Saint-Saens was more famous in the concert hall than he was in the theatre. He wrote 13 operas, but only one of them is still regularly performed: "Samson et Dalila" ("Samson and Delilah"). One of the arias from this opera, "Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix", is especially famous.
Saint-Saens wrote many concertos, symphonies, sonatas and chamber music. He often uses the style of dance music and creates a happy atmosphere by repeating certain patterns. His music is late Romantic, but based on the classical traditions rather than following the style of Wagner like many other French composers were doing at the time.
Fly to the Sky
Fly to the Sky (hangul:플라이 투 더 스카이) is a South Korean R&B duo. Its members are Korean American Brian Joo and South Korean Fany (also known as Hwanhee; Korean: 환희 Chinese: 歡喜; meaning "delight"). Since their 1999 debut single "Day by Day," they released six albums. Although they were marketed as teen idols, the duo later changed their image and style with their third album "Sea of Love" in 2002. With their future albums, the duo became known as R&B artists and are known as the first R&B duo of South Korea.
The duo started in late 1998 by Korean record company SM Entertainment. A friend of Brian Joo signed him up for auditions with Brothers Entertainment without his knowledge. while he was going to Holy Spirit High School, a Roman Catholic school in New Jersey. As for Fany, a staff member working for the company recommended him to audition at a school festival.
Their first appeared on television on December 9, 1999. Their first album "Day by Day" sold over 250,000 copies.
Their second album "The Promise" was released in 2001. The album hit #2 on the charts, but it quickly slipped from the charts. In the same year, they had their first concert with singer Kim Jo-Han.
The duo released two albums during this time. Their third album "Sea of Love" was released while Joo was at New Jersey going to Rutgers University, so Fany performed the songs by himself. The album featured "Condition of My Heart" which was written by American singer Brian McKnight.
Their fourth album, "Missing You" came out around the time when his manager died in a car crash. Fany was especially shocked by his death, because he had been in the same car with his manager just hours before the incident.
"Gravity", as their fifth and last album, came out by SM Entertainment. Their contract to the company ended soon after the release.
Fly to the Sky signed on with PFull Entertainment after their first contract ended in 2004. They wanted a smaller label that cared less about money. Fly to the Sky recorded their sixth studio album "Transition" in January 2006.
The duo started their first tour in Korea called "Fly To The Sky: 2006 The Twice Tour". Starting from Jamsil Arena in Seoul in May 2006, they had concerts in major Korean cities like Busan, Daegu, Junju, and Kwangju.
When "Transition" became popular, Fly to the Sky made a special edition, which had more music videos, deleted scenes and the more songs titled "Hwan Sang (Illusion)," "Hot and Cold," and "When I Say."
In 2004 and 2005, there was a rumor that they would break up. Brian denied to rumours and said that Fly to the Sky was not disbanding. He said the two had hard time getting along for first few years of their career on the show "Yah Shim Man Man," which aired on July 10. He said that he felt envy towards Fany, because he received more attention and praise than him. Brian felt that he was not given his due as Fany. Eventually he found this difficult to bear, and suggested to Fany that they pursue their separate paths. Fany responded angrily and the led to a fight that nearly led to the duo breaking up. The two was on good terms again soon after, understanding each other better. After the fight, the two decided to try to better understand each other in order to solve their problems together and to support each other. Brian's eyes were filled with tears when he was talking about the rumour.
Since 2006, the duo has appeared many times in variety shows. Fany appeared on Korean television drama "Over the Rainbow" during summer of 2006, and Brian released his solo album "The Brian" in December 2006. They became more popular but some critics and fans said they were compromising their image as artists.
The websites are in Korean.
Bram Stoker
Abraham "Bram" Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish writer. He is best remembered as the author of the classical and influential vampire (or devil) novel "Dracula".
He was born on 8 November 1847 at 15 Marino Crescent—then as now called "The Crescent"—in Clontarf, a coastal suburb of Dublin, Ireland. His parents were Abraham Stoker (born in 1799; married Stoker's mother in 1844; died on 10 October 1876) and the feminist Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornley (born in 1818; died in 1901). Stoker was the third of seven children. Abraham and Charlotte were members of the Church of Ireland and attended the Clontarf parish church (St. John the Baptist) with their children where both were baptised. Until he started school at the age of seven—when he made a complete, surprising recovery—Stoker was sick. During that time, Stoker wrote, "I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later years."
After his recovery, he became a normal young man even excelling as an athlete at Trinity College, Dublin (1864–70), from which he was graduated with honors in mathematics. He was auditor of the College Historical Society and president of the University Philosophical Society, where his first paper was on "Sensationalism in Fiction and Society". In 1876, while he was employed as a civil servant in Dublin, he wrote theater reviews for "The Dublin Mail", a newspaper partly owned by fellow horror writer J. Sheridan Le Fanu. His interest in theater led to a lifelong friendship with the English actor Henry Irving. In 1878 Stoker married Florence Balcombe, a celebrated beauty whose former suitor was Oscar Wilde. The couple moved to London, where Stoker became business manager of Irving's Lyceum Theater, a post he held for 27 years. The collaboration with Irving was very important for Stoker. Through him he became involved in London's high society, where he met, among other notables, James McNeil Whistler and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the course of Irving's tours he got the chance to travel around the world.
They had one son, Irving Noel Stoker, who was born on 31 December 1879.
He earned his money by writing a large number of sensational novels, his most famous being the vampire tale "Dracula" which he published in 1897. Before writing "Dracula", Stoker spent eight years researching European folklore and stories of vampires. "Dracula" is an epistolary novel, written as collection of diary entries, telegrams, and letters from the characters, as well as fictional clippings from the Whitby and London newspapers. Stoker's inspiration for the story was a visit to Slains Castle near Aberdeen. The bleak spot provided an excellent backdrop for his creation.