A mezzo-soprano is a female singer whose voice is a little lower than that of a soprano but not low enough to be called a contralto. There are many roles in opera that need a mezzo-soprano voice, for example the role of Carmen in the opera "Carmen" by Georges Bizet or Cherubino in "Le Nozze di Figaro" by Mozart. Famous mezzo-sopranos include: Marilyn Horne and Dame Janet Baker who have both now retired. Alice Coote and Susan Graham are famous mezzo-sopranos today.
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet (25 October 1838 – 3 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic period. He is best known for his opera Carmen, which is the best-known of all French operas.
Bizet was born in Paris and died in Bougival.
Old age
Old age is when a person is near or beyond the usual life expectancy, usually from the age of 65 onwards. Old people are usually retired from work and spend their time in other ways like helping take care of small children who are kin to them in some way. Often people of old age have wrinkly skin. They will move slower, and become constantly cold.
Old people have more health problems than young adults, and many of them take medicine. The reason for this is that their bodies are slowly deteriorating, so they have more problems, especially with moving. Osteoporosis weakens the bones, and is one of the problems that become more common with age. Others include blindness and deafness. Gerontology is the part of medicine that deals with these things.
Old people are also called "senior citizens" or "elders". Elders are considered to be wise because they have had much experience in their long lives. Many cultures view elders with respect and kindness, and depend upon them to pass down knowledge to the younger generations of people.
The Crystal Maze
The Crystal Maze is a British game show on Channel 4. It ran from 1990-1995 and was revived in 2016. A team of six players completed challenges to win crystals. It was presented by Richard O'Brien from series 1 to 4 and Ed Tudor-Pole in series 5 and 6. Stephen Merchant presented an episode in 2016. Richard Ayoade presents in 2017.
It was made by Chatsworth Television as an British version of the French show Fort Boyard. There are four zones in the maze - Medieval, Aztec, Futuristic and Industrial. In each zone, players attempt challenges to earn a crystal. Each crystal gives them five seconds in the Crystal Dome. After a while, the Industrial zone was replaced by an Ocean zone.
The Crystal Dome is a large glass crystal where the players must go in at the end. Small golden and silver tickets are blown around the dome and they must try and catch as many as they can. For every gold token they put in the box, they get a point. For every silver token they put in the box, they lose a point.
If the team gets over 100 points, they win a big prize. If they do not win, they get a small crystal to take home with them.
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was a movement within the Roman Catholic Church which began in the 1500s. It covered the following five areas:
The Counter-Reformation began after Martin Luther's Reformation. In reaction, Catholics reaffirmed some points of faith that the Protestants' objections had put in danger. These included the validity of the seven sacraments. The Protestants had reduced the sacraments to only two, Baptism and the Eucharist. Protestants deny the doctrine of transubstantiation, which is seen as making Mass less important. Some reformation era groups had rejected the Mass entirely. Luther's view was somewhere between that of the more radical reformers and the Catholic view. Luther wrote that without faith neither Baptism nor the Eucharist is sufficient for salvation. The Counter-Reformation specifically re-affirmed the Catholic understanding of the mass.
On other issues, Catholics effectively accepted some of the Protestant complaints. Penance became a private confession and repentance from sin instead of outward actions. This served to correct the corrupt practice of selling forgiveness. This type of forgiveness, called Indulgence was the immediate cause of Luther's protests against abuses in the Catholic church.
As a result of the Counter Reformation, other abuses, such as Simony were also greatly curtailed. Thus the Protestant movement served not only to create new expressions of the Christian faith, but also to correct problems in the Catholic church which led to its revitalization.
Catholic missionaries, especially Jesuits went across the world to spread the Catholic faith. The Congregation of the Holy Office of the Inquisition was also created, to revitalize the work of suppressing heresy.
Decolonization
Decolonization is when a colony of any country becomes independent. Thus, decolonization is the opposite of colonization. Sometimes, a colony may not get full freedom, but may become part of another country or even the part of the country which colonized it. This is also decolonization.
In some cases, decolonization may result after non-violent discussion. In a relatively small number of cases, decolonization happens only after armed struggle and revolt. Decolonization is different from the break-up of traditional empires like the Mongol Empire or the Ottoman Empire. Decolonization generally means independence of non-Europeans from European rule. Thus, the break-up of the Union of Sweden and Norway and the independence of Manchukuo from the Empire of Japan were not decolonization. Major decolonization occurred in the 20th century. It began with the independence of Pakistan and India in 1947 from the British Empire. Soon after, many countries of Africa became independent from the rule of many countries of Europe.
History of the Soviet Union (1985-1991)
The history of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991 covers the dissolution of the Soviet Union. (Dissolution means ending or splitting up) The dissolution of the Soviet Union describes its end as a separate country.
The Soviet Union had many regions called "republics". They all belonged to the Russian Empire before 1917. All these "republics" were part of the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union was one country. After its dissolution, all of the republics became independent countries. The names of these countries are: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
Russia is a special case, because it still has a number of former republics inside its borders. That is why the country is called the Russian Federation. There are eight Federal Districts and 83 so-called "Federal Subjects" of the Russian Federation. Siberia, for example, has two huge federal districts.
The Soviet Union ended with the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. At the time of dissolution of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev was the president of the Soviet Union. He was in this position for a little over a year but he was leader of the Soviet Union from March 11th 1985. On 25 December 1991, he quit the post of the president of the USSR. By 31 December 1991, all organizations and departments of the Soviet Union stopped working. On that date, the Soviet flag flew for the last time on the Kremlin.
During 1969 and 1982, very few changes took place in the politics and economy of the Soviet Union. With the beginning of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, its relationship with the United States also deteriorated. At that time Jimmy Carter, followed by Ronald Reagan was the President of the United States. Jimmy Carter ended the policy of Détente - ending of unfriendly relationship. Some historians believe that this may be one of the reasons for the Soviet Union to change its political and economic policies.