text:
1861 in music

Events

 * February 18 – To celebrate the opening of the parliament of the new Italian nation at Turin, Giuseppe Verdi's opera La Favorita is performed in the Teatro Regio. Verdi himself is a deputy in the new parliament.
 * March 13 – Tannhäuser scandal in Paris.
 * November – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov is introduced by his teacher Feodor A. Kanille to Mily Balakirev. This completes the Russian Five. He begins his Symphony in E flat under Balakirev's guidance.
 * Tchaikovsky starts to attend RMS classes in music theory taught by Nikolai Zaremba at the Mikhailovsky Palace

Published popular music

 * "Abide With Me", w. Rev Henry Francis Lyte m. William Henry Monk (Words 1847)
 * "Alice, Where Art Thou?", w. Wellington Guernsey m. Joseph Ascher
 * "Aura Lea", w. W. W. Fosdick m. George R. Poulton
 * "The Bonnie Blue Flag", w. Mrs Annie Chambers Ketchum m. Harry Macarthy
 * "Eternal Father, Strong to Save", w. William Whiting m. Rev. John Bacchus Dykes
 * "Go Down, Moses", trad spiritual
 * "Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord God Almighty", w. Reginald Heber m. John Bacchus Dykes
 * "I'm Going Home to Dixie", w. Dan Emmett arr. C. S. Grafully
 * "John Brown's Body", w. anon m. William Steffe
 * "Maryland, My Maryland", w. James Ryder Randall m. Walter de Mapers (Music "Mini est Propositum" 12th century)
 * "The Privateer", w.m. anon ("Quien Sabé")
 * "The Vacant Chair", w. Henry S. Washburn m. George Frederick Root

Classical music

 * Peter Benoit
 * Fantaisie No.4, Op.20
 * Piano Sonata, Op.34, premiered March 21 by Angèle Tailhardat
 * Hoogmis, premiered July 21 in Brussels
 * Hermann Berens – 50 Piano Pieces for First Beginners, Op.70
 * Alexander Borodin – Piano Trio in D major
 * Johannes Brahms
 * Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel
 * Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op.23
 * Piano Quartet No.1, Op.25
 * Piano Quartet No.2, Op.26
 * Anton Bruckner
 * Afferentur regi, WAB 1
 * Am Grabe, WAB 2
 * Ave Maria, WAB 6
 * Du bist wie eine Blume, WAB 64, dated December 5
 * Fugue in D minor, WAB 125, dated November 8
 * Antonín Dvořák – String Quintet No. 1 in A minor, Op. 1
 * Hermann Goetz – Piano Concerto in E-flat
 * Edvard Grieg – 4 Songs, Op.2
 * Arthur Sullivan – The Tempest, premiered April 6 in Leipzig.
 * Thomas Dyke Acland Tellefsen
 * Marche triomphale, Op.29
 * Grande Valses, Op.30
 * Piano Trio, Op.31
 * Henri Vieuxtemps – Violin Concerto No. 5
 * Robert Volkmann
 * Ungarische Skizzen, Op.24
 * String Quartet No.6, Op.43

Opera

 * Daniel François Esprit Auber – La Circassienne, premiered February 2 in Paris
 * Ferenc Erkel – Bánk bán
 * Stanislaw Moniuszko – Verbum Nobile
 * Amilcare Ponchielli – La Savoiarda

Musical theater

 * Orpheus In The Underworld by Offenbach, New York production

Published Methods and Writings

 * John Curwen – How to Observe Harmony
 * John Hullah – The History of Modern Music
 * Carl von Ledebur – Tonkünstler-Lexicon Berlin's
 * Jean-Joseph Rodolphe – Solfège
 * Eugène Sauzay – Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven
 * Franz Xaver Schnyder von Wartensee – Aesthetische Betrachtungen über die Schöpfung

Births

 * February 1 – Emilio Pizzi, composer (died 1940)
 * February 21 – Pierre de Bréville, composer (d. 1949)
 * April 7 – Clara Novello Davies, singer, conductor and music teacher (d. 1943)
 * April 26 – Ferdinand Buescher, instrument manufacturer (d. 1937)
 * April 27 – Georgy Catoire, composer (died 1926)
 * May 10 – Francisco Cimadevilla González, guitarist and composer (d. 1931)
 * May 12 – Ivan Caryll, composer (died 1921)
 * May 19 – Nellie Melba, operatic soprano (d. 1931)
 * June 11 – Sigismund Zaremba, composer (d. 1915)
 * June 15 – Ernestine Schumann-Heink, operatic contralto (d. 1936)
 * June 17 – Sidney Jones, composer of musical comedies (d. 1946)
 * June 27 – Fanny Davies, pianist (d. 1934)
 * July 16 – Franz von Blon, composer (died 1945)
 * August 11 – Anton Arensky, pianist and composer (d. 1906)
 * August 19 – Sadie Martinot, actress and soprano singer (d. 1923)
 * September 7 – Thomas Whitney Surette, composer (died 1941)
 * November 3 – Thomas O'Brien Butler, composer (died 1915)
 * November 19 – Theodor Mannborg, organ maker (died 1930)
 * November 29 – Spyridon Samaras, Greek opera composer, who also set to music the Olympic Anthem (d. 1917)
 * November 30 – Ludwig Thuille, composer (died 1907)
 * December 5 – James Thornton, English-born US songwriter and vaudeville comedian (d. 1938)
 * December 18 – Lionel Monckton, composer of musical comedies (d. 1924)
 * date unknown
 * Camille D'elmar, opera singer (d. 1902)
 * Giuseppe Fiorini, musical instrument maker (d. 1934)
 * Ferdinand Ellsworth Olds, instrument manufacturer (d. 1928)

Deaths

 * January 17 – Lola Montez, dancer (b. 1821)
 * January 22 – Giovanni Velluti, castrato singer (b. 1780)
 * February 12 – Hippolyte André Jean Baptiste Chélard, conductor and composer (b. 1789)
 * February 20 – Eugène Scribe, librettist (b. 1791)
 * March 14 – Louis Niedermeyer, composer (b. 1802)
 * May 3 – Anthony Philip Heinrich, composer (b. 1781)
 * August 9 – Vincent Novello, composer and music publisher (b. 1781)
 * August 11 – Catherine Hayes, soprano (born c. 1818)
 * October 24 – Elisabeth Frösslind, opera singer (b. 1793)
 * December 14 – Heinrich Marschner, composer (b. 1795)
 * December 16 – Karol Lipiński, violinist and composer (b. 1790)
 * December 18 – Ernst Anschütz, organist, composer and poet (b. 1780)
 * December 25 – Natale Abbadia, composer (b. 1792)

title: 1861 in music


text:
ISO/IEC 14443

ISO/IEC 14443 Identification cards -- Contactless integrated circuit cards -- Proximity cards is an international standard that defines proximity cards used for identification, and the transmission protocols for communicating with it.

Standard
The standard is developed by ISO/IEC JTC 1 (Joint Technical Committee 1) / SC 17 (Subcommittee 17) / WG 8 (Working Group 8).

Parts

 * ISO/IEC 14443-1:2018 Part 1: Physical characteristic
 * ISO/IEC 14443-2:2020 Part 2: Radio frequency power and signal interface
 * ISO/IEC 14443-3:2018 Part 3: Initialization and anticollision
 * ISO/IEC 14443-4:2018 Part 4: Transmission protocol

Types
Cards may be Type A and Type B, both of which communicate via radio at 13.56 MHz (RFID HF). The main differences between these types concern modulation methods, coding schemes (Part 2) and protocol initialization procedures (Part 3). Both Type A and Type B cards use the same transmission protocol (described in Part 4). The transmission protocol specifies data block exchange and related mechanisms:
 * 1) data block chaining
 * 2) waiting time extension
 * 3) multi-activation

ISO/IEC 14443 uses following terms for components:
 * PCD: proximity coupling device (the card reader)
 * PICC: proximity integrated circuit card

Physical size
Part 1 of the standard specifies that the card shall be compliant with ISO/IEC 7810 or ISO/IEC 15457-1, or "an object of any other dimension".

Notable implementations

 * Ventra cards used in bus and trains
 * MIFARE cards (partial or full implementation, depending on product)
 * Biometric passports
 * EMV payment cards (PayPass, Visa payWave, ExpressPay)
 * National identity cards in the European Economic Area
 * Near Field Communication is based on in part, and is compatible with, ISO/IEC 14443
 * Calypso, open security standard for transit fare collection systems
 * CIPURSE, open security standard for transit fare collection systems
 * Nabaztag:tag uses z:tamp and nano:ztag ISO/IEC 14443 Type B.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: ISO/IEC 14443


text:
DL

DL, dL, or dl may stand for:

Electronics and computing

 * , an HTML element used for a definition list
 * Deep learning, a branch of algorithm-based machine learning
 * Description logics, a family of knowledge representation languages
 * Delete Line (ANSI), an ANSI X3.64 escape sequence
 * Digital library, a library in which collections are stored in digital formats
 * Diode logic, a logic family using diodes
 * DVD-R DL, a DVD Dual Layer engineering method
 * DL register, the low byte of an X86 16-bit DX register
 * Dynamic loading, a mechanism for a computer program to load a library

Telecommunications

 * Data link, a computer connection for transmitting data
 * Distribution list, a function of e-mail clients
 * Downlink, the link from a satellite to a ground station
 * Download, a transfer of electronic data

Vehicles

 * Subaru DL, an automobile
 * Australian National DL class, a class of diesel locomotives built by Clyde Engineering
 * New Zealand DL class locomotive, a diesel-electric class built by Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Company
 * Destroyer leader, a large naval vessel capable of leading a flotilla

Other uses in science and technology

 * Dimensionless quantity (dl, in lower case), the 'per unit' system of measurement
 * Decilitre (or deciliter, dL), a unit of measurement of capacity or volume
 * Discrete logarithms, in mathematics
 * Distance learning, Internet-based education
 * HPE ProLiant DL, density line servers
 * Dextrorotation and levorotation or D/L nomenclature, used in naming chemical compounds

Arts and entertainment

 * D.L. (play), a Bulgarian play
 * DL series, a series of adventures and some supplementary material for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role playing game
 * D. L. Hawkins, fictional character on the American television series Heroes
 * D. L. Hughley (born 1963), American actor and comedian
 * Directors Lounge, an ongoing Berlin-based film and media-art platform and/or its annual film festival
 * Dominant leittonwechselklänge

Business

 * Dai-ichi Life, an insurance company
 * Delta Air Lines (IATA airline code: DL)

Railroads

 * Delaware–Lackawanna Railroad in Pennsylvania, U.S.
 * District line, a London Underground line

Places

 * DL postcode area, Darlington, north-east England
 * County Donegal, Ireland
 * Delanggu railway station, a railway station in Indonesia (station code)
 * Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, US

Politics

 * Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy, a former political party in Italy
 * Drinking Liberally, a social organization that discusses politics in bars
 * Liberal Democracy (France) (Démocratie Libérale), a former political party in France
 * Rights and Freedom, a political party in Italy

Sports

 * Defensive lineman, an American/Canadian football player position
 * Disabled list, the former name of the injured list, a list of injured baseball players
 * Duckworth–Lewis method, a mathematical way to calculate the target score in cricket
 * Deadlift, a powerlifting move
 * Detroit Lions, a football team in the NFL

Other uses

 * Deputy Lieutenant, a British title
 * Diaper lover, a fetish
 * Dimension Lengthwise, an International standard size of an envelope (110mm × 220mm, holds ⅓ A4)
 * Doctor of Letters, a university degree
 * Down-low (disambiguation)
 * Driver's license, an official document which states that a person may operate a motorized vehicle
 * Number 550, in Roman numerals

title: DL


text:
Achromatic lens

An achromatic lens or achromat is a lens that is designed to limit the effects of chromatic and spherical aberration. Achromatic lenses are corrected to bring two wavelengths (typically red and blue) into focus on the same plane. Wavelengths in between these two then have better focus error than could be obtained with a simple lens.

The most common type of achromat is the achromatic doublet, which is composed of two individual lenses made from glasses with different amounts of dispersion. Typically, one element is a negative (concave) element made out of flint glass such as F2, which has relatively high dispersion, and the other is a positive (convex) element made of crown glass such as BK7, which has lower dispersion. The lens elements are mounted next to each other, often cemented together, and shaped so that the chromatic aberration of one is counterbalanced by that of the other.

In the most common type (shown), the positive power of the crown lens element is not quite equalled by the negative power of the flint lens element. Together they form a weak positive lens that will bring two different wavelengths of light to a common focus. Negative doublets, in which the negative-power element predominates, are also made.

History
Theoretical considerations of the feasibility of correcting chromatic aberration were debated in the 18th century following Newton's statement that such a correction was impossible (see History of the telescope). Credit for the invention of the first achromatic doublet is often given to an English barrister and amateur optician named Chester Moore Hall. Hall wished to keep his work on the achromatic lenses a secret and contracted the manufacture of the crown and flint lenses to two different opticians, Edward Scarlett and James Mann. They in turn sub-contracted the work to the same person, George Bass. He realized the two components were for the same client and, after fitting the two parts together, noted the achromatic properties. Hall used the achromatic lens to build the first achromatic telescope, but his invention did not become widely known at the time.

In the late 1750s, Bass mentioned Hall's lenses to John Dollond, who understood their potential and was able to reproduce their design. Dollond applied for and was granted a patent on the technology in 1758, which led to bitter fights with other opticians over the right to make and sell achromatic doublets.

Dollond's son Peter invented the apochromat, an improvement on the achromat, in 1763.

Types
Several different types of achromat have been devised. They differ in the shape of the included lens elements as well as in the optical properties of their glass (most notably in their optical dispersion or Abbe number).

In the following, $R$ denotes the radius of the spheres that define the optically relevant refracting lens surfaces. By convention, $R1$ denotes the first lens surface counted from the object. A doublet lens has four surfaces with radii $R1$ through $R2$. Surfaces with positive radii curve away from the object ($R1$ positive is a convex first surface); negative radii curve toward the object ($R1$ negative is a concave first surface).

The descriptions of the achromat lens designs mention advantages of designs that do not produce "ghost" images. Historically, this was indeed a driving concern for lens makers up to the 19th century and a primary criterion for early optical designs. However, in the mid 20th century, the development of advanced optical coatings for the most part has eliminated the issue of ghost images, and modern optical designs are preferred for other merits.

Littrow doublet
Uses an equiconvex crown glass lens (i.e. $R1 > 0$ with $−R1 = R2$ ) and a complementary-curved second flint glass lens (with $R3 = R2$ ). The back of the flint glass lens is flat ( $R4 = ∞$ ). A Littrow doublet can produce a ghost image between $R2$ and $R3$ because the lens surfaces of the two lenses have the same radii.

Fraunhofer doublet (Fraunhofer objective)
The first lens has positive refractive power, the second negative. $R1 > 0$ is set greater than $−R2$, and $R3$ is set close to, but not quite equal to, $−R2$. $R4$ is usually greater than $−R3$. In a Fraunhofer doublet, the dissimilar curvatures of $−R2$ and $R3$ are mounted close, but not quite in contact. This design yields more degrees of freedom (one more free radius, length of the air space) to correct for optical aberrations.

Clark doublet
Early Clark lenses follow the Fraunhofer design. After the late 1860s, they changed to the Littrow design, approximately equiconvex crown, $R_{1} = R_{2}$, and a flint with $R_{3} ≃ R_{2}$ and $R_{4} ≫ R_{3}$. By about 1880, Clark lenses had $R_{3}$ set slightly shorter than $R_{2}$ to create a focus mismatch between $R_{2}$ and $R_{3}$, thereby avoiding ghosting caused by reflections within the airspace.

Oil-spaced doublet
The use of oil between the crown and flint eliminates the effect of ghosting, particularly where $R2 ≈ R3$. It can also increase light transmission slightly and reduce the impact of errors in $R2$ and $R3$.

Steinheil doublet
The Steinheil doublet, devised by Carl August von Steinheil, is a flint-first doublet. In contrast to the Fraunhofer doublet, it has a negative lens first followed by a positive lens. It needs stronger curvature than the Fraunhofer doublet.

Dialyte
Dialyte lenses have a wide air space between the two elements. They were originally devised in the 19th century to allow much smaller flint glass elements down stream since flint glass was hard to produce and expensive. They are also lenses where the elements can not be cemented because $R2$ and $R3$ have different absolute values.

Design
The first-order design of an achromat involves choosing the overall power $$\ \frac{ 1 }{\ f_\mathsf{dblt}\ }\ $$ of the doublet and the two glasses to use. The choice of glass gives the mean refractive index, often written as $$n_d$$ (for the refractive index at the Fraunhofer "d" spectral line wavelength), and the Abbe number $$V$$ (for the reciprocal of the glass dispersion). To make the linear dispersion of the system zero, the system must satisfy the equations

 * $$\begin{align} \frac{ 1 }{\ f_1\ } + \frac{ 1 }{\ f_2\ } &= \frac{ 1 }{\ f_\mathsf{dblt}\ } \, \\

\frac{ 1 }{\ f_1\ V_1\ } + \frac{ 1 }{\ f_2\ V_2\ } &= 0 \ ; \end{align}$$

where the lens power is $$\ \frac{1}{\ f\ }\ $$ for a lens with focal length $$f$$. Solving these two equations for $$\ f_1\ $$ and $$\ f_2\ $$ gives

 * $$\frac{ f_1 }{\ f_\mathsf{dblt}\ } = \frac{ + V_1 - V_2\;}{ V_1 }\ $$ and $$\ \frac{ f_2 }{\ f_\mathsf{dblt}\ } = \frac{ - V_1 + V_2\;}{ V_2 } ~.$$

Since $$\ f_1 = - f_2\ \frac{\ V_2\ }{ V_1 }\ ,$$ and the Abbe numbers are positive-valued, the power of the second element in the doublet is negative when the first element is positive, and vice-versa.

Removing other aberrations
Optical aberrations other than just color are present in all lenses. For example, coma remains after spherical and chromatic aberrations are corrected. In order to correct other aberrations, the front and back curvatures of each of the two lenses remain free parameters, since the color correction design only prescribes the net focal length of each lens, $$\ f_1\ $$ and separately $$\ f_2 ~.$$ This leaves a continuum of different combinations of front and back lens curvatures for design tweaks ($$\ R_1\ $$ and $$\ R_2\ $$ for lens 1; and $$\ R_3\ $$ and $$\ R_4\ $$ for lens 2) that will all produce the same $$\ f_1\ $$ and $$\ f_2\ $$ required by the achromat design. Other adjustable lens parameters include the thickness of each lens and the space between the two, all constrained only by the two required focal lengths. Normally, the free parameters are adjusted to minimize non-color-related optical aberrations.

Further color correction
Lens designs more complex than achromatic can improve the precision of color images by bringing more wavelengths into exact focus, but require more expensive types of glass, and more careful shaping and spacing of the combination of simple lenses: In theory, the process can continue indefinitely: Compound lenses used in cameras typically have six or more simple lenses (e.g. double-Gauss lens); several of those lenses can be made with different types of glass, with slightly altered curvatures, in order to bring more colors into focus. The constraint is extra manufacturing cost, and diminishing returns of improved image for the effort.
 * apochromatic lenses: bring three wavelengths into a common focus and requires costly materials
 * superachromatic lenses: bring four wavelengths into focus and must be manufactured with even more expensive fluoride glass and to considerably tighter tolerances

title: Achromatic lens


text:
Talk:Fitness

of fitness. -- Tarquin

 * Why was the link to Fitness (sport) removed? --- Timo Honkasalo 15:20 Feb 27, 2003 (UTC)

Because Fitness (sport) is the page for an actual sport named "fitness". AFAIK, there is no such sport. The page for medical fitness would me medical fitness or fitness (medical) or fitness (health) -- Tarquin 15:22 Feb 27, 2003 (UTC)

 * A least in Finland where I live, there is a sport named "Fitness" and they have championship matches and stuff. Maybe it goes by some other name elsewhere, or maybe it's completely local phenomenon. I wouldn't be suprised, some other pretty weird sports have been invented here, like "Nordic walking".

Then I stand corrected! :-) Put the link back in and write an article to tell us about it! -- Tarquin 22:49 Feb 27, 2003 (UTC)

'''C'mon people we need more than this. So people try and say more''' —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.240.3.35 (talk) 17:45, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

title: Talk:Fitness


text:
Fasting

Fasting is abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see "Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after complete digestion and absorption of a meal. Metabolic changes in the fasting state begin after absorption of a meal (typically 3–5 hours after eating).

A diagnostic fast refers to prolonged fasting from 1 to 100 hours (depending on age) conducted under observation to facilitate the investigation of a health complication, usually hypoglycemia. Many people may also fast as part of a medical procedure or a check-up, such as preceding a colonoscopy or surgery, or before certain medical tests. Intermittent fasting is a technique sometimes used for weight loss that incorporates regular fasting into a person's dietary schedule. Fasting may also be part of a religious ritual, often associated with specific scheduled fast days, as determined by the religion, or by applied as a public demonstration for a given cause in a practice known as a hunger strike.

Health effects
Alternate-day fasting (alternating between a 24-hour "fast day" when the person eats less than 25% of usual energy needs, followed by a 24-hour non-fasting "feast day" period) has been shown to improve cardiovascular and metabolic biomarkers similarly to a calorie restriction diet in people who are overweight, obese or have metabolic syndrome.

A 2021 review found that moderate alternate-day fasting for two to six months was associated with reductions of body weight, body mass index, and cardiometabolic risk factors in overweight or obese adults.

Medical application
Fasting is almost always practiced prior to surgery or other procedures that require general anesthesia because of the risk of pulmonary aspiration of gastric contents after induction of anesthesia (i.e., vomiting and inhaling the vomit, causing life-threatening aspiration pneumonia). Additionally, certain medical tests, such as cholesterol testing (lipid panel) or certain blood glucose measurements require fasting for several hours so that a baseline can be established.

Mental health
In one review, fasting improved alertness, mood, and subjective feelings of well-being, possibly improving overall symptoms of depression, and boosting cognitive performance.

Weight loss
There is little evidence to suggest that intermittent fasting for periods shorter than 24 hours is effective for sustained weight loss in obese adults.

Longevity
There is no sound clinical evidence that fasting can promote longevity in humans.

Refeeding syndrome
Refeeding syndrome (RFS) is a metabolic disturbance which occurs as a result of reinstitution of nutrition in people and animals who are starved, severely malnourished, or metabolically stressed because of severe illness. When too much food or liquid nutrition supplement is eaten during the initial four to seven days following a malnutrition event, the production of glycogen, fat and protein in cells may cause low serum concentrations of potassium, magnesium and phosphate. The electrolyte imbalance may cause neurologic, pulmonary, cardiac, neuromuscular, and hematologic symptoms—many of which, if severe enough, may result in death.

Refeeding syndrome can occur when someone does not eat for several days at a time usually beginning after 4–5 days with no food.

Other effects
It has been argued that fasting makes one more appreciative of food,  and possibly drink.

Political application
Fasting is often used to make a political statement, to protest, or to bring awareness to a cause. A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt, or to achieve a goal such as a policy change. A spiritual fast incorporates personal spiritual beliefs with the desire to express personal principles, sometimes in the context of social injustice.

The political leader Gandhi undertook several long fasts as political and social protests. Gandhi's fasts had a significant impact on the British Raj and the Indian population generally.

In Northern Ireland in 1981, a prisoner, Bobby Sands, was part of the 1981 Irish hunger strike, protesting for better rights in prison. Sands had just been elected to the British Parliament and died after 66 days of not eating. 100,000 people attended his funeral, and the strike ended only after nine other men died. In all, ten men survived without food for 46 to 73 days.

The American civil rights activist César Chávez undertook several spiritual fasts, including a 25-day fast in 1968 promoting the principle of nonviolence and a fast of 'thanksgiving and hope' to prepare for pre-arranged civil disobedience by farm workers. Chávez regarded a spiritual fast as "a personal spiritual transformation". Other progressive campaigns have adopted the tactic.

Religious views
Fasting is practiced in various religions, and details of fasting practices differ.

Yom Kippur, Tisha B'av, Fast of Esther, Tzom Gedalia, the Seventeenth of Tamuz, the Tenth of Tevet, and Fast of the Firstborn are examples of fasting in Judaism. Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av are 25 hour fasts in which observers abstain from consuming any food or liquid from sunset until nightfall the next day and include other restrictions. The fasts of Esther, Gedalia, Tamuz, and Tevet all last from dawn until nightfall and therefore length varies depending on the time of the year. The Fast of the Firstborn is not biblically mandated and can therefore be ended early in the case of a seudat mitzvah.

Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan each year. The fast includes refraining from consuming any food or liquid from dawn until sunset. It is a religious obligation for all Muslims unless they are children or are physically unable to fast.

Lent is a common period of fasting in Christianity. Eastern Orthodox Christians fast during specified fasting seasons of the year, which include not only the better-known Great Lent, but also fasts on every Wednesday and Friday (except on special holidays), together with extended fasting periods before Christmas (the Nativity Fast), after Easter (the Apostles Fast) and in early August (the Dormition Fast).

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) generally abstain from food and drink for two consecutive meals in a 24-hour period on the first Sunday of each month and use the money they save for charity.

Fasting is a feature of ascetic traditions in religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.

Mahayana traditions that follow the Brahma's Net Sutra may recommend that the laity fast "during the six days of fasting each month and the three months of fasting each year".

Members of the Baháʼí Faith observe a Nineteen Day Fast from sunrise to sunset during March each year.

In alternative medicine
Although practitioners of alternative medicine promote "cleansing the body" through fasting, the concept of "detoxification“ is marketing myth with few scientific basis for its rationale or efficacy.

During the early 20th century, fasting was promoted by alternative health writers such as Hereward Carrington, Edward H. Dewey, Bernarr Macfadden, Frank McCoy, Edward Earle Purinton, Upton Sinclair and Wallace Wattles. All of these writers were either involved in the natural hygiene or new thought movement. Arnold Ehret's pseudoscientific Mucusless Diet Healing System espoused fasting.

Linda Hazzard, a notable quack doctor, put her patients on such strict fasts that some of them died of starvation. She was responsible for the death of more than 40 patients under her care.

In 1911, Upton Sinclair authored The Fasting Cure, which made sensational claims of fasting curing practically all diseases, including cancer, syphilis, and tuberculosis. Sinclair has been described as "the most credulous of faddists" and his book is considered an example of quackery. In 1932, physician Morris Fishbein listed fasting as a fad diet and commented that "prolonged fasting is never necessary and invariably does harm".

Types of Fasting

 * Tenth of Tevet
 * Autophagy
 * Seventeenth of Tamuz
 * Fast of Gedalia
 * Fast of Esther
 * Tisha B'Av
 * Yom Kippur
 * Intermittent fasting
 * Water Fasting
 * Fast of the Firstborn
 * Ramadan
 * Lent
 * Nativity Fast
 * Apostles Fast
 * Dormition Fast
 * Great Lent
 * Fasting in Buddhism
 * Nineteen Day Fast
 * Daniel Fast
 * Juice fasting
 * Black Fast
 * Fasting in Jainism
 * Sallekhana
 * Inedia

title: Fasting


text:
Oberbergischer Kreis

The Oberbergischer Kreis is a Kreis (district) in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Ennepe-Ruhr, Märkischer Kreis, Olpe, Altenkirchen, Rhein-Sieg, Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, and the urban districts Remscheid and Wuppertal.

Name
The district was named after the region known as Bergisches Land, which belonged to the County of Berg for most of the medieval era. What is called Oberbergisch ('upper Bergian') lies in the southeast of that earldom. By 1740, descriptions of the area distinguished between Niederbergisch, which was north of the river Wupper, and Oberbergisch to its south.

In 1816, after the entire Rhineland was annexed to Prussia, the districts of Waldbröl, Homburg, Gimborn, Wipperfürth, and Lennep were created within the area now covered by the district. In 1825 the districts Gimborn and Homburg were merged into the district Gummersbach. In 1932 it was merged with the district of Waldbröl, and the region became known as Oberbergischer Kreis. The restructuring of 1969/75 created the current boundaries of the district.

Geography
The Oberbergischer Kreis covers the hills west of the Sauerland and north of the Westerwald. It constitutes the eastern part of the Bergisches Land nature reserve. Situated at an altitude of 100–520 meters above sea level, it is rich in wood and water (numbering ten artificial lakes) and thus a recreational area for citizens from Cologne, the Ruhr area and the Netherlands.

The prevailing rock is greywacke, which was and in places still is mined in large stone quarries.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms is a combination of the heraldic signs of the territories the district belonged to. The red-white bar in the top symbolizes the County of Mark and the lion that of Berg. Homburg Castle (near Nümbrecht) was the seat of the Princes of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg.

Nazi Era
Robert Ley, a Nazi politician who helped organize the recruitment of slave labor during World War II, and published an anti-Semitic newspaper, the Westdeutscher Beobachter, was born in Niederbreidenbach, a town in Oberbergischer Kreis.

District Administrator

 * 1945-1951: August Dresbach, CDU
 * 1951-1952: Fritz Eschmann, SPD
 * 1952-1956: Wilhelm Henn, CDU
 * 1956-1961: Fritz Eschmann, SPD
 * 1961-1964: Reinhard Kaufmann, CDU
 * 1964-1969: Heinrich Schild, CDU
 * 1969-1989: Hans Wichelhaus, CDU
 * 1989-1994: Hans-Leo Kausemann, CDU
 * 1994-1999: Herbert Heidtman, SPD

Since the October 1st, 1999 there is only one (directly elected) District Administrator who at the same time is head of management:

 * 1999-2004: Hans-Leo Kausemann, CDU
 * 2004-2015: Hagen Jobi, CDU
 * 2015-today: Jochen Hagt, CDU

District Administrator for the management

 * 1946-1979: Friedrich-Wilhelm Goldenbogen, CDU
 * 1979-1987: Dieter Fuchs, CDU
 * 1987-1994: Gert Ammermann, CDU
 * 1995-1999: Heribert Rohr, SPD

Economy
The district's economy is marked by small and middle-sized industry, particularly in the areas of plastic and metal processing.

Places of interest

 * The so-called "colored churches" (with medieval wall and cover paintings) are known nationally
 * Stalactite cave in Wiehl
 * Rhenish industry museum in Engelskirchen
 * House Dahl
 * Open-air museum in Lindlar
 * Gimborn Castle
 * Homburg Castle
 * Hückeswagen Castle and the historical part of Hückeswagen
 * Ehreshoven Castle
 * Denklingen Castle

title: Oberbergischer Kreis


text:
Offenbach

Offenbach may refer to:

Places

 * Offenbach am Main, a city in Hesse, Germany
 * Kickers Offenbach, football club
 * VfB 1900 Offenbach, football club
 * Offenbach (district), a kreis in Hesse, Germany
 * Offenbach an der Queich, a municipality in Südliche Weinstraße, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
 * Offenbach an der Queich (Verbandsgemeinde), the collective municipality surrounding the town above
 * Offenbach-Hundheim, a municipality in Kusel, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

People

 * Jacques Offenbach (1819–1880), German-born French composer, cellist and impresario
 * Isabella Offenbach Maas (1817–1891), Opera singer, pianist and sister of Jacques Offenbach
 * John Louis of Isenburg-Offenbach (fl. 1635–1685), German aristocrat

Other uses

 * Offenbach (band), Quebec rock band
 * 10820 Offenbach, a main-belt asteroid
 * Offenbach Archival Depot, a post World War II document collection facility
 * A typeface created by Rudolf Koch

title: Offenbach


text:
Y Wladfa

Y Wladfa (, 'The Colony'), also occasionally Y Wladychfa Gymreig (, 'The Welsh Settlement'), refers to the establishment of settlements by Welsh colonists and immigrants in the Argentine Patagonia, beginning in 1865, mainly along the coast of the lower Chubut Valley. In 1881, the area became part of the Chubut National Territory of Argentina which, in 1955, became Chubut Province. In the 19th and early 20th century, the Argentine government encouraged emigration from Europe to populate Argentina and south Patagonia particularly, which until the Conquest of the Desert had sparsely rural and coastal settlements. Indigenous peoples of Patagonia include the Tehuelche and the Yahgan.

Between 1856 and 1875, 34 settlements of immigrants of various nationalities were established in Santa Fe and Entre Ríos. In addition to the main colony in Chubut, a smaller colony was set up in Santa Fe by 44 Welsh people who left Chubut, and another group settled at Coronel Suárez in southern Buenos Aires Province.

The Welsh-Argentine community is centred on Gaiman, Dolavon, Trelew, and Trevelin. There are 70,000 Welsh-Patagonians. However, Chubut estimates the number of Patagonian Welsh speakers to be about 1,500, while other estimates put the number at 5,000.

First settlers 1865

The idea of a Welsh colony in Patagonia was put forward by Michael D. Jones, a Welsh nationalist nonconformist preacher based in Bala, Gwynedd, who had called for a new "little Wales beyond Wales". He spent some years in the United States, where he observed that Welsh immigrants assimilated very quickly compared with other peoples and often lost much of their Welsh identity. Thus, the original proposal was to establish a new Wales overseas where Welsh settlers and their culture would be generally free from foreign domination. He proposed setting up a Welsh-speaking colony away from the influence of the English language. He recruited settlers and provided financing; Australia, New Zealand and even Palestine were considered, but Patagonia was chosen for its isolation and the Argentines' offer of 100 mi2 of land along the Chubut River in exchange for settling the still-unconquered land of Patagonia for Argentina. Patagonia, including the Chubut Valley, was claimed by Buenos Aires but it had little control over the area (which was also claimed by Chile). Jones had been corresponding with the Argentine government about settling an area known as Bahía Blanca where Welsh immigrants could preserve their language and culture. The Argentine government granted the request as it put them in control of a large tract of land. A Welsh immigration committee met in Liverpool and published a handbook, Llawlyfr y Wladfa, to publicize the scheme to form a Welsh colony in Patagonia which was distributed throughout Wales.

Towards the end of 1862, Captain Love Jones-Parry and Lewis Jones (after whom Trelew was named) left for Patagonia to decide whether it was a suitable area for Welsh emigrants. They first visited Buenos Aires where they held discussions with the Interior Minister Guillermo Rawson then, having come to an agreement, headed south. They reached Patagonia in a small ship named the Candelaria, and were driven by a storm into a bay which they named Porth Madryn, after Jones-Parry's estate in Wales. The town that grew near the spot where they landed is now named Puerto Madryn. On their return to Wales they declared the area to be very suitable for colonization.

On 28 July 1865, 153 Welsh settlers arrived aboard tea clipper Mimosa. The Mimosa settlers, including tailors, cobblers, carpenters, brickmakers, and miners, comprised 56 married adults, 33 single or widowed men, 12 single women (usually sisters or servants of married immigrants), and 52 children; the majority (92) were from the South Wales Coalfield and English urban centres. There were few farmers. This was rather unfortunate, particularly when they discovered that the attractions of the area had been oversold and they had landed in an arid semi-desert with little food; they had been told that the area was like lowland Wales. At the coast there was little drinking water, and the group embarked on a walk across the parched plain with a single wheelbarrow to carry their belongings. Some died and a baby, Mary Humphries, was born on the march. John Williams was the only colonist with any form of rudimentary medical skill. So disheartened were some settlers, they requested that the British Government settle them on the Falkland Islands. However, this request was ignored.

Once they reached the valley of the Chubut River, their first settlement was a small fortress on the site which later became the town of Rawson, now the capital of Chubut Province. This was referred to as Yr Hen Amddiffynfa ('The Old Fortress'). The first houses, constructed from earth, were washed away by a flash flood in 1865, and new houses of superior quality were built to replace them. The floods also washed away crops of potatoes and maize. The rainfall in the area was much less than the colonists had been led to expect, leading to crop failures.

Consolidation 1866–1888
The settlers first made contact with the local Tehuelche people almost a year after their arrival. After some difficult early years of suspicion and some violence, the Tehuelche people established cordial relationships with the Welsh and helped the settlement survive the early food shortages. The settlers, led by Aaron Jenkins (whose wife Rachel was the first to bring up the idea of systematic use of irrigation canals), soon established Argentina's first irrigation system based on the Chubut River (in Welsh, Afon Camwy, 'winding river'), irrigating an area three or four miles (five or six km) to each side of the 50 mile long stretch of river and creating Argentina's most fertile wheatlands. By 1885, wheat production had reached 6,000 tons, with wheat produced by the colony winning the gold medal at international expositions at Paris and Chicago.

The mouth of the Chubut River was difficult to navigate, being shallow and with shifting sandbanks, and it was decided that a railway was required to connect the Lower Chubut valley to Puerto Madryn (originally Porth Madryn) on the Golfo Nuevo on the southern side of the Valdes Peninsula. Lewis Jones was the driving force, and in 1884 the Argentine Congress authorized the construction of the Central Chubut Railway by Lewis Jones y Cía. Raising funds for the project locally proved difficult, so Lewis Jones went to the United Kingdom to seek funds, where he enlisted the assistance of Asahel P. Bell, an engineer. Work on the railway began in 1886, helped by the arrival of another 465 Welsh settlers on the steamer Vesta. The town that grew at the railhead was named Trelew (Town of Llew) in honour of Lewis Jones. The town grew rapidly and in 1888 became the headquarters of the Compañía Mercantil del Chubut (Chubut Trading Company). Initially the settlers were largely self-governing, with all men and women of 18 years of age or over having the right to vote.

In January 1868, the first newspaper of the colony, Y Brut (The Chronicle), appeared; Ein Breiniad (Our Privilege) followed in 1878. Both were short-lived, only six issues of each title being circulated. Lewis Jones established Y Dravod (The Discussion) in 1891, and this had greater longevity: a weekly issue was produced until 1961.

Expansion towards the Andes 1885–1902
By the mid-1880s most of the good agricultural land in the Lower Chubut valley had been claimed, and the colonists mounted a number of expeditions to explore other parts of Patagonia to seek more cultivable land. In 1885, the Welsh asked the governor of Chubut Province, Luis Jorge Fontana, for permission to arrange an expedition to explore the Andean part of Chubut. Fontana decided to accompany the expedition in person. By the end of November 1885 they had reached a fertile area which the Welsh named Cwm Hyfryd (Pleasant Valley). By 1888, this site at the foot of the Andes had become another Welsh settlement, named in Spanish Colonia 16 de Octubre. As the population grew here, the towns of Esquel and Trevelin were founded.

In 1893, a Welsh-language newspaper called Y Drafod (The Conversation) was founded by Lewis Jones to promote Welshness in Y Wladfa.

This area became the subject of the Cordillera of the Andes Boundary Case 1902 between Argentina and Chile. Initially the border was defined by a line connecting the highest peaks in the area, but it later became clear that this line was not the same as the line separating the watersheds, with some of the rivers in the area flowing westwards. Argentina and Chile agreed that the United Kingdom should act as arbitrator, and the views of the Welsh settlers were canvassed. In 1902, despite an offer of a league of land per family from Chile, they voted to remain in Argentina.

Setbacks in the Lower Chubut Valley 1899–1915
Serious damage was caused by floods in the 1890s and 1900s, which devastated Rawson and to a lesser extent Gaiman, though Trelew was not affected. There was also disagreement between the settlers and the government of Argentina, which introduced conscription and insisted on males of military age drilling on Sundays. This ran counter to the Sabbatarian principles of the settlers and caused much ill-feeling, though the matter was eventually resolved by the intervention of the president of Argentina, Julio Argentino Roca. These factors, and a lack of unclaimed farmable land, caused 234 people to leave for Liverpool aboard the Orissa on 14 May 1902, with 208 of them subsequently travelling to Canada, arriving at Saltcoats, Saskatchewan, in late June, although some of these families later returned to Chubut and later migrated to Australia. Some other settlers moved to Río Negro Province in Argentina. Many of those who left Chubut were late arrivals who had failed to obtain land of their own, and they were replaced by more immigrants from Wales. By the end of the 19th century there were some 4,000 people of Welsh descent living in Chubut. The last substantial migration from Wales took place shortly before World War I, which put a halt to further immigration. Approximately 1,000 Welsh immigrants arrived in Patagonia between 1886 and 1911; on the basis of this and other statistics, Glyn Williams estimated that perhaps no more than 2,300 Welsh people ever migrated directly to Patagonia.

Later development

Immigration to the area after 1914 was mainly from Italy and other southern European countries. Welsh became a minority language. The creation of a cooperative, the Cwmni Masnachol Camwy (Compañía Mercantil de Chubut), was important. The Society traded on the settlers' behalf in Buenos Aires and acted as a bank with 14 branches. The cooperative society collapsed in the Great Depression of the 1930s. The construction of a dam on the Rio Chubut 120 km west of Trelew, inaugurated on 19 April 1963, removed the risk of flooding in the Lower Chubut Valley.

The Welsh have left their mark on the landscape, with windmills and chapels across the province, including the distinctive wood and corrugated zinc Capel Salem and Trelew's Salon San David. Many settlements along the valley bear Welsh names.

During the British Government's repatriation of the 11,313 Argentine POWs taken during the 1982 Falklands War, Welsh-speaking British merchant seamen and British soldiers from the Welsh Guards were shocked to find themselves addressed in Patagonian Welsh by an Argentine POW who was on the way home to Puerto Madryn. Over the years since, close ties between Wales and Y Wladfa have been reestablished.

A 2001 BBC article described in detail the recent visit to Chubut Province by Archdruid and 30 members of the Gorsedd Cymru in order to revive the Gorsedd Y Wladfa in a ceremony held in a specially constructed stone circle near Gaiman.

Every year, the Eisteddfod festival takes place in the town of Trevelin. BBC reporters attended the 2001 Eisteddfod del Chubut at Trelew and watched as the Bardic Chair was awarded for the first time in Y Wladfa to a female poet: Gaiman hotel owner Monica Jones de Jones, for an Awdl on the subject of Rhyddid ("Freedom"). The article's author continued, "The Patagonia Eisteddfod itself, while sharing those elements common to Eisteddfodau in Wales itself, nonetheless is, in other respects, quite a different affair. As well as haunting Welsh folk tunes, and recitations in the unique Spanish-accented Welsh of the Patagonians, there are also rousing displays of Argentine folk dancing which owe everything to the culture of the gauchos and nothing to the somewhat tamer dance routines of the Welsh homeland."

Current Eisteddfod competitions are bilingual, in both Patagonian Welsh and Argentine Spanish, and include poetry, prose, literary translations (Welsh, Spanish, English, Italian, and French), musical performances, arts, folk dances, photography, and filmmaking among others. The Eisteddfod del Juventud is held every September at Gaiman. The main Eisteddfod del Chubut is held every October at Trelew. Other annual eisteddfodau are held at Trevelin, in the Andes and at Puerto Madryn along the South Atlantic coast.

In 2006, the first of a two-Test tour to Argentina by the Wales national rugby union team was played in Puerto Madryn, which was a 27–25 win for Argentina.

As of 2019, 1,411 people undertook Welsh courses in the region, which is the highest number on record for the project. There are three bilingual Welsh/Spanish primary schools in the province of Chubut, namely Ysgol yr Hendre in Trelew, Ysgol Gymraeg y Gaiman in Gaiman, and Ysgol Y Cwm in Trevelin.

In 2014, Professor E. Wyn James of Cardiff University estimated that there were perhaps as many as 5,000 people in Patagonia who could speak Welsh.

On 28 July 2015, celebrations took place to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Welsh migrations. The First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, attended the celebration.

In October 2018, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales undertook an historic visit to Y Wladfa to give two concerts in a newly refurbished concert hall, that had previously been a wool factory on the outskirts of Trelew. These performances attracted thousands of local visitors and helped celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Welsh migration. Welsh harpist Catrin Finch and conductor Grant Llewelyn were part of the concerts.

Welsh relationship with Indigenous people
The Welsh settlers to Patagonia settled on indigenous Tehuelche land. The Welsh were able to survive and thrive by bartering Welsh bread for meat, by learning from Tehuelche people how to hunt, and by learning from the Tehuelche how to irrigate their fields with water from the Chubut River.

Anthem
Y Wladfa's anthem is a re-working of the Welsh anthem, "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau", called "Gwlad Newydd y Cymry" ('"The New Country of the Welsh"'). The new anthem was penned by Lewis Evans and is sung to the same tune as "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau".

Popular culture
Patagonia is a 2011 film about the Welsh settlement in Argentina.

In the BBC's 2015 Patagonia with Huw Edwards, Huw Edwards travelled to Patagonia and met with descendants of the original settlers, to discuss what had survived of the uniquely Welsh culture their ancestors aimed to protect.

Other Sources

 * Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales). 27 Dec 2004. Patagonia Welsh to watch S4C shows.
 * Walter Ariel Brooks, 'Welsh print culture in y Wladfa: The role of ethnic newspapers in Welsh Patagonia, 1868-1933' (Cardiff University PhD thesis, 2012) - https://orca.cf.ac.uk/46450/1/WelshPrintCultureInYWladfaWalterBrooks.pdf
 * E. Wyn James, ‘Identity, Immigration, and Assimilation: The Case of the Welsh Settlement in Patagonia’, Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 24 (2018), 76–87. ISSN 0959-3632.
 * E. Wyn James, ‘Songs and Identity in Welsh Patagonia’, Studia Ethnologica Pragensia, 1/2023, 85-96. ISSN 1803-9812 (Print); ISSN 2336-6699 (Online): https://studiaethnologicapragensia.ff.cuni.cz/en/magazin/2023-1-2/
 * E. Wyn James, ‘Identity, Immigration, and Assimilation: The Case of the Welsh Settlement in Patagonia’, Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 24 (2018), 76–87. ISSN 0959-3632.
 * E. Wyn James, ‘Songs and Identity in Welsh Patagonia’, Studia Ethnologica Pragensia, 1/2023, 85-96. ISSN 1803-9812 (Print); ISSN 2336-6699 (Online): https://studiaethnologicapragensia.ff.cuni.cz/en/magazin/2023-1-2/

title: Y Wladfa


text:
Giacomo Meyerbeer

Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Meyer Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Mozart and Wagner". With his 1831 opera Robert le diable and its successors, he gave the genre of grand opera 'decisive character'. Meyerbeer's grand opera style was achieved by his merging of German orchestra style with Italian vocal tradition. These were employed in the context of sensational and melodramatic libretti created by Eugène Scribe and were enhanced by the up-to-date theatre technology of the Paris Opéra. They set a standard which helped to maintain Paris as the opera capital of the nineteenth century.

Born to a wealthy Jewish family, Meyerbeer began his musical career as a pianist but soon decided to devote himself to opera, spending several years in Italy studying and composing. His 1824 opera Il crociato in Egitto was the first to bring him a Europe-wide reputation, but it was Robert le diable (1831) which raised his status to great celebrity. His public career, lasting from then until his death, during which he remained a dominating figure in the world of opera, was summarized by his contemporary Hector Berlioz, who claimed that he 'has not only the luck to be talented, but the talent to be lucky.' He was at his peak with his operas Les Huguenots (1836) and Le prophète (1849); his last opera (L'Africaine) was performed posthumously. His operas made him the most frequently performed composer at the world's leading opera houses in the nineteenth century.

At the same time as his successes in Paris, Meyerbeer, as a Prussian Court Kapellmeister (Director of Music) from 1832, and from 1843 as Prussian General Music Director, was also influential in opera in Berlin and throughout Germany. He was an early supporter of Richard Wagner, enabling the first production of the latter's opera Rienzi. He was commissioned to write the patriotic opera Ein Feldlager in Schlesien to celebrate the reopening of the Berlin Royal Opera House in 1844, and he wrote music for certain Prussian state occasions.

Apart from around 50 songs, Meyerbeer wrote little except for the stage. The critical assaults of Wagner and his supporters, especially after Meyerbeer's death, led to a decline in the popularity of his works; his operas were suppressed by the Nazi regime in Germany, and were neglected by opera houses through most of the twentieth century. In the 21st century, however, the composer's major French grand operas have begun to reappear in the repertory of numerous European opera houses.

Early years

Meyerbeer's birthname was Jacob Liebmann Beer; he was born in Tasdorf (now a part of Rüdersdorf), near Berlin, then the capital of Prussia, to a Jewish family. His father was the wealthy financier Judah Herz Beer (1769–1825) and his mother, Amalia (Malka) Wulff (1767–1854), to whom he was particularly devoted, also came from the moneyed elite. Their other children included the astronomer Wilhelm Beer and the poet Michael Beer. He was to adopt the surname Meyerbeer on the death of his grandfather Liebmann Meyer Wulff (1811) and italianize his first name to Giacomo during his period of study in Italy, around 1817.

Judah Beer was a leader of the Berlin Jewish community and maintained a private synagogue in his house which leaned towards reformist views. Jacob Beer wrote an early cantata for performance at this synagogue. Both Judah Herz Beer and his wife were close to the Prussian court; when Amalia was awarded in 1816 the Order of Louise, she was given, by Royal dispensation, not the traditional Cross but a portrait bust of the Queen. The Beer children were provided with a fine education; their tutors included two of the leaders of the enlightened Jewish intelligentsia, the author Aaron Halle-Wolfssohn and Edmund Kley, (later a reform movement rabbi in Hamburg) to whom they remained attached into their maturity. The brothers Alexander von Humboldt, the renowned naturalist, geographer and explorer, and the philosopher, linguist and diplomat Wilhelm von Humboldt were close friends of the family circle.

Beer's first keyboard instructor was Franz Lauska, a pupil of Johann Georg Albrechtsberger and a favoured teacher at the Berlin court. Beer also became one of Muzio Clementi's pupils while Clementi was in Berlin. The boy made his public debut in 1801 playing Mozart's D minor Piano Concerto in Berlin. The Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung reported: 'The amazing keyboard playing of young Bär (a Jewish lad of 9), who carried off the difficult passages and other solo parts with aplomb, and has fine powers of rendition even more rarely found in one of his age, made the concert even more interesting'.

Beer, as he still named himself, studied with Antonio Salieri and the German master and friend of Goethe, Carl Friedrich Zelter. Louis Spohr organised a concert for Beer at Berlin in 1804 and continued his acquaintance with the lad later in Vienna and Rome. A portrait of Jacob commissioned by the family at this time shows him 'confidently facing the viewer, his hair romantically dishevelled... his left hand rests on the keyboard, and his right hand grasps a musical manuscript... plac[ing] its subject in the tradition of the young Mozart'. Beer's first stage work, the ballet Der Fischer und das Milchmädchen (The Fisherman and the Milkmaid) was produced in March 1810 at the Court Opera in Berlin. His formal training with the Abbé Vogler at Darmstadt between 1810 and 1812 was, however, of crucial importance, and at around this time he begins to sign himself 'Meyer Beer'. Here, with his fellow students (among whom was Carl Maria von Weber), he learned not only the craft of composition but also the business of music (organising concerts and dealing with publishers). Forming a close friendship with Weber and other pupils, Meyerbeer established the Harmonischer Verein (Musical Union), whose members undertook to support each other with favourable press criticism and networking. On 12 February 1813 Beer received the first of the string of honours he was to accumulate throughout his life when he was appointed 'Court Composer' by Grand Duke Ludwig of Hesse-Darmstadt. He was also in close contact with Ludwig van Beethoven as he played timpani at the premiere of his Seventh Symphony in December 1813. Beethoven complained that Meyerbeer was “always behind the beat”. But nonetheless, Beethoven saw musical potential on the young Beer.

Throughout his early career, although determined to become a musician, Beer found it difficult to decide between playing and composition. Certainly, other professionals in the decade 1810–1820, including Moscheles, considered him amongst the greatest virtuosi of his period. He wrote during this period numerous piano pieces, including a concerto and set of variations for piano and orchestra, but these have been lost. To this period also belongs a Clarinet Quintet written for the virtuoso Heinrich Baermann (1784–1847) who remained a close friend of the composer.

In Italy

Despite performances of his oratorio Gott und die Natur (God and Nature) (Berlin, 1811) and his early operas Jephtas Gelübde (Jephtha's Vow) (Munich, 1812) and Wirth und Gast (Landlord and Guest) (Stuttgart, 1813) in Germany, Meyerbeer had set his sights by 1814 on basing an operatic career in Paris. In the same year, his opera Die beiden Kalifen (The Two Caliphs), a version of Wirth und Gast, was a disastrous failure in Vienna. Realizing that a full understanding of Italian opera was essential for his musical development, he went to study in Italy, enabled by the financial support of his family. He arrived in Italy at the beginning of 1816, after visits to Paris and London, where he heard Cramer play. In Paris, he wrote to a friend, 'I go from museum to museum, library to library, theatre to theatre, with the restlessness of the Wandering Jew'.

During his years in Italy Meyerbeer became acquainted with, and impressed by, the works of his contemporary Gioachino Rossini, who by 1816, at the age of 24, was already director of both major opera houses in Naples and in the same year premiered his operas The Barber of Seville and Otello. Meyerbeer wrote a series of Italian operas on Rossinian models, including Romilda e Costanza (Padua, 1817), Semiramide riconosciuta (Turin, 1819), Emma di Resburgo (Venice, 1819), Margherita d'Anjou (Milan, 1820) and L'esule di Granata (Milan, 1821). All but the last two of these had libretti by Gaetano Rossi, whom Meyerbeer continued to support until the latter's death in 1855, although not commissioning any further libretti from him after Il crociato in Egitto (1824). During a visit to Sicily in 1816, Meyerbeer noted down a number of folksongs, and these in fact constitute the earliest collection of folk music of the region. In a birthday greeting from Rossi's wife in 1817 occurs the earliest use discovered of Meyerbeer's adopted forename 'Giacomo'.

Recognition

The name Giacomo Meyerbeer first became known internationally with his opera Il crociato in Egitto—premiered in Venice in 1824 and produced in London and Paris in 1825; incidentally, it was the last opera ever written to feature a castrato, and the last to require keyboard accompaniment for recitatives. This 'breakthrough' in Paris was exactly what Meyerbeer had been aiming for over the past ten years; he had been carefully preparing for it, developing contacts, and fully reaped his reward.

In 1826, shortly after the death of his father, Meyerbeer married his cousin, Minna Mosson (1804–1886). The marriage which may have been 'dynastic' in its origins turned out to be stable and devoted; the couple were to have five children, of whom the three youngest (all daughters) survived to adulthood. In the same year, following the death of Carl Maria von Weber, Weber's widow asked Meyerbeer to complete her husband's unfinished comic opera Die drei Pintos. This was to cause him much trouble over future years, as he found the material insufficient to work on. Eventually, in 1852 he settled the matter with Weber's heirs by handing them Weber's drafts and cash compensation. (The opera was later completed by Gustav Mahler).

With his next opera Meyerbeer became virtually a superstar. Robert le diable (with libretto by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne), produced in Paris in 1831, was one of the earliest grand operas. The libretto, originally planned in 1827 as a three-act opéra comique for the Opéra-Comique theatre, was refashioned after 1829 in a five-act form to meet the requirements of the Paris Opéra. Its revised characterisation as a 'grand opera' placed it in succession to Auber's La muette de Portici (1828) and Rossini's Guillaume Tell (1829) in this new genre. The composer undertook further work on the opera in early 1831 adding ballet episodes, including the "Ballet of Nuns", which was to prove one of the opera's great sensations, becoming an early example of the ballet blanc genre. He also rewrote the two major male roles of Bertrand and Robert to suit the talents of Nicolas Levasseur and Adolphe Nourrit, respectively. At the invitation of Nourrit, Cornélie Falcon made her debut at the age of 18 at the Opéra in the role of Alice on 20 July 1832, and she made a vivid impression on the public, which included on that night Auber, Berlioz, Halévy, Maria Malibran, Giulia Grisi, Honoré Daumier, Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo. On hearing her in the role, Meyerbeer himself declared his opera at last 'complete'.

The success of the opera led to Meyerbeer himself becoming a celebrity. In January 1832 he was awarded membership of the Légion d'honneur. This success – coupled with Meyerbeer's known family wealth – inevitably also precipitated envy amongst his peers. Berlioz – who had commented that 'Meyerbeer not only had the luck to be talented, he had the talent to be lucky' – wrote 'I can't forget that Meyerbeer was only able to persuade [the Opéra] to put on Robert le diable ... by paying the administration sixty thousand francs of his own money'; and Frédéric Chopin lamented 'Meyerbeer had to work for three years and pay his own expenses for his stay in Paris before Robert le diable could be staged....Three years, that's a lot – it's too much.' King Frederick William III of Prussia who attended the second performance of Robert le diable, swiftly invited him to compose a German opera, and Meyerbeer was invited to stage Robert in Berlin. Within a few years the opera had been staged with success all over Europe, and also in the USA.

The fusion of dramatic music, melodramatic plot, and sumptuous staging in Robert le diable proved a sure-fire formula, as did the partnership with Scribe, which Meyerbeer would go on to repeat in Les Huguenots, Le prophète, and L'Africaine. All of these operas held the international stage throughout the 19th century, as did the more pastoral Dinorah (1859), making Meyerbeer the most frequently performed composer at leading opera houses in the nineteenth century.

1832–1839

Letellier describes Meyerbeer's mature life as 'a tale of two cities...His artistic triumph and legendary status were achieved in Paris...but he never abandoned Prussia, especially his home city of Berlin'. His wife Minna was based in Berlin (she did not enjoy Paris) as was his beloved mother; and he had a series of Royal duties from the Prussian court, stemming from his appointment as Court Kapellmeister in 1832. For these reasons his life from 1830 onwards is characterised by travel between these two centres.

In Paris Meyerbeer had been asked by Louis Véron, the director of the Opéra, for a new work. At first, he attempted to persuade Véron to accept the opéra-comique Le portefaix to a libretto by Scribe, which he had been contracted to compose in early 1831; but Véron insisted on a full five-act piece. Together with Scribe, Meyerbeer reviewed many subjects before deciding, in 1832, on Les Huguenots. The contract which Meyerbeer signed with Véron contained a penalty clause if the work was not delivered by the end of 1833. When the time came and the opera was not ready, Véron claimed his 30,000 francs under this clause; Meyerbeer was perhaps unique amongst composers in being able to pay this. In fact, Véron refunded the money under a further agreement, when the opera was delivered in late 1834; but Veron himself was replaced as director of the Opera by Henri Duponchel before Les Huguenots was premiered on 29 February 1836. It was an immediate and immense success, its splendid staging and effects exceeding even those of Fromental Halévy's La Juive, which had premiered the previous year. Berlioz called the score "a musical encyclopaedia", and the singing, especially of Nourrit and Falcon, was universally praised. Les Huguenots was the first opera to be performed at the Opéra more than 1,000 times (the 1,000th performance being on 16 May 1906) and continued to be produced up to 1936, more than a century after its premiere. Its many performances in all other of the world's major opera houses give it a claim to being the most successful opera of the 19th century.

However, in Berlin Meyerbeer faced many problems, including the enmity of the jealous Gaspare Spontini, who since 1820 had been Court Kapellmeister and director of the Berlin Hofoper. Complaints were made in the Berlin press about the delay of the Berlin premiere of Robert le diable (which finally took place in June 1832), and Meyerbeer's music was decried by the critic and poet Ludwig Rellstab. There was no sign of the German opera expected from Meyerbeer. Moreover, reactionary censorship laws prevented the production of Les Huguenots in Berlin (and indeed in many other cities of Germany). Nevertheless, Meyerbeer, who (as he wrote to a friend) 'years ago...swore to myself never to respond personally to attacks on my work, and never under any circumstances to cause or respond to personal polemics', refused to be drawn on any of these matters.

Meanwhile, in Paris Meyerbeer began to seek new libretti, initially considering Le prophète by Scribe, and Le cinq mars by Henri Saint-Georges and eventually settling on Scribe's Vasco da Gama (later to become L'Africaine), which he contracted to complete by 1840. However, Meyerbeer had envisaged that the main role in L'Africaine would be written for Falcon; after the catastrophic failure of her voice in 1837, he turned instead to Le prophète.

On 20 August 1839, Meyerbeer, whilst relaxing at Boulogne in the company of Moscheles, met for the first time with Richard Wagner, who was en route to Paris. Their ensuing relationship (see below) was to have major repercussions for the careers and reputations of both. At this meeting Wagner read to Meyerbeer from the libretto of Rienzi, and Meyerbeer agreed to look through the score, which indeed he subsequently recommended for performance at Dresden.

The 1840s

By the end of 1841, Meyerbeer had completed the first draft of Le prophète, but refused to stage it because the then director of the opera, Leon Pillet, wished to cast his mistress, Rosine Stoltz, in the part of Fidès, the hero's mother. (Berlioz characterised Stoltz as 'la Directrice du Directeur'). Meyerbeer insisted on Pauline Viardot for the role. Meyerbeer lodged the score with a Parisian lawyer, and refused to countenance any production until his wishes were met. Only in 1849 was the Opéra willing to agree to his conditions. Meyerbeer was unique in his time in having the wealth and influence to impose his will as a composer in this way.

In the meantime, the situation in Prussia was changing. Following the death of Frederick William III, the new regime of Frederick William IV was far more liberal. Spontini was dismissed, and the Berlin premiere of Les Huguenots was arranged (20 May 1842). On the instigation of Alexander von Humboldt, Meyerbeer was installed later in the year as Prussian Generalmusikdirektor and director of music for the Royal Court. Meyerbeer wrote a number of works for court occasions, and also provided music, at the King's request, for the first staging in Berlin in 1856 of his brother Michael's play Struensee (based on the life of Johann Friedrich Struensee), which had also been proscribed under the previous regime.

In 1843 the Berlin Opera house burned down. The creation of the new building gave a new opportunity to commission a German opera from Meyerbeer. The subject of the opera, Ein Feldlager in Schlesien (A Silesian Encampment), was an episode in the life of Frederick the Great. As this patriotic opera 'needed' Prussian creators, Meyerbeer arranged that whilst the trusted Scribe would write the libretto, Rellstab would translate it and take the credit (and the royalties). This had the added advantage of winning over the formerly hostile Rellstab. Meyerbeer had hoped to have Jenny Lind (for whom he had written the part) sing the lead role of Vielka, but the opera premiered on 7 December 1844 without her (although she did appear in subsequent performances). The libretto was revised by Charlotte Birch-Pfeiffer to a Bohemian background as Vielka for a production in Vienna (1847). (In a further incarnation, the music was later used by Meyerbeer for a revamped libretto by Scribe featuring Peter the Great, and produced as an opéra comique in Paris (L'étoile du nord, 1854)).

With the continuing delays in the production of Le prophète and L'Africaine, Meyerbeer was now becoming subject to increasing sniping in Paris. In 1846 Meyerbeer began work on a new project with Scribe and Saint-Georges, Noëma, but in the following year Pillet was sacked from the opera and the direction was resumed by Duponchel. As a consequence, Meyerbeer was at last able to stage Le prophète with a cast to his liking, (including Viardot as Fidès), and it premiered on 16 April 1849. Again Meyerbeer's new opera was an outstanding success – despite the unusual feature of the lead female role being the hero's mother, rather than his lover. Amongst those at the 47th performance in February 1850 was Richard Wagner, now an impoverished political exile; the success of a work so fundamentally against his own operatic principles was one of the spurs to his spiteful anti-Jewish denunciation of Meyerbeer and Mendelssohn, Das Judenthum in der Musik (1850).

Last years

Increasing ill health (or possibly hypochondria) now began to restrict Meyerbeer's output and activities. The death of his beloved mother in 1854 was also a blow. However, the success of L'étoile du nord in 1854 demonstrated that he could still pack the theatres. Following this he began on two new projects, an opera by Scribe based on the biblical story of Judith, and an opéra comique, Le pardon de Ploërmel, (also known as Dinorah, the title given to the Italian version performed at London) to a libretto by Jules Barbier. The latter premiered on 4 April 1859 at the Opéra Comique in Paris; the former, like many previous projects, remained only as sketches. The death of Scribe in 1861 was a further disincentive to Meyerbeer to proceed with his operatic work in progress. In 1862, in accordance with his original contract with Scribe, he paid Scribe's widow compensation for not completing Judith.

Nevertheless, Meyerbeer's last years saw the composition of a good deal of non-operatic music, including a Coronation March for William I of Prussia, (1861), an overture for the 1862 International Exhibition in London, and incidental music (now lost) to Henry Blaze de Bury's play La jeunesse de Goethe (1860). He composed a few settings of liturgical material, including one of the 91st Psalm (1853); and also choral works for the synagogue at Paris.

Meyerbeer died in Paris on 2 May 1864. Rossini, who, not having heard the news, came to his apartment the next day intending to meet him, was shocked and fainted. He was moved to write on the spot a choral tribute (Pleure, pleure, muse sublime!). A special train bore Meyerbeer's body from the Gare du Nord to Berlin on 6 May, where he was buried in the family vault at the Jewish cemetery in Schönhauser Allee.

L'Africaine was eventually premiered after Meyerbeer's death at the Salle Le Peletier on 28 April 1865 in a performing edition undertaken by François-Joseph Fétis.

Personality and beliefs

Meyerbeer's immense wealth (increased by the success of his operas) and his continuing adherence to his Jewish religion set him apart somewhat from many of his musical contemporaries. They also gave rise to rumours that his success was due to his bribing musical critics. Richard Wagner (see below) accused him of being interested only in money, not music. Meyerbeer was, however, a deeply serious musician and a sensitive personality. He philosophically resigned himself to being a victim of his own success: his extensive diaries and correspondence – which survived the turmoil of 20th-century Europe and have now been published in eight volumes – are an invaluable source for the history of music and theatre in the composer's time.

Meyerbeer's personal attachment to Judaism was a mature personal decision – after the death of his maternal grandfather in 1811 he wrote to his mother: 'Please accept from me a promise that I will always live in the religion in which he died'. In his diaries he noted significant family events including birthdays, not by their Gregorian calendar occurrence, but by their Jewish calendar dates. Moreover, he was regularly subject to antisemitic hostility throughout his life (see below), warning his brothers frequently in his letters against richess (Yiddish for 'Jew-hatred'). Writing to Heinrich Heine in 1839, he offered a sobering view:

"I believe that richess is like love in the theatres and novels: no matter how often one encounters it...it never misses its target if effectively wielded...[Nothing] can grow back the foreskin of which we are robbed on the eighth day of life; those who, on the ninth day, do not bleed from this operation shall continue to bleed an entire lifetime, even after death."

It was perhaps this attitude that led Meyerbeer never to enter public controversy with those who antagonized him, either professionally or personally, although he occasionally displayed his grudges in his Diaries; for example, on hearing Robert Schumann conduct in 1850: 'I saw for the first time the man who, as a critic, has persecuted me for twelve years with a deadly enmity.'

In his mature operas, Meyerbeer selected stories which almost invariably featured as a major element of storyline a hero living within a hostile environment. Robert, Raoul the Huguenot, Jean the prophet, and the defiant Vasco da Gama in L'Africaine are all 'outsiders'. It has been suggested that 'Meyerbeer's choice of these topics is not accidental; they reflect his own sense of living in a potentially inimical society.'

Meyerbeer's relationship with Heine displays the awkwardness and prickliness of the social personae of both parties. Meyerbeer, apart from any of his personal feelings, needed Heine onside as an influential personality and writer on music. He genuinely admired Heine's verse, and made a number of settings from it. Heine, living in Paris from 1830, was always equivocal about his loyalties between Judaism and Christianity, and always short of money, asked Meyerbeer to intervene with Heine's own family for financial support and frequently took loans and money from Meyerbeer himself. He was not above threatening Meyerbeer with blackmail by writing satirical pieces about him (and indeed Meyerbeer paid Heine's widow to suppress such writings). And yet, at Heine's death in 1856, Meyerbeer wrote in his diary: 'Peace be to his ashes. I forgive him from my heart for his ingratitude and many wickednesses against me.'

Music

Meyerbeer did not operate on the basis of any theory or philosophy of music and was not an innovator in harmony or musical form. In the words of John H. Roberts: "He had a rich fund of appealing if somewhat short-breathed melody, commanded an increasingly rich harmonic vocabulary, and was a master of brilliant and novel orchestral effect. But he had very limited skill in thematic development and even less in contrapuntal combination."

All of his significant music is for the voice (opera and songs) and this reflects his detailed grounding in Italian opera. Throughout his career he wrote his operas with specific singers in mind and took great care to temper his writing to their strengths; but at the same time he seemed little interested in expressing the emotions of his characters, preferring to use his music to underline the larger-scale machinations of the plot. In this way he was close to the ideas of his teacher Vogler, himself renowned for his dramatic depictions of nature and incidents in keyboard music, who wrote in 1779 that: "writing beautifully is easy; expression is not too difficult; but only the genius of a great painter...can choose for each picture agreeable and natural colours that are particular to it." Indeed, Meyerbeer's devotion to the voice often led him to ignore the dramatic cohesion of his operas; typically, he would write far too much music and the scores of his operas would have to be drastically cut during rehearsals. (The lengthy overture to Le prophète had to be cut in its entirety, surviving only in a piano arrangement by Charles-Valentin Alkan.)

The first signs of Meyerbeer breaking with the Italian traditions in which he had trained are in Il crociato in Egitto. Amongst other notable features of the opera were its lavish orchestral forces (extending to two onstage military bands in the final act). The grandiosity of the work reflected the need to make an impact on the sophisticated and technologically advanced stages of London and Paris, for which it was extensively rewritten. Meyerbeer's contribution was revealed at this stage to be the combination of Italian vocal lines, German orchestration and harmony, and the use of contemporary theatrical techniques, ideas which he carried forward in Robert and his later works. However Meyerbeer's background in the Italian operatic traditions can be clearly seen as late as 1859 in the 'mad scene' in Dinorah (the virtuoso aria Ombre légère).

Typical of Meyerbeer's innovative orchestration is the use in Robert le diable of dark-toned instruments – bassoons, timpani and low brass, including ophicleide – to characterise the diabolical nature of Bertram and his associates. At one point the arrival of a character is announced by a combination of three solo timpani and pizzicato double-basses. Similar adventurousness is shown in Les Huguenots where the composer uses a solo bass clarinet and solo viola d'amore to accompany arias. For Le prophète, Meyerbeer considered using the newly invented saxophone. Becker suggests that Meyerbeer in all his grand operas often: 'created a deliberately 'unbeautiful' sound.....with unusual orchestration designed to express ...content rather than produce a sensuous sound' and opines that this explains much of the criticism he received from German writers on music.

Theatre

Meyerbeer's concern to integrate musical power with all the resources of contemporary theatre anticipated in some ways the ideas of Wagner's Gesamtkunstwerk. Becker writes:

"Wagner's idea of music drama...was originally developed by way of grand opera...his ideas could never have been realised in their particular form without the pioneering development[s]...that Meyerbeer's operas were the first to demand."

Meyerbeer was always concerned to intensify the theatricality of his operas, even when new ideas emerged at a relatively late stage in the music's composition. An example of his receptiveness was the addition of the provocative "Ballet of the Nuns" in the third act of Robert le diable, at the suggestion of Duponchel. The set for the ballet was an innovative and striking design by Duponchel and Pierre-Luc-Charles Ciceri. Duponchel had also introduced technical innovations for the staging, including 'English traps' for the sudden appearance and disappearance of the ghosts. (Meyerbeer was led in fact to complain that the spectacle was too much and was pushing his music into the background). In Le prophète, the skating ballet, which created a great sensation, was composed after rehearsals had begun, in order to capitalise on the new craze for roller skates. The theatre was also able to use new electrical lighting effects to create a powerful sunrise, and to depict the conflagration which ends the opera.

Meyerbeer's large choral 'tableaux' also made a major contribution to the overall dramatic effect; the composer particularly sought opportunities to write such large-scale crowd scenes, and preferred libretti which offered such possibilities. Crosten writes: 'These massive developed sections are the chief glory of the Meyerbeerian opera, for they are not only big in volume but big in their structural design'.

Mention should also be made of Meyerbeer's intense concern with the business of opera, which indeed had formed part of his studies under Vogler. This gave him the background not only to deal with complex contractual issues and to negotiate with publishers but extended to wooing the press and 'marketing' in general. Indeed, he was probably the originator of the 'press conference' at which journalists were fed refreshments and information. This marketing and commercialisation of opera was reinforced by Meyerbeer's Paris publisher Maurice Schlesinger who had established his fortune on the back of Robert, and even persuaded Honoré de Balzac to write a novella (Gambara) to promote Les Huguenots. Schlesinger's publication of Franz Liszt's Reminiscences de Robert le diable sold out on the day of issue and was immediately reprinted. Such manoeuvres did little to endear Meyerbeer to his fellow artists, and indeed engendered envious comments of the sort already quoted from Berlioz and Chopin.

Musical influence

Meyerbeer had no pupils and no direct 'school'. Yet as his works spanned the golden age of grand opera, clear traces of his influence can be found in the grand operas of Fromental Halévy, Gaetano Donizetti, Giuseppe Verdi and others. After 1850, Huebner notes a continuing tradition of operas at Paris where 'principals appear with chorus at the end of an act and where private intrigue conjoins a well-articulated public dimension in the plot' and cites amongst others Charles Gounod's La nonne sanglante (1854), Ambroise Thomas's Hamlet and operas by Jules Massenet, amongst them Le roi de Lahore (1877) and Le Cid (1885). The line of succession was however virtually washed away in the tide of Wagner in Paris after 1890 (see below). The influence of Meyerbeer has also been detected in the operas of Antonín Dvořák and other Czech composers, and in the operas of Russian composers including Rimsky-Korsakov and the young Tchaikovsky, who thought Les Huguenots 'one of the greatest works in the repertoire'.

Themes from Meyerbeer's works were used by many contemporary composers, often in the form of keyboard paraphrases or fantasies. Perhaps the most elaborate and substantial of these is Franz Liszt's monumental Fantasy and Fugue on the chorale "Ad nos, ad salutarem undam", S. 259 (1852), for organ or pédalier, based on the chorale of the Anabaptist priests in Le prophète and dedicated to Meyerbeer. The work was also published in a version for piano duet (S. 624) which was much later arranged for solo piano by Ferruccio Busoni.

Liszt also wrote piano works based on Robert le diable, notably the Réminiscences de Robert le diable subtitled Valse infernale. He also transcribed two pieces from L'Africaine, as "Illustrations de l'opéra L'Africaine". Frédéric Chopin and Auguste Franchomme jointly composed a Grand duo concertant on themes from the opera, for cello and piano, in 1832, and the Italian pianist and composer Adolfo Fumagalli composed an elaborate fantasy on the opera for left hand alone as his Op. 106. Other pieces based on the opera included works by Adolf von Henselt and Jean-Amédée Méreaux. Similar works, of varying musical quality, were churned out by composers for each of the further operas in attempts to cash in on their success.

Critical reception

Meyerbeer's operas consistently enjoyed enormous popularity during his lifetime, and the verdict of (the then pro-Meyerbeer) Wagner in 1841, when the Paris Opéra was vainly awaiting Le prophète and L'Africaine, was not atypical:

"The Paris Opéra lies dying. It looks for its salvation to the German Messiah, Meyerbeer; if he keeps it waiting much longer, its death agonies will begin...It is for that reason...that one only sees Robert le Diable and Les Huguenots turning up again when the mediocrities are forced to withdraw."

However, dissenting voices were heard from critics. Not all of these however were on musical grounds. Berlioz for example raised the issue of the inhibiting effects of Meyerbeer's success (which he felt particularly as one who struggled to get his works performed): "The pressure [Meyerbeer] exerts on managers, artists and critics, and consequently on the Paris public, at least as much by his immense wealth as by his eclectic talent, makes all serious success at the Opéra virtually impossible. This baneful influence may still be felt ten years after his death: Heinrich Heine maintains he has 'paid in advance'."

Mendelssohn disapproved of Meyerbeer's works on moral grounds, believing Robert le diable to be 'ignoble'.

Schumann's attack on Les Huguenots was clearly a personal diatribe against Meyerbeer's Judaism: 'Time and time again we had to turn away in disgust...One may search in vain for a sustained pure thought, a truly Christian sentiment...It is all contrived, all make believe and hypocrisy!...The shrewdest of composers rubs his hands with glee.'

Wagner's disciple Theodor Uhlig followed Schumann's Judaeophobic line in his 1850 review of Le prophète: 'To a good Christian [it] is at best contrived, exaggerated, unnatural and slick, and it is not possible that the practised propaganda of the Hebrew art-taste can succeed using such means.' Uhlig's phrase 'the Hebrew art-taste' was to be used by Richard Wagner to spark off his attack on Meyerbeer, Das Judenthum in der Musik (Jewishness in Music) (see below).

In 1911, the composer Charles Villiers Stanford cited Meyerbeer's music as an example of the dangers he believed lay in improvising at the piano without a clear plan, (although there is in fact no evidence to suggest Meyerbeer worked in this way), writing: 'Man of genius though he was, as any man who wrote the fourth act of the Huguenots must have been, Meyerbeer is a sign-post of this danger of trusting to the pianoforte as a medium of inspiration.'

Wagner's campaign against Meyerbeer

The vitriolic campaign of Richard Wagner against Meyerbeer was to a great extent responsible for the decline of Meyerbeer's popularity after his death in 1864. This campaign was as much a matter of personal spite as of racism – Wagner had learnt a great deal from Meyerbeer and indeed Wagner's early opera Rienzi (1842) was facetiously called by Hans von Bülow 'Meyerbeer's best opera'. Meyerbeer supported the young Wagner, both financially and in helping to obtain the premiere productions of both Rienzi and The Flying Dutchman at Dresden.

Wagner's early correspondence with Meyerbeer, up to 1846, is described by historian David Conway as "cringingly obsequious". However, from the early 1840s, as Wagner developed Tannhäuser and Lohengrin, his ideas on opera increasingly diverged from Meyerbeerean standards; even in 1843 Wagner had written to Schumann condemning Meyerbeer's work as 'a striving after superficial popularity'. During 1846 Meyerbeer turned down Wagner's application for a loan of 1,200 thalers, and this may have marked a turning point.

In particular, after 1849, Wagner resented Meyerbeer's continuing success at a time when his own vision of German opera had little chance of prospering. After the May Uprising in Dresden of 1849, Wagner was for some years a political refugee facing a prison sentence or worse should he return to Saxony. During his period of living in exile, he had few sources of income and little opportunity of getting his own works performed. The success of Le prophète sent Wagner over the edge, and he was also deeply envious of Meyerbeer's wealth. In reaction he published, under a pseudonym, his 1850 essay Jewishness in Music. Without specifically naming Meyerbeer, he interpreted the popular success of the latter as the undermining of German music by alleged Jewish venality and willingness to cater to the lowest tastes, and attributed the supposed poor quality of such 'Jewish music' to Jewish speech and song patterns, which 'though the cultured son of Jewry takes untold pains to strip them off, nevertheless they shew an impertinent obstinacy in cleaving to him'.

In his major theoretical statement, Opera and Drama (1852), Wagner objected to the music of Meyerbeer, asserting its superficiality and incoherence in dramatic terms; this work contains Wagner's well-known put-down of Meyerbeer's operas as 'effects without causes'. It also contains the sardonic crack that '[Rossini] never could have dreamt that it would someday occur to the Bankers, for whom he had always made their music, to make it for themselves'. Jewishness in Music was reissued in 1869, (after Meyerbeer's death) in an extended form, with a far more explicit attack on Meyerbeer. This version was under Wagner's own name – and as Wagner had by now a far greater reputation, his views obtained far wider publicity. These attacks on Meyerbeer (which also included swipes at Felix Mendelssohn) are regarded by Paul Lawrence Rose as a significant milestone in the growth of German anti-Semitism.

As Wagner prospered, it became second nature for him, his wife Cosima and the Wagner circle to deprecate Meyerbeer and his works, and Cosima's Diaries contain numerous instances of this – (as well as recording a dream of Wagner's in which he and Meyerbeer were reconciled). Wagner's autobiography Mein Leben, circulated amongst his friends (and published openly in 1911), contains constant sniping at Meyerbeer and concludes with Wagner receiving the news of Meyerbeer's death, and his companions' gratification at the news. The downgrading of Meyerbeer became a commonplace amongst Wagnerites: in 1898, George Bernard Shaw, in The Perfect Wagnerite, commented that: "Nowadays young people cannot understand how anyone could have taken Meyerbeer's influence seriously."

Thus as Wagner's stock rose, Meyerbeer's fell. In 1890, the year before the Paris premiere of Wagner's Lohengrin, there were no Wagner performances at the Paris Opéra, and 32 performances of Meyerbeer's four grand operas. In 1909, there were 60 Wagner performances, and only three of Meyerbeer's (Les Huguenots being the sole work performed).

Reevaluation

Meyerbeer's costly operas, requiring grand casts of leading singers, were gradually dropped from the repertoire in the early 20th century. They were banned in Germany from 1933, and subsequently in subject countries, by the Nazi regime because the composer was Jewish, and this was a major factor in their further disappearance from the repertory.

One of the first serious post-war studies of Meyerbeer and grand opera was Crosten's 1948 book Grand Opera: An Art and a Business which laid out the themes and standards for much subsequent research. A major contribution to the revival of interest in Meyerbeer was the work of the scholar Heinz Becker, leading to the complete publication, between 1960 and 2006, of Meyerbeer's complete diaries and correspondence in German, which are an important source for musical history of the era. The English scholar Robert Letellier has translated the diaries and undertaken a wide range of Meyerbeer studies. The establishment of a 'Meyerbeer Fan Club' in America also stimulated interest.

Most importantly the operas themselves have been revived and recorded, although despite the efforts of such champions as Dame Joan Sutherland, who took part in performances of, and recorded, Les Huguenots, they have yet to achieve anything like the huge popular following they attracted during their creator's lifetime. Recordings are now available of all the operas from Il crociato onwards, for many of the earlier Italian operas, and for other pieces including his songs and the incidental music for Struensee.

Amongst the reasons often adduced for the dearth of productions in the 20th century were the scale of Meyerbeer's more ambitious works and the cost of mounting them, as well as the alleged lack of virtuoso singers capable of doing justice to Meyerbeer's demanding music. However, successful productions of some of the major operas at relatively small centres such as Strasbourg (L'Africaine, 2004) and Metz (Les Huguenots, 2004) showed that this conventional wisdom can be challenged. Since then, there have been highly successful new productions of Les Huguenots at major opera houses in France, Belgium and Germany. The Paris Opera opened a new production of Les Huguenots in September 2018, the first time since 1936 for the opera to be performed there. In December 2012, the Royal Opera House in London premiered its first performance of Robert le diable in 120 years. In 2013, Meyerbeer's original version of L'Africaine in a new critical edition by Jürgen Schläder was performed by Chemnitz Opera under the original title Vasco de Gama. The production was a success with audiences and critics and won the poll of German critics award presented by Opernwelt magazine annually as "Rediscovery of the year" in 2013. The critical edition was also used for a high-profile new production at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in October 2015. From 2015 onwards, new productions of Le prophète began to appear at some European opera houses.

On 9 September 2013 a plaque to mark Meyerbeer's last residence was put up at Pariser Platz 6a, Berlin.

Selected honours and awards

 * 1813 – Awarded title of Court and Chamber composer to Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse.
 * 1836 – Created Knight in the Order of Leopold, by Royal Order of King Leopold I.
 * 1842 – Awarded Pour le Mérite for sciences and arts (Prussia).
 * 1842 – Awarded Order of the Oak Crown by King William II of the Netherlands.
 * 1842 – Created Knight of the Order of the Polar Star by King Oscar I of Sweden.
 * 1850 – Awarded Honorary Doctorate in Philosophy by the University of Jena.

On film
Vernon Dobtcheff played the role of Giacomo Meyerbeer in the 1983 film Wagner.

title: Giacomo Meyerbeer