Look up classical in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The word classical has several meanings. In general, these meanings refer to some past time, works of that era or later works influenced by that time. Classical things are often seen as ordered and part of high culture or a golden age, and contrasted to earlier or later things which may be seen as chaotic, elaborate or emotional.

Etymology[link]

The word classical comes from the Latin word classicus, which is similar in meaning to the English phrase first class. The word seldom has this precise meaning in modern English, as illustrated by the examples below.

Classical antiquity[link]

Classical antiquity is a long period of history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. This period is conventionally taken to stretch from roughly the 7th or 8th century BC to the 5th century AD. It is often seen as a golden age of Western civilisation, preceding the Dark Ages of the early medieval period.

The word classical can refer to something from classical antiquity. For example:

• A Classical scholar is someone who studies the Classics - the language and culture of classical antiquity, particularly its literature.
• Classical philosophy
• Classical mythology
• Classical Latin is the form of the Latin language used by the ancient Romans in what is usually regarded as classical Latin literature. It is distinct from both vulgar Latin and medieval Latin. This distinction from vulgar Latin is in keeping with the meaning of the Latin word classicus given above.
• Classical architecture
  • Classical order - one of the ancient styles of building design in the classical tradition. Originally Doric, Ionic and Corinthian, these were added to and modified by the Romans.
• High classical refers to Greek art associated mainly with Athens and the works atop the Acropolis
• A classical education normally means an education in the classics, including learning Latin and ancient Greek. However, it can refer to the Classical education movement.

Classicism[link]

In the arts, Classicism refers to a high regard for classical antiquity. Classicism is a force which has been repeatedly present in post-medieval Western culture. It was particularly strong during the Renaissance and from the mid 18th into the 19th century. Classicist art movements in this later period are often called neoclassical. In the context of classicism, the word classical can also refer to:

• Classical themes, themes an artist has taken from the Classics
• Classical unities, rules for drama derived from a passage in Aristotle's Poetics
• Neoclassical architecture, also known as classical revival architecture
• Neoclassical sculpture.

Classical music[link]

The term classical music is used colloquially to describe a variety of Western musical styles from the 9th century to the present. However, the classical period in music is a specific time from 1750 to 1825, which roughly corresponds to a period of increased interest in classicism throughout European arts.

Other classical cultures[link]

The word classical can also be used to refer to other cultures, by analogy with classical antiquity and classical music. Examples of this usage include:

• Classical language, a dead or archaic language comparable to classical Latin. This normally means it has a literature that is considered classical, it is associated with a golden age, it was spoken by high-status people or it is considered to be ordered. Examples illustrating this are given below:
  • Classical Arabic is the Arabic language in which the Qur'an is written
  • Classical Nahuatl is the language spoken by Aztec nobles in the Valley of Mexico at the time of the 16th-century Spanish conquest
  • Classical French is the French language as systematised in the 17th and 18th centuries
• Four Great Classical Novels, considered to be the greatest and most influential in Chinese fiction
• The list of classical music styles gives many styles of music considered classical.

Classical ways of thinking and doing[link]

Similarly, many ways of thinking or doing are thought of as classical. In general, these are ways which have been superseded but which are still appreciated by some, often for their relative simplicity. For example:

• Classical physics, the study of physics based on principles developed before the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics
  • Classical mechanics is Newtonian physics. It is describes the motion of macroscopic objects.
  • Classical electrodynamics, as formalized by Maxwell in the 19th century.
• Classical thermodynamics, a branch of physics developed in the early 19th century. It was superseded by statistical thermodynamics in the late 19th century and hence became classical before the rest of physics.
• Semiclassical physics, an approximation that combines aspects of classical physics with quantum mechanics.
• Classical logic, a class of formal logics that have been most intensively studied and most widely used.
• Classical mathematics, mathematics constructed and proved on the basis of classical logic and set theory. It is the mainstream way of looking at mathematics for academic pure mathematicians.
• Classical control theory applies control theory to analogue systems. Based on methods such as Laplace transforms and calculus. It is contrasted to modern control theory, which deals with digital control systems with methods such as the z transform.
• Classical economics is the school of economics developed by Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Thomas Malthus in the late 18th and early 19th century.
• Neoclassical economics refers to the further development of classical economics from around 1870.
  • Classical general equilibrium model, a model developed as part of neoclassical economics.
  • Neoclassical synthesis, a movement in economics after the second world war. It sought to combine neoclassical economics with Keynsianism. It dominates mainstream economics to this day.
• Classical liberalism is the strain of thought coming from the fusion of economic liberalism with political liberalism of the late 18th and 19th centuries
• Classical conditioning is also known as Pavlovian conditioning.
• A classical guitar is a common type of acoustic guitar. It is not directly related to classical music.
• Classical dance, in a Western context, normally means ballet
  • Classical ballet is the most formal of the ballet styles.
• Classical Indian dance is a relatively new umbrella term for various codified art forms whose theory can be traced back to 400 BC.

Golden age[link]

There is a considerable overlap between the terms Classical and golden age. The period which produced works considered Classical is often also reckoned to have been a golden age of that country, culture or field. However, Classical Hollywood cinema and Golden Age of Hollywood are NOT interchangeable terms- the former refers to a set of stylistic and industrial norms that were established and perpetuated between 1917 and 1960, while the latter refers to a specific time period during which the Classical cinema reached its zenith (generally between 1930 and 1948).

See also[link]

• Classics (disambiguation)
• Classic

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Jules Massenet

Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (French pronunciation: [ʒyl emil fʁedeʁik masnɛ]) (May 12, 1842 – August 13, 1912) was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas fell into almost total oblivion. Apart from Manon and Werther, his works were rarely performed. However, since the mid-1970s, many operas of his such as Thaïs and Esclarmonde have undergone periodic revivals.

Biography[link]

Massenet was born in Montaud, then an outlying hamlet and now a part of the city of Saint-Étienne, in the Loire. When he was six, his family moved to Paris due to his father's ill-health. There his mother (Adélaïde Massenet, née Royer; her husband's second wife) started taking piano pupils. She also taught Jules so well that at the age of 11 he was able to enter the Paris Conservatoire. He was still a student when his family moved from Paris to Chambéry, but Jules returned to Paris after a few months, living with a married member of his father's family by his first wife. To support himself during his studies, he worked as timpanist for six years at the Théâtre Lyrique, playing also other percussion instruments in other theatres, and working as a pianist in the Café de Belleville.

Although at first some of his teachers had not predicted for him any career in music, this changed in 1862 when he won the Grand Prix de Rome with his cantata David Rizzio and spent three years in Rome. There he met Franz Liszt, at whose request he gave piano lessons to Louise-Constance "Ninon" de Gressy, the daughter of a wealthy lady named Mme Sainte-Marie. Ninon became Massenet's wife in 1866.

Massenet early in his career

His first opera, La grand' tante, was a one-act production at the Opéra-Comique in 1867. Nevertheless it was his dramatic oratorio Marie-Magdeleine (first performed in 1873) that won him praise from the likes of Tchaikovsky, d'Indy (who afterwards turned against him), and Gounod. His real mentor, though, was the composer Ambroise Thomas, a man with important contacts in theatrical milieux. Another important early patron was his publisher, Georges Hartmann, whose connections with journalistic circles aided him in becoming better known during the difficult initial years of his composing activity. Even Massenet's marriage to Ninon helped him a great deal in securing commissions and garnering fame in important social circles.

Massenet took a break from his composing to serve as a soldier in the Franco-Prussian War, but returned to his art following the end of the conflict in 1871. From 1878 he worked as professor of composition at the Paris Conservatory where his pupils included André Bloch, Gustave Charpentier, Ernest Chausson, Reynaldo Hahn, Georges Enesco, and Charles Koechlin. His greatest successes were Manon in 1884, Werther in 1892, and Thaïs in 1894. Notable later operas were Le jongleur de Notre-Dame, produced in 1902, and Don Quichotte, produced in Monte Carlo 1910, with the legendary Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin in the title-role.

In 1876 he received the Légion d'honneur, and was appointed a Grand Officer in 1899. In 1878 he was elected a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, to the exclusion of Camille Saint-Saëns. He was only 36, the youngest member ever elected to the Académie.

In addition to his operas, Massenet composed concert suites, ballet music, oratorios and cantatas and about two hundred songs. Some of his non-vocal output has achieved widespread popularity, and is commonly performed: for example the Méditation from Thaïs, which is a violin solo with orchestra, as well as the Aragonaise, from his opera Le Cid and the Élégie for cello and orchestra (from his incidental music to Les Érinnyes). The latter two pieces are commonly played by piano students, and the Élégie became world-famous in many arrangements.

There have been periodic performances and recordings of Massenet's orchestral music, especially the seven suites. Naxos has issued the complete suites, as well as ballet music from Herodiade, as performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jean-Yves Ossonce.^[1]

Massenet died in Paris at the age of 70, after suffering from a long illness (cancer).^{[2] [3]}

Being a very prolific, hard-working composer (over 25 extant operas, with his daily schedule starting frequently from as early as 4 am), he created his pieces not "at the piano" (as so many other composers do), but entirely from his imagination. That ability greatly helped him to achieve his high standards as an orchestrator. Even in his loudest passages, the instrumental texture is always lucid. It is curious that he was also known to avoid all public dress rehearsals and performances of his works; often he would have to be informed by others of his own operatic successes.

The only known recording by Massenet is a scene from Sapho where he accompanies the soprano Georgette Leblanc on the piano; never published, it is in the Historical Sound Recordings collection of Yale University.^[4]

Compositions[link]

	"Manon! avez-vous peur...On l'appelle Manon" From Manon (1884), performed by Enrico Caruso and Geraldine Farrar in 1912. "Ah! fuyez, douce image" From Manon (1884). Recorded in 1910 by Aristodemo Giorgini for Edison Records. "Notre Père" Performed by l'Atelier Vocal des Herbiers
Problems listening to these files? See media help.

Operas[link]

Oratorios and cantatas[link]

• David Rizzio – 1863
• Marie-Magdeleine – 1873
• Ève – 1875
• Narcisse – 1877
• La Vierge – 1880
• Biblis – 1886
• La Terre Promise – 1900

Ballets[link]

• Le carillon – 1892
• Cigale – 1904
• Espada – 1908
• L'histoire de Manon (arr. Leighton Lucas) – 1974

Orchestral compositions[link]

• Première suite d'orchestre – 1867
• Scènes hongroises – 1870
• Scènes pittoresques – 1874
• Scènes dramatiques – 1875
• Scènes napolitaines – 1876
• Scènes de féerie – 1881
• Scènes alsaciennes – 1882
• Fantasy for cello and orchestra – 1897
• Piano Concerto – 1903
• Ouverture de concert
• Overture to Racine's Phèdre
• Sarabande espagnole

Incidental music[link]

• Les érinnyes (containing the famous Élégie) – 1873
• Un drame sous Philippe II – 1875
• La vie de bohème – 1876
• L'Hetman – 1877
• Notre-Dame de Paris – 1879
• Michel Strogoff – 1880
• Nana-Sahin – 1883
• Théodora – 1884
• Le crocodile – 1900
• Phèdre – 1900
• Le grillon du foyer – 1904
• Le manteau du roi – 1907
• Perce-Beige et les sept gnomes – 1909
• Jérusalem – 1914

Song collections and cycles[link]

• Poëme d'Avril (Armand Silvestre), Op. 14, songs, declaimed poems and piano solos, c.1866, published 1868
• Poëme pastoral (Florian and Armand Silvestre), baritone, 3 female voices, piano, 1870–72, published 1872
• Chansons des bois d'Amaranthe (M. Legrand, after Redwitz), four solo voices (SATB) and piano, 1900, published 1901

Songs[link]

• À Colombine (Serenade d’Arlequin) (Louis Gallet)
• À la trépassée (Armand Silvestre)
• À la Zuecca (Alfred de Musset)
• À Mignonne (Gustave Chouquet)
• Adieu (Complainte) (Armand Silvestre)
• Adieux (Gilbert)
• Anniversaire (Armand Silvestre)
• Aubade (Gabriel Prévost)
• Automne (Paul Collin)
• Berceuse (Gustave Chouquet)
• Bonne nuit! (Camille Distel)
• Ce que disent les cloches (Jean de la Vingtrie)
• C'est l'amour (Victor Hugo)
• Chant provençal (Michel Carré)
• Comme autrefois (Jeanne Dortzal)
• Crépuscule (Armand Silvestre)
• Dans l'air plein de fils de soie (Armand Silvestre)
• Declaration (Gustave Chouquet)
• Élégie (Louis Gallet)
• Epitaphe (Armand Silvestre)
• Être aimé (Jules Massenet after Victor Hugo)
• Feux-follets d'amour (Madeleine Grain)
• Guitare (Victor Hugo)
• La Lettre (Catulle Mendès)
• La mort de la cigale (Maurice Fauré)
• La veillée du Petit Jésus (André (Theuriet)
• La vie d'une rose, Op. 12, No. 3 (Jules Ruelle)
• L'air du soir emportati (Armand Silvestre)
• L'âme des oiseau (Elena Vacarescu)
• Le portrait d'une enfant, Op. 12, No. 4 (Pierre de Ronsard)
• Le printemps visite la Terre (Jeanne Chaffotte)
• Le sais-tu? (Stéphan Bordèse)
• Le sentier perdu (Paul de Choudens)
• Le verger (Camille Distel)
• Les alcyons (Joseph Antoine Autran)
• Les bois de pins (Camille Distel)
• Les enfants
• Les femmes de Magdala (Louis Gallet)
• Les mains (Noel Bazan)
• Les oiselets (Jacques Normand)
• L'esclave, Op. 12, No. 1 (Théophile Gautier)
• Lève-toi (Armand Silvestre)
• Loin de moi ta lèvre Qui Ment (Jean Aicard)
• Madrigal (Armand Silvestre)
• Musette (Jean Pierre Claris de Florian)
• Narcisse à la fontaine (Paul Collin)
• Néére (Michel Carré)
• Nocturne (Jeanne Dortzal)
• Nouvelle chanson sur un vieil air (Victor Hugo)
• Nuit d'Espagne (Louis Gallet)
• Ouvre tes yeux bleus (Paul Robiquet)
• Pensée d'automne (Armand Silvestre)
• Pour qu'à l'espérance (Armand Silvestre)
• Prélude (Armand Silvestre)
• Première danse (Jacques Clary Jean Normand)
• Puisqu’elle a pris ma vie (Paul Robiquet)
• Que l'heure est donc brève (Armand Silvestre)
• Rêvons, c'est l'heure (Paul Verlaine)
• Riez-vous (Armand Silvestre)
• Rondel de la belle au bois (Julien Gruaz)
• Rose de Mai (S.Poirson)
• Roses d’Octobre (Paul Collin)
• Sérénade (Molière)
• Sérénade aux mariés, Op. 12, No. 2 (Jules Ruelle)
• Sérénade de Zanetto (François Coppée)
• Sérénade du passant (François Coppée)
• Si tu veux, Mignonne (Abbé Claude Georges Boyer)
• Soir de rêve (Antonin Lugnier)
• Soleil couchant (Victor Hugo)
• Sonnet (Georges Pradel)
• Sonnet matinal (Armand Silvestre)
• Sonnet payen (Armand Silvestre)
• Souhait (Jacques Normand)
• Sous les branches (Armand Silvestre)
• Souvenez-vous, Vierge Marie! (Georges Boyer)
• Souvenir de Venise (Alfred de Musset)
• Stances (Gilbert)
• Sur la source (Armand Silvestre)
• Un adieu (Armand Silvestre)
• Un souffle de parfums (Armand Silvestre)
• Voici que les grans lys (Armand Silvestre)
• Voix suprême (Antoinette Lafaix-Gontié)
• Vous aimerez demain (Armand Silvestre)

Other[link]

• Miscellaneous piano pieces
• Massenet completed and orchestrated Léo Delibes' unfinished opera Kassya.
• Prelude in C major for organ.

References[link]

Notes

Cited sources

• Irvine, Demar (1994). Massenet: A Chronicle of His Life and Times. Portland, Oregan: Amadeus Press. ISBN 0-931340-63-2. 
• Harding, James (1970). Massenet. New York: St. Martin's Press. 
• Massenet, Jules (1971). My Recollections. New York: AMS Press. ISBN 0-404-04229-5. 
• Full text of My recollections at archive.org
• Huebner, Steven (2006). French Opera at the Fin de Siecle: Part I – Jules Massenet. Oxford Univ. Press, US. pp. 25–168. ISBN 978-0-19-518954-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=KSQGZOTQKmwC&pg=PA25&dq=%22The+Ascent+of+Massenet%22. 
• Finck, Henry T. (2007). Massenet and His Operas. READ BOOKS. ISBN 978-1-4067-3416-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=byUI4dmwy4AC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22Massenet+And+His+Operas%22. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jules Massenet

• Works by Jules Massenet at Project Gutenberg
• Free scores by Jules Massenet at the International Music Score Library Project
• Free scores by Jules Massenet in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)
• Massenet – Meditation from Thais on YouTube for cello and orchestra.
• Masters of French Music: Jules Massenet by Arthur Hervey
• All Music biographical notes on Massenet (in English)
• Extensive biography with list of references and compositions (in French)
• Scores and Vocal Scores on Indiana University Bloomington Libraries:
  • Werther: Full orchestral score, French text only
  • Manon: Full orchestral score, French text only
  • Don Quichotte: Vocal score (piano reduction), French and English libretto

Alison Balsom
Alison Balsom at a recital in Hamburg in 2006
Background information
Birth name	Alison Louise Balsom
Born	(1978-10-07) 7 October 1978 (age 33) Royston, Hertfordshire, UK
Genres	Classical, jazz
Occupations	Musician, Educator
Instruments	Trumpet
Years active	2001 - present
Labels	EMI Classics, Hyperion Records
Associated acts	Royston Town Band, London Chamber Orchestra
Website	Alison Balsom Official website

Alison Louise Balsom (born 7 October 1978) is an English trumpet soloist.

Early life[link]

Balsom was born in Hertfordshire. She attended the Tannery Drift Primary School, then the Greneway Middle School and the Meridian School, all in Royston, Hertfordshire, where she played in a brass band, the Royston Town Band. She took her A levels at the Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge.

She studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, the Conservatoire de Paris, and also with Håkan Hardenberger.

Career[link]

Balsom has been a professional classical trumpeter since 2001. She is a former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist,^[1] and she released her debut album with EMI Classics in 2002. In 2005, she released her second disc, Bach Works for Trumpet as part of a contract with EMI Classics. In 2006, Balsom won 'Young British Classical Performer' at the 2006 Classical BRIT Awards and was awarded the 'Classic FM Listeners' Choice Award' at the Classic FM Gramophone Awards. She won 'Female Artist of the Year' at the 2009 and 2011 Classical BRIT Awards. Her third album (the second disc in the EMI contract), Caprice was released in September 2006 and was awarded 'Solo CD of the Year 2006' by Brass Band World magazine. Alison was a soloist at the 2009 Last Night of the Proms, performing, among other pieces, Haydn's Trumpet Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and a jazz orientated arrangement of George Gershwin's "They Can't Take That Away from Me" with mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly.

Balsom was the principal trumpet of the London Chamber Orchestra.^[2] Her main trumpet is a Malone-converted Bach C Trumpet.

She is a Visiting Professor of Trumpet at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.^[3]

Personal life[link]

Aside from music, Balsom has a keen interest in yachting.^[4] From 2009 to early 2011 she dated British conductor Edward Gardner; in spring 2010 they had a baby boy named Charlie.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]}

Discography[link]

• Alison Balsom: Music for Trumpet and Organ (EMI Classics Debut, 2002)
• Alison Balsom & Crispian Steele-Perkins: The Fam'd Italian Masters (Hyperion, 2003)
• Alison Balsom: Bach works for Trumpet (EMI Classics, 2005)
• Alison Balsom: Caprice (EMI Classics, 2006)
• Alison Balsom: Haydn and Hummel Trumpet Concertos (EMI Classics, 2008)
• Alison Balsom: Italian Concertos (EMI Classics, 2010)
• BBC Music Magazine, December 2010: Haydn & Hummel concertos (not the 2008 EMI recordings); Albinoni's Oboe Concerto Op. 9 No. 2, transcribed for trumpet; and Vivaldi's Violin Concerto Op. 3 No. 9, arranged for trumpet and instrumental trio.

Awards[link]

• Best Female Artist, Classical BRIT Awards, 2009^[10], 2011^[11]
• Classic FM Listeners' Choice Award, Classic FM Gramophone Award 2006
• Young British Performer, Classical BRIT Awards, 2006
• Feeling Musique Prize for quality of sound in the 4th Maurice André International Trumpet Competition.
• Concerto finalist in the BBC Young Musicians Competition, 1998

References[link]

External links[link]

• Alison Balsom Official website
• Alison Balsom recordings on EMI Classics
• Caprice album microsite
• Haydn & Hummel album microsite
• Alison Balsom on MySpace
• Alison Balsom Masterclass
• The trumpeter shaking up the classical music world (BBC interview)

Video clips[link]

• Libertango at the 2009 Proms

Natasha Jane Marsh (born 1975) is a Welsh operatic soprano. A highly-regarded performer in both opera and oratorio, her debut album, Amour, topped the classical album charts in 2007. She has toured with artists such as G4, Russell Watson, Il Divo and Paul Potts. Her love of football was confirmed when she sang at the 2008 League Cup Final and she has recorded Mozart's "Queen of the Night" aria for ITV's coverage of Euro 2008.

Personal life and early career[link]

Marsh was born in Brecon, Wales, but moved to Blackborough, near Cullompton, Devon aged eighteen months. Her father became Director of Music at the European School, Culham, Oxfordshire (he was previously Head of Music at Brecon High School). Her mother is an experienced vocal coach, and this love of music was instilled into Natasha and her two younger brothers at a young age. She saw The Sound of Music aged seven, and immediately wanted a career in musical theatre. While studying at the European School, Marsh was a member of the National Youth Music Theatre. Aged 17, she began studying with the renowned singing teacher April Cantelo, with whom she still has lessons. Marsh graduated with a First-class Honours degree from Birmingham University and was awarded the Barber Scholarship to study Opera at the Royal College of Music. In 1999 she won the MOCSA (Morriston Orpheus Choir Supporters' Association) Young Welsh Singer of the Year, whose previous winners have included Bryn Terfel and Anthony Stuart Lloyd.

Despite moving to Devon at an early age, Marsh is proud of her Welsh heritage:

Marsh is married to television composer Dobs Vye and is a keen supporter of Watford FC.^[2] On 23 July 2008, she announced on Loose Women, that she was pregnant with her first child. On 17 December, she gave birth to a son called Harley.^{[citation needed]}. On 23 November 2010, she announced the birth of her twins, Olivier Jay and Leo Xander.^[3]

Operatic debut and professional career[link]

Marsh made her debut with Grange Park Opera in Fortunio by Messager and sang the roles of the Governess in Britten's The Turn of the Screw and Donna Elvira on Mozart's Don Giovanni. She also created the title role in Michael Berkeley's opera Jane Eyre for Music Theatre Wales.

She has appeared in Opera Holland Park's La Boheme, sung Micaela in Carmen at the Royal Albert Hall and the First Lady in The Magic Flute with Glyndebourne Touring Opera. She also sang Ilia in Idomeneo for Opera North and the following year sang Pamina for Opera Zuid. She performed in Giordano's Fedora at Opera Holland Park.

Natasha's festival appearances include the Birmingham Early Music Festival, the London Handel Festival, the Beaumarais Festival and at the Teatro Calderón in Spain. Her oratorio work includes Tippett's A Child of our Time, Messiah at the Arlosen Festival, Mozart's Requiem with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Silete Venti with the London Handel Festival Orchestra at Windsor Castle. Natasha has performed with Harry Christophers and The Sixteen and made her BBC Proms debut in Handel's Samson. She also performs regularly at Raymond Gubbay's "Classical Spectacular" events at the Royal Albert Hall.

She toured with G4 in December 2006, and "realised one of her dreams" by singing Silent Night with José Carreras on the Royal Albert Hall stage. She toured with Russell Watson in March 2007 and also embarked on a European summer tour with Il Divo. In April, Marsh took part in the first Classic FM web-cast concert alongside Alfie Boe and in May made an appearance at the Classical Brit Awards 2007 ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall.

Marsh is currently^[when?] on a Scandinavian tour supporting tenor Paul Potts, 2007 winner of ITV's Britain's Got Talent.^[4]

In June 2008, Marsh sang at the House of Commons a song entitled 'I won't light a candle', a specially arranged vocal-arrangement of the theme to Schindler's List to commemorate the 79th anniversary of the birth of Anne Frank.^[2]

Marsh and football[link]

Marsh has also performed at sporting events; at the 2008 Football League Cup Final, she sang the British national anthem before the match.^[5] She has recorded Der Hölle Rache (the "Queen of the Night" aria) from Mozart's The Magic Flute for use as ITV's theme music for UEFA Euro 2008. "I was delighted to do it", she said. "I love the passion, beauty and power that football and music share."^[6] Marsh said of the arrangement:

I've sung Pamina in opera houses all round Europe, but I'm not a Queen of the Night, with those stratospheric top Fs. So I told ITV we'd have to do an adaptation, because it's not my role. We changed the key, obviously, then they found an arranger to add a different take on it. It's a little bit more brass-heavy than Mozart's original and the orchestration is different. It gives it a more epic quality.^[7][8]

Discography[link]

[edit] Amour

Natasha Marsh "Amour" album cover

Natasha Marsh signed an exclusive recording contract with EMI Classics in September 2006 and her debut album Amour was released on 19 February 2007. It entered the UK Classical Artist Chart at No.1. Her album has been criticized by opera critics, who were hoping for an album of operatic arias, rather than the "typical specimen of the crossover genre". The album contains some of Marsh's favourite songs and arias, mixing pop tunes, with classical arrangements and some lesser-known arias. Marsh was signed by EMI Classics as a crossover artist, Marsh citing the need to pick music that is "accessible to everybody across a broad spectrum. The challenge has been to find repertoire that isn't too clichéd."^[9] Amour was nominated for the Best Album award in the 2008 Classical BRIT awards.

Track listing[link]

1. "Si Un Jour" (theme from Jean de Florette, based on La Forza Del Destino) - Giuseppe Verdi, arranged Jean-Claude Petit
2. Gymnopédie No. 1 - Erik Satie
3. "Ebben? Ne andrò lontana" (from La Wally) - Alfredo Catalani
4. "Ai Giochi Addio" (love theme from Romeo and Juliet) - Nino Rota, lyrics by Elsa Morante
5. "Autumn Leaves" - Joseph Kosma, lyrics by Johnny Mercer
6. "Mi Mancherai" (theme from Il Postino) - Luis Bacalov
7. Chanson D'Amour, Op.27, No.1 - Gabriel Fauré
8. "He Moves, Eyes Follow" - Jimmy Webb
9. "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" - Ewan MacColl
10. "Et Misericordia" (from Magnificat) - John Rutter
11. "La Delaissado" (from Chants d'Auvergne) - Joseph Canteloube
12. "Pur Ti Miro" (from L'incoronazione di Poppea) - Claudio Monteverdi
13. "Les Filles de Cadix" - Léo Delibes
14. Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14 - Sergei Rachmaninov

References[link]

External links[link]

• Natasha Marsh official website
• Natasha Marsh section on ClassicalX
• Natasha Marsh official MySpace music page
• Natasha Marsh biography from BBC Wales
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUFXragstgE

John Suchet
John Suchet in 2011
Born	(1944-03-29) 29 March 1944 (age 68) Alloa, Scotland, United Kingdom
Education	University of Dundee
Occupation	News anchor, presenter
Agent	David Foster Management
Notable credit(s)	Early Evening News
Spouse	Bonnie Suchet
Children	3
Relatives	David Suchet (brother) Jack Suchet (father) Richard Suchet (nephew)
Website
http://www.johnsuchet.co.uk

John Suchet ( /ˈsuːʃeɪ/ SOO-shay; born 29 March 1944) is a British news reader and television presenter.

Suchet has two brothers, one of whom is David Suchet, a British actor. His father was Jack Suchet, who emigrated to England from South Africa in 1932, and trained to be a doctor at St Mary's Hospital, London. He is the uncle of broadcaster Richard Suchet.^[1]

Early life[link]

Suchet's paternal grandfather was a Lithuanian Jew who shortened his name from Suchedowitz to Suchet, and Suchet's Jewish father emigrated from South Africa to England in 1932; he became a medical student at St Mary's Hospital, London in 1933, and, later, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, working with Alexander Fleming on the role of penicillin in treating venereal disease.^[2] His mother, Joan, was Anglican. His maternal grandfather, James Jarché, was a famous Fleet Street photographer notable for the first pictures of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson and also for his pictures of Louis Blériot (1909) and the Siege of Sidney Street.

Suchet was brought up with his two brothers Peter and David. He attended the private Uppingham School, Rutland, and then the University of Dundee, from which he now holds an honorary doctorate. Peter is an advertising executive, and his younger brother David Suchet is an actor, best known for his portrayal of Agatha Christie's Poirot.^[3]

Career[link]

Suchet began his career in journalism in 1967, when he was taken on as a graduate trainee by Reuters news agency. During that year he learned the rudiments of straightforward, unbiased news editing and reporting, under the tutelage of John Fawcus and Anton Wills-Eve.

He was on the Middle East desk at the time of the six days war in June that year, an event that taught him how to edit his copy that was fast, accurate and acceptable to newspapers in both Israel and the Arab world. This objective attitude towards journalism never left him.

Suchet is most famous for being a newsreader for ITV News from 1972 until 2004. During this time, he presented News at 12.30 / News at One and News at Ten, but became best known for presenting the Early Evening News between late 1991 (when it was introduced to replace the News At 5:40) and 1999 when the bulletin was dropped. Initially, he alternated with Carol Barnes as the regular presenter of the Early Evening News, but by 1994 he had become the sole main host and thereafter replaced predecessors Michael Nicholson and Alastair Stewart as "the face of the evening news".

He also anchored or contributed to countless special event programmes, including royal occasions (he was one of the main commentators on ITN's coverage of Princess Diana's funeral), the Budget and ITN's election coverage. He was voted fifth scariest TV and radio celebrity in the Radio Times poll.^{[citation needed]}

He retired from ITN in March 2004, then made a return to TV news, presenting Five News, initially for a six-month period from March 2006, then extended to Christmas 2007.

Recent work[link]

Suchet has also been a guest presenter for ITV's This Morning, as well as being a guest panellist on Five's The Wright Stuff. He hosted the revival of the quiz show Going for Gold on Five and then later Wordplay on Five.

In July 2009, to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the NASA moon landings, ITN produced five special 10-minute programmes for ITV titled Mission to the Moon – News from 1969. Suchet, a former ITN newscaster, was the presenter of these specials. The first aired at 10:35 on ITV on Wednesday 15 July and ran across the following Thursday, Friday, Sunday and Monday evenings.

In July 2010, Suchet joined Classic FM as the regular host of the Sunday lunchtime music show (12-3pm). He first appeared on the station in 2004 as guest presenter of the Composer's Notes series in which he examined the finances and wealth of famous composers. In September 2010 it was announced that he would be presenting the Classic FM weekday morning show from January 2011, taking over from the show's previous host Simon Bates.

John Suchet is a fan of the composer Ludwig van Beethoven and has become one of the UK's leading experts on the composer and his works, publishing five books about the composer.^[4]

Personal life[link]

Suchet and his wife Bonnie have five grown-up sons between them from previous marriages, and live in London. In 2006, Bonnie was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in her early 60s.^[3] He appeared on the mainstream ITN / ITV and BBC news bulletins on 17 February 2009 to talk about this, to raise awareness of the disease and to campaign on behalf of Admiral Nurses. He explained that Bonnie would have no idea that he was on the news programmes.

Suchet is a huge fan of – and writer on – Ludwig van Beethoven and has toured with his material.

Suchet lives in Docklands, London.

References[link]

External links[link]

• John Suchet at the Internet Movie Database
• BBC Radio 3 biography bbc.co.uk
• John Suchet's Presenter Page on Classic FM