January ❄️Bye

National Puzzle 🧩 Day

National Puzzle Day

National Puzzle Day is celebrated annually on January 29. 
Founded in 2002 by puzzle enthusiast Jodi Jill, the day honors all forms of brain exercises, including jigsaw puzzles, crosswords, Sudoku, word searches, and brain teasers. 

National Puzzle Day

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National Puzzle Day
Each year on January 29th, National Puzzle Day recognizes how exercising our brains with puzzles is just one of its many benefits.

National Puzzle Day
Whether it's a crossword, jigsaw, trivia, word searches, brain teasers or Sudoku, puzzles put our minds to work. Studies have found that when we work on a jigsaw puzzle, we use both sides of the brain.  And spending time daily working on puzzles improves memory, cognitive function, and problem-solving skills.

The bottom line is, puzzles stimulate the brain, keeping it active, and practicing its skills.

My Puzzles

https://www.jigsawplanet.com/PaulsPhoto

HOW TO OBSERVE NATIONAL PUZZLE DAY

• Invite a friend to put a puzzle together with you.
• Try a new puzzle game or revisit an old one.
• Create a puzzle game.
• Visit the National Day Calendar Classroom for numerous puzzles and projects.
• Use #NationalPuzzleDay to post on social media.
• Focus your mind on these 7 Puzzling Mysteries from History.

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This Puzzle Is Wild 😤
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https://youtube.com/shorts/MrHoNs4-dgo?si=_VHSyjYOLlkCRP8K
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NATIONAL PUZZLE DAY HISTORY

In 2002, Jodi Jill created National Puzzle Day as a way to share her enjoyment of puzzles. As a syndicated newspaper puzzle maker and professional quiz maker, Jodi Jill developed classroom lesson plans especially for the observance and the popularity has grown year after year.

 

Puzzle FAQ

Q. Can anyone participate in National Puzzle Day?

A. Yes. There are so many different kinds of puzzles that anyone can celebrate this day.

 

Q. When was the crossword puzzle first created?

A. Journalist Arthur Wynne from Liverpool receives credit as the inventor of the word game we know today. He created what is considered the first known published crossword puzzle. The puzzle appeared in the December 21, 1913, edition of the New York World newspaper.

Q. When was the first sudoku puzzle created?
A. An 18th-century mathematician from Switzerland developed a game called Latin Squares. In 1895, these puzzles were published in French newspapers. Today’s version of Sudoku, however, is much more modern. Howard Garns from Connersville, Indiana, created the game we play today. Garns is a freelance puzzle inventor, and he called the game Number Place. In 1979, Number Place first appeared in the magazine “Dell Pencil Puzzles and Word Games.”

Q. What image was on the first jigsaw puzzle?

A. A British cartographer and engraver by the name of John Spilsbury invented the jigsaw puzzle when he glued a world map to a piece of wood. He cut out each country separately.

https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-puzzle-day-january-29

   https://paulcpw.blogspot.com

  My Puzzles  https://www.jigsawplanet.com/PaulsPhoto

                          

Operetta 🎼 Opérette

Operetta 🎼 Opérette

Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the operetta is usually of a light and amusing character. The subject matter may portray "lovers' spats, mistaken identities, sudden reversals of fortune, and glittering parties". It sometimes also includes satirical commentaries.
"Operetta" is the Italian diminutive of "opera" and was used originally to describe a shorter, perhaps less ambitious work than an opera.  Operetta provides an alternative to operatic performances in an accessible form targeting a different audience. Operetta became a recognizable form in the mid-19th century in France, and its popularity led to the development of many national styles of operetta.  

Distinctive styles emerged across countries including Austria-Hungary, Germany, England, Spain, the Philippines, Mexico, Cuba, and the United States. Through the transfer of operetta among different countries, cultural cosmopolitanism emerged in the previous century. Operetta as a genre lost favor in the 1930s and gave way to modern musical theatre. Important operetta composers include Johann Strauss, Jacques Offenbach, Franz Lehár, and Francisco Alonso.

Operettas often feature exotic settings, romantic story lines, and memorable melodies. 
This video explains the difference between opera and operetta:
What Is The Difference Between An Opera And An Operetta? Classical Serenade  · Jan 22, 2025

Key Characteristics of Operetta:

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Light Opera:
It's a genre that sits between opera and musical theater, often described as "light opera". 
Spoken Dialogue:
Unlike full-fledged operas, operettas typically include spoken dialogue, making them more accessible to audiences. 
Musical Numbers:
Operettas feature songs and dances that advance the plot and provide opportunities for vocal display. 
Lighter Tone:
While some operettas may touch on serious themes, they are generally known for their lighter, more comedic or romantic storylines. 
Exotic Settings & Themes:
Many operettas are set in romantic or fanciful locations, often with historical or mythological elements. 
Popular in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries:
Operetta enjoyed widespread popularity, particularly in Europe and the United States, before gradually giving way to musical theater. 

Watch this Video to see Examples of Operettas:
StageAgent · Aug 20, 2024

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Examples of famous operettas:
    Die Fledermaus: by Johann Strauss II
    The Merry Widow: by Franz Lehár
    The Pirates of Penzance: by Gilbert and Sullivan
    The Mikado: by Gilbert and Sullivan
    The Student Prince: by Sigmund Romberg 
Operetta's legacy continues to influence musical theater today, with many shows drawing inspiration from its style and conventions. 

Music  🎼  Operetta

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History

Operetta became recognized as a musical genre around 1850 in Paris. In 1870, the centre for operetta shifted to Vienna when Paris fell to the Prussians. The form of operetta continued to evolve through the First World War.

There are some common characteristics among operettas that flourished from the mid-1850s through the early 1900s, beginning with the French opéra-bouffe.  They contain spoken dialogue interspersed between musical numbers, and often the principal characters, as well as the chorus, are called upon to dance, although the music is largely derived from 19th-century operatic styles, with an emphasis on singable melodies. Operetta in the twentieth century is more complex and reached its pinnacle in Austria and Germany.

Operetta is a precursor of the modern musical theatre or the "musical".  In the early decades of the 20th century, operetta continued to exist alongside the newer musicals, with each influencing the other. The distinctive traits of operetta are found in the musical theatre works of Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim.

Operetta in French

Origins

Operetta was first created in Paris, France in the middle of the 19th century in order to satisfy a need for short, light works in contrast to the full-length entertainment of the increasingly serious opéra comique. By this time, the "comique" part of the genre name had become misleading: Georges Bizet's Carmen (1875) is an example of an opéra comique with a tragic plot. The definition of "comique" meant something closer to "humanistic", meant to portray "real life" in a more realistic way, representing tragedy and comedy next to each other, as Shakespeare had done centuries earlier. With this new connotation, opéra comique had dominated the French operatic stage since the decline of tragédie lyrique. The origins of French operetta began when comic actors would perform dances and songs to crowds of people at fairs on open-air stages. In the beginning of the 18th century these actors began to perform comic parodies of known operas. These performances formed operetta as a casual genre derived from opéra comique, while returning to a simpler form of music. Many scholars have debated as to which composer should be credited as the inventor of operetta; Jaques Offenbach or Hervé.  It is concluded that Hervé completed the groundwork, and Offenbach refined and developed the art form into the concept of operetta as we know it today. Therefore, "Offenbach is considered the father of French operetta – but so is Hervé."

👉 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operetta

 

Operetta is a theatrical genre of light opera, typically featuring spoken dialogue, songs, and dances, often with a lighter, more humorous or romantic tone than traditional opera.

Here's information about some of the most famous operettas and their composers:

• Orpheus in the Underworld: Composed by Jacques Offenbach, this is considered by many to be the first true operetta. It premiered in 1858 and is a satirical take on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. It features the famous "Infernal Galop," often associated with the can-can dance. Offenbach is widely regarded as the father of French operetta.
• Die Fledermaus (The Bat): This operetta by Johann Strauss II, also known as the "Waltz King," debuted in 1874. It's a classic example of Viennese operetta and involves a story of mistaken identity, a masked ball, and a bat costume. It is frequently performed worldwide.
• The Merry Widow: Composed by Franz Lehár in 1905, this operetta revitalized Viennese operetta and remains one of the best-known works in the operetta repertoire. It is frequently performed in Germany. The Merry Widow incorporated elements of Russian, Slavic, and folk music into the traditional Viennese style.
• HMS Pinafore: A comic operetta by the English duo Gilbert and Sullivan, which debuted in 1878. It tells the story of the forbidden love between a sea captain's daughter and a lower-class sailor.
• The Mikado: Another popular work by Gilbert and Sullivan, this operetta satirizes the British government and society, using a Japanese setting.
• The Pirates of Penzance: This Gilbert and Sullivan operetta features a tangled plot about a young sailor, a gang of pirates, and the daughter of a Major General.
• The Student Prince: Composed by Sigmund Romberg, this operetta premiered in 1924 and is based on a German stage play.
• Babes in Toyland: This operetta by American composer Victor Herbert premiered in 1903 and includes popular songs like "Toyland". 

These are just a few examples of the many famous and beloved operettas that have graced the stage throughout history.

 

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Pergolesi 🎼Stabat Mater 🙏Talens Lyriques

🎼Pergolesi 🙏 Stabat Mater 🙏
Talens Lyriques

  

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Giovanni Batista Pergolesi
Stabat Mater
Les Talens Lyriques
Maria Espada soprano
Ann Hallenberg alto
Christophe Rousset harpsichord, organ, conductor

Recorded on  Oct. 5, 2013, at the Ambronay Festival at the Abbatiale (Ambronay, France). Broadcast live on www.medici.tv and available in free replay until April 3rd, 2014.

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Stabat mater, for soprano & alto 
Les Talens Lyriques
(Complete)

https://youtu.be/FjJ02agjjdo?si=YocDNQNui1bO8PUx

This (complete) performance of Pergolesi's "Stabat Mater" is from a concert given at Saint Denis on June 23rd 2009

Les Talens Lyriques conducted by Christophe Rousset. 

The soloists were Sabina Puertolas (Soprano) and Vivica Genaux (Mezzosoprano).

Note on the second piece of music in this video.

The 'encore' is the the 'Fac me' from Pasquale Cafaro's setting of the Stabat Mater. A complete performance of which has very kindly been uploaded by Raimondo di Sangro, you can hear it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpHhKF...

Giovanni Battista Draghi (Italian 4 January 1710 – 16 March 1736), best known as Pergolesi (Italian: [perɡoˈleːsi]) or Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, was an Italian composer, violinist and organist.

Biography

Born in Jesi in what is now the Province of Ancona (but was then the Papal States), he was commonly given the nickname "Pergolesi", a demonym indicating in Italian the residents of Pergola, Marche, the birthplace of his ancestors. He studied music in Iesi under a local musician, Francesco Santini, before going to Naples in 1725, where he studied under Gaetano Greco and Francesco Feo among others. He spent most of his brief life working for aristocratic patrons like the Colonna principe di Stigliano, and duca Marzio IV Maddaloni Carafa.

Pergolesi was one of the most important early composers of opera buffa (comic opera). His opera seria, Il prigionier superbo, contained the two act buffa intermezzo, La serva padrona (The Servant Mistress, 28 August 1733), which became a very popular work in its own right. When it was performed in Paris in 1752, it prompted the so-called Querelle des Bouffons ("quarrel of the comic actors") between supporters of serious French opera by the likes of Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau and supporters of new Italian comic opera. Pergolesi was held up as a model of the Italian style during this quarrel, which divided Paris's musical community for two years.

Among Pergolesi's other operatic works are his first opera La conversione e morte di San Guglielmo (1731), Lo frate 'nnamorato (The brother in love, 1732, to a text in the Neapolitan language), L'Olimpiade (31 January 1735) and Il Flaminio (1735). All his operas were premiered in Naples, apart from L'Olimpiade, which was first given in Rome.

Pergolesi also wrote sacred music, including a Mass in F and two Salve Regina settings. It is his Stabat Mater (1736), however, for soprano, alto, string orchestra and basso continuo, which is his best-known sacred work. It was commissioned by the Confraternità dei Cavalieri di San Luigi di Palazzo who presented an annual Good Friday meditation in honor of the Virgin Mary. Pergolesi's work replaced one composed by Alessandro Scarlatti only nine years before, but which was already perceived as "old-fashioned," so rapidly had public tastes changed.

While classical in scope, the opening section of the setting demonstrates Pergolesi's mastery of the Italian baroque durezze e ligature style, characterized by numerous suspensions over a faster, conjunct bassline. The work remained popular, becoming the most frequently printed work of the 18th century,^[1] and being arranged by a number of other composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach, who used it as the basis for his cantata Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden (Root out my sins, Highest One), BWV 1083.

Pergolesi wrote a number of secular instrumental works, including a violin sonata and a violin concerto. A considerable number of instrumental and sacred works once attributed to Pergolesi have since been shown to be misattributed. Much of Igor Stravinsky's ballet Pulcinella, which ostensibly reworks pieces by Pergolesi, is actually based on works by other composers, especially Domenico Gallo. The Concerti Armonici are now known to have been composed by Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer. Many colorful anecdotes related by Pergolesi's 19th-century biographer, Francesco Florimo, were later revealed as fabrication, though they furnished material for two nineteenth-century operas broadly based on Pergolesi's career.

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi died on March 16, 1736 at the age of 26 in Pozzuoli from tuberculosis and was buried at the Franciscan monastery one day later.

Pergolesi's works on screen

Pergolesi's Salve Regina is a highlighted performance in the movie Farinelli (1994), in which Farinelli also performs Stabat Mater Dolorosa in the only duet. The first and last parts of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater were used in the soundtrack of the movie Jésus de Montréal (1989); the third part ("Quis est homo") was used in the soundtrack of the movie Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997); the last part was also used in the movie Amadeus (1984) and in the movie The Mirror (1975) by Andrei Tarkovsky. The film Cactus (1986) by the Australian director Paul Cox also features Pergolesi's Stabat Mater on the soundtrack.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Battista_Pergolesi

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi: Stabat Mater Dolorosa
Certainly the somber beauty of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater for soprano, alto, and strings has a lot to do with its popularity. But it must be said that the story of the 26-year-old composer completing the work on his deathbed has always been too romantic for the public--or the music business--to resist. "The instant his death was known," wrote the famous 18th-century traveler Dr. Burney, "all Italy manifested an eager desire to hear and possess his productions." And so it's been ever since. In spite of the competition already on the market, it seems Decca just had to get its prize lyric soprano and hotshot young countertenor together to record the piece.

The result isn't bad as such: Barbara Bonney sings graciously and prettily, though with a sound better suited to Schumann or Strauss (for example, she lets her vibrato smudge the suspended dissonances that make the first movement so effective); Andreas Scholl gives a nicely judged, intelligent performance that would probably seem marvelous in another setting. But I can sense no spark at all: the whole recording feels as though it were made because Decca's marketing department thought it would be a good idea, not because the performers felt strongly about the music in any way. The two settings of the Salve Regina (one for each soloist; both share some material with the Stabat Mater) come off a bit better, but they aren't what you'd buy this disc for. Dedicated fans of Scholl and Bonney probably won't be (too) disappointed, but compared to the exemplary, elegant Gillian Fisher and Michael Chance or the thrilling, often surprising Concerto Italiano, this one is hard to recommend. --Matthew Westphal

 

Conductor: Diego Fasolis
Ensemble: I Barocchisti
Soprano Vocals: Julia Lezhneva
Counter- Tenor Vocals: Philippe Jaroussky
Composer: Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

 Pergolesi - Stabat Mater 
Philippe Jaroussky and Emöke Barath

https://youtu.be/P65oBJBdSXM?si=oUjHbDRhyDCoAnLI

From the Chapelle de la Trinité, Château de Fontainebleau,
13th-century Christian hymn to Mary "Stabat Mater" by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

Emöke Barath - soprano
Philippe Jaroussky - contratenor
ORFEO 55
Nathalie Stutzmann - conductor

0:00 Stabat Mater
3:19 "Stabat Mater Dolorosa"
7:15 "Cujus animam gementem"
8:51 "O quam tristis et afflicta"
11:17 "Quae moerebat et dolebat"
13:37 "Quis est homo"—"Pro peccatis suae gentis..."
16:23 "Vidit suum dulcem natum"
19:30 "Eja mater fons amoris"
21:31 "Fac ut ardeat cor meum"
24:13 "Sancta mater, istud agas"
29:42 "Fac ut portem Christi mortem"
33:03 "Inflammatus et accensus"
35:24 "Quando corpus morietur" — "Amen..."

Stabat Mater
Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Sta·bat Ma·ter  (stä′bät mä′tər, stăb′ăt mā′tər)
n.

1. A medieval Latin hymn on the sorrows of the Virgin Mary at the Crucifixion.
2. A musical setting for this hymn.
[From Medieval Latin Stābat Māter (dolōrōsa), the Mother was standing (full of sorrow), the first words of the hymn : Latin stābat, third person sing. imperfect tense of stāre, to stand + Medieval Latin Māter, Mother (of God).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Stabat Mater (ˈstɑːbæt ˈmɑːtə)
n
1. (Ecclesiastical Terms) RC Church a Latin hymn, probably of the 13th century, commemorating the sorrows of the Virgin Mary at the crucifixion and used in the Mass and various other services
2. (Ecclesiastical Terms) a musical setting of this hymn
[from the opening words, literally: the mother was standing]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003
Sta•bat Ma•ter (ˈstɑ bɑt ˈmɑ tɛr, ˈsteɪ bæt ˈmeɪ tər)
n.
1. a Latin hymn, composed in the 13th century, commemorating the sorrows of the Virgin Mary at the Cross.
2. a musical setting for this.
[literally, (His) mother was standing, the first words of the hymn]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Stabat Mater
A Latin phrase meaning the mother was standing, used to mean a Roman Catholic hymn that begins with these words.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

• About the composer

• About the Stabat Mater

About the composer

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710 - 1736) was born in Jesi, Italy. His name became knownt hanks to his comic opera La Serva Padrone. He was slightly handicapped and had a weak constitution. He probably died of tuberculosis. A lot of confusion exists about which works Pergolesi did or did not compose. As his work came more and more in demand, some publishers tried to make a little extra by taking an anonymous composition and attaching the name of Pergolesi to it. However, about the Stabat Mater there is no doubt. It is known that in his early years he composed a Stabat Mater in A minor.

Probably the Stabat Mater in C minor was Pergolesi's last composition. The commission for this work was given by the same Order in Naples for which Alessandro Scarlatti 20 years earlier had composed a Stabat Mater. Though the score of the compositions is almost identical, the melodic lines of Pergolesi are more sentimental and highly ornamented.The piece was widely acclaimed and it seems to have inspired many composers to imitate, paraphrase and adapt (see Brunetti, de Nardis and Paisiello). Joseph Eybler (1764 - 1846), who was a friend of Mozart and who became Court Kapellmeister in Vienna after Antonio Salieri, added a choir to replace some of the duets, and extended the orchestra. Others were John Adam Hiller/Johann Adam Hüller (1728 - 1804) and Alexy Fyodorovich L'vov (ca. 1830). The musical setting of Psalm 51 "Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden" of the great Johann Sebastian is another example.

A completely different, and very curious adaptation is by a group called "Ophelia's Dream" (see CD 8). It seems that this kind of music is described as "Gothic".
The Victor Alcántara Trio recorded an extended (one hour!) jazz improvisation , in which all parts of the Stabat Mater are used as starting points (See CD 9)and another interesting one is by Jazz musician Enrico Rava for string quartet, trumpet, accordion, guitar, bass and percussion (See CD 10).  
The well-known producer Frank Fitzpatrick, who also composed music for numerous movies, recently produced a CD in a kind of hip-hop style for the singer Sasha Lazard, with a Stabat Mater composition by him, based on Pergolesi (See CD 11).
Another quite different interpretation of the first part of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater can be found on a CD by "Le Quator" (See CD 12). This group is a string quartet, but they sing, too, playing all kinds of music, from Cole Porter to Mozart. Though they are a kind of musical clowns, their interpretation of the music comes close to being serious.

The soundtrack of the George Lukas movie "THX 1138" contains a small Stabat Mater, composed by Lalo Schifrin. It starts with a line from the first part of Pergolesi's work, but then develops into a gloomy orchestral work. It plays during the film titles. (See CD 13)
The first and last parts of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater have been used in the soundtrack of the movie "Jésus de Montréal"; the third part (Quis est homo) is used in the soundtrack of the movie "Smilla's Sense of Snow"; the last part is also used in the movie "Amadeus" and in the movie "Mirror" by Andrei Tarkovsky. 

The film "Cactus" by the Australian director Paul Cox is also said to have Pergolesi's Stabat Mater on the soundtrack, but I do not know what parts are used.

About the Stabat Mater
Date    1736
Performers  Soprano, alto, three violins, cello, organ
Length   41.44 minutes (CD 1), 41.30 minutes (CD 2), 37.27 minutes (CD 3), 40.03 minutes (CD 4), 34.58 minutes (CD 5), 39.38 minutes (CD 6), 33.12 (CD 7)

Particulars
The work is divided into twelve sections, varying from one to five stanzas. Very moving melodies, which led to some criticism because they were thought to be too cheerful. Interesting is the line "dum e-mi-sit" which is sung intermittently, as a musical picture of the last breaths of Jesus. This is found also with some other composers.
Some interpretations deviate from the composer's score, as a choir has been added to the two voices (see the second Colorbar, based on CD 2). This is probably based on the Eybler adaptation.

Textual variations
The "Analecta"-version of the text is used, with one change:
- Stanza 16, line 2: not "Passionis eius sortem" but "Passionis fac consortem"