A peasant girl (middle) wearing a brocade sarafan in 1909. A simple black sarafan

A Sarafan (Russian: сарафан, from Persian sеrāрā^{[citation needed]}) is a traditional Russian long, trapeze-shaped jumper dress (pinafore) worn as Russian folk costume by women and girls.

Chronicles first mention it under the year 1376, and since that time it was worn well until the 20th century. It is now worn as folk costume for performing Russian folk songs and folk dancing. Plain sarafans are still designed and worn today as a summer-time light dress.^[1][2]

It was the dress worn by peasant girls and women in the central and northern part of Russia until the 20th century. Russian women from the upper and middle classes stopped wearing traditional Russian costume in the 18th century, during Peter the Great's modernization of Russia, apart from the kokoshniks as part a court dress (although the clothing style of Russian aristocrats differed greatly from those of commoners). It is now worn as folk costume for performing Russian folk songs and folk dancing.

Sarafans could be of single piece construction with thin shoulder straps over which a sleeveless vest, called a "dushegreya" is sometimes worn, giving the shape of the body of a smaller triangle over a larger one. It comes in different styles such as the simpler black, flower- or check-patterned versions formerly used for everyday wear, or the elaborate brocade versions formerly reserved for special occasions. The head-dress usually worn with the sarafan today in folk performances is the kokoshnik, although in the past a head scarf tied under the chin or at the back of the head was part of everyday dress.

Plain sarafans are still designed and worn today as a summer-time light dress without the traditional Russian blouse. They can be worn during folk music and dance performances and are produced as souvenirs.^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

External links[link]

• Sarafan photos

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Nicolai Gedda (left), in Finland, debating about musical interpretation with Caj Ehrstedt (on the right), during the Korsholm Music Festival,^[1] in 1987.

Nicolai Gedda (born 11 July 1925) is a Swedish operatic tenor. Having made some two hundred recordings, Gedda is said to be the most widely recorded tenor in history. Gedda's singing is best known for his beauty of tone, vocal control, and musical perception.^[2]

Biography[link]

Nicolai Harry Gustav Gedda (gedda [written as 'gädda'] means 'pike' in Swedish) was born in Stockholm to a Swedish mother and a half-Russian father. Gedda was raised by his aunt Olga Gedda and his adoptive father Mihail Ustinov (a distant relative of Peter Ustinov), who sang bass in Serge Jaroff's Don Cossack Choir and was cantor in a Russian Orthodox church.^[3] Gedda grew up bilingual in Swedish and Russian. From 1929 to 1934 they lived in Leipzig, Germany, where young Nicolai learned German. They returned to Sweden after Hitler came to power. In school he later learned English, French and Latin. After leaving school he learned Italian by himself.

Gedda began his professional career as a bank teller in a local bank in Stockholm. One day he told a client that he was searching for a good singing teacher, and the client recommended Carl Martin Öhman, a well known Wagnerian tenor from the 1920s, who is also credited with discovering Jussi Björling. Later he also taught the Finnish bass Martti Talvela. Öhman was enthusiastic about Gedda and took him as a pupil, at the beginning without payment, because Gedda had to support his parents with his pay. After a few months he obtained a scholarship and was later able to pay for Öhman's lectures.

Opera career[link]

An early appraisal of Gedda's singing was offered by Walter Legge, after first hearing Gedda sing for the role of Dmitry in a planned recording of Boris Godunov.

"On my arrival at the airport I was asked by a swarm of journalists if I were not interested in hearing their excellent young Swedish voices. Naturally I was interested, but I did not expect either the front page stories that appeared next morning or the mass of letters and almost incessant telephone calls asking to be heard. I had to ask the Director of the Opera for a room for a couple of days to hear about 100 young aspirants. The first to sing to me (at 9.30 in the morning) was Gedda who had I believe sung only once in public. He sang the Carmen Flower Song so tenderly yet passionately that I was moved almost to tears. He delivered the difficult rising scale ending with a clear and brilliant B flat. Almost apologetically I asked him to try to sing it as written -- pianissimo, rallentando and diminuendo. Without turning a hair he achieved the near-miracle, incredibly beautifully and without effort. I asked him to come back at 8 that evening and sent word to my wife that a great singer had fallen into my lap and to Dobrowen that, believe it or not, this 23-year-old Gedda was the heaven-sent Dmitry for our Boris."^[4]

He was understudy to Giuseppe Di Stefano at a performance of L'elisir d'amore at the Edinburgh Festival circa 1951.

In April 1952, at the age of 26, Gedda made his debut at the Royal Swedish Opera, performing the role of Chapelou in Adolphe Adam's Le postillon de Lonjumeau. One of the arias in this opera, "Mes amis, écoutez l'histoire", is considered one of the most difficult tenor arias in all of opera, as it calls for a demanding high D from the soloist. In this same year Gedda also performed the role of Hoffmann in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann and the tenor role in Der Rosenkavalier.

After an audition in Stockholm, Gedda gained the attention of conductor Herbert von Karajan, who took him to Italy. In 1953, he made his début at La Scala as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni.

In 1954, he made his Paris Opéra debut in the tenor role in Weber's Oberon, and was given a permanent contract for several years. In 1957, Gedda made his Metropolitan Opera début in the title role of Gounod's Faust, and went on to sing 28 roles there over the next 26 years, including the world premieres of Barber's Vanessa and Menotti's The Last Savage. Gedda made his Royal Opera House Covent Garden début in 1954 as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's Rigoletto and has since returned to sing Benvenuto Cellini, Alfredo, Gustavus III, Nemorino and Lensky.

Gedda's recordings span a wide variety of styles and several of the roles may be considered amongst the most challenging in the entire operatic repertoire, notably Arnold in Rossini's Guillaume Tell and Arturo in I puritani, both requiring stratospheric high notes and an easy legato line.

A singer of unusual longevity, Gedda has been active well into his late 70s; in May 2001 he recorded the role of the Emperor Altoum in Puccini's Turandot and the role of the High Priest in Mozart's Idomeneo in June 2003.

Art song[link]

In addition to his opera performances, Gedda cultivated an active parallel career as a recitalist, with a large repertoire of French, German, Scandinavian, and Russian art songs. As an interpreter of Lieder he often performed with the pianist Sebastian Peschko. Gedda's language skills, intellectualism and intense musicality, as well as his extensive recordings, have rendered him particularly indispensable in this genre.^[5] Gedda has also taught and former students include Daryl Simpson of the Celtic Tenors^[6]

Honours[link]

In 1965 he became Swedish Court Singer, and in 1966 a member of the Swedish Academy of Music. Also in 1966 he received K.u.K ( Kaiser und König) award for singing.In 1968 he was decorated with the Swedish medal "Litteris et artibus." In 1976 he got the golden Nobel medal and in 2007 he received Caruso prize.

In 2010 he received from the French president Nicolas Sarkozy the Legion of Honor, or Légion d'honneur, the highest French decoration.

Nicolai Gedda was a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London and in 1994 he was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy.^[7]

Biographies[link]

He published his first memoirs, "Gåvan är inte gratis" (A gift is not free of charge) in 1977, with the help of his future wife, Aino Sellermark. Later the two wrote another biography: "Nicolai Gedda: My Life and Art", which was published by Amadeus Press in 1999.

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Nicolai Gedda Fanpage - Un-official Nicolai Gedda fan website (in English and German).
• Free download links - Nicolai Gedda in Operas and Recitals
• YouTube - Lorengar & Gedda in Love duet Act 1 M. Butterfly 1/2 - Pilar Lorengar and Nicolai Gedda sing Puccini's "Vogliatemi Bene" from Madama Butterfly. Part 1 of 2.
• YouTube - Lorengar & Gedda in Love duet Act 1 M. Butterfly 2/2 - Part 2 of 2.
• J'ai revu nos amis from Fra Diavolo by Aubert
• YouTube - Pour Berthe moi je soupire from Le prophète by Meyerbeer
• YouTube - Magische Töne From Die Königin von Saba by Karl Goldmark
• YouTube - Kuda, kuda vy udalilis (Evgenij Onjegin)
• YouTube - Postillon de Lonjumeau (Adam)

Tegan and Sara
Tegan and Sara performing at the 2010 Polaris Music Prize Ceremony
Background information
Origin	Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Genres	Indie rock, new wave[1], indie pop, indie folk
Years active	1995 (1995)–present
Labels	Vapor, Sanctuary, Sire
Website	teganandsara.com
Members
Tegan Quin Sara Quin

Tegan and Sara are a Canadian indie band^[1] formed in 1995^[2][3] in Calgary. Composed of identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin^[4] (born September 19, 1980). Both Tegan and Sara play guitar and keyboard and write their songs.^[5]

History[link]

The duo has toured internationally—they're seen here in San Diego in the United States

Tegan and Sara Quin were born September 19, 1980 in Calgary, Alberta. They began playing guitar and writing songs at age 15.^[3] They initially played as Plunk without a drummer or bass player. In 1997, they used their school’s recording studio to record two demo albums: Who's in Your Band? and Play Day. In 1998, they won Calgary's Garage Warz competition, using the studio time they won to record their first professional demo, Yellow tape, which was followed by Orange tape and Red tape.

Two songs from Red tape appeared on their first album, Under Feet Like Ours, which they released independently in 1999 under the name "Sara and Tegan". They later changed their name to "Tegan and Sara" because it was easier to pronounce^[6] and reprinted the album using that name. They also wanted their name to stand out amongst the other 'Sara' musicians at the time such as Sarah McLachlan and Sarah Slean. Tegan was easier to remember.^{[citation needed]} Neil Young's manager signed them to Young's Vapor Records label, and they released This Business of Art through Vapor in 2000. They have toured extensively since then.

In 2002, the band released their third album If It Was You. Their fourth album, So Jealous, was released in 2004 and led to wider success. This album was released through both Vapor and Sanctuary. One track on the album, "Walking with a Ghost", was covered by The White Stripes, who released it on their Walking with a Ghost EP.^[7]

Their 2007 album, The Con, was released by Vapor and Sire because Sanctuary chose to no longer release new music in the United States. The album was co-produced by Chris Walla. Jason McGerr of Death Cab for Cutie, Matt Sharp of The Rentals and previously Weezer, Hunter Burgan of AFI, and Kaki King all appear on the album.^[8]

On October 27, 2009, Tegan and Sara released their sixth album Sainthood, produced by Chris Walla and Howard Redekopp, as well as a three-volume book set titled ON, IN, AT, which is a collection of stories, essays, journals, and photos of the band on tour in America in the fall of 2008, writing together in New Orleans, and touring Australia. The photographs in the book are by Lindsey Byrnes and Ryan Russell.^[9] While recording Sainthood, Tegan and Sara spent a week writing songs together in New Orleans. The song "Paperback Head" appeared on the album, making it the first song on any Tegan and Sara album that they wrote together.^[10] Spin magazine gave Sainthood four out of five stars and wrote, "Tegan and Sara's music may no longer be the stuff of teens, but its strength remains in how much it feels like two people talking."^[11]

In 2011, they launched 2011: A Merch Odyssey, which sees the launch of at least one new item in the official online stores every month, all year long. A live CD/DVD combination package titled Get Along was released on November 15 and contains three films titled 'States', 'India' and 'For The Most Part'.

Tegan and Sara stated on their website that they would start recording their seventh studio album on February 20, 2012.

Tegan and Sara's seventh record is being produced by three different producers. So far the band has announced via twitter and their weekly youtube show that they have been recording six songs with Producer Greg Kurstin, Joey Waronker has contributed drums to these six songs and Sia stopped by the studio to contribute vocals to a song. Four more songs are being produced by Mike Elizondo, with Victor Indrizzo contributing drums, Josh Lopez contributing guitar and Dave Palmer contributing piano/keyboards.

Personal lives[link]

Both twins are openly gay.^[12] Tegan lives in Vancouver, BC and Los Angeles, CA. Sara lives in Montreal, QC and New York, NY.^[5]

Touring[link]

Tegan and Sara being interviewed at the 2005 Coachella.

Tegan and Sara began touring after graduating from high school in 1998, traveling by car or Greyhound bus.^[13] In 2000, they toured with Neil Young and The Pretenders. Other notable touring mates include Ryan Adams, Ben Folds, Gogol Bordello, Cake, City and Colour, Communiqué, Death Cab for Cutie, Hot Hot Heat, Kadawatha, The Killers, New Found Glory, Paramore, Rufus Wainwright, and Weezer.

Their onstage banter, including stories and commentary about their childhood, politics, and life on the road, has become an indispensable part of their live shows.

They have performed at festivals including Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair 1999, Coachella, Lollapalooza, SXSW 2005, Austin City Limits, Bonnaroo, Falls Festival, Sasquatch!, Cyndi Lauper's True Colors Tour 2008; Southbound 2009, Glastonbury, Lilith Fair, Sasquatch! 2010,Winnipeg Folk Festival 2011,^[14] Newport Folk Festival 2011,Sasktel Saskatchewan Jazz Fest 2011, and Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest 2011.

In December 2010, Tegan and Sara supported Jack Johnson in New Zealand and Australia.

Other work[link]

In 2009, both Tegan and Sara worked as producers for the first time. Tegan worked with char2d2 on the 2009 Small Vampires EP, while Sara worked on 2010 debut albums for Fences and Hesta Prynn.^[15]

Collaborations[link]

Sara singing and playing guitar

Tegan sang backing vocals on Rachael Cantu's "Saturday" from her Run All Night album, and in 2007 sang in Against Me!'s song "Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart." Sara sang in The Reason's song "We're So Beyond This", as well as appearing in the music video.

In April 2008, Tegan wrote and recorded a song titled "His Love" at the request of Augusten Burroughs as a contribution to the audio version of his book A Wolf at the Table. The two headlined Spin's September 2008 Liner Notes benefit for Housing Works, a New York non-profit.^[16]

In addition to their own set, Tegan and Sara performed with DJ Tiësto during the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on June 13, 2008. Tegan and Sara appeared as guests, providing live vocals for Tiësto's remix of "Back in Your Head".^[17] Tegan and Sara also collaborated with Tiësto on the song "Feel It in My Bones" from his 2009 album Kaleidoscope and appeared in the music video for this song.

Tegan and Sara are featured on Margaret Cho's 2009 album Cho Dependent on the track "Intervention". They are also featured in Margaret's video for the song.

Tegan and Sara released an "Alligator" remix album on iTunes in 2010. Contributors included Doveman, Four Tet, Passion Pit, Ra Ra Riot, and VHS or Beta.

Sara is featured on rapper/songwriter/producer Theophilus London's track "Why Even Try" from his 2011 Lover's Holiday EP.

Both Tegan and Sara appear in Sara Bareilles' star-studded music video for her song "Uncharted". The video premiered in March 2011 and also features, amongst others, Josh Groban, Laura Jansen, Ingrid Michaelson, Pharell Williams, Adam Levine, Ben Folds, Keenan Cahill, Jennifer Nettles, and Vanessa Carlton.

Tegan sings with Jim Ward on his "Broken Songs."

Sara appeared on Jonathan Coulton's 2011 album Artificial Heart, providing vocals for the album's remake of the song Coulton wrote for Valve's game Portal, "Still Alive".

NOFX's song "Creeping Out Sara" is about the two sisters. During a live Q&A when asked what they thought of the song Sara answered, 'The song is called "Creeping Out Sara"; I am Sara, and I was creeped out.'

Sara appears in Kaki King's music video for "Pull Me out Alive."

Tegan sang on "Contrails" by rapper Astronautalis on his 2011 album This Is Our Science. She also appears in the music video.

Both Tegan and Sara perform in "Body Work" and "Video" on Morgan Page's 2012 album In the Air. They also appear in the music video for "Body Work".

Television and film[link]

Tegan and Sara have appeared on American, Canadian, and European television shows, including Jimmy Kimmel Live (2005), Jonovision, The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn (2004), Late Night with Conan O'Brien (2005, 2007, 2009), The Late Show with David Letterman (2000, 2008), The NewMusic, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (2008), and ZeD.^[14]

Tegan and Sara songs have been featured in the films Monster-in-Law, Sweet November, and These Girls, and in the television shows 90210, Being Erica, Ghost Whisperer, Grey's Anatomy, The Hills, Hollyoaks, jPod, The L Word, Life Unexpected, Melrose Place (2009 series), One Tree Hill, Parenthood, Rookie Blue, Vampire Diaries, Veronica Mars, Waterloo Road (2011) and What's New, Scooby-Doo?.

In 2006, Tegan and Sara performed in The L Word episode "Last Dance" (season 3, episode 11). In 2008, they appeared on the kids music television show Pancake Mountain where they acted in a skit and performed their songs "Back in Your Head", "Hop a Plane", and an acoustic version of "Walking with a Ghost".^[20] In 2010, they appeared on CBC's Mamma Yamma, revising their single "Alligator" into a children's song.

In 2011, Sara Quin was a panelist on Canada Reads defending Jeff Lemire's graphic novel Essex County. The book, the first graphic novel to be featured as part of Canada Reads, was voted off after the first round.

Band members[link]

Tegan Quin at a concert in Detroit, Michigan

• Tegan Quin – vocals, guitar, keyboards
• Sara Quin – vocals, guitar, keyboards

Backing musicians

• Ted Gowans – guitar, keyboards

Former backing musicians

• Johnny "Five" Andrews – drums
• Shaun Huberts – bass guitar
• Dan Kelly – bass guitar
• Chris Carlson – bass guitar
• Rob Chursinoff – drums

Discography[link]

	Book: Tegan and Sara
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

• Under Feet Like Ours (1999)
• This Business of Art (2000)
• If It Was You (2002)
• So Jealous (2004)
• The Con (2007)
• Sainthood (2009)
• Get Along - (Live Album/DVD) (2011)

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

Citations

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Tegan and Sara

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tegan and Sara

• Tegan and Sara Official website
• Tegan and Sara's channel on YouTube

For the Kyrgyz politician, see Ivan Rebrov.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2009)

Ivan Rebroff
Background information
Birth name	Hans-Rolf Rippert
Born	(1931-07-31)July 31, 1931 Berlin, Germany
Died	February 27, 2008(2008-02-27) (aged 76) Frankfurt, Germany
Genres	International music
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocals

Ivan Rebroff

Ivan Rebroff

Ivan Rebroff (31 July 1931 – 27 February 2008) was a German singer, allegedly of Russian ancestry, with an extraordinary vocal range of four and a half octaves, ranging from the soprano to bass registers.^[1]

Rebroff was born in Berlin as Hans-Rolf Rippert. He was famous for singing Russian folk songs, but also performed opera, light classics and folk songs from many other countries. He was known on stage for his gusto. He performed over 6,000 concerts in his career, including a two-year seven-day-a-week stint at the French opera, singing, among other greats, Fiddler on the Roof. Rebroff still performed 12 shows in 14 days when he was well into his seventies, such as on an Australian tour.

Ivan Rebroff described himself as international, the "connection between East and West". He became a citizen of Greece and lived on the Greek island of Skopelos in the Sporades.

He died in Frankfurt after a long illness. Four days after his death, his brother Horst Rippert, who is nine years his senior (and by his own accounts shot down Antoine de Saint Exupéry), claimed part of Ivan's vast fortune.^[2]