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serenade

(Encyclopedia)serenade [Ital. sera=evening], term used to designate several types of musical composition. Opera and song literature yield numerous examples of the serenade sung or played by a lover at night beneath...

Prato

(Encyclopedia)Prato ēn tōskäˈnä [key], city (1991 pop. 165,707), Tuscany, central Italy. It is a major textile-making center, known for its wool industry since the 13th cent. Weaving machinery, leather goods, ...

Chabot, Philippe de

(Encyclopedia)Chabot, Philippe de brēôNˈ [key], 1480–1543, count of Charny and of Buzançois, admiral of France. After a successful campaign (1536) in Savoy and Piedmont, he was, through the intrigues of Anne,...

Delmedigo, Elijah ben Moses Abba

(Encyclopedia)Delmedigo, Elijah ben Moses Abba dālmĕˈdēgō [key], c.1460–1497, Jewish philosopher and Talmudist, b. Crete, known also as Elijah Cretensis. He emigrated to Italy as a young man. He studied the ...

Dosso Dossi

(Encyclopedia)Dosso Dossi dôsˈsō dôsˈsē [key], 1479?–1542, Italian painter of the Ferrarese school, whose real name was Giovanni di Niccolò de Luteri. He may have been a pupil of Lorenzo Costa, but was cer...

Nicholas III, pope

(Encyclopedia)Nicholas III, d. 1280, pope (1277–80), a Roman named Giovanni Gaetano Orsini; successor of John XXI. As a cardinal he made a great reputation in diplomacy, and he was a close confidant of popes for ...

Lorenzo di Pietro

(Encyclopedia)Lorenzo di Pietro pyāˈtrō [key], c.1412–1480, Sienese painter, sculptor, and goldsmith, called Il Vecchietta. He painted a group of frescoes and a relic press in the hospital at Siena; four ceili...

Björling, Jussi

(Encyclopedia)Björling, Jussi yo͞osˈsĭ byörˈlĭng [key], 1911–60, Swedish tenor. He studied at the Royal Opera School in Stockholm, making his debut there in 1930 as Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni. He...

Siepi, Cesare

(Encyclopedia)Siepi, Cesare chāˈzärā sēĕpˈē [key], 1923–2010, Italian opera singer, b. Milan. A classic basso cantante [singing bass], his warm, resonant voice was suited to for Mozart's operas, and the t...

Peters, Roberta

(Encyclopedia)Peters, Roberta, 1930–2017, American coloratura soprano, b. New York City as Roberta Peterman. Discovered by Jan Peerce, she auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera in 1950. Scheduled to debut as the ...