The First Undoubted ‘Magic Flute’?

1974 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 106-114
Author(s):  
Trevor Fawcett

Which was the first reasonably complete and faithful performance of Die Zauberflöte in English?In common with other Mozart operas, and despite its unabated popularity on the Continent, Die Zauberflöte came late and haltingly to the English stage. The date of its introduction is somewhat problematic. Dennis Arundell has drawn attention to an advertisement in The Times of 29 March 1806. A comic opera, Adolf and Clara, was to be performed that evening at the German Theatre (or Sans Souci), Leicester Square: ‘After which, a Pantomime Dance: and, for the 1st time, a new Musical Piece, by Mozart, called The ENCHANTED FLUTE; and to conclude with the Optical Ballet.’ No more is known beyond the bald statement. The production was apparently in English, and admittedly there was music, but does it appear likely that this was a serious attempt at the whole work? Introduced into the programme as a mere afterpiece, sandwiched between other diversions, and so very modestly announced, it sounds at the best estimate a heavily truncated version. Indeed the probability is that the piece was got up hastily in order to capitalize on the interest aroused by the Haymarket's production of La clemenza di Tito two days earlier, that being the first time a Mozart opera had been performed in England.

Commissioned by the English East India Company to write about contemporary nineteenth-century Delhi, Mirza Sangin Beg walked around the city to capture its highly fascinating urban and suburban extravaganza. Laced with epigraphy and fascinating anecdotes, the city as ‘lived experience’ has an overwhelming presence in his work, Sair-ul Manazil. Sair-ul Manazil dominates the historiography of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century compositions on Delhi in Persian and Urdu, and remains unparalleled in its architecture and detailed content. It deals with the habitations of people, bazars, professions and professionals, places of worship and revelry, and issues of contestation. Over fifty typologies of structures and several institutions that find resonance in the Persian and Ottoman Empires can also be gleaned from Sair-ul Manazil. Interestingly, Beg made no attempt to ‘monumentalize’ buildings; instead, he explored them as spaces reflective of the sociocultural milieu of the times. Delhi in Transition is the first comprehensive English translation of Beg’s work, which was originally published in Persian. It is the only translation to compare the four known versions of Sair-ul Manazil, including the original manuscript located in Berlin, which is being consulted for the first time. It has an exhaustive introduction and extensive notes, along with the use of varied styles in the book to indicate the multiple sources of the text, contextualize Beg’s work for the reader and engage him with the debate concerning the different variants of this unique and eclectic work.


2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-542
Author(s):  
Christopher Korten

This article reveals for the first time how Catholic clerics survived financially during the Napoleonic period in Italy (1796–1814). Despite the very rich, 200-year historiography on one of the Church's most critical periods, there is almost nothing on how religious clerics coped at this time. Their institutions had been despoiled by the French, often in collaboration with locals, negating traditional forms of clerical income, such as alms or rental income from non-ecclesiastical properties. This caused clerics to search out unorthodox – at times, non-canonical – ways of eking out a living, either for themselves, their religious communities or both, as such distinctions were often blurred. Masses were monetized and traded; ecclesiastical paraphernalia composed of precious metals were smelted and commodified, and relics were sold for profit. The uncovering of these controversial acts by men who in normal times were upstanding reveals the desperation of the times and provides insight into the rich discussion on determining the degrees of separation (and overlap) between the sacred and profane.


1994 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moses Nathaniel Moore

In 1890 theBoston Heraldcarried the following review of an article entitled “Thoughts for the Times or The New Theology”: “A curiosity is a paper by a native African, Orishatukeh Faduma, on ‘Thoughts for the Times,’ by which he means the new theology. This is the first time that a criticof the new theology has turned up from the dark continent, and is a curious and significant paper. When a native can write like this on subjects in which he has been obliged to educate himself, it means that we are to say nothing more against the intelligence of the African race.” While correct in noting the historical significance of Faduma's efforts, the reviewer's condescension disclosed his failure to appreciate and understand the sophistication and depth of Faduma' theological analysis and agenda. Faduma's critique of elements of the New Theology did not entail his rejection of this controversial theological synthesis which emerged during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Rather, his comments on religion and science, the historicalcritical method, comparative religion, missiology, the historical development of Christianity, and Christian ethics reveal that he essentially shared the theological orientation of its formulators.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (33) ◽  
pp. 229-270
Author(s):  
Dmitri Starostin

This article suggests that the Carolingian effort in resetting the calendar of history at the time of Charlemagne’s coronation to the year 6000 from the Creation and 801 from the Incarnation of Christ must be considered as only one of the period in the cycle of the processes of realigning, resetting and redeploying the calendar since the times of Augustine. During this period, the calculations necessary for the construction of the calendars and timelines lead to concerns regarding the end of history and the “end of times”. The first time scholars like Jerome and Augustine had to address the ending of the calendar of the universal sacred history that the Christians inherited from the Old Testament was during the 4th and 5th centuries. The Carolingian period witnessed the second “time of reckoning” when Eusebius’ date for the Incarnation of the Anno Mundi 5199 prompted scholars to reconsider the meaning of the Carolingian rule around the year 801, that is, the Anno Mundi 6000.


1926 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
GERT BONNIER

1. The time of development at 25°C. up to the moment of pupation is found to be for females and males respectively 116.62 ± 0.19 and 116.78 ± 0.20 hours. During the pupal stage the two times are 111.36 ± 0.15 and 115.46 ± 0.13 hours. 2. At 30° C. the corresponding figures are (in the same order): 99.95 ± 0.49, 103.37 ± 0.43, 78±15 ± 0.50 and 84.26 ± 0.34 hours. 3. These figures show that there is a statistical significance in the differences of the times of development of the two sexes for both the periods at 30°C. but only for the pupal stage at 25° C. It is pointed out that the fact that the longer time of male development as compared with female development at 25° C. is confined to the pupal stage, may be correlated with the other fact that the essential parts of the secondary sexual characters are developed during this stage. 4. It is shown that there is a negative correlation between the pre-pupal and pupal times of development, indicating that the longer the first time is, the shorter is, as a rule, the other time and vice versa. 5. With the aid of statistical methods it is shown that the shortening of the time of development at 30°C. as compared with the time at 25° C. is much more pronounced for the pupal than for the pre-pupal stage. 6. This last fact is discussed and it is emphasised that the ordinary methods of studying the influence of temperature on development are too rough to be of more than of a descriptive value, the only way of getting a deeper insight into the processes of development by temperature studies being the separate studies of a number of short intervals.


Author(s):  
Mohammad Mahdi Abootorabi Zarchi ◽  
Mohammad Reza Razfar ◽  
Amir Abdullah

In recent years, various reasons for improvement of performance and efficiency in ultrasonic vibration–assisted machining processes have been reported, which were mostly descriptive and without sufficient analytical and empirical proofs. Among the different machining processes, the least amount of experimental data and analytical relations exist about ultrasonic-assisted milling. In this article, for the first time in ultrasonic-assisted milling, we have determined the times of tool–workpiece engagement and their separation from each other in each vibration cycle and then investigated the influence of vibration amplitude and cutting speed on tool–workpiece effective engagement in ultrasonic-assisted milling. Contrary to ultrasonic-assisted turning, cutting time in each vibration cycle in ultrasonic-assisted milling is different from each other. With the aid of comprehensive experiments at tool–workpiece engagement angles smaller than 90°, we have proved that the main reason for average cutting force decrease in ultrasonic-assisted milling compared with conventional milling is the separation of tool and workpiece that occurs in a portion of each vibration cycle, and other factors such as change of friction behavior have less importance. At investigated tool–workpiece engagement angles, experimental and analytical results agree with each other.


2019 ◽  
Vol 627 ◽  
pp. A2
Author(s):  
Gregor Rauw ◽  
Yaël Nazé ◽  
Fran Campos

Aims. The Cyg OB2 #5 system is thought to consist of a short-period (6.6 d) eclipsing massive binary orbited by an OB-star with a period of ~6.7 yr; these stars in turn are orbited by a distant early B-star with a period of thousands of years. However, while the inner binary has been studied many times, information is missing on the other stars, in particular the third star whose presence was indirectly postulated from recurrent modulations in the radio domain. Besides, to this date, the X-ray light curve could not be fully interpreted, for example in the framework of colliding-wind emission linked to one of the systems. Methods. We obtained new optical and X-ray observations of Cyg OB2 #5, which we combined to archival data. We performed a thorough and homogeneous investigation of all available data, notably revisiting the times of primary minimum in photometry. Results. In the X-ray domain, XMM-Newton provides scattered exposures over ~5000 d whilst Swift provides a nearly continuous monitoring for the last couple of years. Although the X-ray light curve reveals clear variability, no significant period can be found hence the high-energy emission cannot be explained solely in terms of colliding winds varying along either the short or intermediate orbits. The optical data reveal for the first time clear signs of reflex motion. The photometry indicates the presence of a 2366 d (i.e. 6.5 yr) period while the associated radial velocity changes are detected at the 3σ level in the systemic velocity of the He II λ 4686 emission line. With the revised period, the radio light curve is interpreted consistently in terms of a wind interaction between the inner binary and the tertiary star. From these optical and radio data, we derive constraints on the physical properties of the tertiary star and its orbit.


Author(s):  
Doyeeta Majumder

Taking up the discussion of the influence of Scottish political events on English drama, this chapter focuses on a play traditionally seen to be a dramatic commentary on the succession anxiety surrounding Mary Stuart’s presence in England. However, this chapter attempts to move beyond topical political references, in order to analyze Gorboduc as the transitional play that not only broaches the issue of usurpation for the first time on the English stage, but also depicts regicide at the hands of rebelling subjects, all the while making oblique but identifiable references to the threat of usurpation emanating from Scotland. The overlap between monarchical absolutism and tyranny underpins the action in this play. Invoking Ernst Kantorowicz’s theorization of the ‘king’s two bodies’ and Carl Schmitt’s theory of sovereignty as a critical framework, this chapter examines the way in which the play problematizes the relation of sovereign power to the person of the bearer, and thus problematizes the notion of monarchical absolutism itself.


1989 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 355-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. R. Gooneratne ◽  
B. Laarveld ◽  
R. K. Chaplin ◽  
D. A. Christensen

1. The relative importance of excretory routes in the removal of recently stored 67Cu following tetrathiomolybdate (TTM) administration was studied. Lambs fed on either 5 mg Cu/kg dry matter (DM) or 35 mg Cu/kg DM, were primed intravenously (iv) with 67Cu and challenged 27 h later with 99Mo-labelled TTM given either iv or intraduodenally (id). The profiles of 67Cu and 99Mo and of Cu and Mo in blood, bile, urine and faeces were measured.2. Level of dietary Cu and route of administration of 99Mo-TTM affected the amplitude of blood, bile and urine profiles of 67Cu and stable Cu, but not the pattern of the responses observed.3. The present study describes for the first time increased excretion of endogenous 67Cu through gastrointestinal secretions other than bile due to TTM administration.4. Administration of TTM resulted in the immediate release of 67Cu from storage compartments in the body into the blood circulation. Changes in stable Cu levels in blood, bile, urine and faeces, and gut and systemic effects were evident. Biliary and urinary Cu excretion due to TTM was rapid and maximal within 24 h of injection.5. Administration of 67Cu iv resulted in the immediate excretion of 67Cu in bile in a pulsatile, constant pattern. A similar pattern of 67Cu excretion into bile in synchrony with that of 99Mo was observed after 99Mo-labelled TTM administration.6. The similar pattern of biliary 67Cu excretion observed after injection of 67Cu and after injection of 99Mo-labelled TTM 27 h later is discussed in relation to the times required to process the Cu through different hepatic pathways for excretion in bile.


PMLA ◽  
1934 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 743-751
Author(s):  
Robert Withington

Buffoonery and rascality—the two outstanding qualities of the morality play “Vice”—led, under differing influences, to the Elizabethan clown and villain. In early Tudor times, “witty slave” and “parasite” came from the classical drama to an English stage which already knew a figure combining certain of their characteristics, and to an audience who recognized in them certain familiar features. The “Vice” was originally the agent or servant of the Seven Deadly Sins, and sought to entrap “Mankind”—by whatever name he was known—into the power of evil. In a sense, he was a kind of “parasite,” too, his reward depending on the success of his service, and he was the dynamic character in the old plays. Incidentally, he was also the source of much (if not all) the humor in the moralities, and was one of the first figures to reflect the life of the times in a drama which dealt chiefly with personified virtues and vices. He had, for obvious reasons, no virtue in his composition; but he was human, and his vitality gave him an attraction which has descended to some of the later representatives of this type.


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