(Encyclopedia) Pinza, EzioPinza, Ezioātsˈyō pēnˈtsä [key], 1892–1957, Italian bass, b. Rome, studied at the Bologna Conservatory. After military service (1915–19), he resumed his operatic career in…
(Encyclopedia) abbreviation, in writing, arbitrary shortening of a word, usually by cutting off letters from the end, as in U.S. and Gen. (General). Contraction serves the same purpose…
(Encyclopedia) Zorrilla y Moral, JoséZorrilla y Moral, Joséhōsāˈ thôrēˈlyä ē mōrälˈ [key], 1817–93, Spanish poet and dramatist. His works and life epitomized the brief period of Spanish romanticism.…
(Encyclopedia) Kulikovo, battle ofKulikovo, battle ofk&oomacr;lyĭkôˈvə [key], 1380, victory of Grand Duke Dmitri Donskoi of Moscow over Khan Mamai of the Golden Horde. The battle was fought on a…
(Encyclopedia) mandolinmandolinmănˌdəlĭnˈ, mănˈdəlĭnˌ [key], musical instrument of the lute family, with a half-pear-shaped body, a fretted neck, and a variable number of strings, plucked with the…
(Encyclopedia) Kerr, Jean Collins, 1923–2003, American comic author and playwright, b. Scranton, Pa., wife of Walter Kerr. Kerr had a knack for finding wry humor in the worlds of marriage, suburbia,…
(Encyclopedia) Grabbe, Christian DietrichGrabbe, Christian Dietrichkrĭsˈtēän dēˈtrĭkh gräbˈə [key], 1801–36, German dramatist and journalist. Critical of “Shakespearomania,” Grabbe strove for a…
(Encyclopedia) Vierge, Daniel UrrabietaVierge, Daniel Urrabietadänyĕlˈ &oomacr;räbyāˈtä vyārˈhā [key], 1851–1904, Spanish illustrator. He went to Paris before 1870 and won recognition for his…
(Encyclopedia) YeletsYeletsyĭlyĕtsˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 120,000), E central Russia, on the Sosna River, a tributary of the Don. A rail junction in a black-earth agricultural district, the city…
(Encyclopedia) Petipa, MariusPetipa, Mariusmäryüsˈ pĕtēpäˈ [key], 1818–1910, French dancer and choreographer, b. Marseilles. Petipa rose to prominence at the Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg. He…
