. She is the youngest female vocal soloist ever to have performed there. Although Jackie describes herself as a Classical-Crossover singer, she currently holds the world record as the youngest Opera singer.

On January 1, 2011, Evancho performed the American national anthem at the NHL Winter Classic at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, while Steven Page performed the Canadian national anthem. "I thought she was just lovely, sweetly compelling." "She is compelling," said Hahn. "It is quite unusual to hear a young girl with that level of warmth and roundness." Hahn called Jackie's performance of Pie Jesu strong, with seamless delivery. "Her phrasing was lovely, which she needed for that piece."

Composer Tim Janis said "[Jackie's] voice is so pure and natural, there's no flaw in it. People say 'I can hear her potential coming,' but no, it's here, it's now."

America's Got Talent judge, Piers Morgan said that Jackie has more talent than any act he has seen after witnessing her version of "Ave Maria": "I have never seen an act, on this show or the British show or any of the other talent shows in the world, with more potential than Jackie Evancho. That was perfection."

Claudia Benack, Assistant Professor of Musical Theater at Carnegie Mellon University said that "[Jackie] has an unusually adult feel for the repertoire...I think she's very good." Evancho performed O mio babbino caro by Giacomo Puccini. The aria is also on her debut album. She received a standing ovation after her performance, and was awarded a trip to Universal Studios Florida for receiving the most fan votes from the submissions to the show from YouTube. She was then voted into the semifinals by viewers. Her second performance was Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman's "Time To Say Goodbye" and once again received great critical reaction. In the Top 10, Jackie performed Pie Jesu by Andrew Lloyd Webber and advanced through to the Final 4.

After Evancho's initial performance on America's Got Talent, there were online accusations that her performance had been lip-synched. These rumors were quickly denounced. One judge, Howie Mandel, had her sing a random voice exercise on the next evening's live show as proof that it was her voice that was heard.

Evancho performed a celebrity duet with Sarah Brightman of "Time To Say Goodbye" during the final episode of the season, aired on September 15, 2010. During this same episode, it was revealed that she came in second place in the final voting results of season 5. Evancho performed in 10 of the 25 cities scheduled for the "America's Got Talent" road show.

Performances and results

{|class="wikitable" |- ! Week ! Round ! Song choice ! Original artist/Composer ! Performance order ! Result |- | Quarterfinals | YouTube | "O mio babbino caro" | Giacomo Puccini | Andrea Bocelli The album featured mainly covers of songs such as Andrea Bocelli's "Con Te Partiro" and "The Prayer", Josh Groban's "To Where You Are", Martina McBride's "Concrete Angel", and a cover of "Amazing Grace" among others. Schubert's "Ave Maria" heard on the album is not the original song, which is set to a secular text in German; instead, it's an arrangement of the Roman Catholic setting of the "Hail Mary" prayer in Latin. The album debuted on The Billboard 200 at #121 on the chart dated August 28, 2010. It also debuted at #2 on iTunes and Billboard Classical Albums Chart. Prelude to a Dream is no longer available. Her father has given the following reason for the withdrawal: "Because the CD was recorded about a year and half ago and her current voice no longer sounds like what it did then [due to vocal maturity...], we decided to withdraw "Prelude to a Dream" and will be concentrating on new material as part of her progress." It has become such a collector's item that copies of the CD have received final winning bids of over $1,500 on eBay auctions.

O Holy Night (2010)

Jackie's newest work with Columbia Records is the CD/DVD entitled O Holy Night. It was released on November 16, 2010 and reached rank #1 on Amazon's bestsellers in music during pre-orders on October 19, 2010. It is currently ranked #3 for the entire year 2010 on Amazon. "O Holy Night" debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200. This also makes her the top-selling debut artist for 2010, and the youngest female solo artist to debut in the top 10. Jackie also debuted at #1 on Billboard's Classical Albums Chart. The album has sold 381,000 copies in its first two weeks. On December 10th, 2010, the album was certified platinum by the RIAA with an excess of a million copies in the US, making her the youngest female solo artist to go platinum. 239,000 copies were sold in its first week and 142,000 in its second week. In Canada, it debuted at #1 on the Canadian Classical Albums Chart.

References

External links

Jackie Evancho at Classical Crossover UK

Category:2000 births Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:American child singers Category:American female singers Category:America's Got Talent contestants Category:American sopranos Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:Opera crossover singers Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:People from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Name	Victor Borge
Caption	Borge in native Denmark
Birth date	January 03, 1909
Birth place	Copenhagen, Denmark
Death date	December 23, 2000
Death place	Greenwich, Connecticut, United States
Occupation	Classical pianist, entertainer, comedian, humorist

Victor Borge ( ; January 3, 1909 – December 23, 2000), born Børge Rosenbaum, was a Danish comedian, conductor and pianist, affectionately known as The Clown Prince of Denmark, The Unmelancholy Dane, and The Great Dane.

Biography

Early life and career

Borge was born Børge Rosenbaum in Copenhagen, Denmark, into a Jewish family. His parents, Bernhard and Frederikke Rosenbaum, were both musicians—his father a violist in the Royal Danish Orchestra and his mother a pianist. Like his mother, Borge began piano lessons at the age of two, and it was soon apparent that he was a prodigy. He gave his first piano recital when he was eight years old, and in 1918 was awarded a full scholarship at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, studying under Olivo Krause. Later on, he was taught by Victor Schiøler, Liszt's student Frederic Lamond, and Busoni's pupil Egon Petri.

Borge played his first major concert in 1926 at the Danish concert-hall Odd Fellow Palæet (The Odd Fellow's Lodge building). After a few years as a classical concert pianist, he started his now famous "stand up" act, with the signature blend of piano music and jokes. He married American Elsie Chilton in 1933, the same year he debuted with his revue acts. Borge started touring extensively in Europe, where he began telling anti-Nazi jokes.

When the Nazis occupied Denmark during World War II, Borge was playing a concert in Sweden, and managed to escape to Finland. He traveled to America on the USS American Legion, the last neutral ship to make it out of Petsamo, Finland, and arrived August 28, 1940, with only 20 dollars (equal to $}} today), with $3 (equal to $}} today) going to the customs fee. Disguised as a sailor, Borge returned to Denmark once during the occupation to visit his dying mother.

Move to America

Even though Borge did not speak a word of English upon arrival, he quickly managed to adapt his jokes to the American audience, learning English by watching movies. He took the name of Victor Borge, and, in 1941, he started on Rudy Vallee's radio show, but was hired soon after by Bing Crosby for his Kraft Music Hall.

From then on, fame rose quickly for Borge, who won Best New Radio Performer of the Year in 1942. Soon after the award, he was offered film roles with stars such as Frank Sinatra (in Higher and Higher). While hosting The Victor Borge Show on NBC beginning in 1946, he developed many of his trademarks, including repeatedly announcing his intent to play a piece but getting "distracted" by something or other, making comments about the audience, or discussing the usefulness of Chopin's "Minute Waltz" as an egg timer. Or he would start out with some well-known classical piece like Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" and suddenly move into a harmonically suitable pop or jazz tune like Cole Porter's "Night and Day".

Borge's style

Among Borge's other famous routines is the "Phonetic Punctuation" routine, in which he recites a story, with full punctuation (comma, period, exclamation mark, etc.) as exaggerated onomatopoeic sounds. Another is his "Inflationary Language", where he incremented numbers embedded in words, whether they are visible or not ("once upon a time" becomes "twice upon a time", "wonderful" becomes "twoderful", "forehead" becomes "fivehead", "tennis" becomes "elevennis", "I ate a tenderloin with my fork" becomes "'I nine an elevenderloin with my five'k' and so on and so fifth").

Borge used physical and visual elements in his live and televised performances. He would play a strange-sounding piano tune from sheet music, looking increasingly confused; turning the sheet upside down, he would then play the actual tune, flashing a joyful smile of accomplishment to the audience (he had, at first, been literally playing the actual tune upside down). When his energetic playing of another song would cause him to fall off the piano bench, he would open the seat lid, take out the two ends of an automotive seatbelt, and buckle himself onto the bench, "for safety." Conducting an orchestra, he might stop and order a violinist who had played a sour note to get off the stage, then resume the performance and have the other members of the section move up to fill the empty seat while they were still playing. His musical sidekick in the 1950s, Leonid Hambro, was a well-known concert pianist. In 1968, classical pianist Şahan Arzruni joined him as his straightman, performing together on one piano a version of Liszt's Second Hungarian Rhapsody, considered a musical-comedic classic.

He also enjoyed interacting with the audience. Seeing an interested person in the front row, he would ask them, "Do you like good music?" or "Do you care for piano music?" After an affirmative answer, Borge would take a piece of sheet music from his piano and say, "Here is some", and hand it over. After the audience's laughter died down, he would say, "That'll be $1.95" (or whatever the current price might be). He would then ask whether the audience member could read music; if the member said yes, he would ask a higher price. If he got no response from the audience after a joke, he would often add "...when this ovation has died down, of course". The delayed punch line to handing the person the sheet music would come when he would reach the end of a number and begin playing the penultimate notes over and over, with a puzzled look. He would then go back to the person in the audience, retrieve the sheet music, tear off a piece of it, stick it on the piano, and play the last couple of notes from it.

Making fun of modern theater, he would sometimes begin a performance by asking if there were any children in the audience. There always were, of course. He would sternly order them out, then say, "We do have some children in here that means I can't do the second half in the nude. I'll wear the tie. (pause) The long one. (pause) The very long one, yes."

In his stage shows in later years, he would include a segment with opera singer Marilyn Mulvey. She would try to sing an aria, and he would react and interrupt, with such antics as falling off the bench in "surprise" when she hit a high note. He would also remind her repeatedly not to rest her hand on the piano. After the routine, the spotlight would fall upon Mulvey and she would sing a serious number with Borge accompanying in the background.

Later career

Borge appeared on Toast of the Town hosted by Ed Sullivan several times during 1948. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States the same year. He started the Comedy in Music show at John Golden Theatre in New York City on October 2, 1953. Comedy in Music became the longest running one-man show in the history of theater with 849 performances when it closed on January 21, 1956, a feat which placed it in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Continuing his success with several tours and shows, Borge played with and conducted some of the world's most renowned orchestras such as Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic and London Philharmonic. Always modest, he felt very honored when he was invited to conduct the Royal Danish Orchestra at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1992.

His later television appearances included his use of his "Phonetic Punctuation" routine on The Electric Company in a filmed sketch; he would also use it on the record to follow during the "Punctuation" song. He appeared several times on Sesame Street and was a guest star during the fourth season of The Muppet Show.

Victor Borge continued to tour until his last days, performing up to 60 times per year when he was 90 years old.

Other endeavors

Starting in the 1950s, as a businessman, Borge raised and popularized Rock Cornish hens. He appeared as a contestant on an episode of What's My Line? with the occupation "poultry farmer".

Borge helped start several trust funds, including the Thanks to Scandinavia Fund, which was started in dedication to those who helped the Jews escape the German persecution during the war.

Aside from his musical work, Borge wrote three books, My Favorite Intermissions and My Favorite Comedies in Music (both with Robert Sherman), and the autobiography Smilet er den korteste afstand ("The Smile is the Shortest Distance") with Niels-Jørgen Kaiser.

Family

After divorcing his wife Elsie, he married Sarabel Sanna Scraper in 1953 and they stayed married until her death at the age of 83 in September 2000.

Borge fathered five children (who occasionally performed with him): Ronald Borge (Rowayton, CT) and Janet Crowle (St. Michaels, MD) with Elsie Chilton, and Sanna Feirstein (NYC), Victor Bernhard (Vebe) Jr. (NYC), and Frederikke (Rikke) Borge (North Egremont, MA) with Sarabel.

Borge died in Greenwich, Connecticut, at the age of 91, after more than 75 years of entertaining. He died peacefully in his sleep a day after returning from a concert in Denmark. "It was just his time to go", Frederikke Borge said. "He's been missing my mother terribly." According to his wish, to mark his connection to both USA and Denmark a part of Victor Borge's ashes is interred at Putnam Cemetery in Greenwich, with a replica of Danish icon The Little Mermaid sitting on a large rock at the gravesite, the other part in Western Jewish Cemetery (Mosaisk Vestre Begravelsesplads), Copenhagen, Denmark.

Borge was survived by his five children, nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

When in 1998 the Royal Danish Orchestra celebrated its 550 year anniversary, Borge was appointed honorary member - at that time one of only 10 in the orchestra's history.

Borge received Kennedy Center Honors in 1999.

Victor Borge Hall, located in Scandinavia House in New York City, was named in Borge's honor in 2000, as was Victor Borges Plads ("Victor Borge Square") in Copenhagen in 2002. Celebrating Borge's Centennial in 2009 a statue was erected on the square.

Victor Borge: A Centennial Celebration

From January 23 to May 9, 2009, the life of Borge was celebrated by The American-Scandinavian Foundation with "Victor Borge: A Centennial Celebration." A television special about his life, 100 Years of Music and Laughter, aired on PBS on March 14, 2009.

Discography

Phonetic Punctuation Parts 1 and 2 (1945, Columbia Records 36911, 78 rpm) The Blue Serenade / A Lesson in Composition (1945, Columbia Records 36912, 78 rpm) Unstarted Symphony / Bizet's Carmen (1947, Columbia Records 38181, 78 rpm) Intermezzo / Stardust (1947, Columbia Records 38182, 78 rpm) Comedy in Music, Vol. 1 (1954, Columbia Records CL-6292, 10'' LP) Comedy in Music, Vol. 2 (1954, Columbia Records CL-6293, 10'' LP) Caught in the Act (1955, Columbia Records CL-646, LP) Brahms, Bizet and Borge (1955, Columbia Records CL-2538, 10'' LP) The Adventures of Piccolo, Saxie and Company (1959, Columbia Records CL-1223, LP) Victor Borge Plays and Conducts Concert Favorites (1959, Columbia Records CL-1305/CS-8113, LP) Borge's Back (1962, MGM E/SE-3995P, LP) Borge's Back (1962, MGM CS-6055, LP (UK)) Borgering on Genius (1962, MGM 2354029, LP - same material as Borge's Back)

My Favorite Intervals (1975, PYE NSPD 502, LP)

13 Pianos Live in Concert (1975, Telefunken-Decca LC-0366)

Victor Borge 50 Års Jubilæum (1976, Philips 6318035, LP)

Victor Borge Show (1977, CBS 70082, LP, in Danish)

Victor Borge Live in der Hamburger Musikhalle (1978, Philips 6305 369, LP)

Victor Borge Live (1978, Starbox LX 96 004 Stereo, LP)

Victor Borge - Live(!) (1992, Sony Broadway 48482, CD)

The Piano & Humor of the Great Victor Borge (1997, Sony Music Special Products 15312, 3 CDs)

The Two Sides of Victor Borge (1998, GMG Entertainment, CD)

Caught in the Act (1999, Collectables Records 6031, CD)

Comedy in Music (1999, Collectables Records 6032, CD)

Phonetically Speaking - And Don't Forget The Piano (2001, Jasmine 120, CD)

En aften med Victor Borge (2003, UNI 9865861, CD)

I Love You Truly (2004, Pegasus (Pinnacle) 45403, CD)

Victor Borge King of Comedy (2006, Phantom 26540, CD)

Verdens morsomste mand: alle tiders Victor Borge (2006, UNI 9877560, CD)

Unstarted Symphony (2008, NAX-8120859, CD)

Comedy in Music (2009, SHO-227, CD)

Filmography

Frk. Møllers Jubilæum (1937)

Der var engang en Vicevært (1937)

Alarm (1938)

De tre måske fire (1939)

Higher and Higher (1943)

The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944)

The Daydreamer (1966)

The King of Comedy (1983)

Further reading

References

External links

A Tribute to Victor Borge.

A website dedicated to Victor Borge.

Victor Borge and the Bosendorfer Imperial Pianos with images, video and sound files provided by his management

Internet Archive: Victor Borge Collection

Category:1909 births Category:2000 deaths Category:People from Copenhagen Category:Danish Jews Category:Comedy musicians Category:American people of Danish descent Category:Danish comedians Category:Danish humorists Category:Danish pianists Category:Danish conductors (music) Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish American musicians Category:Jewish comedians Category:Jewish comedy and humor Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:People from Greenwich, Connecticut Category:Danish immigrants to the United States

Name	Sarah Brightman
Background	solo_singer
Born	August 14, 1960
Origin	Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England
Genre	Classical crossover, operatic pop, symphonic rock, pop, New Age, rock, dance, electronica, techno, folk, traditional
Voice type	Lyric-coloratura soprano
Instrument	Vocals, piano, keyboards
Occupation	Singer, actress, songwriter, dancer
Years active	1976–present
Label	A&M; (1993)East West (1995–2001)Angel/EMI (1997–2007)Manhattan/EMI (2008–present)
Url	http://www.sarah-brightman.com

Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She began her career as a member of the dance troupes Pan's People and Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, she made her musical theatre debut in Cats and met composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, whom she married. She went on to star in several Broadway musicals, including The Phantom of the Opera, where she played the role of Christine Daaé.The Original London Cast Album of the musical was released in CD format in 1987 and sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it the biggest-selling cast album of all time.

After retiring from the stage and divorcing Lloyd Webber, Brightman resumed her music career with former Enigma producer Frank Peterson, this time as a classical crossover artist. She is among the most prominent performers in the genre, with worldwide sales of more than 26 million albums, with over 5 million (Platinum x 1, Gold x 8) in album sales in the United States. and over 2 million DVDs. The Recording Industry Association of America has named her the best-selling female classical artist of the twenty-first century in the United States.

Her duet with the Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, "Time To Say Goodbye" became the highest and fastest selling single of all times in Germany with over 3 million copies sold in this country. and subsequently became an international success with over 5 million copies worldwide. She has now collected over 180 gold and platinum sales awards in 38 different countries,

Apart from music, Brightman has begun a film career, making her major debut in Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008), a rock opera-musical film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, And in summer 2009, she completed filming Stephen Evans' "Cosi" or "First Night" in which she plays the role of a conductor, opposite Richard E. Grant. In addition, she recently formed her own production company, Instinct Films, where her first film is in pre-production.

Family and early life

Brightman, the eldest of six children, was born to businessman Grenville Geoffrey Brightman (1934–1992) and Paula Brightman (née Hall). She was raised in Little Gaddesden, a village near Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England, and lived in John O'Gaddesden House in the village. At age three, she began taking dance classes at the Elmhurst School for Dance in Camberley, Surrey. and went on to perform in local festivals and competitions. At age 11, she successfully auditioned for The Arts Educational School, Tring Park, a boarding school specialising in performing arts. Brightman continued to study dance, particularly jazz, as a pupil of choreographer Arlene Phillips.

In 1976, she joined the dance group Pan's People and appeared on the BBC series Top of the Pops. She left a year later to lead Phillips' troupe Hot Gossip. More provocative than Pan's People, the group had a disco hit in 1978 with "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper", which sold half a million and reached number six on the UK charts. Hot Gossip released a follow-up single, "The Adventures of the Love Crusader", six months later, but it failed to chart. Brightman, now solo, released more disco singles under Whisper Records, such as "Not Having That!" and a cover of the song "My Boyfriend's Back".

1981–1989: Stage career

In 1981, Brightman auditioned for the new musical Cats and was cast as Jemima. In rehearsals she met Andrew Lloyd Webber. The two married in 1984, and Brightman appeared in many of Lloyd Webber's subsequent musicals including Song and Dance and the mass Requiem, the latter written for her. With Requiem she earned her first Grammy nomination.

Brightman starred as Christine Daaé in Lloyd Webber's adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera. The role of Christine was written specifically for her.

After leaving Phantom, she performed in a tour of Lloyd Webber's music throughout England, Canada, and the United States, and performed Requiem in the Soviet Union. Studio recordings from this time include the single "Anything But Lonely" from Aspects of Love and two solo albums: the 1988 album The Trees They Grow So High, a compilation of folk songs accompanied by piano, and the 1989 album The Songs That Got Away, a musical theatre compilation of songs cut from shows by composers such as Irving Berlin and Stephen Sondheim.

By 1990, Brightman and Lloyd Webber separated. After their divorce, Brightman played the lead in Lloyd Webber's Aspects in London opposite Michael Praed, before transferring to Broadway.

Fly (1995), a pop rock album and her second collaboration with Peterson, propelled Brightman to fame in Europe with the hit "A Question of Honour". The song, introduced at the World Boxing Championship match between Germany's Henry Maske and Graciano Rocchigiani, combined electronic dance music, rock elements, classical strings, and excerpts from the aria "Ebben? ... Ne andrò lontana" from Alfredo Catalani's opera La Wally.

"Time to Say Goodbye" ("Con te partirò") was the second Brightman song debuted for Maske, this time at his retirement match. This duet with tenor Andrea Bocelli became an international hit and sold more than 3 million copies in Germany alone,

Brightman's mainstream exposure in the United States also began around this time, starting with an appearance on Bocelli's December 1997 PBS television special, duetting "Time to Say Goodbye"; later, in March 1998, her own PBS special, Sarah Brightman in Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, marked the point when she crossed from Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart to the Billboard 200 chart, with Time to Say Goodbye. In 1999, she appeared on the album I Won't Forget You by Princessa, another artist with whom Peterson had worked.

2000–2003: Further mainstream success

Later albums included Eden (1998) (the title track of which was a cover of a song by Belgian band Hooverphonic), and La Luna (2000). These albums, unlike Time to Say Goodbye, incorporated more pop music elements. Reviews were mixed – LAUNCHcast deemed Eden "deliriously sappy", while Allmusic called Eden "a winning combination" and La Luna "a solid, stirring collection".

Eden reached #65 on the Billboard 200 charts (certified Gold for selling over 500,000 copies), and La Luna peaked at #17 (La Luna has scanned 873.000 copies sold in the U.S.).

In 2001, Brightman released Classics (certified Gold for selling over 500,000 copies In United States), an album of operatic arias and other classical pieces including a solo version of "Time to Say Goodbye". Entertainment Weekly, although calling Brightman a "stronger song stylist than a singer", gave the album a grade of B-.

In 2002, Brightman released "The secret" on SASH!'s fourth studio album S4!Sash!. This song was re-released in 2007 as "The secret 2007 (Unreleased)" on SASH!'s sixth album 10th Anniversary.

Her 2003 album Harem represented another departure: a Middle Eastern-themed album influenced by dance music. On Harem, Brightman collaborated with artists such as Ofra Haza and Iraqi singer Kazem al-Saher. Nigel Kennedy contributed violin tracks to the songs "Free" and "The War is Over", and Jaz Coleman contributed arrangements. #1 on the Billboard Classical Crossover chart, and yielded a #1 dance/club single with the remix of the title track. Some time later, another single from the album (the ballad "Free", cowritten with Sophie B. Hawkins) became a second Top-10 hit on this chart.

The albums Eden, La Luna and Harem were accompanied by live world tours which incorporated the theatricality of her stage origins. Brightman acknowledged this in an interview, saying, "They're incredibly complicated...[but also] natural. I know what works, what doesn't work, all the old tricks." In both 2000 and 2001, Brightman was among the top 10 most popular British performers in the U.S., with concert sales grossing $7.2 million from 34 shows in 2000 and over $5 million from 21 shows in 2001. In contrast, a reviewer from the Boston Globe deemed the Harem tour "unique, compelling" and "charmingly effective."

Television specials on PBS were produced for nearly every Brightman album in the U.S.; a director of marketing has credited these as her number-one source of exposure in the country.

2006–2008: Diva and Symphony

Brightman released a DVD collection of her music videos on 3 October 2006 under the title of Diva: The Video Collection. is the accompanying CD, released on the same date. The album marked the first time Brightman has released a greatest hits album in the United States; it reached #1 on the Billboard Classical Crossover chart. (Classics, from 2001, featured seven new recordings in addition to the previously-released material, and her other reflective offering, The Best of 1990–2000, was a European-only release.) Diva was intended as a marketing strategy to bridge the gap between Brightman's previous 2003 album Harem and her next album that would be released on early 2008.

Brightman was one of the artists featured on the January 2007 series of the prime time BBC One show Just the Two of Us, partnered with English cricketer Mark Butcher. The pair finished the competition in third place.

Subsequent appearances include the Concert for Diana in July 2007, where she sang "All I Ask of You" from The Phantom of the Opera with Josh Groban, Around 15 million people from across the UK watched Concert for Diana at home, and it was broadcast to over 500 million homes in 140 countries; 7 July 2007 Chinese leg of Live Earth in Shanghai, where she performed four songs ("Nessun Dorma", "La Luna", "Nella Fantasia" and "Time to Say Goodbye") and debuted her single "Running" at the 2007 IAAF Championships in Osaka, Japan on 25 August. She also participated at the 2007 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, where she performed "The Journey Home" on the Jolly Polly Pirate Ship. She recorded a duet with Anne Murray singing "Snowbird" on Murray's 2007 album .

On 29 January 2008, Brightman released her first album in five years: Symphony, influenced by gothic music. The Title track of the album "Symphony" is a cover of "Symphonie" by the German band Silbermond. In the United States it became Brightman's most successful chart entry and also her highest ranked album on Billboard's "Top 200 Albums". It was also a #1 album on two other Billboard's charts: "Top Internet Albums" and "Top Classical Crossover Albums". The album moved there 31,463 copies in first week, according to Nielsen Soundscan. Nevertheless, the album flopped in the american album charts lasting only 11 weeks in the Billboard top 200 list. In contrast, in Canada the album debuted and peaked at #4 and in Mexico it entered at #9, where it peaked at #5; In both places, the median success that the album experienced was awarded with Gold Disc certifications.

Featured on the album are artists Andrea Bocelli, Fernando Lima, and KISS vocalist Paul Stanley, who duets with Brightman on "I Will Be with You", the album version of the theme song to the 10th Pocket Monsters motion picture, (Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai). On 16 January 2008, she also appeared in concert at Vienna’s Stephansdom Cathedral performing songs from her new album. Special guests that sang duets with Sarah include Italian tenor Alessandro Safina, Argentinean countertenor Fernando Lima, and British singer Chris Thompson. Brightman made several appearances on television in the United States to promote Symphony, including Fashion on Ice on NBC on 12 January, The View on 30 January, Martha on 31 January and Fox and Friends on the Fox News Channel.

She performed two songs, "Pie Jesu" and "There You'll Be", at the United States Memorial Day concert on 25 May 2008 held on the west lawn of the United States Capitol in Washington D.C.. The top-rated show was broadcast live on PBS before a concert audience of 300,000 and millions more at home, as well as to American troops serving around the world on the American Forces Radio and Television Network. Brightman made her feature film debut as Blind Mag in the rock musical film Repo! The Genetic Opera which was released on 7 November 2008. Brightman was cast in the film at the last minute after the original actress who was cast for the role was dropped.

On 4 November 2008, Brightman released her first holiday album, entitled A Winter Symphony. To accompany Symphony and A Winter Symphony, Brightman embarked on a tour in Autumn 2008; "The Symphony World Tour" featured new and groundbreaking technology, with virtual and holographic stage sets that had never been seen before in any touring concert production. It grossed over $13 million in the first North American leg with 32 shows overall, cited as one of the top-grossing tours of the 2008 holiday season in North America. In addition to the tour, there were other appearances to promote the Christmas album such as the Walt Disney World Very Merry Christmas parade where Sarah sang "Silent Night" airing on ABC in the Christmas Morning. Sarah also performed in the Japanese TV show Happy Xmas Show (Nippon Television Network) which was aired on NTV(Japan) on December 23. Filmed at St. Brendan Catholic Church in Los Angeles, the songs performed included Lennon's "Happy Christmas (War is Over)" and "Symphony". Finally, the "I Believe in Father Christmas" music video was premiered on Amazon as part of their Twelve Days of Christmas program. The video was featured on the Music Homepage.

According to an article posted on Billboard, Brightman and EMI parted ways shortly after her Symphony: Live in Vienna was released. The album Symphony sold only 145,000 copies in the United States and over 700,000 worldwide, compared to her 1997' debut album in America, Timeless which sold 1,4 million in the United States and 3,5 million worldwide. Stated in the cited article, "The buzz about Brightman's exit was fueled earlier this week when her picture disappeared online and Billboard, citing unnamed sources, reported Friday that Brightman, 49, dropped the label.

2009-Present

Following her performance at the Beijing Olympics, Sarah was appointed as the Shanghai 2010 World Expo Promotion Ambassador in Britain. In anticipation of the Expo, she launched "Shanghai Week in London", which showcases the city's heritage and culture.

The music of Brightman was featured in the movie Amarufi: Megami no hôshû (international title: ), which was a special production to mark Fuji Television's 50th anniversary. The first Japanese movie to be shot entirely on location in Italy. In conjunction with the release of the movie Amalfi, Sarah released only in Japan an album titled Amalfi – Sarah Brightman Love Songs which reached Gold status in the aforementioned country.

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Autumn 2009 saw Brightman starting a new concert tour called "Sarah Brightman In Concert" covering Latin America with 13 sold-out performances in Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. The last venue of the tour was at the archaeological site of Chichen Itza. Called "The Concert of the Pyramid", the event meant Brightman becoming the first woman to give a concert at this new wonder of the world.

On November 2009, Brightman was in charge of the main theme song for the historical drama series Saka no Ue no Kumo. The song's lyrics are entirely in Japanese. Titled "Stand Alone," the song was composed by Joe Hisaishi and written by Kundo Koyama. It was included on the drama's soundtrack album, released on 18 November 2009.

On January 2010, Panasonic Corporation launched the song "Shall Be Done" performed by Brightman at Panasonic's Olympic Pavilion at LiveCity Yaletown, official celebration site of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.

Brightman's career is now expanding into other disciplines. In summer 2009, she completed filming Stephen Evans' "Cosi," in which she plays the role of a conductor, opposite Richard E. Grant.

On 15 September 2010, Brightman appeared on America's Got Talent's finale episode before that season's winner was revealed. The soprano was the celebrity guest duetting with ten year old favorite contestant Jackie Evancho.

Given the increasing popularity of Brightman in Japan, the artist's record company prepared a tour to the Nippon country with 5 gigs in Tokyo alone, followed by presentations on Kanazawa, Nagoya, Osaka. Subsequentely the singer headed to perform in Canada, Macau, South Korea and Ukraine as well.

On November 3, 2010, just days before the onset of the Asian tour, Sarah was invited to sing at the Tōdai-ji Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan. The temple is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site as "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara".

Legal action against YouTube

Frank Peterson, a German composer, producer and copyright holder for several of Sarah Brightman's performances, sued YouTube in Germany for allowing Brightman's work to be posted by users. The Hamburg state court has now ruled that Google Inc.'s subsidiary YouTube LLC must pay.

Music and voice

performing "You and Me" the Beijing Olympic theme song.]] Brightman underwent vocal training first with Elizabeth Hawes, head of the Trinity Music College in London, and later with Ellen Faull of Juilliard. She currently studies with internationally known voice teacher David Romano. She has a three-octave vocal range. According to Brightman, her voice sometimes reaches an F6. However, her highest note sung in public and in studio is the E6 final of "The Phantom of the Opera".

David Caddick, a conductor of Phantom, has stated:

"What is amazing about Sarah is that she has two voices, really. She can produce a pop, contemporary sound, but she can also blossom out into a light soprano. The soprano part of her voice can go up to an E natural above high C. She doesn’t sing it full out, but it is there. Of course, she has to dance while she is singing some of the time, so it’s all the more extraordinary." Her personal influences include '60s and '70s musicians and artists such as David Bowie and Pink Floyd, The material on her albums ranges from versions of opera arias from composers such as Puccini (on Harem, Eden, and Timeless), to pop songs by artists such as Kansas ("Dust in the Wind" on Eden), Dido ("Here with Me" on La Luna), and Procol Harum ("A Whiter Shade of Pale" on La Luna). She sings in many languages which are English, Spanish, French, Latin, German, Italian, Russian, Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Japanese.

Personal life

At age 18, in 1979, Brightman married Andrew Graham-Stewart, who then managed the German band Tangerine Dream. In 1980 they moved into The Manor House in Little Gaddesden. In 1983, she divorced Graham-Stewart. She met Andrew Lloyd Webber when she performed in Cats, and Lloyd Webber later divorced his first wife, Sarah Hugill, to marry her on 22 March 1984. in Hampshire. Their marriage saw intense media and tabloid scrutiny. Brightman acknowledged the marriage in a 1999 interview as a "difficult time" but also one of much creative output. in Hertfordshire after divorce and financial issues. Later, she experienced an ectopic pregnancy and two miscarriages with Peterson.

Her personal assets have been estimated to be around £30m (about US$49m).

Awards

1986 Grammy Nomination, Best Classical Artist, USA

2009 The 23th Japan Gold Disc Award 2009: Classic Album of the Year A Winter Symphony

2010 The 24th Japan Gold Disc Award 2010: Classic Album of the Year Amalfi - Sarah Brightman Love Songs

Golden Key to the city of Chicago

Golden Key to the city of Istanbul

Stage credits

Musicals

I and Albert (as Vicky and street waif), 1973 Picadilly Theatre, London

Cats (as Jemima), 1981 New London Theatre

The Pirates of Penzance (as Kate), 1982

Masquerade (as Tara Treetops), 1982

Nightingale (as Nightingale), 1982 Buxton Festival and the Lyric, Hammersmith

Song and Dance (as the girl, named: Emma), Palace Theatre in London on 28 April 1984

The Merry Widow (as Valencienne), 1985

The Phantom of the Opera (as Christine Daaé), 1986 Her Majesty's Theatre London, 1988 Broadway

Aspects of Love (as Rose Vibert), 1990

Plays

Trelawny of the Wells (as Rose Trelawney), 1992

Relative Values (as Miranda Frayle), 1993 Chichester Festival and Savoy Theatre

Dangerous Obsession (as Sally Driscoll), 1994 Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke

The Innocents (as Miss Giddens), 1995 Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke

Filmography

Granpa, 1989 animated children's film, singing "Make Believe" over the end credits

Zeit der Erkenntnis, 2000 feature film (Germany), as herself

Repo! The Genetic Opera, 2008 feature film, as Blind Mag

(Amalfi: Rewards of the Goddess), 2009 feature film (Japan), as herself

First Night (aka Cosi), 2010 feature film, as Celia

Selected discography

Selected albums

Dive (1993)

Fly (1995)

Time to Say Goodbye (1997)

Eden (1998)

La Luna (2000)

Classics (2001)

Harem (2003)

Symphony (2008)

A Winter Symphony (2008)

Cast recordings

Cats – Original London Cast (1981)

Nightingale – Original London Cast (1983)

Song and Dance – Sarah Brightman & Wayne Sleep (1984. Re-released 2007)

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem – Domingo, Brightman, ECO, Maazel (1985)

The Phantom of the Opera – Original London Cast (1986)

Carousel – Studio Cast (1987)

Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)

Tours

"A Timeless Evening With Sarah Brightman" (UK and Germany) 1997

"One Night In Eden Tour" 1999

"La Luna World Tour" 2000–2001

"Harem World Tour" 2004–2005 (2004: Worldwide, 2005: Mini-Tour in Japan)

"The Symphony World Tour" 2008–2009

"Sarah Brightman In Concert" October 2009 (Latin America)

"Sarah Brightman In Concert With Orchestra" October 2010 (Japan, Korea and Macau)

Duets

Andrea Bocelli - "Time to say Goodbye", "Canto Della Terra"

Plácido Domingo - Requiem (Lloyd Webber), "The Closing of the year", "La ci darem la mano", "Love Unspoken", "Time to say goodbye", "La Traviata: Libiamo ne' lieti calici... Brindisi", "Die Lustige Witwe - Lippen Schweigen","The Phantom Of The Opera: All I Ask Of You", "West Side Story: Maria & Tonight"

José Carreras - "Amigos para Siempre ", "Love Unspoken", "La Traviata: Libiamo ne' lieti calici... Brindisi"", "Subaru"

Michael Crawford - The Phantom of the Opera (Andrew Lloyd Webber)

José Cura - "Just Show Me How to Love You", "There for Me"

Josh Groban - "There for Me", "All I Ask of You"

Andrew Lloyd Webber - "Whistle Down the Wind"

Tom Jones - "Something in the Air"

Antonio Banderas - "The Phantom of the Opera"

Cliff Richard - "All I Ask of You", "Only You"

Gregorian - "Moment of Peace", "Join Me", "Héroes", "When A Child is Born", "Send Me An Angel", "Voyage Voyage", "Eden", "Don’t Give Up"

Riccardo Cocciante - "Frohlice Weihnacht", "Cantemos Rapaces", "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", "Silent Night"

Kazem Al Sahir - "The War is Over"

Nigel Kennedy - "Free"

Ofra Haza - "Mysterious Days"

Chris Thompson - "How Can Heaven Love Me", "I Will Be With You (Where The Lost Ones Go)", "The Phantom of the Opera"

Fernando Lima - "Pasión", "Ave Maria"

Alessandro Safina - "Sarai Qui", "Canto Della Terra", "The Phantom of the Opera" (Symphony World Tour - México, Asia)

Mario Frangoulis - "Carpe Diem", "Sarai Qui", "Canto Della Terra", "The Phantom of the Opera" (Symphony World Tour - EE.UU., Canadá)

Paul Stanley - "I Will Be With You (Where The Lost Ones Go)"

Liu Huan - "You And Me"

Dj Schiller - "The Smile", "I've Seen it All"

Sash! - "The Secret Still Remains"

Michael Ball - "All I Ask of You"

Richard Armitage - "Desert Fantasy"

Andrzej Lampert - "I Will Be With You (Where The Lost Ones Go)"

Sergey Penkin - "I Will Be With You (Where The Lost Ones Go)"

I Muvrini - "Tu Quieres Volver"

Eric Adams - "Where The Eagles Fly"

Jacky Cheung - "There For Me"

Steve Harley - "The Phantom of the Opera"

Erkan Akin - "Just Show Me How To Love You","The Phantom of the Opera", "Canto della Terra" and "Sarai Qui" in "Sarah Brightman In Concert 2009" a Tour in South America "Latin American Tour".

Paul Miles-Kingston - "Pie Jesu"

Connar Burrowes: "Pie Jesu" (This Is Your Life: Andrew Lloyd Webber, 1994)

Adam Clack: "Pie Jesu" (In Concert "At The Royal Albert Hall" - 1997)

Ben De'Ath: "Pie Jesu" (The Andrew Lloyd Webber Celebration, 1998)

Andrew Swait: "Pie Jesu" (The Classical Brit Awards - May 8, 2008)

Eric Scott Kincaid - "The Phantom of the Opera"

David Malek - "The Phantom of the Opera: All I Ask Of You"

Mark Butcher - "Take The Weather With You", "Heroes", "Leaving On A Jet Plane", "Let's Face The Music And Dance", "Music Of The Night", " Ain't No Sunshine", "The Rose", "Moon River"

Anne Murray - "Snowbird"

Lesley Garrett - "Abide with me" (FA Cup Final May 19, 2007)

Betty Buckley - "Memory" (Kennedy Center Honor - 3 December 2006)

This Duets was announced but were never made:

Florent Pagny - "Just Show Me How To Love You"

Biondo - "I Will Be With You (Where The Lost Ones Go)"

See also

List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. dance chart

List of number-one dance hits (United States)

List of Operatic Pop artists

References

External links

Category:1960 births Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Living people Category:Alumni of the Arts Educational Schools Category:English dancers Category:English female singers Category:English-language singers Category:English musical theatre actors Category:English rock singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English sopranos Category:English stage actors Category:Female rock singers Category:French-language singers Category:German-language singers Category:Italian-language singers Category:Opera crossover singers Category:People from Berkhamsted Category:Spanish-language singers

Name	Paul Potts
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Paul Robert Potts
Born	October 13, 1970, Kingswood, South Gloucestershire, England, He has two brothers and one sister. Potts attended St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School, where he developed his love of singing. He also sang with the choir at Chester Park Junior School and with the choirs at several Bristol churches, including Christ Church. Potts said in interviews that he had been bullied in school, and that experience may have made him lack self-confidence. He has also said that his voice had always been a source of solace in the past when he was bullied. In 1996, Potts was elected the youngest member of Bristol City Council; a Liberal Democrat, he served until 2003. Potts was a manager at mobile phone store Carphone Warehouse in Bridgend. After winning Britain's Got Talent, Potts took a six-month sabbatical from his job, and resigned on 5 March 2008.
- style	"font-size:smaller;"
Colspan	"20" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart
- style	"font-size:smaller;"
Name	Potts, Paul
Date of birth	13 October 1970

Category:Opera crossover singers Category:English tenors Category:English male singers Category:Reality show winners Category:Britain's Got Talent contestants Category:People from Kingswood Category:People from Neath Port Talbot Category:1970 births Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Living people Category:Sony BMG artists Category:Marjon alumni

Name	Arnold Schwarzenegger
Caption	Schwarzenegger in June 2010.
Order	38th
Office	Governor of California
Lieutenant	Cruz BustamanteJohn GaramendiAbel Maldonado
Term start	November 17, 2003
Term end	January 3, 2011
Predecessor	Gray Davis
Successor	Jerry Brown
Birth date	July 30, 1947
Birth place	Thal, Austria
Party	Republican Party
Spouse	Maria Shriver (1986–present)
Children	Katherine (b. 1989)Christina (b. 1991)Patrick (b. 1993)Christopher (b. 1997)
Residence	Brentwood
Alma mater	Santa Monica CollegeUniversity of Wisconsin, Superior
Profession	BodybuilderActor
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature	Arnold Schwarzenegger Signature.svg
Website	Personal Website
Branch	Austrian Armed Forces
Serviceyears	1965

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (, ; born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian-American bodybuilder, actor, model, businessman and politician who served as the 38th Governor of California.

Schwarzenegger began weight training at 15. He was awarded the title of Mr. Universe at age 20 and went on to win the Mr. Olympia contest a total of seven times. Schwarzenegger has remained a prominent presence in the sport of bodybuilding and has written several books and numerous articles on the sport.

Schwarzenegger gained worldwide fame as a Hollywood action film icon, noted for his lead roles in such films as Conan the Barbarian, The Terminator and Commando. He was nicknamed the "Austrian Oak" and the "Styrian Oak" in his bodybuilding days, "Arnie" during his acting career and more recently the "Governator" (a portmanteau of "Governor" and "Terminator").

As a Republican, he was first elected on October 7, 2003, in a special recall election to replace then-Governor Gray Davis. Schwarzenegger was sworn in on November 17, 2003, to serve the remainder of Davis's term. Schwarzenegger was then re-elected on November 7, 2006, in California's 2006 gubernatorial election, to serve a full term as governor, defeating Democrat Phil Angelides, who was California State Treasurer at the time. Schwarzenegger was sworn in for his second term on January 5, 2007. Democrat Jerry Brown was elected to succeed him in 2010 and assumed the post in January 2011.

Early life

Schwarzenegger was born in Thal, Austria, a small village bordering the Styrian capital Graz, and was christened Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger. His parents were the local police chief Gustav Schwarzenegger (1907–1972) and Aurelia Jadrny (1922–1998). His father served in World War II with the German Army as a Hauptfeldwebel of the Feldgendarmerie and was discharged in 1943 after contracting malaria. They were married on October 20, 1945 – Gustav was 38, and Aurelia was a 23-year-old widow with a son named Meinhard. According to Schwarzenegger, both of his parents were very strict: "Back then in Austria it was a very different world, if we did something bad or we disobeyed our parents, the rod was not spared."

Gustav had a preference for Meinhard, the elder of the two sons. His favoritism was "strong and blatant," which stemmed from unfounded suspicion that Arnold was not his child. Schwarzenegger has said his father had "no patience for listening or understanding your problems... there was a wall; a real wall." In later life, Schwarzenegger commissioned the Simon Wiesenthal Center to research his father's wartime record, which came up with no evidence of atrocities despite Gustav's membership in the Nazi Party and SA. Schwarzenegger has responded to a question asking if he was 13 when he started weightlifting: "I actually started weight training when I was 15, but I'd been participating in sports, like soccer, for years, so I felt that although I was slim, I was well-developed, at least enough so that I could start going to the gym and start Olympic lifting." During a speech in 2001, he said, "My own plan formed when I was 14 years old. My father had wanted me to be a police officer like he was. My mother wanted me to go to trade school." Schwarzenegger took to visiting a gym in Graz, where he also frequented the local movie theaters to see bodybuilding idols such as Reg Park, Steve Reeves and Johnny Weissmuller on the big screen. "I was inspired by individuals like Reg Park and Steve Reeves." In 1961, Schwarzenegger met former Mr. Austria Kurt Marnul, who invited him to train at the gym in Graz.

In 1971, his brother Meinhard died in a car accident. Barbara Baker, his first serious girlfriend, has said he informed her of his father's death without emotion and that he never spoke of his brother. Over time, he has given at least three versions of why he was absent from his father's funeral.

Early adulthood

Schwarzenegger served in the Austrian army in 1965 to fulfill the one year of service required at the time of all 18-year-old Austrian males. Also in 1966, Schwarzenegger had the opportunity to meet childhood idol Reg Park, who became his friend and mentor. The training paid off and, in 1967, Schwarzenegger won the title for the first time, becoming the youngest ever Mr. Universe at the age of 20. realized his dream by moving to the United States in September 1968 at the age of 21, speaking little English. Schwarzenegger also became good friends with professional wrestler "Superstar" Billy Graham. In 1970, at age 23, he captured his first Mr. Olympia title in New York, and would go on to win the title a total of seven times. LA Weekly would later say in 2002 that Schwarzenegger is the most famous immigrant in America, who "overcame a thick Austrian accent and transcended the unlikely background of bodybuilding to become the biggest movie star in the world in the 1990s". Schwarzenegger talked about Barbara in his memoir in 1977: "Basically it came down to this: she was a well-balanced woman who wanted an ordinary, solid life, and I was not a well-balanced man, and hated the very idea of ordinary life." Baker published her memoir in 2006, entitled Arnold and Me: In the Shadow of the Austrian Oak. Although Baker, at times, painted an unflattering portrait of her former lover, Schwarzenegger actually contributed to the tell-all book with a foreword, and also met with Baker for three hours. |weight = 250 pounds (113 kg) |firstproshow = NABBA Mr. Universe |firstproshowyear = 1968 |bestwin = IFBB Mr. Olympia |bestwinyear = 1970–1975, 1980, Seven Times |predecessor = Sergio Oliva ('69), Frank Zane ('79) |successor = Franco Columbu ('76, '81) |yesorretiredyear = Retired 1980 }}

Schwarzenegger is considered among the most important figures in the history of bodybuilding, and his legacy is commemorated in the Arnold Classic annual bodybuilding competition. Schwarzenegger has remained a prominent face in the bodybuilding sport long after his retirement, in part because of his ownership of gyms and fitness magazines. He has presided over numerous contests and awards shows.

For many years, he wrote a monthly column for the bodybuilding magazines Muscle & Fitness and Flex. Shortly after being elected Governor, he was appointed executive editor of both magazines, in a largely symbolic capacity. The magazines agreed to donate $250,000 a year to the Governor's various physical fitness initiatives. The magazine MuscleMag International has a monthly two-page article on him, and refers to him as "The King".

One of the first competitions he won was the Junior Mr. Europe contest in 1965. He has called the drugs for "tissue building."

In 1999, Schwarzenegger sued Dr. Willi Heepe, a German doctor who publicly predicted his early death on the basis of a link between his steroid use and his later heart problems. As the doctor had never examined him personally, Schwarzenegger collected a US$10,000 libel judgment against him in a German court. In 1999, Schwarzenegger also sued and settled with The Globe, a U.S. tabloid which had made similar predictions about the bodybuilder's future health.

Acting career

Other names	Arnold StrongArnie
Years active	1970–2006, 2009–present (acting)
Occupation	Actor, Director, Producer}}

Schwarzenegger wanted to move from bodybuilding into acting, finally achieving it when he was chosen to play the role of Hercules in 1970's Hercules in New York. Credited under the name "Arnold Strong," his accent in the film was so thick that his lines were dubbed after production. Schwarzenegger auditioned for the title role of The Incredible Hulk, but did not win the role because of his height. Later, Lou Ferrigno got the part of Dr. David Banner's alter ego. Schwarzenegger appeared with Kirk Douglas and Ann-Margret in the 1979 comedy The Villain. In 1980 he starred in a biopic of the 1950s actress Jayne Mansfield as Mansfield's husband, Mickey Hargitay.

Schwarzenegger's breakthrough film was the sword-and-sorcery epic Conan the Barbarian in 1982, which was a box-office hit. In 1983, Schwarzenegger starred in the promotional video "Carnival in Rio".

In 1984, he made the first of three appearances as the titular character and what some would say was the signature role in his acting career in director James Cameron's science fiction thriller film The Terminator. Following The Terminator, Schwarzenegger made Red Sonja in 1985, which "sank without a trace."

His film appearances after becoming Governor of California include a 3-second cameo appearance in The Rundown (a.k.a., Welcome to the Jungle) with The Rock, and the 2004 remake of Around the World in 80 Days, where he appeared onscreen with action star Jackie Chan for the first time. In 2005 he appeared as himself in the film The Kid & I. Schwarzenegger voiced Baron von Steuben in Episode 24 ("Valley Forge") of Liberty's Kids.

Schwarzenegger had been rumored to be appearing in Terminator Salvation as the original T-800 model, alongside Roland Kickinger. Schwarzenegger denied his involvement, but it was later revealed that although he would appear briefly he would not be shooting new footage, and his image would be inserted into the movie from stock footage of the first Terminator movie.

Schwarzenegger's most recent appearance was in Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables, where he made a cameo appearance alongside Stallone and Bruce Willis.

Political career

meets with Schwarzenegger for the first time at the White House.]]

Early politics

Schwarzenegger has been a registered Republican for many years. As an actor, his political views were always well-known as they contrasted with those of many other prominent Hollywood stars, who are generally considered to be a liberal and Democratic-leaning community. At the 2004 Republican National Convention, Schwarzenegger gave a speech and explained why he was a Republican:

In 1985, Schwarzenegger appeared in Stop the Madness, an anti-drug music video sponsored by the Reagan administration. He first came to wide public notice as a Republican during the 1988 Presidential election, accompanying then-Vice President George H.W. Bush at a campaign rally.

Schwarzenegger's first political appointment was as chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, on which he served from 1990 to 1993.

Between 1993 and 1994, Schwarzenegger was a Red Cross ambassador (a mostly ceremonial role fulfilled by celebrities), recording several television/radio public service announcements to give blood. A small amount of interest was garnered by his wearing of a white t-shirt with the Red Cross on it, while posing with a flexed arm; the image made it into several celebrity magazines.

In an interview with Talk magazine in late 1999, Schwarzenegger was asked if he thought of running for office. He replied, "I think about it many times. The possibility is there, because I feel it inside." The Hollywood Reporter claimed shortly after that Schwarzenegger sought to end speculation that he might run for governor of California. meets with Schwarzenegger after his successful election to the California Governorship]]

On October 7, 2003, the recall election resulted in Governor Gray Davis being removed from office with 55.4% of the Yes vote in favor of a recall. Schwarzenegger was elected Governor of California under the second question on the ballot with 48.6% of the vote to choose a successor to Davis. Schwarzenegger defeated Democrat Cruz Bustamante, fellow Republican Tom McClintock, and others. His nearest rival, Bustamante, received 31% of the vote. In total, Schwarzenegger won the election by about 1.3 million votes. Under the regulations of the California Constitution, no runoff election was required. Schwarzenegger was the first foreign-born governor of California since Irish-born Governor John G. Downey in 1862.

As soon as Schwarzenegger was elected governor, Willie Brown said he would start a drive to recall the governor. Schwarzenegger was equally entrenched in what he considered to be his mandate in cleaning up gridlock. Building on a catchphrase from the sketch "Hans and Franz" from Saturday Night Live (which partly parodied his bodybuilding career), Schwarzenegger called the Democratic State politicians "girlie men".

Schwarzenegger's early victories included repealing an unpopular increase in the vehicle registration fee as well as preventing driver's licenses being given out to illegal immigrants, but later he began to feel the backlash when powerful state unions began to oppose his various initiatives. Key among his reckoning with political realities was a special election he called in November 2005, in which four ballot measures he sponsored were defeated. Schwarzenegger accepted personal responsibility for the defeats and vowed to continue to seek consensus for the people of California. He would later comment that "no one could win if the opposition raised 160 million dollars to defeat you".

Schwarzenegger then went against the advice of fellow Republican strategists and appointed a Democrat, Susan Kennedy, as his Chief of Staff. Schwarzenegger gradually moved towards a more politically moderate position, determined to build a winning legacy with only a short time to go until the next gubernatorial election.

Schwarzenegger ran for re-election against Democrat Phil Angelides, the California State Treasurer, in the 2006 elections, held on November 7, 2006. Despite a poor year nationally for the Republican party, Schwarzenegger won re-election with 56.0% of the vote compared with 38.9% for Angelides, a margin of well over one million votes. In recent years, many commentators have seen Schwarzenegger as moving away from the right and towards the center of the political spectrum. After hearing a speech by Schwarzenegger at the 2006 Martin Luther King, Jr. breakfast, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom said that, "[H]e's becoming a Democrat [... H]e's running back, not even to the center. I would say center-left".

It was rumored that Schwarzenegger might run for the United States Senate in 2010, as his governorship would be term-limited by that time. This turned out to be false.

comments on wildfires and firefighting efforts in California, October 2007]] in Chaika]] Wendy Leigh, who wrote an unofficial biography on Schwarzenegger, claims he plotted his political rise from an early age using the movie business and bodybuilding as building blocks to escape a depressing home. He holds Austrian citizenship by birth and has held U.S. citizenship since becoming naturalized in 1983. Being Austrian and thus European, he was able to win the 2007 European Voice campaigner of the year award for taking action against climate change with the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 and plans to introduce an emissions trading scheme with other US states and possibly with the EU. Still, Schwarzenegger has always identified with his American citizenship, and has shown great affinity for the state of California beyond his foreign birth.

Because of his personal wealth from his acting career, Schwarzenegger does not accept his governor's salary of $175,000 per year.

Schwarzenegger's endorsement in the Republican primary of the 2008 U.S. Presidential election was highly sought; despite being good friends with candidates Rudy Giuliani and Senator John McCain, Schwarzenegger remained neutral throughout 2007 and early 2008. Giuliani dropped out of the Presidential race on January 30, 2008, largely because of a poor showing in Florida, and endorsed McCain. Later that night, Schwarzenegger was in the audience at a Republican debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. The following day, he endorsed McCain, joking, "It's Rudy's fault!" (in reference to his friendships with both candidates and that he could not make up his mind). Schwarzenegger's endorsement was thought to be a boost for Senator McCain's campaign; both spoke about their concerns for the environment and economy.

In its April 2010 report, Progressive ethics watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington named Schwarzenegger one of 11 "worst governors" in the United States because of various ethics issues throughout Schwarzenegger's term as governor.

Amendment of Three Strikes Law

Governor Schwarzenegger played a significant role in opposing Proposition 66, a proposed amendment of the Californian Three Strikes Law, in November 2004. This amendment would have required the third felony to be either violent or serious to mandate a 25-years-to-life sentence. In the last week before the ballot, Schwarzenegger launched an intensive campaign against Proposition 66. He stated that "it would release 26,000 dangerous criminals and rapists".

Electoral history

Environmental record

On September 27, 2006 Schwarzenegger signed a bill creating the nation's first cap on greenhouse gas emissions. The law set new regulations on the amount of emissions utilities, refineries and manufacturing plants are allowed to release into the atmosphere. Schwarzenegger also signed a second global warming bill that prohibits large utilities and corporations in California from making long-term contracts with suppliers who do not meet the state's greenhouse gas emission standards. The two bills are part of a plan to reduce California's emissions by 25 percent to 1990's levels by 2020. In 2005, Schwarzenegger issued an executive order calling to reduce greenhouse gases to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.

Schwarzenegger signed another executive order on October 17, 2006 allowing California to work with the Northeast's Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. They plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by issuing a limited amount of carbon credits to each power plant in participating states. Any power plants that exceed emissions for the amount of carbon credits will have to purchase more credits to cover the difference. The plan is set to be in effect in 2009. In addition to using his political power to fight global warming, the governor has taken steps at his home to reduce his personal carbon footprint. Schwarzenegger has adapted one of his Hummers to run on hydrogen and another to run on biofuels. He has also installed solar panels to heat his home.

In respect of his contribution to the direction of the US motor industry, Schwarzenegger was invited to open the 2009 SAE World Congress in Detroit, on April 20, 2009.

Business career

Schwarzenegger has also had a highly successful business career. Schwarzenegger and Columbu used profits from their bricklaying venture to start a mail order business, selling bodybuilding and fitness-related equipment and instructional tapes. In 1992, Schwarzenegger and his wife opened a restaurant in Santa Monica called Schatzi On Main. Schatzi literally means "little treasure," colloquial for "honey" or "darling" in German. In 1998, he sold his restaurant. He invested in a shopping mall in Columbus, Ohio. He has talked about some of those who have helped him over the years in business: "I couldn't have learned about business without a parade of teachers guiding me... from Milton Friedman to Donald Trump... and now, Les Wexner and Warren Buffett. I even learned a thing or two from Planet Hollywood, such as when to get out! And I did!"

Planet Hollywood

Schwarzenegger was a founding celebrity investor in the Planet Hollywood chain of international theme restaurants (modeled after the Hard Rock Cafe) along with Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone and Demi Moore. Schwarzenegger severed his financial ties with the business in early 2000. Schwarzenegger said the company had not had the success he had hoped for, claiming he wanted to focus his attention on "new US global business ventures" and his movie career. Over the years, he invested his bodybuilding and movie earnings in an array of stocks, bonds, privately controlled companies and real estate holdings worldwide, so a more accurate estimation of his net worth is difficult to calculate, particularly in light of declining real estate values owing to economic recessions in the USA and Europe. In June 1997, Schwarzenegger spent $38 million of his own money on a private Gulfstream Jet. Schwarzenegger once said of his fortune, "Money doesn't make you happy. I now have $50 million, but I was just as happy when I had $48 million." Within the last five days before the election, news reports appeared in the Los Angeles Times recounting allegations of sexual misconduct from several individual women, six of whom eventually came forward with their personal stories.

Three of the women claimed he had grabbed their breasts, a fourth said he placed his hand under her skirt on her buttock. A fifth woman claimed Schwarzenegger tried to take off her bathing suit in a hotel elevator, and the last says he pulled her onto his lap and asked her about a particular sex act. Schwarzenegger is shown smoking a marijuana joint after winning Mr. Olympia in the 1975 documentary film Pumping Iron. In an interview with GQ magazine in October 2007, Schwarzenegger said, "[Marijuana] is not a drug. It's a leaf. My drug was pumping iron, trust me." His spokesperson later said the comment was meant to be a joke. A joint statement read: "The parties are content to put this matter behind them and are pleased that this legal dispute has now been settled." She claimed Walsh and Main libeled her in a Los Angeles Times article when they contended she encouraged his behavior. They have four children: Katherine Eunice Shriver Schwarzenegger (born December 13, 1989 in Los Angeles); Christina Maria Aurelia Schwarzenegger (born July 23, 1991 in Los Angeles); Patrick Arnold Schwarzenegger (born September 18, 1993 in Los Angeles); and Christopher Sargent Shriver Schwarzenegger (born September 27, 1997 in Los Angeles).

Schwarzenegger and his family currently live in their home in Brentwood. They used to own a home in the Pacific Palisades. The family owns vacation homes in Sun Valley, Idaho and Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

On Sundays, the family attends Mass at St. Monica's Catholic Church.

Schwarzenegger has said he believes the secret of a good marriage is love and respect. However, in 1988 both the Daily Mail and Time Out magazine mentioned that Schwarzenegger appeared noticeably shorter. More recently, before running for Governor, Schwarzenegger's height was once again questioned in an article by the Chicago Reader. As Governor, Schwarzenegger engaged in a light-hearted exchange with Assemblyman Herb Wesson over their heights. At one point Wesson made an unsuccessful attempt to, in his own words, "[s]ettle this once and for all and find out how tall he is" by using a tailor's tape measure on the Governor. Schwarzenegger retaliated by placing a pillow stitched with the words "Need a lift?" on the five-foot-five inch (165 cm) Wesson's chair before a negotiating session in his office. Bob Mulholland also claimed Arnold was 5'10" and that he wore risers in his boots. The debate on Schwarzenegger's height has spawned a website solely dedicated to the issue, and his page remains one of the most active on CelebHeights.com, a website which discusses the heights of celebrities. It is now officially titled UPC-Arena.

The Sun Valley Resort has a short ski trail called Arnold's Run, named after Schwarzenegger (It was named after him in 2001). The trail is categorized as a black diamond, or most difficult, for its terrain.

He bought the first Hummer manufactured for civilian use in 1992, a model so large, 6,300 lbs and wide, that it is classified as a large truck and U.S. fuel economy regulations do not apply to it. During the Gubernatorial Recall campaign he announced that he would convert one of his Hummers to burn hydrogen. The conversion was reported to have cost about US$21,000. After the election, he signed an executive order to jump-start the building of hydrogen refueling plants called the California Hydrogen Highway Network, and gained a U.S. Department of Energy grant to help pay for its projected US$91,000,000 cost. California took delivery of the first H2H (Hydrogen Hummer) in October 2004.

People in Thal celebrated Schwarzenegger's 60th birthday by throwing a party. Officials proclaimed A Day for Arnold on July 30, 2007. Thal 145, the number of the house where Schwarzenegger was born, belonged to Schwarzenegger and no one will ever be assigned to that number.

On February 12, 2010, Schwarzenegger was the 18th runner on the 106th day of the Vancouver Olympic Torch relay. His leg was along the Stanley Park Seawall, and he exchanged a "torch kiss" with the next runner, Sebastian Coe.

Accidents and injuries

Schwarzenegger broke his right femur while skiing in Sun Valley, Idaho with his family on December 23, 2006. He tripped over his ski pole on Lower Warm Springs run on Bald Mountain, an 'easy' or green level run. He is an expert level skier. On December 26, 2006, he underwent a 90-minute operation in which cables and screws were used to wire the broken bone back together. He was released from the St. John's Health Center on December 30, 2006. Schwarzenegger did not delay his second oath of office on January 5, 2007, although he was still on crutches at the time.

Schwarzenegger has twice crashed motorcycles on public highways, injuring himself in the process. On January 8, 2006, while riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle in Los Angeles, with his son Patrick in the sidecar, another driver backed into the street he was riding on, causing him and his son to collide with the car at a low speed. While his son and the other driver were unharmed, the governor sustained a minor injury to his lip, forcing him to get 15 stitches. "No citations were issued", said Officer Jason Lee, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman. Schwarzenegger, who famously rode motorcycles in the Terminator movies, has never obtained an M-1 or M-2 endorsement on his California driver's license that would allow him to legally ride a motorcycle without a sidecar on the street. Previously, on December 9, 2001, he broke six ribs and was hospitalized for four days after a motorcycle crash in Los Angeles.

Schwarzenegger was born with a bicuspid aortic valve, an aortic valve with only two leaflets (a normal aortic valve has three leaflets). Schwarzenegger opted in 1997 for a replacement heart valve made of his own transplanted tissue; medical experts predicted he would require heart valve replacement surgery in the following two to eight years as his valve would progressively degrade. Schwarzenegger apparently opted against a mechanical valve, the only permanent solution available at the time of his surgery, because it would have sharply limited his physical activity and capacity to exercise.

He saved a drowning man's life in 2004 while on vacation in Hawaii by swimming out and bringing him back to shore.

Schwarzenegger's private jet made an emergency landing at Van Nuys Airport on June 19, 2009 after the pilot reported smoke coming from the cockpit, according to a statement released by the governor's press secretary. No one was harmed in the incident.

References

Bibliography

 –  –  –  –

Interviews

Interview in Oui magazine, August 1977 at thesmokinggun.com

Excerpts from Time Out (London) interview, 1977 at time.com

Schwarzenegger Interview on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos

Film

"Arnold Schwarzenegger – Hollywood Hero" DVD ~ Todd Baker

"Pumping Iron" (25th Anniversary Special Edition) DVD ~ George Butler

External links

Arnold Schwarzenegger official constituency site

Complete text, audio, video of Governor Schwarzenegger's 2004 Republican National Convention Address AmericanRhetoric.com

Complete text and audio of Governor Schwarzenegger's Speech to the United Nations on Global Climate Change AmericanRhetoric.com, September 24, 2007

Archive of Correspondence pertaining to Governor Schwarzenegger and same-sex marriage AB 43 Project

;Business

Arnold Schwarzenegger's Official Website

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Caption	Antonio Banderas in 2010
Birth date	August 10, 1960
Birth place	Málaga, Andalusia, Spain
Birth name
Spouse	Ana Leza (1987–1995)Melanie Griffith (1996–present)
Years active	1979–present
Occupation	Actor, director, singer

José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born August 10, 1960), better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer. He began his acting career at age 19 with a series of films by director Pedro Almodóvar and then appeared in high-profile Hollywood films including Assassins, Evita, , Philadelphia, Desperado, The Mask of Zorro, Spy Kids and the Shrek sequels.

Early life

Banderas was born in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain in 1960 to Ana Bandera, a school teacher, and José Domínguez, a police officer in the Guardia Civil. He has a younger brother, Francisco. He took his mother's surname as his stage name. He initially wanted to be a soccer player, but his dream ended when he broke his foot at age 14.

Personal life

Banderas divorced his first wife, Ana Leza, and in May 1996 married American actress Melanie Griffith, whom he had met a year earlier while shooting Two Much. They have a daughter, Stella del Carmen (born 1996), who appeared with her parents in the film Crazy in Alabama (1999), in which Griffith starred and which Banderas directed.

He has invested some of his film earnings in Andalusian products, which he promotes in Spain and the USA.

In 1996, Banderas appeared among other figures of Spanish culture in a video supporting the PSOE lists in the general election.

He is a long time supporter of the Málaga CF.

He is an officer (mayordomo de trono) of a Roman Catholic religious brotherhood in Málaga and travels, with his wife and daughter, during Holy Week to take part in the processions, although in an interview with People magazine Banderas had once described himself as an agnostic.

Career in Spain

His acting career began at the age of 19, when he worked in small theatres during the Movida period. He first gained wide attention of the Spanish audience through starring on a set of films by director Pedro Almodóvar between 1982 and 1990. Labyrinth of Passion (Laberinto de Pasiones, 1982), in which he played a gay man; Matador (1986), in which he played a troubled young man who is confused about his sexuality; Law of Desire (La Ley del Deseo, 1987), in which he played a psychotic gay stalker; Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios 1988); and Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (¡Átame!, 1989), in which he played "Ricky", which was his breakthrough role, garnering him critical attention.

Career in U.S.A.

Banderas began acting in U.S. films in the early nineties; some of his earlier roles there included the 1992 film, The Mambo Kings, as well as a supporting role in the Oscar-winning 1993 film, Philadelphia. He appeared in several major Hollywood releases in 1995, including a starring role in the Robert Rodriguez-directed film, Desperado.

In 1996, he starred alongside Madonna in Evita, an adaptation of the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice in which he played the narrator, Che, a role played by David Essex in the original 1978 West End production. He also made success with his role as the legendary Mexican masked swordsman, Zorro in the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro, for which he was the first Spanish actor to portray the character.

In 2000, Ridley Scott offered Banderas a part as a peasant in his film Gladiator. Banderas accepted and received $50,000 for the role, which is currently the world record for the highest salary of an extra.

In 2001, he collaborated with Robert Rodriguez who cast him in the Spy Kids film trilogy. He also starred in Michael Cristofer's Original Sin alongside Angelina Jolie the same year. In 2002, he starred in Brian De Palma's Femme Fatale opposite Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and in Julie Taymor's Frida with Salma Hayek. In 2003 he starred in the last installment of the "Mexico" trilogy Once Upon A Time In Mexico (in which he appeared with Johnny Depp and Salma Hayek). Banderas' debut as a director was the poorly-received Crazy in Alabama (1999), starring his wife Melanie Griffith.

In 2003, he returned to the musical genre, appearing to great acclaim in the Broadway revival of Maury Yeston's musical Nine, based on the film 8½, playing the prime role originated by the late Raúl Juliá. Banderas won both the Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk awards, and was nominated for the Tony Award for best actor in a musical. His performance is preserved on the Broadway cast recording released by PS Classics.

His voice role as Puss in Boots in Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third and the last film in the Shrek franchise; "Shrek Forever After" which made the character popular on the family film circuit. He is set to be the protagonist of the Shrek spin-off film: "" Which is said to be released on November 4, 2011. In 2005, he reprised his role as Zorro in The Legend of Zorro, though this was not as successful as The Mask of Zorro. In 2006, he starred in Take the Lead, a high school-set movie in which he played a ballroom dancing teacher. That year, he directed his second film El camino de los ingleses (English title: Summer Rain), and also received the L.A. Latino International Film Festival's "Gabi" Lifetime Achievement Award on 14 October. He hosted the 600th episode of Saturday Night Live (during season 31). He performed a voice-over for a computer-animated bee which can be seen in the United States in television commercials for Nasonex, an allergy medication, and was seen in the 2007 Christmas advertising campaign for Marks & Spencer, a British retailer.

He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 6801 Hollywood Blvd in 2005.

Works

Filmography

Plays

See also

List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards

References

External links

Antonio Banderas appointed Goodwill Ambassador at Bay Ledger

Category:1960 births Category:European Film Awards winners (people) Category:Spanish people Category:Andalusian people Category:Living people Category:People from Málaga (city) Category:Spanish agnostics Category:Spanish film actors Category:Spanish musical theatre actors Category:People from Los Angeles, California