two merry monarchs
click to download 0. 7 mb pdf file two merry monarchs libretto by anderson and levy: download
the merrie monarchs men’s hawaiian glee club has produced two albums, “the merrie monarchs at keauhou bay” and “christmas in kailua - kona, ” which they sell at their concerts .
shakespeare, william, the merry wives of windsor, gramercy books, 1995 .
as the reign of the merry monarch began yesterday, heralding the start of the two - day reign of the merry monarch, masqueraders jumped, pranced and wine down low to the songs of three soca artistes — reigning soca and groovy monarchs champ machel montano, his fierce soca monarch rival neil ‘iwer’ george and perennial soca favourite fay - ann lyons alvarez .
extolling their republican - tempered monarchy and its monarchs, who are earning their keep by doing all they can to please their subjects .
on march 11 2010, the company had a most successful programme. we moved to a new venue at first presbyterian of winnebago, and gave a concerted performance of three edwardian operas: a welsh sunset by frederick fenn and michael faraday, the mountaineers by guy eden and reginald somerville, and selections from two merry monarchs by orlando morgan .
casilda, their daughter, and luiz, the duke' s attendant, two lovers .
in this production, we acknowledged the 100th anniversary of two merry monarchs. a second performance was given on march 13. we had our first public review in the rockford register star and we also appeared on wifr - 23 on march 5 to promote the event. we succeeded in breaking all previous attendance records, and established a new standard for light opera in the rockford area .
fake ultimate hero: robin hood was mistaken for being the leader of the merry men, even though it was marian .
workman then left the d' oyly carte organisation and became an actor - manager. he leased the savoy and produced two comic operas: eden & somerville' s the mountaineers (1909), appearing as pierre, and w. s. gilbert and edward german' s fallen fairies (1909), appearing as lutin. he then produced an edwardian musical comedy, two merry monarchs (1910), appearing as rolandyl, and an opera, gluck' s orfeo, (1910) .
the merry wives of windsor .
shakespeare for students, 2nd ed... retrieved july 09, 2018 from urltoken urltoken
some of the comedies of this early period are classical imitations with a strong element of farce. the two tragedies ,
shakespeare' s histories focus on english monarchs. they usually play upon elizebethan propaganda, showing the dangers of civil war and glorifying the queen' s tudor ancestors. the depictions of monarchs including richard iii (an enemy of the tudors) and henry v (one of the great tudor monarchs) have been influential in creating a perception of these kings which has persisted throughout the centuries. many historians point to inaccuracies in the depictions, but the plays have been very powerful in presenting a particular image which it is hard for many people to see past .
source: joyce hart, critical essay on the merry wives of windsor, in shakespeare for students, second edition, thomson gale, 2007 .
amid calls on the tory right for the late prime minister to be accorded a state funeral, which is normally reserved for monarchs, whitehall sources said thatcher had opted instead for a ceremonial funeral .
medieval morons: similarly present here, where marian and the sheriff are the only characters with two brain cells to rub together .
the merry wives of windsor .
shakespeare for students, 2nd ed... encyclopedia. com. (july 9, 2018). urltoken
plays are largely focused on the progression of hal' s relationships with each of the two major father - figures in his life .
form a second tetralogy of historical plays, although each can stand alone, and they are usually performed separately. the two parts of
( 5. 3. 131–2), perhaps opportunistically making use of two current pronunciations, both still heard today. but the rhymes
in this essay, freedman examines the character of falstaff both within the merry wives of windsor and among shakespeare' s history plays. the critic discusses the buffoonery of falstaff in the merry wives, commenting on the previous critical response to the character and offering her own opinion on the character' s importance and meaning .
. the change could arise from mowbray' s growing anguish, but other alternations between the two forms occur: in 1. 2 ,
the duke and duchess of plaza toro soon arrive with the beautiful casilda. they are now dressed in style, and the duke explains how he was applied for by the public under the limited liability company act, and how they now earn a very good living. appalled, however, at the lack of pomp and ceremony with which they were received, he attempts to educate the two monarchs in proper royal behaviour. after a lesson in etiquette, the two palmieri brothers are left alone with casilda. she agrees to be an obedient wife, but warns them that she is
over head and ears in love with someone else .
seizing this opportunity, the two men introduce their wives. the three ladies and two men sing a quintet about their unprecedented predicament .
the merchant of venice, twelfth night, all' s well that ends well, the tempest, taming of the shrew, the winter' s tale, as you like it, the comedy of errors, love' s labours lost, a midsummer night' s dream, the two gentlemen of verona, the merry wives of windsor, measure for measure, much ado about nothing, pericles, prince of tyre and the two noble kinsmen .
was published and attributed entirely to shakespeare. however, only five of the poems are definitely considered his, two appearing in other versions in the
he is known as the ‘merry monarch’ because of his love of parties, music and the theatre and his abolishment of the laws passed by cromwell that forbade music and dancing .
after two duff steers (see 10. 24am and 10. 35am), we have now had confirmation that the funeral will be on wednesday .
limited wardrobe: most of the characters, though marian and the merry men get two wardrobe upgrades — after the third episode of the first series they begin dressing mainly in green to
coordinate with the trees ,
and from the second season on their outfits have become more detailed, distinct and individual. the one exception to the trope is robin, who has lots of outfits, and from the second season onwards seldom wears the same one two episodes in a row .
is a first class historical play, and it might help to know about the activities of the kings of england and france during that turbulent period of english history. director john sipes has set the play during world war i, using great projections of soldiers going over the trenches to combat for the war scenes. this is a perfect counterpoint to the smooth diplomacy between the two monarchs .
historical villain upgrade: king john gets this treatment, as per usual for robin hood adaptations, but in this case it also happens to richard i. the two monarchs are portrayed as being as bad as each other, the only difference that richard is more popular - and so goes about his evil in a smug, swaggering manner, as opposed to john' s shady bullying .
asked about other monarchy - era songs that the merrie monarchs perform, joe reports, “a song we sing with the band for example is na ali‘i, written by samuel kuahiwi [ 1930 ] about our monarchs. it calls for all of us to come together and honor the ali‘i of the past. and from kalākaua’s music, we start always with hawai‘i pono‘ī. one of our standard songs has been koni au i ka wai, another kalākaua song, and kokohi by queen lili‘uokalani. ”
the merrie monarchs hawaiian men’s glee club joined the second official concert in july 1976. joe estimates the first group consisted of 13 or 14 members. the only woman singing with the band, he says, was grace basque, a lyric soprano .
mad and merry monarchs by the mad dogs and englishmen theatre company proved a great success. true to their word, the company led a near capacity audience through 1, 000 years of english history in about 90 minutes, from the battle of hastings to the present day. the work rate of the cast was phenomenal and the audience was not allowed to relax either, providing sound effects for the battle of agincourt and a slightly reluctant sir thomas moore to be struck down at canterbury cathedral; fortunately the axe was not real! it was interesting to see the' rapping' skills of some of our early monarchs and to learn that shakespeare did not invent cricket after all. a thoroughly enjoyable evening' s entertainment
source: leslie s. katz ,
the merry wives of windsor: sharing the queen' s holiday ,
in representations, no. 51, summer 1995, pp. 77 - 93 .
the pirates who don' t do anything: for all marian' s preaching about being freedom fighters the merry men mainly spend their time doing school activities and dysfunctional flat sharing. lampshaded by little ron .
source: barbara freedman ,
falstaff' s punishment: bufoonery as defensive posture in the merry wives of windsor ,
in shakespeare studies, vol. 14, 1981, pp. 163 - 74 .
the scene opens in venice with twenty - four young maidens declaring their passionate love for a pair of gondoliers, marco and giuseppe palmieri. these two gondoliers are so gallant and peerless in their manly beauty that the maidens are waiting for them to select brides before they can consider other suitors. the male chorus of merry gondoliers enters, saying that they adore the young ladies, but the ladies explain that the two brothers must choose first. when the palmieri brothers enter, the ladies present them with flowers. the two gondoliers amiably offer to pick their two brides in a game of blind man' s buff .
as all are young and fair, and amiable besides
, they feel it would be unfair to show any favouritism. they appear to be cheating by peeking out from under their blindfolds, however. eventually, from the crowd of twenty - four maidens, giuseppe picks tessa, and marco picks gianetta -
just the very girl i wanted !
( although the two then politely offer to switch girls). all leave to go to church for the double wedding .
about the same time rumour was busy –and, possibly, presumably owing to the same cause – with the name of workman as the possible successor in management at the savoy, with the intention of carrying on the series of revivals. it is now a matter of history that he was the next tenant of the theatre, but that he discarded (if he ever entertained) the idea of exploiting further gilbert and sullivan operas in favour of a work by two unknown collaborators, with, i fear, disastrous consequences. it was not my fate to see either the mountaineers or the two merry monarchs, both of which operas i heard spoken of as possessing
a certain amount of good material, but requiring pulling together by a master hand ,
but i did see the intermediate production, which was gilbert' s wicked world transmogrified into an opera .
nijinsky was forced into a gay relationship with diagelev. he may have enjoyed it while it was going on but in the end he fell in love, married and got two children .
in all there were seven monarchs among the stuarts: james i, charles i, charles ii, james ii, william iii and mary ii anne. the period from 1649 to 1660 was an interregnum (time without a monarch), that saw the development of the commonwealth under oliver cromwell .
physically weak, and well known to be quite cowardly, james i is one of the better known gay monarchs – i remember it being vaguely alluded to when i was studying at school it was so obvious. he was first rumoured to have fallen in love with his own cousin esme stuart –
a group of men who love music and love to sing hawaiian songs gathers together on one sunday each month to sing their hearts out on the lānai at hulihe‘e palace in kailua - kona. they have staying power, having been doing it for nearly 40 years. the merrie monarchs are named after a beloved hawaiian king, david kalākaua, who loved music, especially concert band music, and also composed a number of songs in hawaiian that remain popular today. he was often called “the merry monarch” because he so enjoyed entertainment .
source: nancy cotton ,
castrating (w) itches: impotence and magic in the merry wives of windsor ,
in shakespeare quarterly, vol. 38, no. 3, autumn 1987, pp. 320 - 26 .
of course there were many lgbt monarchs. it is just a natural part of human sexuality in evolution. in fact, science proved long ago without homosexuality or heterosexuality, the human race would not have continued. if you add up lgbt combine, they are more in numbers than heterosexuals so not really even a minority .
the lancer: barrington, who' s laid - back, easy - going and usually the closest thing to a second - in - command the merry men have — though sometimes robin, who gets more starring roles, fulfils the role .
windsor is the setting for shakespeare' s play the merry wives of windsor and is known for the royal castle that is built there, the largest, inhabited castle in the world. windsor is located in southeast england on the river thames .
later series added two new baddies: rotten rose scargill, marian' s rival turned evil with a crush on robin, and guy of gisbourne, john' s childlike, and borderline deranged, nephew .
the italian composer giuseppe verdi' s last opera, falstaff (1893), was based on the merry wives of windsor. a slightly later operatic adaptation was created by english composer ralph vaughan williams, called sir john in love (1929) .
“we also perform at functions outside the palace. it’s a voluntary thing, with nobody getting paid, ” joe says. the merrie monarchs have represented the hawai‘i visitors bureau during several trips to visitor industry conferences on the mainland; they have offered free concerts for the annual merrie monarch festival in hilo, and also at palace fundraisers .
actually, this is not true: the number of men and women is equal, and after the palmieris remove their brides there will be two women short. but gilbert is typically careless with his mathematics. [
except in the first episode of series 4 where she was pelted with mud while her and rose were tied up together thanks to guy. of course, that was nothing compared to what happened to two of the bad guys that episode as the merry men had set up a maze specifically designed to get them covered in gunge. however, marian also received the maze' s final big gungeing, it happened off - screen but we did get to see the aftermath iirc .
during a period of just over two hours yesterday, machel’s “pump yuh flag” was played about eight times, “mr fete”, six times and fay - ann’s “miss behave’ and iwer’s “no pain” being played five times each .
robert orlando morgan (1865 - 1956) was born in manchester, and was for 64 years professor of piano and composition at the guildhall school (1887 - 1951). many of his works were
classical
: several cantatas, many songs, over 200 of them, including several cycles (in fairy land and a song garland were the best known), piano music and instructional publications. but many of the songs were ballad - like - clorinda, fair rosalind, at christmastide, before the dawn, my gentle white dove, where the lotus blooms and when snowflakes dance - charles woodhouse arranged his bourree and musette for student orchestra, and in 1910 his comic opera two merry monarchs ran for 43 performances at the savoy, when its music was described as
light, bright and pleasing
, but not outstandingly memorable .
shakespeare' s other early comedies include love' s labor' s lost (1598), which is about three noblemen who promise to devote the next three years to their studies without any distractions from women, when three beautiful, courtly women appear. the other famous comedy is two gentlemen from verona (1594–1595) which is a play about two men falling in love with the same woman and their challenges in trying to win her favor .
we close with two other figures who seem to have specialised to a considerable extent in works for children. edgar moy, who flourished in the 1930s, brought out two musical plays for young children, entitled the dolls and jennie' s visit to fairyland; other titles included, for piano solo, arrangements of soldier tunes and - an original composition - studies in musical appreciation, whose movement titles included the fairy ring, the fairy piper, april showers, in the wood and the gavotte, for piano duet the rather more sophisticated four scenes (ondine, by a lakeside, marionette and on the march) and the partsongs the merry month of may (satb) and reverie (two - part). and peter melville smith has composed much sacred music, some of it in popular style, some of it appropriate for young voices, along with a scherzo for organ (manuals only) and the attractive willowbrook suite for recorder trio .
the scene opens to twenty - four venetian contadine (young maidens) binding white and red roses in posies to give to marco and giuseppe palmieri, two gondoliers whom they all love. they explain why in the opening song ,
agm 27th june 2014; was attended by 5 of the 6 committee members and two residents of south lopham. after the usual formalites, the chairman, malcolm birchall, presented his report which recorded a generally successful year overall. the
if you are looking for tributes to read today, there are two good places to start. first, this article by the late hugo young, the author of the first outstanding biography of lady thatcher. here' s an extract .
it has been said that the first performance of shakespeare' s play the merry wives of windsor was held inside windsor castle. the garter inn, where falstaff stays in the play, is based on a real establishment in windsor, now called the hart and garter on high street .
anticlimactic parent: marian never admitted to her mother that she was an outlaw. this leads the main characters to keep up the charade of being the merry dentists. however, when marian is captured her mum leads the rescue effort and ultimately reveals she has her own geriatric gang of outlaws .
in the following essay, cotton analyzes the historical belief that witchcraft could cause impotence, a belief widely held in medieval europe and one that persisted into shakespeare' s time. the critic examines those characters in the merry wives of windsor who are rendered impotent by
magical female power .
there were two sets of judges, one on each end of the special reserve section of the lord kitchener stand, while members of the public had two seating options. the large covered stand next door, also part of the lord kitchener stand, or the exposed wooden stand by the corner of south quay and broadway. an official by the entrance to the judges’ area said it cost $ 75 to access the covered stand on carnival monday and tuesday while the uncovered stand’s entrance fee was $ 10 .
don’t be a pillock; that’s not what the author is saying. i note that you clearly paid less attention to monarchs such as richard the lionheart, whose bravery is well - known, that the writer has also cited. maybe if you’re going to be so easily offended, the internet isn’t the place for you. there are bigger problems to worry about in the world than your ego, dear .
the duke and duchess send their attendants to demand an audience with the kings, and tell their daughter to prepare to receive her husband. but which? she asks. there are two of them. that will soon be taken care of, they assure her .
17
well - labored
is a backhanded tribute to jonson' s art in his two classically correct and learnedly glossed tragedies. they are indeed
works ,
digges implies, suggesting that jonson had sweated at the anvil of the muses for too long .
maid marian and her merry men was a children' s sitcom made by the bbc, based on robin hood and written by tony robinson, who also played the sheriff. calling it a kids' version of blackadder is trite and obvious but also, to a certain extent, true. only much more surreal .
the story of the merrie monarchs is closely tied with that of the hulihe‘e palace band, founded in 1976 by charles g. “bud” dant. bud was a band leader, composer and record producer who worked with famous stars in early radio and tv. he served for a time as producer for hawaii calls, the old hawaiian music radio show, and produced albums for hawaiian performers such as alfred apaka and melveen leed .
each “afternoon at hulihe‘e” concert honors one of hawai‘i’s past monarchs or historical figures. they are held on the third sunday of each month, except for hawaiian holidays that honor ali‘i, such as kamehamehaʻs birthday, kalākaua’s birthday, and the birthday of governor kuakini, who built the palace as his mansion in 1838. admission is free—donations are appreciated. it is recommended that you bring a beach mat or chair as seating is not provided .
richard elmore gives a keen performance as king phillip of france while robynn rodriquez is superb as constance, who must stand up to eleanor and john to defend her son arthur. her range of acting from a tender mother to a fierce confrontation with the two kings is outstanding .
matt pfeiffer (director) is a philly born actor and director who serves as the associate artistic director of theatre exile. 17th season at psf where credits include directing the two gentlemen of verona, the 39 steps, the complete works abridged, and dracula. also: arden theatre, two river theatre, walnut street theatre, delaware theatre co. , orlando shakespeare, lantern theatre, 1812 productions, gulfshore playhouse, theatre horizon, and interact theatre. a nine - time barrymore nominee, he is recipient of the f. otto haas award .
katz provides a general overview and analysis of the merry wives of windsor, arguing that its status as a
minor
play in shakespeare' s canon is undeserved. the critic explains the historical and cultural background of the play, which was likely commissioned to honor queen elizabeth i on st. george' s day in 1597 .
not if anything maybe bisexual. that came around as he chose acting over a military career like his brothers. not pushed as he will never be king. he has two children it would have been three but she had a miscarriage. so i really think if anything bisexual .
whether or not that story is true, the merry wives of windsor is not really about falstaff in love but rather about falstaff in trouble. the good knight, who is so full of himself as to believe that any woman he looks at will swoon at his feet and do anything he suggests, fails miserably in this play to seduce two married women. he wants to seduce them not just for the physical pleasure of doing so, but mostly to win their confidence and he then hopes they will open their purses to him. falstaff may have won a title of nobility, but he is seriously low on cash .
punishing falstaff could have been a good deal more fun if the merry wives were written as traditional farce. central to that genre is a pattern of sexual transgression and punishment for that transgression which is usually well disguised. insofar as farce, by definition, derives humor from absurd plot aggression directed against flat characters, it characteristically enables us to enjoy aggression whose cause and effect is denied. in the merry wives, however, we have a self - conscious use of farce for didactic aims: a self - conscious punishment for sexuality which is disturbing as much as it is humorous. surely shakespeare knew he would be losing a few laughs by having us chant, along with the windsor community ,
the merry wives of windsor is classified as a comedy and fits into the mold of what was referred to, in shakespeare' s time, as a citizen comedy. the basic elements of this play, such as the jealous husbands, the merry wives, the practical jokes, and the leering knights, were common and therefore familiar to theater - goers of the late 1500s and continuing into the seventeenth century. most of the humor is based on the differences in the various classes, either between the lower and middle classes or the middle and higher classes. this is the basic structure of shakespeare' s play, however, he created his own unique changes to the form. in the end, the merry wives, who were often lured away from their husbands by the knights in other plays, were more faithful to their vows of marriage and more clever in their duping of the knight. the husbands, therefore, did not become cuckolds, as they would have in other plays. in shakespeare' s hands, instead of the husband becoming the fool, the knight was made into one .
egalitarians, they will leave their choice to impartial fate, by chasing the girls blindfolded and marrying the ones they catch. their eyes are duly bound. fiametta and vittoria, the two most prominent contadine (that is, the ones who have been doing most of the non - chorus singing), suspiciously ask
of the wives in this play, dickson describes them in this way :
they are as well equipped to deal with ford' s jealousy as they are to neutralize sir john .
dickson continues :
while allowing ford' s ludicrous suspicions to build, they [ the wives ] engineer a scene in which both men are shown up to be the fools they really are .
in conclusion, dickson analyzes the plot by stating that
if the comic community of the merry wives is to heal its wounds, shakespeare suggests, falstaff needs not just to be thrown out but to be utterly humiliated .
in other words ,
if the wives are to prove themselves
as true merry wives, then
the duper needs to be duped .
ruby and her horses october 28th, 2010 a live show enjoyed by an audience of 89. a combination of anecdotes, pictures and songs, both poignant and funny, brought to life the story of a family living through the agricultural depression between the two world wars. all in all, it was a fascinating evening .
shakespeare' s first extant play is probably the comedy of errors (1590; like most dates for the plays, this is conjectural and may be a year or two off), a brilliant and intricate farce involving two sets of identical twins and based on two already - complicated comedies by the roman plautus. though less fully achieved, his next comedy, the two gentlemen of verona (1591), is more prophetic of shakespeare' s later comedy, for its plot depends on such devices as a faithful girl who educates her fickle lover, romantic woods, a girl dressed as a boy, sudden reformations, music, and happy marriages at the end. the last of the first comedies, love' s labour' s lost (1593), is romantic again, dealing with the attempt of three young men to withdraw from the world and women for 3 years to study in their king' s
little academe ,
and their quick surrender to a group of young ladies who come to lodge nearby. if the first of the comedies is most notable for its plotting and the second for its romantic elements, the third is distinguished by its dazzling language and its gallery of comic types. already shakespeare had learned to fuse conventional characters with convincing representations of the human life he knew .
in almost every case, the rebels' motivations are a response either to henry' s own actions or that of the english monarchs more generally, in their attempts to maintain dominion over scotland and wales. this is one of the most profound elements of shakespeare' s plays in general and his history series in particular: he shows us not only the characters' actions but also the consequences of those actions as the story unfolds. and we see here how tightly interconnected the history plays are: henry' s actions in
in 1982, the british broadcasting corporation (bbc) produced a televised version of shakespeare' s the merry wives of windsor. stealing the most attention in this adaptation was the actor ben kingsley, who created a very comical, if not pathetic, portrayal of the jealous husband ford. kingsley' s performance alone is well worth the effort of seeing this film, which is now available on dvd .
, and they want two! after some discussion of the legal niceties, the request is granted. the other gondoliers then adjure them to work all the harder. the kings agree, feeling that in return for the forms and show of royalty they are permitted it is the least they can do to make themselves useful about the palace .
falstaff: a novel, published in the united states in 2003 (in england in 1976) is robert nye' s fictionalized version of one of shakespeare' s naughtiest characters. in nye' s version, falstaff is eighty - one - years old and is dictating his memoirs. he recalls incidents in both of shakespeare' s plays in which he appeared: henry iv and the merry wives of windsor
was an exceptional experience for those who turned out to see it. the two players switched seamlessly between multiple roles before the audience' s eyes bringing dickens' characters to life and developing an atmosphere of tension, drama, pathos and i might say, at times, fear. a really entertaining evening, let down by a poor attendance .
prince john, technically the leader of the forces of oppression (or
ye baddies
, as the credits had it), was usually portrayed as an unstable raving lunatic, leaving the actual scheming to his dragon, the sheriff of nottingham. the sheriff' s two mooks, gary and graeme, were almost as stupid as rabies .
the lord chamberlain' s men relied on shakespeare as a writer, financial backer, and actor. in 1599 the company built the globe theatre on the south bank of the thames river, a large stage surrounded on three sides by the audience, and open to the sky. for the company shakespeare wrote the taming of the shrew, in which the author combines italian and english plot devices, the fantasy play a midsummer night' s dream, as well as the merchant of venice and much ado about nothing. on a request from queen elizabeth that he write a romantic story for falstaff, a character of the two historical plays of henry iv, shakespeare wrote the merry wives of windsor. other comedies from this period include as you like it and twelfth night .
one of the higher profile gay monarchs, so much so there was a 1991 film based on his little gay life, and he popped up in “braveheart” as a flamboyantly gay character. by all accounts was quite hot, but was not popular with his people (or his wife). there is lots about edward ii online about his gay affairs (including some really quite bizarre slash fiction) so feel free to google away. but he basically pissed off the whole of his country by dating this guy called piers gaveston, the 1st earl of cornwall –
a story that has never been proven states that william shakespeare wrote the merry wives of windsor in 1597 because queen elizabeth i asked him to do so. according to the story, the queen had enjoyed the character sir john falstaff in another of shakespeare' s plays (henry iv) and wanted to see a play about falstaff in love. the story goes on that shakespeare had only fourteen days to write this comedy .
would - be imitators of the two great collaborators have never ventured upon the recitative, as far as my memory serves me, which may have had as much to do with their want of success as the reason put forward by another eminent critic – namely, that
gilbert and sullivan seem to have occupied the whole territory of satirical comic opera .
the captures are tessa and gianetta, two previously anonymous contadine, who now take over the starring roles among the women. that will teach fiametta and vittoria to insist on fairness! the palmieris, still impartial, each offer to trade girls, if the other prefers. tessa and gianetta are quite scandalized, and say so. but they immediately proceed to
going from nikolai golovanov to nicolai malko is quite a shock as, temperamentally, the difference between the two is the difference between spicy borscht and cool, clear vodka. for a time, however, the two men were following similar paths. where golovanov was intensely subjective and free - spirited (and apparently not the strongest practitioner of orchestral discipline), malko was cool - headed and detail - oriented. (i was not surprised to read that yevgeny mravinsky was one of his pupils .) although malko' s interpretations are relatively free from exaggerated subjectivity, they are rescued from blandness by his concern for color and rhythmic accuracy. quality playing is never forsaken in favor of breathtakingly fast tempos .
although the merry wives of windsor has not received as much critical analysis as other shakespearean plays, it was very popular in its time, maybe not just because it made its audiences laugh but also because it was one of the few plays that felt at home with the elizabethan patrons. this play remains the only comedy that is completely set in the england of shakespeare' s time and depicts the family lifestyle of ordinary citizens .
plays or whether the second was only conceived in response to the popularity of the first part. there' s no way to know for certain, but the most reasonable explanation seems to be somewhere in between — he started with the intention of writing one play, realized that he had too much material, and then decided to divide it into two parts .
dido and aeneas an opera perform' d at mr. josias priest' s boarding school at chelsey by young gentlewomen. the words made by mr. nat. tate the music composed by mr. henry purcell dramatis personae dido belinda two women aeneas sorceress enchantresses spirit of the sorceress (mercury) dido' s train, aeneas' train, fairies, sailors overture
images of impotence and magic thus pervade merry wives to a greater extent than previously realized. they also display a causal connection. the play projects a masculine vision of any woman as a potential witch, or mother prat, because of her power to reject and / or deceive a man who desires her. this vision is dispelled when the wives use their female
craft
to support their husbands' power, metamorphosing deceit into merriment .
after the composition of the tempest, which many regard as an explicit farewell to art, shakespeare retired to stratford, returning to london to compose henry viii and the two noble kinsmen in 1613; neither of these plays seems to have fired his imagination. in 1616, at the age of 52, he was dead. his reputation grew quickly, and his work has continued to seem to each generation like its own most precious discovery. his value to his own age is suggested by the fact that two fellow actors performed the virtually unprecedented act in 1623 of gathering his plays together and publishing them in the folio edition. without their efforts, since shakespeare was apparently not interested in publication, many of the plays would not have survived .
the merry wives of windsor is not one of shakespeare' s most critically analyzed plays. although audiences in shakespeare' s times have been described as enjoying this comedy, critics over the years have tended to ignore it for the most part, calling it inferior to shakespeare' s other comedies. however, this comedy is unique in that it is the only one of shakespeare' s comedies set in england from the first scene to the last .
the theaters were closed because of plague (a bacteria - caused disease that spreads quickly and can cause death) during much of 1593 and 1594. at this time shakespeare wrote two narrative poems for the earl of southampton. both the seriocomic (both happy and sad) venus and adonis and the tragic rape of lucrece are based on the renaissance traditions of myth and symbolism .
shortly after 2 pm “the original jab jab” band presented vintage mass to the judges. two men and one little boy portrayed the jab molassie character, with the adults snapping their whips loudly and in rapid succession. a couple patrons who were walking along the side of the judges’ stand at the time had to stop because they were in the way of the jab molassie’s whips .
professor ronald hutton, university of bristol. ronald hutton took three degrees at cambridge and oxford, and was elected to an oxford fellowship before moving to bristol university where he is now professor of history. his books include: the triumph of the moon: a history of modern pagan witchcraft (oxford university press, 1999) the royalist war effort (1981), charles ii (1989) and the rise and fall of merry england (1994) .
two pearls of pianism: annie fischer in a sensitive, chamber - like and exceptionally poetic reading of the schumann piano concerto - one of her favourite pieces. leon fleisher, a few months before he was to lose the use of his right hand (recovering it only in old age), with beethoven' s second piano concerto in an inspirationally bright and crystal clear tone .
what intrigues me in this epic tale of british history is that shakespeare strips down to the bare essentials: the characters' journey and what makes them flawed human beings ,
says psf veteran director matt pfeiffer, who directed last season' s the two gentlemen of verona. shakespeare explores the humanity in the relationships on the battlefield, though all the actual fighting and bloodshed is offstage .
this triad has its psychological coordinates as well, and these are well brought out in shakespeare' s post - 1600 plays. for the old world, the sanctioned order now revealed as hollow, we have an old, narrowly defined, heroic masculine persona which is no longer viable or appropriate. for the new, predatory
order ,
we have an identity based on dependency on others (particularly women) in time: a tragic sense of being as subject to continual redefinition by untrustworthy mirrors. in the post - 1600 plays, these two options are often presented in the characters of the omnipotent superhero and the emasculated cuckold. the ideal mean, a secure masculine sexual identity dependent upon the possibility of intimacy without self - destruction, a successful sense of being with and through others, is depicted in the merry wives in the confident relationship of the pages .
and ask them who the flowers are for. the contadine tell them, adding that they have heard that the palmieris, finally ready to marry, are coming to select two of them as their brides. but the other gondoliers also love the girls; what, they ask, are they to do? wait and take whoever is left, as there will still be plenty to go around !
[ falstaff is ] baffled, duped, treated like dirty linen, beaten, burnt, pricked, mocked, insulted, and, worst of all, repentant and didactic. it is horrible. it is almost enough to convince one that shakespeare himself could sanction the parody of ophelia in the two noble kinsmen. but it no more touches the real falstaff than ophelia is degraded by that parody .
when the theaters were closed because of plague during much of 1593 - 1594, shakespeare looked to nondramatic poetry for his support and wrote two narrative masterpieces, the seriocomic venus and adonis and the tragic rape of lucrece, for a wealthy patron, the earl of southampton. both poems carry the sophisticated techniques of elizabethan narrative verse to their highest point, drawing on the resources of renaissance mythological and symbolic traditions .
the origin of this bouleversement of nature appears to be lost in the mists of antiquity, but in these days of reform it seems a pity that some enterprising manager does not try the effect of a change, the spectacle of two girls indulging in endearments being entirely opposed to all manly ideas as to the fitness of things, and as unwelcome as the fitness of some of the things worn by its exponents .
though the audience knows by now that ford is a fool, ford does not see this. it is page who is the fool in ford' s eyes. actually, ford calls page an
ass
because
he will trust his wife; he will not be jealous .
such a twisted mind ford has, as he calls out valiantly, as if he were holding a sword in hand and were about to charge at an enemy :
god be prais' d for my jealousy !
ford will use his weapon of jealousy to expose his wife, seek revenge on falstaff, and make page look like a fool. well, he will get two out of three, and that is not so bad. he will get his revenge on falstaff, in spite of himself. ford will do so, not by his merits but rather by the wits of his merry and faithful wife .
a final group of plays takes a turn in a new direction. pericles (1607), cymbeline (1609), the winter' s tale (1611), and the tempest (1611) have a unique power to move and are in the realm of the highest art. the tempest is the most popular and perhaps the finest of the group. in it prospero and his daughter are shipwrecked on an island inhabited by supernatural creatures. prospero rules the island with magic, but renounces (gives up) magic at the end. after the composition of the tempest shakespeare retired to stratford. he returned to london to compose henry viii and the two noble kinsmen in 1613. neither seems to have fired his imagination. he died in stratford - upon - avon on april 23, 1616, at the age of fifty - two .
. his proponents, the oxfordians, cited correspondences between events in his life and those in some of the plays, apparent similarities in the two men' s language, and oxford' s proven skills as a dramatist and poet. prominent among the many reasons to doubt de vere' s authorship is the fact that he died in 1604 and that some of shakespeare' s greatest works were written well after that date .
shakespeare' s work has continued to seem to each generation like its own most precious discovery. his value to his own age is suggested by the fact that two fellow actors performed the virtually unprecedented (never done before) act in 1623 of gathering his plays together and publishing them in the folio edition. without their efforts, since shakespeare was apparently not interested in publication, many of the plays would not have survived .
a 1977 feature story about bud in west hawaii today reads, “he took about six months to pull the band into good enough shape so that it could debut on kamehameha day in june. the band is unique in that it only plays music of the hawaiian royalty era, songs composed by or about members of the monarchy. however, before he could even start rehearsal, bud had to write down the songs, as many of them had never been recorded on paper. he would get people—one of them popular oldtimer charles k. l. davis—to sing a song and bud would write it down. he also had to dig through a lot of old books in which only the words of the songs were written and try to put two and two together. sometimes the tunes that were written were not recorded correctly, and nobody’s sure exactly how every note goes. ”
james' s inability to cope with reality -
born to be the sport of fortune
as he said - showed itself throughout. he confidently expected the irish to die for his attempt to rule in whitehall, not dublin. defeat at the boyne need not have been the end of it, but difficulty induced panic. as it transpired, james' s agenda for ireland was well illustrated by his 1692 instructions for guiding the prince of wales on statecraft, for it was to be completely subordinated to english culture and polity. james was typical of many british monarchs in being held in thrall by his english kingdom without really understanding it - and without even want - ing to understand scotland and ireland .
shakespeare produced many plays for the company. they include the comedies the taming of the shrew (1594) about the taming of an ill - tempered, scolding woman and a midsummer night' s dream (1595), in which fairies and magic potions in moonlit woods become entangled with young lovers who escape from a cruel society. these were followed by the merchant of venice (1596), much ado about nothing (1598), the merry wives of windsor (1599), and as you like it (1600) .
the comic ending, when it destroys the men' s fantasies of adultery and betrayal, cancels the sinister associations of female magic. the wives' trick on the would - be cuckolder restores potency to the husband, ford, who, in the last lines of the play boasts to falstaff ,
to master [ brook ] you yet shall hold your word, / for he to - night shall lie with mistress ford
( v. v. 244 - 45). like the merry wives, anne page uses her magical power of feminine deceit to render the unworthy suitors impotent and to ratify the power of her husband, fenton, who defends her because her trickery serves marriage :
th' offense is holy that she hath committed, / and this deceit loses the name of craft
( v. v. 225 - 26). the word
craft
combines both the meaning of
trick
and its older meaning of
witchcraft
to emphasize the magical quality of anne' s female power, now, like the power of the merry wives, tamed to the uses of marriage.
two merry monarchs is an edwardian musical comedy in two acts with a book by arthur anderson and george levy , lyrics by anderson and hartley carrick , and music by orlando morgan . it opened at the savoy theatre in london on 10 march 1910 , under the management of c. h. workman , and ran there for 43 performances . it starred workman , robert whyte jr. , lennox pawle , daisy le hay and roland cunningham . the work was the last piece that could be considered a savoy opera . there was a brief transfer to the strand theatre in london , which ran for an additional six performances , from 30 april to 6 may 1910 , and a provincial tour in the late summer of 1910 , both starring hayden coffin . another tour was given in the spring of 1911 . the score is apparently lost , and the comedy was not subsequently revived . 
two merry monarchs is an edwardian musical comedy in two acts with a book by arthur anderson and george levy, lyrics by anderson and hartley carrick, and music by orlando morgan. it opened at the savoy theatre in london on 10 march 1910, under the management of c. h. workman, and ran there for 43 performances. it starred workman, robert whyte jr., lennox pawle, daisy le hay and roland cunningham. the work was the last piece that could be considered a savoy opera. there was a brief transfer to the strand theatre in london, which ran for an additional six performances, from 30 april to 6 may 1910, and a provincial tour in the late summer of 1910, both starring hayden coffin. another tour was given in the spring of 1911. the score is apparently lost, and the comedy was not subsequently revived.
two merry monarchs is an edwardian musical comedy in two acts with a book by arthur anderson and george levy, lyrics by anderson and hartley carrick, and music by orlando morgan. it opened at the savoy theatre in london on 10 march 1910, under the management of c. h. workman, and ran there for 43 performances. it starred workman, robert whyte jr., lennox pawle, daisy le hay and roland cunningham. the work was the last piece that could be considered a savoy opera. there was a brief transfer to the strand theatre in london, which ran for an additional six performances, from 30 april to 6 may 1910, and a provincial tour in the late summer of 1910, both starring hayden coffin. another tour was given in the spring of 1911. the score is apparently lost, and the comedy was not subsequently revived.