The young lady who wrote the libretto (words) for Janáček had been one of his daughter’s close friends. She wrote using the name Tálská. Janáček thought the opera had autobiographical ideas. He also wanted a change from writing about simple, country people as he had done in "Jenůfa", so the people in the story of "Fate" belong to the upper classes, the rich people of society.
The story of the opera is quite strange and unbelievable. It has often been criticized for not being logical. The story consists of lots of little scenes which make the story jump about. The language of the libretto is very deliberately old-fashioned. Czech people who have worked with this opera have often felt that this formal language has made it hard for audiences to understand. Some people have felt that when the opera is sung in other languages it is sometimes better because the language sounds more real.
Nevertheless, although the opera has had these criticisms, the music is some of the best music that Janáček wrote.
The story takes place at the beginning of the 20th century, which was the time in which Janáček was composing it.
In Act I Gentlemen, students and young girls are walking about in a health resort. The men are interested in a girl called Míla. Míla sees a young man called Živný in the crowd. Živný is a composer. He and Míla used to be lovers. They had a child. She tells Živný that it was her mother who made them split up so that she could marry someone rich. Her mother had made her move away from Prague to give birth to the child in the country. The two lovers now want to forget their unhappy past and live together with their little son Doubek.
Act II takes place several years later. They have been living together happily. Míla’s mother lives with them but has gone mad. While the lovers read the story of an opera which seems to tell of their own lives, the mother screams and Živný tears up the music of the opera. The mother grabs her daughter and throws herself and Míla down the steep staircase.
Act III takes place in a music conservatory eleven years later. Živný’s students, one of whom is their son Doubek, are singing music from an opera that Živný has composed. Živný himself is like the hero of his opera. The last part of the opera has not yet been composed. The students act out a scene from Doubek’s childhood and make fun of it. Živný talks about his opera. A storm comes up and he is killed by lightning. His opera will never be finished.
Dwarf Allosaur
Dwarf Allosaur is a bone from a theropod dinosaur that lived in Australia about 106 million years ago in the Cretaceous period. It may be related to "Allosaurus" but is smaller and lived 30 million years after all other allosaurs had gone extinct. As it is known only from a single bone nothing more can be said.
Besides its poor fossil record, it is famous for appearing in the BBC television series Walking with Dinosaurs.
Social network service
A social network is a website or service where people talk to, connect with another people. Social Network Service can connect people with the same interests (like football, schools, dogs) and friends. Most Social Networks will let you create a profile page with your pictures and information about yourself.
Social Networking was first proposed in the early development of the World Wide Web.
The most popular websites like Facebook and Twitter are helping to speed up the process of communication. Phone and mail services are slowly becoming less popular thanks to a quick and easy way of sharing messages through such networks.
A social network is used for people to get to know each other more and create new friends/connections. Social networks are also used to share things with other people.
Many Social Networks are available on phones and smartphones. Some companies are blocking access to such websites due to concerns over employees spending too much time on them.
A 2011 survey found that 47% of American adults use a social networking service.
Spa town
A spa town, or simply spa, is a town that many people go to for health reasons. There is usually a spring there, or several springs. The water that comes from these springs is good for curing many illnesses. When people go to a spa town to get better we say that they go to "take the waters".
The word "spa" comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was called a "ville d'eau" (town of water). The term "spa" is used for towns or resorts which offer hydrotherapy (making people better with water). This can include cold water or mineral water treatments and hot spring baths.
List of Major League Baseball players
This is a list of Major League Baseball players by last name.
Vallon-Pont-d'Arc
Vallon-Pont-d'Arc is a commune of the Ardèche "département" in the southern part of France.
Ain
Ain is a department in the east of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It is named after the river Ain. Its prefecture is Bourg-en-Bresse.
Ain is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790 with Bourg-en-Bresse as is capital. It was formed with four former provinces: Bresse, Bugey, Dombes, Pays de Gex and part of the province of Franc-Lyonnais.
It was divided in nine districts: Pont-de-Vaux, Bourg, Nantua, Gex, Belley, Saint-Rambert, Montluel, Trévoux and Châtillon-les-Dombes.
The department was called "départment of Bresse" but in 1791 was changed to its present name: "départment de l'Ain".
In 1798, Gex was separated from Ain for the creation of the old department of Léman.
In 1800, with the creation of the "arrondissements" in France, the nine districts were changed into four "arrondissements": Bourg, Belley, Nantua and Trévoux.
The department of Léman was eliminated in 1814 and Gex was again part of the department of Ain. In 1815, some "communes" of Gex are passed to Switzerland and the "arrondissement" of Gex is created.
On 10 September 1926, the "arrondissements" of Gex and Trévoux were eliminated but in 1933 Gex was made again an "arrondissement".
Ain is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It has an area of .
The department borders with Switzerland and 6 other departments in 2 regions:
The territory of the Ain department is formed by five regions:
The lowest point of the department is on the Rhône river, high.
Several rivers flow through the department; the main rivers are the Rhône, the Ain and the Saône. The largest natural lake is the Nantua lake, with an area of .
The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Château-Gaillard (Ain) is an "Oceanic climate" (also known as Marine West Coast Climate) and of the subtype Cfb.
The average amount of precipitation for the year in Château-Gaillard is . The month with the most precipitation on average is October with of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is February with an average of .
The average temperature for the year in Château-Gaillard is . The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .
Ain is managed by the "Departmental Council of Ain" in Bourg-en-Bresse. The department is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
There are 4 "arrondissements" (districts), 23 "cantons" and 410 "communes" (municipalities) in Ain.
The following is a list of the 23 cantons of the Ain department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:
There is not an official demonym for the inhabitants of the Ain department; people are named after the regions:
Ain had a population, in 2014, of 626,127, for a population density of inhabitants/km. The "arrondissement" of Bourg-en-Bresse, with 354,177 inhabitants, is the "arrondissement" with more inhabitants.
The "communes" in the department with more than 8,000 inhabitants are:
Aisne