Opera refers to a dramatic art form, originating in Europe, in which the emotional content is conveyed to the audience as much through music, both vocal and instrumental as it is through the lyrics. From the beginning of the form about 1600, there has been contention whether the music is paramount, or the words, a theme that Richard Strauss took up in his final opera, Capriccio (1942). By contrast, in musical theater an actor's dramatic performanc ...

Including:

Opera - History
Opera - Origins Opera - Baroque opera Opera - Bel canto and Italian nationalism Opera - French opera Opera - German-language opera Opera - Other national operas Opera - After Wagner: verismo and modernism Opera - Contemporary trends
Opera - Sociology of opera
Opera - Development of an opera audience Opera - Development of the idea of opera repertory
Opera - Media

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Read more here: » Singer: Encyclopedia - Singer

List of female singers - A-F. Paula Abdul Christina Aguilera Vanessa Amorosi Tori Amos Ann-Margret Fiona Apple Tina Arena Erykah Badu Natasha Bedingfield Björk Marcie Blane Debby Boone Laura Branigan Michelle Branch Maxine Brown Simone Burley Melanie Chisolm Irene Cara Mariah Carey Vanessa Carlton Karen Carpenter Cathy C ...

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List of female singers, List of female singers - Classical and Opera, List of female singers - Country, List of female singers - Folk, List of female singers - Gospel, List of female singers - Jazz, List of female singers - Bluegrass, List of female singers - Blues, List of female singers - Melodic/Cabaret, List of female singers - Playback singers, List of female singers - Pop, List of female singers - A-F, List of female singers - G-R, List of female singers - S-Y, List of female singers - Rock, List of female singers - Rap/Hip hop, List of female singers - Spanish, List of female singers - Soul/R&B, List of female singers - Swing, List of female singers - Tango, List of female singers - Vaudeville & Music Hall, List of female singers - Other

Read more here: » List of female singers: Encyclopedia II - List of female singers - Pop

Madonna is an American singer, currently living in the United Kingdom, whose first album was released in 1983. The Guinness Book of World Records claims on its website that "Madonna is the most successful female solo artist selling 120 million albums as of November 2000". [23] Billboard magazine reports that as of 2005, Madonna had become the second album best-selling female artist in United States sel ...

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Best-selling female singer, Best-selling female singer - Disclaimers, Best-selling female singer - The case for Mariah Carey, Best-selling female singer - The case for Céline Dion, Best-selling female singer - The case for Whitney Houston, Best-selling female singer - The case for Madonna, Best-selling female singer - The case for Nana Mouskouri, Best-selling female singer - Note

Read more here: » Best-selling female singer: Encyclopedia II - Best-selling female singer - The case for Madonna

Mariah Carey is an American singer whose first album was released in 1990. According to Carey's official website, she is "the biggest selling female singer of all time", selling over 150 million albums. [2] In 2003, Sony Music (owner of Carey's old label Columbia Records) reported that Carey has sold a total of 200 million records. [3] Universal Music is the owner of Mariah's current label Island Records, and it reports on their website that Carey has sold "in excess of 105-times platinum in the U.S. alone, and 215 million ...

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Best-selling female singer, Best-selling female singer - Disclaimers, Best-selling female singer - The case for Mariah Carey, Best-selling female singer - The case for Céline Dion, Best-selling female singer - The case for Whitney Houston, Best-selling female singer - The case for Madonna, Best-selling female singer - The case for Nana Mouskouri, Best-selling female singer - Note

Read more here: » Best-selling female singer: Encyclopedia II - Best-selling female singer - The case for Mariah Carey

Whitney Houston is an American singer whose first album was released in 1985. According to Houston's official website, she has sold over 120 million albums and 50 million singles worldwide, which gives a total 170 million records. However, the site has not been updated since 2002. [19] Houston received an award in 1994 at the World Music Awards, stating that she was the "World's Biggest Selling Artist of the Era". She has since received the "Legend World Music ...

See also:

Best-selling female singer, Best-selling female singer - Disclaimers, Best-selling female singer - The case for Mariah Carey, Best-selling female singer - The case for Céline Dion, Best-selling female singer - The case for Whitney Houston, Best-selling female singer - The case for Madonna, Best-selling female singer - The case for Nana Mouskouri, Best-selling female singer - Note

Read more here: » Best-selling female singer: Encyclopedia II - Best-selling female singer - The case for Whitney Houston

Nana Mouskouri is a Greek singer and politician, currently living in Switzerland. Her first album was released in 1962. According to various sources, Mouskouri has recorded 1,500 songs in fifteen languages on 450 albums. She has more than 300 gold and platinum albums around the world, and she is also France's number one selling artist. Universal Music, which is currently Mouskouri's label (and also the owner of Nana's past label PolyGram), has the following contradictory data: Universal Music France universa ...

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Best-selling female singer, Best-selling female singer - Disclaimers, Best-selling female singer - The case for Mariah Carey, Best-selling female singer - The case for Céline Dion, Best-selling female singer - The case for Whitney Houston, Best-selling female singer - The case for Madonna, Best-selling female singer - The case for Nana Mouskouri, Best-selling female singer - Note

Read more here: » Best-selling female singer: Encyclopedia II - Best-selling female singer - The case for Nana Mouskouri

Tsang, Wing Han (曾詠韓), better known simply as Wing, is a New Zealand citizen originally from Hong Kong. Having taken up singing as a hobby after arriving in her new homeland, Wing gained an audience by entertaining patients at nursing homes and hospitals in and around Auckland, and this prompted suggestions that she release a CD; the result was a debut entitled Phantom of the Opera, featuring the Andrew Lloyd Webber classic, and a selection of other popular tunes - all of them rendered with a general disregard for such musical niceties as harmony, pitch and rhythm ...

Including:

Wing singer - Discography

Read more here: » Wing singer: Encyclopedia - Wing singer

Cantonese opera (粵劇, pinyin: Yuèjù, yuet kek or 神功戲) is one of the major Chinese opera categories, originating in southern China's Cantonese culture. It is popular in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Malaysia. Like all versions of Chinese opera, it is a traditional Chinese art form, involving music, singing, martial arts, acrobatics, and acting. Cantonese opera - History. There is a debate about the origins of Cantonese opera, but it is universally accepted that Cantone ...

Including:

Cantonese opera - History Cantonese opera - Characteristics Cantonese opera - Significance Cantonese opera - Types of play Cantonese opera - Musical instruments Cantonese opera - Music Cantonese opera - Performers Cantonese opera - Costumes Cantonese opera - Makeup Cantonese opera - Hairstyle hats and helmets Cantonese opera - Frequently used terms Cantonese opera - Major artists Cantonese opera - Development in Hong Kong Cantonese opera - Speech types

Read more here: » Cantonese opera: Encyclopedia - Cantonese opera

Ashanti Shequoyia Douglas (born October 13, 1980 in Glen Cove, New York), known professionally as Ashanti. She is an American R&B singer who rose to fame during the early 2000s. Ashanti singer - Filmography. Film Bride and Prejudice (2004) Coach Carter (2005) The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005) (TV) John Tucker Must Die (2006) TV Buffy The Vampire Slayer (2003) Sabri ...

Including:

Ashanti singer - Filmography Ashanti singer - Discography
Ashanti singer - Albums Ashanti singer - Singles
Ashanti singer - Awards
Ashanti singer - 2002 Ashanti singer - 2003 Ashanti singer - 2004
Ashanti singer - Endorsements Ashanti singer - Books

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AI (in Japanese: あい; born January 2, 1981) is a Japanese singer. She was born in the U.S city of Los Angeles to a Japanese father and half-Japanese, half-Italian mother, and grew up in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Her blood type is B. She is the first female artist to be signed to hip-hop label Def Jam Japan. AI singer - Albums. my name is AI (2001) ORIGINAL A.I.(2003) 2004 A.I. (2004) FLASHBACK TO A.I. (2004) FEAT A.I. ...

Including:

AI singer - Albums

Read more here: » AI singer: Encyclopedia - AI singer

Beijing opera or Peking opera (Simplified Chinese: 京剧; Traditional Chinese: 京劇; Pinyin: Jīngjù) is a kind of Chinese opera which arose in the mid-19th century and was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court. It is widely regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China. Beijing and Tianjin are respected as the base cities of Peking opera in the north while Shanghai is the base in the south. Beijing opera - History. Although it is called Beijing opera, its origins are not in Beijing bu ...

Including:

Beijing opera - History Beijing opera - Four main roles Beijing opera - Famous artists
Beijing opera - Four Great Dans
Beijing opera - Repertoire Beijing opera - Venue

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All art forms have a social context, and opera likewise cannot exist in a vacuum. A string quartet exists in manuscript and printed score, and a truly musical person, playing one part, or seated at a keyboard, can hear the intent of the music, but the printed score for an opera must be realized in a production, even a slender one, for its impact. Thus there exists a "sociology of opera", which would be as interesting to general social historians (who are unaware of it, on the whole) as it is to opera buffs. Operas have always been written wi ...

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Opera, Opera - History, Opera - Origins, Opera - Baroque opera, Opera - Bel canto and Italian nationalism, Opera - French opera, Opera - German-language opera, Opera - Other national operas, Opera - After Wagner: verismo and modernism, Opera - Contemporary trends, Opera - Sociology of opera, Opera - Development of an opera audience, Opera - Development of the idea of opera repertory, Opera - Media

Read more here: » Opera: Encyclopedia II - Opera - Sociology of opera

Female genital cutting (FGC) refers to a number of procedures performed for cultural, rather than medical, reasons on the female genitalia. Although occasionally practiced by some doctors in the United States until 1958, in recent years it is only common in parts of Africa and by minority groups in some countries of the Middle East. Less frequently, it occurs among some immigrant communities in parts of Asia and the Pacific, North and Latin America, and Europe. Opponents of these practices use the term female genital mutilation (FG ...

Including:

Female genital cutting - Different forms
Female genital cutting - Clitoridotomy Female genital cutting - Clitoridectomy Female genital cutting - Infibulation Female genital cutting - Other types of female circumcision
Female genital cutting - Areas of practice Female genital cutting - Cultural background Female genital cutting - Medical consequences Female genital cutting - Female Genital Cutting and Human Rights Female genital cutting - Legal status Female genital cutting - Ending Forms of female genital cutting Female genital cutting - Female genital cutting in popular culture

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List of Swedes in music - Opera singers. Jussi Björling Nicolai Gedda Håkan Hagegård Jenny Lind Birgit Nilsson Christina Nilsson Ann-Sofie von Otter List of Swedes in music - Popular music singers. Bosson Dr. Alban Alice Babs Lars Berghagen Ulla Billquist Eagle-Eye Cherry Darin Ted Gärdestad Carola Häggkvist Kjell Höglun ...

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List of Swedes in music, List of Swedes in music - Composers, List of Swedes in music - Conductors, List of Swedes in music - Groups, List of Swedes in music - Singers, List of Swedes in music - Opera singers, List of Swedes in music - Popular music singers, List of Swedes in music - Other

Read more here: » List of Swedes in music: Encyclopedia II - List of Swedes in music - Singers

Céline Dion is a Canadian singer who is currently singing five nights a week in the "A New Day" show in Las Vegas. Her first album was released in 1981. According to her official website, Dion "has sold over 180 million albums worldwide, making her the biggest selling female artist of all time".[14] According to IFPI, Celine Dion sold, from 1987 to August 31, 2004, a total of 174,436,400 albums worldwide. The sales of her first twelve albums, in French, recorded before the signing of her Sony contract, in 1987, were not recorded as part of her sales. Celine Dion received a ...

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Best-selling female singer, Best-selling female singer - Disclaimers, Best-selling female singer - The case for Mariah Carey, Best-selling female singer - The case for Céline Dion, Best-selling female singer - The case for Whitney Houston, Best-selling female singer - The case for Madonna, Best-selling female singer - The case for Nana Mouskouri, Best-selling female singer - Note

Read more here: » Best-selling female singer: Encyclopedia II - Best-selling female singer - The case for Céline Dion

Opera - Origins. The word opera means simply "works" in Latin, the plural of opus suggesting that it combines the arts of solo & choral singing, declamation, and dancing in a staged spectacle. The earliest work considered an opera in the currently used sense of the word dates from around 1597. It is Dafne, (now lost) written by Jacopo Peri largely under the inspiration of an elite circle of literate Florentine humanists who gathered as the "Camerata". Significantly Dafne was an a ...

See also:

Opera, Opera - History, Opera - Origins, Opera - Baroque opera, Opera - Bel canto and Italian nationalism, Opera - French opera, Opera - German-language opera, Opera - Other national operas, Opera - After Wagner: verismo and modernism, Opera - Contemporary trends, Opera - Sociology of opera, Opera - Development of an opera audience, Opera - Development of the idea of opera repertory, Opera - Media

Read more here: » Opera: Encyclopedia II - Opera - History

Opera - Origins. The word opera means simply "work" in Italian, coming from the Latin, the plural of opus suggesting that it combines the arts of solo & choral singing declamation, and dancing in a staged spectacle. The earliest work considered an opera in the currently used sense of the word dates from around 1597. It is Dafne, (now lost) written by Jacopo Peri largely under the inspiration of an elite circle of literate Florentine humanists who gathered as the "Camerata". Significantl ...

See also:

Opera, Opera - History, Opera - Origins, Opera - Baroque opera, Opera - Bel canto and Italian nationalism, Opera - French opera, Opera - German-language opera, Opera - Other national operas, Opera - After Wagner: verismo and modernism, Opera - Contemporary trends, Opera - Sociology of opera, Opera - Development of an opera audience, Opera - Development of the idea of opera repertory, Opera - Media

Read more here: » Opera: Encyclopedia II - Opera - History

(in alphabetical order) Playback singer - Male playback singers. Abhijeet Kishore Kumar K J Yesudas Kumar Sanu Manna Dey Mohammed Rafi Mukesh SP Balasubramanyam Udit Narayan Sonu Nigam Playback singer - Female playback singers. Alka Yagnik Asha Bhosle Chitra Geeta DuttSee also:

Playback singer, Playback singer - Notable playback singers, Playback singer - Male playback singers, Playback singer - Female playback singers

Read more here: » Playback singer: Encyclopedia II - Playback singer - Notable playback singers

In the 18th century, public concerts were established in Turku and Erik Tulindberg wrote six very famous string quartets. After Russia's 1809 annexation of Finland, the cities of Viipuri and Helsinki became cultural centers and opera became very popular. The first Finnish opera was written by the German composer Fredrik Pacius in 1852. Pacius also wrote Maamme/Vårt land (Our Land), Finland's national anthem. In 1874 the Society for Culture and Education (Kansanvalistusseura) was founded in order to provide opportunities ...

See also:

Music of Finland, Music of Finland - Folk music, Music of Finland - Sami music, Music of Finland - Music history, Music of Finland - Early Christian music, Music of Finland - Classical & Opera, Music of Finland - Finnish popular music, Music of Finland - Rock music, Music of Finland - Jazz, Music of Finland - Revival in the modern age, Music of Finland - Popular opera, Music of Finland - Biggest radio stations

Read more here: » Music of Finland: Encyclopedia II - Music of Finland - Classical & Opera