History and architecture.

The Petronas Towers' structural system is a tube in tube design, invented by Fazlur Rahman Khan. Applying a tube-structure for extreme tall buildings is a common phenomenon.  The 88-floor towers are constructed largely of reinforced concrete, with a steel and glass facade designed to resemble motifs found in Islamic art, a reflection of Malaysia's Muslim religion. Another Islamic influence on the design is that the cross section of the towers is based on a Rub el Hizb, albeit with circular sectors added to meet office space requirements. The circular sectors is similar to the bottom part of the Qutub Minar.  The towers were designed by Argentine architect César Pelli. A distinctive postmodern style was chosen to create a 21st-century icon for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Planning on the Petronas Towers started on 1 January 1992 and included rigorous tests and simulations of wind and structural loads on the design. Seven years of construction followed at the former site of the original Selangor Turf Club, beginning on 1 March 1993 with excavation, which involved moving 500 truckloads of earth every night to dig down below the surface.  The construction of the superstructure commenced on 1 April 1994. Interiors with furniture were completed on 1 January 1996, the spires of Tower 1 and Tower 2 were completed on 1 March 1996, 3 years after its construction was started, and the first batch of Petronas personnel moved into the building on 1 January 1997. The building was officially opened by the Prime Minister of Malaysia's Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad on 31 August 1999. The twin towers were built on the site of Kuala Lumpur's race track. Test boreholes found that the original construction site effectively sat on the edge of a cliff. One half of the site was decayed limestone while the other half was soft rock. The entire site was moved to allow the buildings to sit entirely on the soft rock. Because of the depth of the bedrock, the buildings were built on the world's deepest foundations. 104 concrete piles, ranging from deep, were bored into the ground. The concrete raft foundation, comprising of concrete was continuously poured through a period of 54 hours for each tower. The raft is thick, weighs and held the world record for the largest concrete pour until 2007. The foundations were completed within 12 months by Bachy Soletanche and required massive amounts of concrete. As a result of the Malaysian government specifying that the buildings be completed in six years, two construction consortia were hired to meet the deadline, one for each tower. Tower 1, the west tower (left in the top-right photograph) was built by a Japanese consortium led by the Hazama Corporation (JA Jones Construction Co., MMC Engineering Services Sdn Bhd, Ho Hup Construction Co. Bhd and Mitsubishi Corp) while Tower 2, the east tower (right in the top-right photograph) was built by a South Korean consortium led by the Samsung C&T Corporation (Kukdong Engineering & Construction and Syarikat Jasatera Sdn Bhd).  Early into construction a batch of concrete failed a routine strength test causing construction to come to a complete halt. All the completed floors were tested but it was found that only one had used a bad batch and it was demolished. As a result of the concrete failure, each new batch was tested before being poured. The halt in construction had cost US$700,000 per day and led to three separate concrete plants being set up on the site to ensure that if one produced a bad batch, the other two could continue to supply concrete. The sky bridge contract was completed by Kukdong Engineering & Construction. Tower 2 (Samsung C&T) became the first to reach the world's tallest building at the time.  Due to the huge cost of importing steel, the towers were constructed on a cheaper radical design of super high-strength reinforced concrete. High-strength concrete is a material familiar to Asian contractors and twice as effective as steel in sway reduction; however, it makes the building twice as heavy on its foundation as a comparable steel building. Supported by 23-by-23 metre concrete cores and an outer ring of widely spaced super columns, the towers use a sophisticated structural system that accommodates its slender profile and provides 560,000 square metres of column-free office space. Below the twin towers is Suria KLCC, a shopping mall, and Petronas Philharmonic Hall, the home of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.

Notable events.

On 15 April 1999, Felix Baumgartner set the world record for BASE jumping (since broken) by jumping off a window cleaning crane on the Petronas Towers.

Anchor tenants.

Tower One is fully occupied by Petronas and a number of its subsidiaries and associate companies, while the office spaces in Tower Two are mostly available for lease to other companies. A number of companies have offices in Tower Two, including SapuraOMV Upstream (Sarawak) Inc., Huawei Technologies, AVEVA, Al Jazeera English, Carigali Hess, Bloomberg, Boeing, IBM, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, McKinsey & Co, WIPRO Limited, TCS, HCL Technologies, Krawler, Microsoft, The Agency (a modelling company) and Reuters.

Features.

Suria KLCC.

Suria KLCC is a upmarket retail center at the feet of the Petronas Towers. It features mostly foreign luxury goods and high-street labels. Its attractions include an art gallery, an underwater aquarium and also a Science center. Boasting approximately 300 stores, Suria KLCC is touted as one of the largest shopping malls in Malaysia. The Petronas Philharmonic Hall, also built at the base of the towers, is frequently associated with Suria KLCC's floorspace.

KLCC Park.

Spanning below the building is the KLCC Park with jogging and walking paths, a fountain with incorporated light show, wading pools, and a children's playground.

Skybridge.

The towers feature a double decker skybridge connecting the two towers on the 41st and 42nd floors, which is the highest 2-story bridge in the world. It is not attached to the main structure, but is instead designed to slide in and out of the towers to prevent it from breaking, as the towers sway several feet in towards and away from each other during high winds. It also provides some structural support to the towers in these occasions. The bridge is above the ground and long, weighing 750 tons. The same floor is also known as the podium, since visitors going to higher levels have to change elevators here. The skybridge is open to all visitors, but tickets are limited to about 1,000 people per day, and must be obtained on a first-come, first-served basis. Initially, the visit was free but in 2010, the tickets started being sold by Petronas. Visitors can choose to opt for package one which is just a visit to the skybridge or go for package two to go to the skybridge and all the way to level 86. Visitors are only allowed on the 41st floor as the 42nd floor can only be used by the tenants of the building.  The skybridge also acts as a safety device, so that in the event of a fire or other emergency in one tower, tenants can evacuate by crossing the skybridge to the other tower. The total evacuation triggered by a bomb hoax on 12 September 2001 (the day after the September 11 attacks destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City) showed that the bridge would not be useful if both towers need to be emptied simultaneously, as the capacity of the staircases was insufficient for such an event. Plans thus call for the lifts to be used if both towers need to be evacuated, and a successful drill following the revised plan was conducted in 2005.  There is a two hinged arch that supports the skybridge with arch legs, each long, that are bolted to level 29 of each of the towers. After being constructed on the ground, the skybridge was lifted into place on the towers over a period of three days in July 1995. Instead of being directly connected to the towers, the skybridge can shift or slide in and out of them to counterbalance any effect from the wind. Residing on the 41st and 42nd floors, the skybridge connects a conference room, an executive dining room and a prayer room.

Lift system.

The main bank of Lifts is located in the centre of each tower. All main lifts are double-decker with the lower deck of the lift taking passengers to even-numbered floors and upper deck to odd-numbered floors. To reach an odd-numbered floor from ground level, passengers must take an escalator to the upper deck of the lift.  There are 29 double-deck passenger elevators, but there are different sets that service certain floors of the towers, specifically two sets of six of these double-deck passenger elevators to floors 1–23 and 1–37 respectively. Another set of 5 passenger lifts transport passengers to the 41st and 42nd floors where they can switch lifts to reach the upper zones of the buildings, each double-deck passenger lift with the capacity of 52 passengers or, 26 passengers per deck. There are also 6 heavy-duty elevators for utility.  The lift operating chart of the Petronas Towers

Service building.

The service building is to the east of the Petronas Towers and contains the chiller plant system and the cooling towers to keep the Petronas Towers cool and comfortable.

Ticketing system.

In order to visit Petronas towers, visitors must first purchase tickets. Tickets can be purchased online or at the counter. Discounted tickets for seniors are available for those 55 years of age and above. Queues for tickets can get quite long sometimes. The complete ticketing system is provided by the Malaysian-based Longbow Technologies Sdn Bhd.

The Petronas Towers, also known as the Petronas Twin Towers (Malay: "Menara Petronas", or "Menara Berkembar Petronas)," are twin skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)'s official definition and ranking, they were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004, until they were surpassed by Taipei 101. The Petronas Towers remain the tallest twin towers in the world.

Petronas Towers, také známé jako Petronas Twin Towers (malajsky: Menara Petronas či Menara Berkembar Petronas), je dvojice postmoderních mrakodrapů v Kuala Lumpuru, hlavním městě Malajsie. Jejich výška je 452 m. V letech 1998 až 2004 se jednalo o nejvyšší budovy na světě. V roce 2017 byly mezi nejvyššími mrakodrapy světa na 18. místě.


Composition history.

Following the success of both "Nabucco" and "I Lombardi", Verdi was approached by many opera companies wanting to commission him to write an opera for their houses. Rather than prepare another for La Scala, he was interested in a commission for two operas for the 1843–44 season (one of which would be "I Lombardi") which came from the President of the Teatro la Fenice in Venice, Marquis Nanni Mocenigo.  However, the composer was only willing to accept the terms which he proposed: 12,000 Austrian lire to be paid after the first performance, not the third as proposed by Venice (Verdi recalled what had happened to "Un giorno di regno" with its one and only performance). Amongst other stipulations, he demanded the right to choose his own subject, his own librettist, and also to pay him directly, as well as refusing to accept the requirement that a full orchestral score be available in advance. In addition, he had the right to choose the singers from the assembled company for that season. David Kimbell notes one additional demand:  Once this agreement was settled upon, the next step was to choose a subject, something which took some time. Several subjects came to Verdi's attention: for example, Byron's "The Corsair" was considered, but the right baritone was not available. In thinking about an opera about the Venetian Foscari family, he found that it was forbidden by the censor in order to avoid upsetting any of the descendants of that family who were then living in Venice. However, both of these subjects were to become later Verdi operas, "Il corsaro" and "I due Foscari".  An unsolicited manuscript from the unknown Francesco Piave (who was La Fenice's resident poet and stage manager in addition to being a friend of Brenna, the company's Secretary) proposed an opera, "Cromwell," based on Victor Hugo's play, and on which he had started work. Mocenigo assured the composer of Piave's sense of the theatre and of musical forms, and so they agreed to proceed, although by the time of its approval by the Fenice authorities, it had become "Allan Cameron", a story set in the time just prior to the accession of Britain's Charles II. Immediately, Verdi took control and made it clear to Piave what he wanted in the way of a theatrical experience: "...Let's have as few words as possible [...] Remember that brevity is never a fault [...] But I do insist on brevity because that's what the public wants..."  The idea for "Hernani  The "Cromwell" libretto arrived from Piave in pieces, and Verdi put it away until he had the complete version to work from. However, when the composer and La Fenice's president met in Venice in late August, Verdi expressed some dissatisfaction at how the libretto had turned out. Then Mocenigo's casual reference to Hugo's successful 1830 drama "Hernani" as an idea for a libretto caught Verdi's imagination, as seen in a letter which the latter wrote to Mocenigo in early September which expressed concerns about "Allan Cameron" and the way it had turned out, though noting that this was "the fault of the subject and not the poet". He continues:  At this point he continues with suggestions for the poet. For Verdi, the appeal of Hugo's work – which the latter described as "Romanticism or the Liberalism in literature" – was "the struggle between love and honour", and Budden sums up this appeal as "Within Hugo's scheme each illogical action follows logically from the one that precedes it, giving Verdi the pace, the eventfulness and above all the dramatic unity that he has been looking for."  Setting the play as the opera, "Ernani"  However, Piave was not at all pleased by this turn of events and felt that an opera based on "Hernani" could not be staged for reasons of censorship. For instance, the King's first appearance in the play is from a cupboard where he has been hiding since some time after his arrival and before he meets Elvira. Thus he overhears much of the interaction between Elvira and Ernani before finally revealing himself. Verdi must have realized that no king "would ever be allowed to hide in a cupboard", something which Budden notes. But the La Fenice directorate did approve the concept and the librettist was offered compensation, although he saved his "Allan Cameron" in reserve in case of mishap. As it evolved, the opera – originally titled "Don Ruy Gomez de Silva" in synopsis form – came more and more "to reflect the unique character of the parent drama" as Verdi wished to stick as closely as possible to the original play. For Budden, this "marks a new outlook in Italian opera", because this would never have occurred to either Rossini or Donizetti, for whom plots were interchangeable.  Although Verdi had agreed to try to accommodate the contralto Carolina Vietti when the opera was "Allan Cameron", he was against making the leading character of Ernani a musico contralto. However, he compromised somewhat and, by the end of October, it appeared that the four voice types were to be soprano (Elvira), contralto (Ernani), tenor (Don Carlo), and baritone (de Silva), but after the acceptance of the libretto by the Venetian police, Verdi was able to hold firm and ultimately get what he wanted: a soprano, a tenor, a baritone, and – although Rosi was not an experienced enough singer – a bass in the role of de Silva. Thus it became a comprimario role, one to be sung by a second-rung singer in the company. But, as Budden notes, Verdi's "difficulties with singers were not yet over".  The season opened with "I Lombardi" in December 1843. It was a disaster, with terrible singing from the tenor Domenico Conti. Two other operas early in the 1843/44 season were equally poorly received. Having heard one other potential tenor, Vitali, as a possible replacement, the composer presented an ultimatum: either be released from his contract or the company would engage Carlo Guasco in the role of Ernani. With a premiere set for March, two final glitches were overcome: the bass Rosi had disappeared from consideration as de Silva but was replaced by Meini, who then withdrew because he found the part too low. Verdi then engaged a member of the chorus, the bass Antonio Selva who went on to a distinguished career. And, in spite of complaints from the soprano, Sophie Löwe, that she was not to be front and centre for the finale, she became part of the final trio.

Verdi and theatre.

Budden notes the following in regard to the specific relationship between this opera and the work of Victor Hugo:  But it is the composer himself who, in a letter to Brenna, the La Fenice secretary and a friend of Piave's, sums up his own sense of theatre, of what works and what doesn't. This was written at a time when Piave was unhappy about the shift from his original libretto to the one for what became "Ernani". With this shift came many changes of direction as issues such as casting came into consideration, and Verdi asks Brenna to communicate his feelings to the librettist:  In effect, Verdi is taking control over all aspects of the piece, which includes the condensation of the sprawling play into his four acts. (The first two acts of Hugo's play become act 1 of the opera). Rather than allow the librettist a free hand in composing his verses, "this would have perpetuated in a diminished form the word-music division that Verdi precisely wanted to get away from. The composer's desire to take charge of every aspect of an opera implied that he had the power to decide what weight to give the text and the music, respectively, depending upon the "moment" of the action.

Performance history.

19th century Budden sums up the opening night success of "Ernani": nothing "prevented [the opera] from being a tremendous success. With it, Verdi's fame took a new leap which carried it at once across the boundaries of Italy. For better or worse, he was now a world composer [...and] wherever there was an Italian opera house, "Ernani" arrived sooner or later." However, it was not all smooth sailing: due to Hugo's opposition, the first performances in Paris at the Théâtre des Italiens two years later required a change of title - to "Il Proscritto" - and a change of characters' names: "The practice was followed in other cities where the names Victor Hugo and "Hernani" smacked of revolution." In Palermo in 1845 it became "Elvira d'Aragona" and in Messina in 1847 the title became "Il proscritto ossia Il corsaro di Venezia". Overall, "Ernani" was staged in one form or another up to the mid-1850s, with "32 theatres [giving] the work in 1844, 60 in 1845, and at least 65 in 1846, not including revivals in houses that had already presented it."  The United Kingdom premiere, the first of Verdi's operas to be translated into English, took place at Her Majesty's Theatre in London on 8 March 1845 followed on 13 April 1847 by its US premiere in New York.  20th century and beyond  "Ernani" appeared on the roster of the Metropolitan Opera as early as 1903 and has been given many times since then. The opera was revived in a series of new productions at the San Francisco Opera (1982), Lyric Opera of Chicago (1984), at La Scala (1984) and the Met (1985). It was given as part of the 1997 season of the Sarasota Opera's "Verdi Cycle". The Teatro Regio di Parma, another company with the aim of presenting every Verdi opera, gave it in October 2005. Today "Ernani" receives numerous performances at opera houses around the world.

Synopsis.

Act 1.

"Mountains of Aragon"  The bandits demand the reason for Ernani's gloom (Chorus: "Evviva! Beviam! Beviam!" / "To you we drink"; "Ernani pensoso!" / "Ernani, so gloomy? Why, oh strong one, does care sit on your brow?"). Ernani replies that he loves Elvira (Recitative: "Thanks, dear friends"; Cavatina: "Come rugiada al cespite" / "As the flower turns to the sun"), who is about to be married against her will to old Gomez de Silva ("O tu che l'alma adora"). He asks the bandits to abduct her.  "In Elvira's chamber"  Elvira worries about her upcoming marriage (Scena: "Now sinks the sun and Silva does not return"; Cavatina: "Ernani, Ernani involami" / "Ernani, Ernani, save me") as servants deliver Silva's wedding presents to her. She reaffirms her love for Ernani ("Tutto sprezzo che d'Ernani" / "I scorn everything which does not speak to my heart of Ernani"). King Carlos, disguised as a peasant, enters, but Elvira recognizes him and rejects the love that he offers her. As he attempts to use force, she grasps a dagger, but Ernani suddenly arrives and stops Carlos (Trio: "A friend comes quickly to your aid"). Carlos recognizes Ernani as the leader of the bandits. Ernani replies that Carlos robbed him of his lands and forced him into a life of banditry. As he invites Carlos to fight, Silva appears and sees Ernani ("Infelice!... e tu credevi"... "che mai vegg'io!" / "Dreadful sight"; Silva's cavatina: "Unhappy man! You thought this lovely...was yours").  Ernani offers to fight them both when Riccardo approaches and recognises the king. Silva is horrified and apologizes to the king, while Ernani whispers to Elvira to prepare to flee.

Act 2.

"A hall in Silva's palace"  Ernani enters disguised as a pilgrim. He asks for shelter, which Silva grants him, and then learns from Silva that he is about to marry Elvira, who believes Ernani to be dead. Ernani reveals his true identity to Elvira and she tells him that she plans to kill herself at the altar (Duet: "Ah, morir potessi adesso" / "Ah, if I could die now"). Silva walks in at that moment, discovers the pair, but agrees to keep his word to Ernani and protect him from the king, for which Ernani will owe him a perpetual debt. (Trio: "No, vendetta più tremenda" / "No, I want to keep a greater revenge"). Carlos arrives and wishes to know why the castle is barred. Silva refuses to surrender Ernani (Carlos' aria: "Lo vedremo, veglio audace" / "We shall see, you bold old man") and Don Carlos's men cannot find Ernani's hiding place. Silva keeps his word, even when the king secures Elvira as a hostage. Silva releases Ernani, and then challenges him to a duel. Ernani refuses to fight, but unites with Silva in his plans to free Elvira from the king. Ernani swears to appear at the summons of Silva, wherever he may be at that time ("Odi il voto o grande Iddio" / "Oh God, hear the vow"),  ["Added for Parma, 26 December 1844: "at Rossini's request, Verdi wrote a grand aria for the tenor Nicola Ivanoff". Ernani gathers his men to him. His aria of vengeance: "Sprezzo la vita né più m'alletta" / "Life means nothing to me, only hope of vengeance" concludes the act]".

Act 3.

"In the burial vault of Charles the Great at Aachen"  Carlos visits the grave of the emperor Charlemagne (Carlo Magno), whose successor, the new Holy Roman Emperor, is being elected by delegates from the relevant countries. Carlos resolves to change his life if he is crowned (Cavatina: "Oh, de' verd'anni miei"/ "Oh, the dreams and deceits of my youth"). Hiding behind the vault, he overhears a gathering of conspirators including Silva and Ernani. Ernani swears to murder Carlos. The conspiracy is foiled when Carlos's attendants enter and surprise the conspirators. The king commands that all the traitorous noblemen be executed. Ernani steps forward, declaring that thus he must die too; he is not the bandit Ernani, but Don Juan of Aragon, whose lands were taken from him. Elvira, who had been brought to Carlos as his intended empress, begs mercy for her lover, and Carlos, whose mood has changed, forgives them both and places Elvira's hand in that of Ernani.

Act 4.

"Ernani's Castle"  Elvira and Ernani have just been married, when, in consternation, Ernani hears a bugle call. Silva arrives and silently hands Ernani a dagger. Ernani asks for time to "sip from the cup of love" ("Ascolta, ascolta un detto ancor"/ "Listen, just one word...") but, cursed by Silva as a coward, Ernani keeps his oath and stabs himself in the heart (Trio with Silva: "È vano, o donna, il piangere, è vano" / "Your weeping is in vain, woman"). He dies in Elvira's arms, telling her to live.

Orchestration.

"Ernani" is scored for one piccolo, one flute, two oboes, two clarinets, one bass clarinet, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, one cimbasso, one harp, timpani, bass drum and cymbals, snare drum, on-stage band with on-stage bass drum, one offstage horn, six offstage trumpets, and strings.

Music.

Noting that the dramatic structure of this opera "brought about a fresh consideration of the fixed forms of Italian opera, in particular an expansion and enrichment of the solo aria and duet together with a more flexible approach to the musical sequences that bind together lyrical pieces", Roger Parker continues by stating that of greatest importance was "Verdi's gathering sense of musical drama's larger rhetoric, his increasing control over the dynamics of entire acts rather than merely of entire numbers. In this respect, the third act of "Ernani" sets up an imposing standard of coherence, one that is rarely equalled until the operas of the early 1850s."  However, it is writer Gabriele Baldini (whose specialization was in English literature) who in 1980 points to one of the most significant aspects of "Ernani"'s dramatic and musical structure, the concept of male vocal archetypes, something which is echoed in Budden's 1984 chapter on this opera. Baldini writes of the musical conflicts inherent in the drama as a result of the use of certain voice types:  Therefore, it is the lowest voice [the bass, de Silva], which is "farthest away, and thus his relationship is the coldest and most retrained". The baritone [the King, Don Carlo] "manages to draw somewhat closer, although indirectly and ambiguously", but Baldini continues by noting that it the highest male voice [the tenor, Ernani] who "gets near a relationship which if not complete [...] is at least reciprocated for long periods".  Finally, while Baldini agrees with Parker that it is act 3 of "Ernani" which is the strongest - "in my opinion it marks the first occasion on which Verdi enclosed within a fairly extended musical space (about twenty five minutes) a perfect structural unit" - he also echoes Budden and De Van in noting the importance of the opening horn motif and references to the horn which recur throughout the opera and which ends with the final horn call, the fatal summons to Ernani by de Silva.

Recordings.

The first complete recording of an opera was the 1904 recording of "Ernani", on 40 single-sided discs, by the Gramophone Company in England. Later recordings include:

References.

Notes  Cited sources  Other sources

Ernani is an operatic "dramma lirico" in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play "Hernani" by Victor Hugo.

Ernani je název opery Giuseppe Verdiho z roku 1844. Autorem libreta je Francesco Maria Piave na motivy dramatu Victora Huga.


Biblical source.

The obligation of tefillin is mentioned four times in the Torah: twice when recalling The Exodus from Egypt: and twice in the shema passages:

Etymology.

The ultimate origin of Hebrew "tefillin" is uncertain. The word "tefillin" is not found in the Bible, which calls them "ṭoṭafot". The Septuagint renders "ṭoṭafot" ἀσάλευτον "asauleton", "something immovable". Some believe it refers to a charm, similar to the Hebrew "neṭifot", "round jewel". The Talmud explains that the word "ṭoṭafot" is combination of two foreign words: "Tot" means "two" in the "Caspi" language and "Fot" means "two" in the "Afriki" language, hence, "tot" and "fot" means "two and two", corresponding to the four compartments of the head-tefillin. Menahem ben Saruq explains that the word is derived from the Hebrew "Ve'hateif" and "Tatifoo", both expressions meaning "speech", "for when one sees the tefillin it causes him to remember and speak about the Exodus from Egypt".  The first texts to use "tefillin" are the Targumim and Peshitta and it is also used in subsequent Talmudic literature, although the word "ṭoṭafah" was still current, being used with the meaning of "frontlet". "Tefillin" may have derived from the Aramaic "palal", "to plead, pray", a word closely related to the Hebrew "tefillah", "prayer". Jacob ben Asher (14th century) suggests that "tefillin" is derived from the Hebrew "pelilah", "justice, evidence", for tefillin act as a sign and proof of God's presence among the Jewish people.  The English word "phylactery" ("phylacteries" in the plural) derives from Ancient Greek "phylaktērion" ( "phylaktēria" in the plural), meaning "guarded post, safeguard, security", and in later Greek, "amulet" or "charm". The word "phylactery" occurs once (in ) in the Greek New Testament, whence it has passed into the languages of Europe. Neither Aquila nor Symmachus use "phylacteries" in their translations. The choice of this particular Greek equivalent to render the Heb. "tefillin" bears witness to the ancient functional interpretation of the said device as a kind of an amulet. The other Greek words for "amulet" are "periapton" or "periamma", which literally signifies "things tied around", analogously to the Hebrew "qame‘a" derived from the root קמע meaning "to bind".

Purpose.

The tefillin are to serve as a reminder of God's intervention at the time of the Exodus from Egypt. Maimonides details of the sanctity of tefillin and writes that "as long as the tefillin are on the head and on the arm of a man, he is modest and God-fearing and will not be attracted by hilarity or idle talk; he will have no evil thoughts, but will devote all his thoughts to truth and righteousness". The "Sefer ha-Chinuch" (14th century) adds that the purpose of tefillin is to help subjugate a person's worldly desires and encourage spiritual development. Joseph Caro (16th century) explains that tefillin are placed on the arm adjacent to the heart and on the head above the brain to demonstrate that these two major organs are willing to perform the service of God.  Many have the custom to have high-quality tefillin and beautiful tefillin bags as a Hiddur Mitzvah. This idea comes from the verse "This is my God and I will glorify Him" (). The Jewish Sages explain: "Is it possible for a human being to add glory to his Creator? What this really means is: I shall glorify Him in the way I perform mitzvot. I shall prepare before Him a beautiful lulav, beautiful sukkah, beautiful fringes (Tsitsit), and beautiful phylacteries (Tefilin)."  Some non-Orthodox scholars think that tefillin may play an apotropaic function. For instance, Yehudah B. Cohn argues that the tefillin should be perceived as an invented tradition aimed at counteracting the popularity of the Greek amulets with an "original" Jewish one. Joshua Trachtenberg considered every ornament worn on the body (whatever its declared function) as initially serving the purpose of an amulet. In addition, the early Rabbinic sources furnish more or less explicit examples of the apotropaic qualities of tefillin. For instance, Numbers Rabbah 12:3 presents tefillin as capable of defeating "a thousand demons" emerging on "the left side", rabbis Yohanan and Nahman used their sets to repel the demons inhabiting privies, whereas Elisha the Winged, who was scrupulous in performing this mitzvah, was miraculously saved from the Roman persecution. Also, tefillin are believed to possess life-lengthening qualities, and they are often listed in one breath among various items which are considered amuletic in nature.

Manufacture and contents.

The manufacturing processes of tefillin are intricate and governed by hundreds of detailed rules.

Boxes.

In earlier Talmudic times, tefillin were either cylindrical or cubical, but later the cylindrical form became obsolete. Nowadays the boxes should be fashioned from a single piece of animal hide and form a base with an upper compartment to contain the parchment scrolls. They are made in varying levels of quality. The most basic form, called "peshutim" ("simple"), are made using several pieces of parchment to form the inner walls of the head tefillin. The higher quality tefillin, namely "dakkot" ("thin"), made by stretching a thin piece of leather, and the more durable "gassot" ("thick") are both fashioned from the single piece of hide.  The main box which holds the tefillin scrolls, known as "ketitzah" (קציצה), is cubical. Below it is a wider base known as the "titura" (תיתורא). At the back of the "titura" is a passageway ("ma'avarta", מעברתא) through which the tefillin strap is threaded, to tie the tefillin in place.  On both sides of the head-tefillin, the Hebrew letter "shin" () is moulded; the "shin" on the wearer's left side has four branches instead of three.

Straps.

Black leather straps ("retsu'ot") pass through the rear of the base and are used to secure the tefillin onto the body. The knot of the head-tefillin strap forms the letter "dalet" () or double "dalet" (known as the square-knot) while the strap that is passed through the arm-tefillin is formed into a knot in the shape of the letter "yud" (). Together with the "shin" on the head-tefillin box, these three letters spell "Shaddai" (), one of the names of God.  The straps must be black on their outer side, but may be any color except red on their inner side. A stringent opinion requires them to be black on the inner side too, but more commonly the inner side is left the color of leather.  The Talmud specifies that tefillin straps must be long enough to reach one's middle finger, and records the practice of Rav Aha bar Jacob to tie and then "matleit" (plait? wind three times?) them. However, the passage leaves unclear where the measuring is done from, whether the reference is to hand- or head-tefillin, and what exactly the meaning of "matleit" is. Combining and interpreting the Talmud's statements, Maimonides, Tur, and Shulchan Aruch ruled that the strap of hand-tefillin must reach from where the tefillin is placed on the arm, as far as the middle finger, where it must be wound three times around the middle finger. Rema wrote that it is not necessary to wind around the finger (rather, the straps must belong enough that one "could" wind around the finger); however, this leniency does not appear in his comments to the Shulchan Aruch. In addition to the windings around the finger, the Shulchan Aruch states that the custom is to wind six or seven times around the forearm.

Parchment scrolls.

The four biblical passages which refer to the tefillin, mentioned above, are written on scrolls and placed inside the leather boxes. The arm-tefillin has one large compartment, which contains all four biblical passages written upon a single strip of parchment; the head-tefillin has four separate compartments in each of which one scroll of parchment is placed. This is because the verses describe the hand-tefillin in the singular ("sign"), while in three of four verses, the head-tefillin is described in the plural (""totafot"").  The passages are written by a scribe with special ink on parchment scrolls ("klaf"). These are: "Sanctify to me..." (Exodus 13:1–10); "When YHWH brings you..." (Exodus 13:11–16); "Hear, O Israel..." (Deuteronomy 6:4–9); and "If you observe My Commandments..." (Deuteronomy 11:13-21). The Hebrew Ashuri script must be used and there are three main styles of lettering used: "Beis Yosef" – generally used by Ashkenazim; "Arizal" – generally used by Hasidim; "Velish" – used by Sefardim. The passages contain 3,188 letters, which take a sofer (scribe) between 10–15 hours to complete.  The texts have to be written with halachically acceptable (acceptable according to Jewish law) ink on halachically acceptable parchment. There are precise rules for writing the texts and any error invalidates it. For example, the letters of the text must be written in order - if a mistake is found later, it can't be corrected as the replacement letter would have been written out of sequence. There are 3188 letters on the parchments, and it can take a scribe as long as 15 hours to write a complete set. The scribe is required to purify himself in the mikvah (ritual bath) before he starts work.

Ordering of scrolls (Rashi and Rabbeinu Tam tefillin).

Talmudic commentators debated the order in which scrolls should be inserted into the four compartments of the head-tefillin. Rashi held that the passages are placed according to the chronological order as they appear in the Torah ("Kadesh Li", "Ve-haya Ki Yeviehcha", "Shema", "Ve-haya Im Shemoa"), while according to Rabbeinu Tam, the last two passages are switched around. Of the tefillin dating from the 1st-century CE discovered at Qumran in the Judean Desert, some were made according to the order understood by Rashi and others in the order of Rabbeinu Tam.  Nowadays, the prevailing custom is to arrange the scrolls according to Rashi's view, but some pious Jews are also accustomed to briefly lay the tefillin of Rabbeinu Tam as well, a custom of the Ari adopted by the Hasidim. The Vilna Gaon, who wore the tefillin of Rashi, rejected the stringency of also laying Rabbeinu Tam, pointing out that there were 64 possible arrangements of the tefillin scrolls, and it would not be practical to put on 64 different sets of tefillin to account for all possibilities. The Shulchan Aruch rules that only "one who is known and famous for his piety" should put on Rabbeinu Tam tefillin, while the Mishnah Brurah explains that if any other person puts on Rabbeinu Tam tefillin, it is a sign of arrogance.  The placement of the protrusion of a tuft of the sinew ("se'ar eigel") identifies as to which opinion the tefillin were written.

Obligation and gender.

The duty of laying tefillin rests upon Jews after the age of thirteen years. Although women were traditionally exempt from the obligation, some early codifiers allowed them to do so. Rema (Rav Moses Isserles, 16th century), a major codifier of the Jewish law, strongly discourages it.  Historically, the "mitzvah" of tefillin was not performed by women, but the ritual was apparently kept by some women in medieval France and Germany. Traditions exist of some prominent women laying tefillin. Rashi's daughters allegedly wore tefillin, as did the wife of Chaim ibn Attar and the female Hasidic Rebbe known as Maiden of Ludmir.  In modern times, people of both genders choose to wear tefillin, and are encouraged to do so by some. In 2018, a group of students from Hebrew College, a non-denominational rabbinical school in Boston, created a series of YouTube videos to help people of both genders learn how to wrap tefillin. Within the Orthodox movement, it remains a male-only obligation, but in egalitarian movements, women may observe this practice. Women affiliated with the Conservative movement wrap tefillin. Since 2013, SAR High School in Riverdale, New York, has allowed girls to wrap tefillin during morning prayer; it is probably the first Modern Orthodox high school in the U.S. to do so. The wearing of tefillin by members of Women of the Wall at the Western Wall caused consternation from the rabbi in charge of the site until a Jerusalem District Court judge ruled in 2013 that doing so was not a violation of "local custom".  A mourner during the first day of his mourning period is exempt from wrapping tefillin as is a bridegroom on his wedding-day. A sufferer from stomach-trouble or one who is otherwise in pain and cannot concentrate his mind is also exempt. One who is engaged in the study of the Law and scribes of and dealers in tefillin and "mezuzahs" while engaged in their work if it cannot be postponed, are also free from this obligation.  The codes view the commandment of tefillin as important, and call those who neglect to observe it "transgressors". Maimonides counts the commandment of laying the arm-tefillin and head-tefillin as two separate positive "mitzvot". The Talmud cites Rav Sheshet, who said that by neglecting the precept, one transgresses eight positive commandments. A report of widespread laxity in its observance is reported by Moses of Coucy in 13th-century Spain. It may have arisen from the fear of persecution, similar to what had occurred to the Jews living in the Land of Israel under Roman rule in the second century.

Use.

Originally tefillin were worn all day, but not during the night. Nowadays the prevailing custom is to wear them only during the weekday morning service, although some individuals wear them at other times during the day as well.  Tefillin are not donned on Shabbat and the major festivals because these holy days are themselves considered "signs" which render the need of the "sign" of tefillin superfluous.  On the fast day of Tisha B'Av, tefillin are not worn in the morning, as tefillin are considered an "adornment", symbols of beauty, which is deemed inappropriate for a day of mourning. They are worn instead at the afternoon Mincha service. There are those however who have a custom (Jews from Aleppo, Syria) on Tisha B'Av to privately put on tefillin at home and pray privately, say the Amidah and take off the tefillin and go to synagogue to finish the prayers.

Chol HaMoed.

On Chol HaMoed (intermediate days) of Pesach and Sukkot, there is a great debate among the early halachic authorities as to whether tefillin should be worn or not. Those who forbid it consider the "sign" of intermediate days as having the same status as the festival itself, making the ritual of tefillin redundant. Others argue and hold that Chol HaMoed does not constitute a "sign" in which case tefillin must be laid. Three customs evolved resulting from the dispute:  In light of the conflicting opinions, the "Mishna Berura" (20th-century) recommends Ashkenazim make the following stipulation before donning tefillin: "If I am obligated to don tefillin I intend to fulfill my obligation and if I am not obligated to don tefillin, my doing so should not be considered as fulfilling any obligation" and that the blessing not be recited.

Laws and customs regarding putting on tefillin.

Ashkenazi practice is to put on and remove the arm tefillin while standing in accordance to the "Shulchan Aruch", while most Sephardim do so while sitting in accordance with the Ari. All, however, put on and remove the head tefillin while standing. Halacha forbids speaking or being distracted while putting on the tefillin. An Ashkenazi says two blessings when laying tefillin, the first before he ties the arm-tefillin:..."lehani'ach tefillin" ("to bind "tefillin""), and the second after placing the head tefillin:..."al mitzvat tefillin" ("as to the commandment of "tefillin""); thereafter, he tightens the head straps and says ""Baruch Shem Kovod..."" ("blessed be the holy name"). The Sephardic custom is that no blessing is said for the head-tefillin, the first blessing sufficing for both. Sephardim and many members of the Chabad Orthodox movement only recite the blessing on the head-tefillah if they spoke about something not related to tefillin since reciting the blessing on the arm-tefillah.  The arm-tefillin is laid on the inner side of the bare left arm, right arm if one is left handed, two finger breadths above the elbow, so that when the arm is bent the tefillin faces towards the heart. The arm-tefillin is tightened with the thumb, the blessing is said, and the strap is immediately wrapped around the upper arm in the opposite direction it came from in order to keep the knot tight without having to hold it. Some wrap it around the upper arm for less than a full revolution (the bare minimum to keep the knot tight) and then wrap it around the forearm seven times, while others wrap it around the upper arm an additional time before wrapping it around the forearm. Many Ashkenazim wear the knot to be tightened (not to be confused with the knot on the base which is permanently tied and always worn on the inside, facing the heart) on the inside and wrap inward, while Nusach Sephard Ashkenazim and all Sephardim wear it on the outside and wrap outward.  Then the head-tefillin is placed on the middle of the head just above the forehead, so that no part rests below the hairline. A bald or partially bald person's original hairline is used. The knot of the head-tefillin sits at the back of the head, upon the part of the occipital bone that protrudes just above the nape. The two straps of the head-tefillin are brought in front of the shoulders, with their blackened side facing outwards. Now the remainder of the arm-tefillin straps are wound three times around the middle finger and around the hand to form the shape of the Hebrew letter of either a "shin" () according to Ashkenazim, or a "dalet" () according to Sephardim. There are various customs regarding winding the strap on the arm and hand. In fact, the arm strap is looped for counter-clockwise wrapping with Ashkenazi tefillin while it is knotted for clockwise wrapping with Sephardic and Hasidic tefillin. On removing the tefillin, the steps are reversed.  Earlier, Yemenite Jews' custom was to put on arm-Tefillah and wind forearm with strap, making knot on wrist not winding a finger, and then put on head-Tefillah all made in sitting position. Later, Yemenite Jews followed by "Shulchan Aruch" and put on arm-Tefillah, making seven windings on forearm and three on a finger, and then put on head-Tefillah. Because according to the "Shulchan Aruch" head-Tefillah and arm-Tefillah are two different commandments, if there is not any Tefillah, one can wear available alone.  German Jews also did not tie a finger earlier. But later they put on arm-Tefillah with a knot on biceps while standing, then put on head-Tefillah, and after that they wind seven wraps around forearm (counting by the seven Hebrew words of ), and three wraps around a finger.  The newest is Kabbalistic custom of Arizal, to put on arm-Tefillah and wind seven wraps on forearm while sitting, then head-Tefillah standing, after that three wraps around a finger. That is modern day common custom.  Some Western Sephardic families such as the Rodrigues-Pereira family have developed a personalized family wrapping method.

Health.

A 2018 study, performed on 20 Jewish men around Cincinnati, suggested that tight wrapping of the arm-tefillin could have a positive effect regarding heart-disease.

Tefillin (Askhenazic: ; Israeli Hebrew:, or ) or phylacteries, is a set of small black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah. Tefillin is worn by observant adult Jews during weekday morning prayers. In Orthodox communities, it is only worn by men, while in non-Orthodox communities, it may be worn by men and women.

Tfilin (, od "tfila", doslova modlitba) jsou modlitební řemínky a jeden z nejstarších znaků judaismu. Někdy jsou označovány také jako fylaktéria (přes pozdnělat. "phylacterium" z řec. "phylacterion" ochrana, záštita, amulet), což je však pejorativní a nesprávné pojmenování křesťanského původu. Jsou tvořeny dvěma malými černými krabičkami ("batim", doslova „domečky“), ve kterých jsou malé pergamenové svitky s pasážemi z Tóry. Každá z krabiček je upevněna na dlouhém černém koženém řemínku ("recu'a", pl. "recu'ot"), kterými se jedna připevňuje na ruku a druhá na hlavu.


Background.

Andorra did not have an official currency before adopting the euro, and unlike its two larger neighbours, France and Spain, which surround it, it is not a member of the EU.  In the 20th century, both the French franc and Spanish peseta were used and accepted in Andorra, but the peseta was more widespread with government budgets, salaries and bank deposits mostly being in pesetas. When those two currencies were replaced by the euro between 1999 and 2002, the euro became the sole currency in Andorra.  Unlike the three other European microstates outside of the EU, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City, which adopted the euro when it was introduced, Andorra did not conclude a monetary agreement with the EU but rather used it unilaterally. These agreements gave the three microstates the right to issue their own euro coins, which have a common design on one side, and a national-specific side on the other. As with coins minted in other eurozone states, the microstate coins are valid across the eurozone; however they do not gain representation on the euro's governing bodies, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Eurogroup. In 2003 Andorra requested that the EU conclude a monetary agreement with it which would give it the right to mint its own coins.

Currency agreements.

In 2004 the Council of the European Union adopted its negotiating position with Andorra. Following Andorra's agreement to abide by Council Directive 2003/48/EC on taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments, the Commission recommended opening negotiations. Negotiations were expected to be concluded by 2008, but were repeatedly stalled due in part to poor relations stemming from Andorra's tax haven status. A monetary agreement was eventually agreed to by Andorra and the EU in February 2011, and the agreement was signed on 30 June 2011. After the agreement came into force on 1 April 2012, the euro became Andorra's official currency. Andorra would have been permitted to issue up to 2.4 million euro coins from 1 July 2013 onwards provided that it complied with the agreement's terms.  In October 2012, Jordi Cinca, Andorra's Minister of Finance, stated that 1 January 2014 was a more likely date to start issuing euros due to delays in adopting the legislation required by the monetary agreement. In February 2013, the Director of the Mint of Andorra Jordi Puigdemasa confirmed that Andorra would not begin issuing euros until 1 January 2014. However, the EU did not approve the minting of the coins until December 2013, thus their release was delayed. Minister of Culture Stephen Albert was optimistic that the coins would be circulating by March or April 2014. By May, with still no euros issued, Cinca said that they had again been delayed but would be in circulation by the end of 2014. He cited complications from having the minting of the coins being split between the French and Spanish mints, and efforts to ensure that the coins made it into circulation, rather than to collectors, for the delay. The currency of the 2014 vintage presented on December 23, 2014 was all coined in Spain. France was instead awarded the minting order in 2015. The actual circulation began on 15 January 2015.

Coin design.

A design competition for the national side of the euro coins was launched on 19 March 2013, with a deadline of 16 April. The winning designs were announced on 16 May and depict a pyrenean chamois on the 1, 2 and 5 euro cent pieces, the Church of Santa Coloma and a depiction of Christ from the church Sant Martí de la Cortinada on the 10, 20, and 50 euro cent pieces, and Casa de la Vall on the 1 euro piece. The government had previously decided that the Coat of arms of Andorra would be featured on the 2 euro piece. Final approval of the coins was in late June, at which point they were forwarded to the EU for their consent. In August, a spokesperson for Cinca confirmed that the design of the 10, 20 and 50 euro cent pieces had been modified to remove the depiction of Christ due to objections from the European Commission on the grounds of religious neutrality.

Circulating mintage quantities.

Mints.

2014, 2016, 2018: Spain 2015, 2017: France

Andorra has a monetary agreement with the EU allowing it to make the euro its official currency, and permitting it to issue euro coins from 1 July 2013. They planned to issue their first coins by March or April 2014. On 23 December coins were delivered for pre-booked customers at the Government Administration Building, and actual circulation began on 15 January 2015.

Andorrské euromince byl uvedeny do oběhu v prosinci 2014 i přesto, že Andorra používá euro jako svou měnu už od zavedení eurobankovek a euromincí 1. ledna 2002. Ještě před zavedením eura zde kolovaly španělská peseta a francouzský frank.


History.

The NHL heads to Long Island (1972–1974).

In the fall of 1972, the emerging World Hockey Association (WHA) planned to place its New York team, the New York Raiders, in Nassau County's brand-new Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. County officials did not consider the WHA a major league and wanted to keep the Raiders out. William Shea, who had helped bring Major League Baseball's New York Mets to the area a decade earlier, was enlisted to bring an NHL team to Long Island. Although Shea had previously worked with upstart rival leagues including the aborted Continental League, the American Football League and the American Basketball Association, his ultimate goal in these efforts had always been to try and persuade the established leagues to grant second franchises to New York as had been the case with the Mets (and also with the New York Jets and New York Nets, as a result of those teams' leagues merging with their established rivals). In contrast, Shea decided there was no need to work with the WHA since in unlike the initial results of his previous

Ascendancy and playoff inability (1974–1979).

With the 4th and 22nd picks in the 1974 draft, the Islanders added young forwards Clark Gillies and Bryan Trottier to continue Torrey's building plan. In the 1974–75 season, the Islanders made one of the biggest turnarounds in NHL history. Led by Potvin, forwards Westfall, Harris, Nystrom, Gillies, and goaltenders Smith and Glenn "Chico" Resch, the team earned 88 points, 32 more than the previous season and two more than their first two seasons combined, earning their first playoff berth. They defeated the rival New York Rangers in a best-of-3 first-round series as J. P. Parise scored just 11 seconds into overtime of the third game. In the next round, down three games to none in a best-of-seven series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Islanders rallied to win the next four and take the series-winning Game 7 on a late third period goal by Westfall. Only four other major North American professional sports teams

The Dynasty (1979–1983).

After the Islanders' regular season dominance and playoff disappointment in 1979, Arbour decided that he would no longer concern himself too greatly with his team's finish in the regular season. Instead, he focused his team's energy on how they would perform in the playoffs. In 1980, the Islanders dropped below the 100-point mark for the first time in five years, earning only 91 points. However, they finally broke through and won the Stanley Cup. Before the playoffs, Torrey made the difficult decision to trade longtime and popular veterans Billy Harris and defenseman Dave Lewis to the Los Angeles Kings for second line center Butch Goring. Goring's arrival is often called the "final piece of the puzzle", a strong two-way player, his presence on the second line ensured that opponents would no longer be able to focus their

Post-dynasty and the Easter Epic (1983–1991).

The Islanders finished the 1983–84 regular season tied atop the Prince of Wales Conference while successfully defending their Patrick Division title. The "Drive for Five" got off to a tense start. Late in the deciding game of their first round series against the Rangers, Don Maloney tied the game with a controversial goal as the Islanders believed Maloney's stick was too high. They ultimately eliminated the Rangers for the fourth consecutive year. The team then defeated the Washington Capitals in five games and the Montreal Canadiens in six to set up a finals rematch with the Oilers. The series featured rookie Pat LaFontaine scoring two third period goals in 38 seconds. This time, the Oilers dethroned the Islanders to win the first of what would be five Stanley Cup victories in seven years. For the 1984 playoffs, the NHL changed

New faces and the miracle of 1993 (1991–1995).

LaFontaine, the Islanders' remaining superstar, was frustrated with the team's lack of success and the progress of his contract negotiations, and held out rather than report to camp before 1991–92. In response to the holdout, Torrey engineered a rebuilding project with two blockbuster trades on October 25, 1991. He dealt LaFontaine, Randy Wood and Randy Hillier (along with future considerations) to the Buffalo Sabres in return for Pierre Turgeon, Benoit Hogue, Uwe Krupp and Dave McLlwain. He also sent longtime captain Brent Sutter and Brad Lauer to the Chicago Blackhawks for Steve Thomas and Adam Creighton. With these additions and a talented core of players such as Derek King, Ray Ferraro, and Patrick Flatley, along with incoming Soviet players

Management issues (1995–2000).

By the end of the 1994–95 season, Maloney was under considerable heat from the press and fan base for his handling of the team. Since taking over in 1992, the only noticeable attempt he made to upgrade the roster was the acquisition of Hextall. Near the end of the failed 1995 campaign, Maloney decided that the core of players he had left alone for three seasons needed to be revamped, leading to a rebuilding project. He traded Turgeon and Malakhov to the Montreal Canadiens for Kirk Muller and Mathieu Schneider, while Hogue was sent to Toronto for young goaltender Eric Fichaud. Additionally, Maloney allowed the team's leading scorer, Ferraro, to depart as an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of the season. Fans' displeasure at Maloney for trading the popular Turgeon was magnified when Muller

New ownership and a return to the playoffs (2000–2006).

In 2000, Milstein and Gluckstern sold the team to Computer Associates executives Charles Wang and Sanjay Kumar. The sale cost $187.5 million ($ million in dollars) and gave fans hope for the team to turn its lack of success around. The new owners allowed Milbury to spend money and invest in free agents. His first attempt proved unpopular with fans, as he traded away future star players Roberto Luongo and Olli Jokinen to the Florida Panthers for Oleg Kvasha and Mark Parrish. Milbury then further surprised the hockey world when he took Rick DiPietro with the first selection in the 2000 draft, ahead of consensus picks Dany Heatley and Marian Gaborik. Reporters and fans were alternately confused and enraged by

Management shake-ups and the DiPietro contract (2006–2009).

On the day of Stirling's firing, January 11, 2006, Milbury also announced that he would step down as general manager once a successor was found. He served as vice president of Wang's sports properties for one year before resigning in May 2007. Wang proceeded by hiring Neil Smith as general manager and Ted Nolan as head coach, following a brief stint by Brad Shaw as the team's interim head coach. Smith, however, was fired after approximately one month and quickly replaced by the team's backup goaltender Garth Snow, who retired from his playing career to accept the position. Before his dismissal, Smith made several free agent acquisitions, including defensemen Brendan Witt and Tom Poti, and forwards Mike Sillinger and Chris

The Tavares era begins (2009–2015).

Beginning an effort to rebuild the team with new and young talent, the Islanders selected John Tavares with the first-overall pick of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Tavares went into the draft as the top prospect in the majority of scouting reports, and it was widely expected that the Islanders would select him after they secured the first overall pick by winning the draft lottery, although there was plenty of competition between Tavares, Victor Hedman, and Matt Duchene. NHL Central Scouting Bureau's Chris Edwards spoke highly of him, stating, "[Tavares] is phenomenal at getting the puck through traffic to his linemates, getting to opening. The way he reads the play and can get to where he figures the rebounds will be and bangs in the rebound. He's a real smart player." They traded up twice in the first round to also select defenseman Calvin de Haan with the 12th overall pick, as well as Casey Cizikas and Anders Lee in later rounds, all of whom would go on to play consistently on the main roster by the 2014–15 season.  The 2009–10 season started out slow, with the team winless its first six games. The team continued to play inconsistently due to injuries as many wrote them off as potential playoff contenders. The team hit a mid-season hot streak, however nine losses

Move to Barclays Center and playoff series win (2015–2017).

In June 2015, the Islanders selected forward Andong Song in the 6th round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, making him the first Chinese player to be drafted by an NHL team.  The Islanders played their first regular season game at Barclays Center on October 9, 2015, losing 3–2 in overtime to the Chicago Blackhawks. Artem Anisimov scored the first regular season goal, while Tavares scored the first regular season Islanders goal. The Islanders posted the fourth-best penalty kill rate and allowed the fewest power play goals during the season. However, in the last quarter of the regular season, some players, including Halak and defenseman Travis Hamonic, suffered key

Emergence of Barzal and management overhaul (2017–present).

On February 9, 2018, rookie Mathew Barzal recorded his third five-point game, becoming only the second player to do so since Joe Malone in 1917–18 and tying a 100-year-old record in the process. At the end of the 2017–18 regular season, Barzal had 85 points (22 goals, 63 assists). He led his team and all NHL rookies in points, and was tied for 13th overall in scoring in the NHL. Barzal was the seventh rookie in NHL history, and first since Sidney Crosby in 2005–06,

Team identity.

Logo.

An advertising executive, John Alogna, created the original version of the Islanders logo. It is a circle that features the letters "NY" over a map of Nassau and Suffolk counties. The lower part of the Y is made to resemble a hockey stick, with three orange stripes near the bottom of the shaft and a puck to the right of the stick blade. At the bottom of the logo, the name of the team is written so that the tip of the "I" ends in a point aimed at Uniondale, the location of Nassau Coliseum.  Before the 1995–96 season, the Islanders attempted to update their look. The result was the unveiling of a logo depicting a fisherman holding a hockey stick. The logo was a marketing disaster; the reaction among the fan base was

Jerseys.

The Islanders debuted in 1972 with traditional-style jerseys: one was white with orange and royal blue stripes near the waistline and on the sleeves, the other was royal blue with white and orange stripes. The design remained largely the same, with only minor tweaks through the 1994–95 season.  Prior to the 1995–96 season, team executives decided to change the jersey. The fisherman logo replaced the "NY" circular design, incorporating navy blue and a brighter orange, and introducing teal and gray shades. The team was seeking increased merchandise revenues, with the outward justification of connecting the team more overtly to Long Island. The jersey included a lighthouse shoulder patch, a reference to the Montauk Lighthouse, and featured uneven stripes resembling an ocean wave near the waistline, on the sleeves, and across the shoulders. All of the numbering and lettering on

Mascot and Ice Girls.

The Islanders' team mascot is named "Sparky the Dragon", who served at one point as cross-promotion with the Arena Football League's New York Dragons team, who also played their home games at Nassau Coliseum. In the mid-1990s, the Islanders had a mascot named "Nyisles" whose body style went from round to human-shaped, and facial features vaguely resembled the logo fisherman, excluding its red hair and beard. Nyisles was discontinued toward the end

Season-by-season record.

"Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T

Players and personnel.

Honored members.

Six past Islanders have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame–Bossy, Gillies, Potvin, Smith, Trottier and Pat LaFontaine. Potvin and Bossy were the first Islanders to be inducted, in 1991. LaFontaine is the most recent Islander to be inducted, in 2003.  Besides the six players, two team builders have been inducted; Bill Torrey and Al Arbour were inducted in 1995 and 1996, respectively.  All six players, in addition to Bob Bourne, have since been inducted into the Islanders' Hall of Fame, established in 2007. In February 2008, the team unveiled the Hall of Fame plaques for each player, which are displayed at the team's practice facility.

Franchise records and scoring leaders.

Bryan Trottier holds the franchise record for most points with the team (1,353), as well as most games played (1,123). Only Trottier and two others, Mike Bossy and Denis Potvin have scored over 1,000 points with

Team captains.

The Islanders, as of October 4, 2018, have had fifteen team captains. The team's first, Ed Westfall, won the Bill Masterton Trophy during his captaincy; Michael Peca, who won the Frank J. Selke Trophy after the 2001–02 season, is the only other captain to have won an award during his term. The longest captaincy reign was Denis Potvin's from 1979 through 1987, during which he played 521 regular season games.

General managers.

The general manager is Lou Lamoriello,

Head coaches.

On June 21, 2018, Barry

Television and radio.

Most Islanders games are shown locally on sports channels MSG Plus and MSG Plus 2. Brendan Burke is the team's play-by-play announcer, while former Islanders player Butch Goring is their color analyst. Shannon Hogan joined the broadcast team for the 2014–15 season as their studio host.  Islanders' radio broadcasts originate on flagship station WRHU (88.7 FM) in Hempstead. In New York City itself, games are split between WCBS, WFAN-AM–FM and WNYM, while some games air on WRCN-FM in Riverhead. WRHU is licensed to Hempstead-based Hofstra University and WRCN to Riverhead, New York. WRHU is the student radio station of Hofstra University; its signal covers the western section of Long Island and Nassau County. WRCN serves the middle section and Suffolk County. The play-by-play is done by longtime Islanders broadcaster Chris King, and color commentary is provided by Greg Picker. Hofstra students provide reporting for all home games and several away games, are back up for color commentary, and are also involved in producing and engineering the broadcasts from on-and-off site. As of the 2018–19 season, WFAN will no longer air all games, with the station shifting most of its broadcasts to internet streaming on Radio.com, which will also partner with the team on other exclusive ancillary content.  The Islanders are unusual among professional sports teams in their use of a noncommercial radio station as its primary outlet. However, the team does not maintain a traditional radio network due to the other New York/New Jersey area teams filling the available tri-state radio stations covering sports. This causes complications with advertising and commercial breaks that do not make a traditional radio network feasible.  WCBS began airing Islanders games starting with the 2016 playoffs, returning the team to a major market New York signal. Previously, public radio station WNYE-FM had been the main Islanders outlet for New York City and its inner suburbs.

The New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Nassau Coliseum. The Islanders are one of three NHL franchises in the New York metropolitan area, along with the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers, and their fan base resides primarily on Long Island.

New York Islanders je profesionální americký klub ledního hokeje, který sídlí v New Yorku. Do NHL vstoupil v ročníku 1972/73 a hraje v Metropolitní divizi v rámci Východní konference. Své domácí zápasy odehrává v hale Barclays Center s kapacitou 15 795 diváků. Klubové barvy jsou modrá, oranžová a bílá.


History.

For the 2004–05 Royal League tournament, the twelve participating teams were initially placed into three groups. The two best-placed teams from each country were placed in the same group, while the two other teams were placed in the two other groups. In each group, each team played against the other three teams, home and away. The two best-placed teams of each group were randomly placed into two new groups. The three teams of each new group played each other, home and away. The 2005 Royal League Final was contested on 26 May 2005, by Swedish team IFK Gothenburg and FC Copenhagen from Denmark. FC Copenhagen won the title following a penalty shootout.  In the second season of the tournament, the twelve participating teams were also divided into three preliminary groups. The two best-placed teams of each group, and the two best third-placed teams went on to play quarterfinals. The rest of the tournament was played in a knockout-system. The quarter-finals and semi-finals were played both at home and away, while there was only a single final game to decide the winner. The 2006 Royal League Final was contested on 6 April 2006, by FC Copenhagen and Lillestrøm from Norway. FC Copenhagen won their second title, when Razak Pimpong scored to 1–0 in the last minutes of the game.  For the 2006–07 Royal League tournament, the structure of initial group stage and subsequent knockout-stage was kept. As opposed to the previous edition of the tournament, the knock-out stages were played as single games, with the team having the best group stage record earning home field advantage. The 2007 Royal League Final was contested on 15 March 2007, by Danish team Brøndby IF and FC Copenhagen. Brøndby won 1–0, on a penalty kick converted by Martin Ericsson.  The league has received quite a lot of criticism since the first season. The teams rarely bother to play with their best side, and this leads to a lack of interest. Raising the award money and/or giving direct place in the UEFA Champions League have been suggested as ways to improve the situation.  The 2007–08 edition was cancelled for financial reasons, but the board planned to resurrect the tournament for the 2008–09 season. On 11 October 2008 it was announced that the 2008–09 season would not be held either, as the TV rights for the tournament had not been sold.  There were however plans for a tournament in 2010, but under a new name; Royal Cup.

All-time table by country.

"See also: All-time Royal League statistics"

The Royal League was an annual Scandinavian football tournament held three times between teams from the three Scandinavian monarchies (Denmark, Sweden, and Norway), starting after the end of the regular domestic seasons of Norway and Sweden. Denmark, however, was in mid-season when the tournament started. The four best-placed teams in the football leagues of Denmark, Norway and Sweden participate in the tournament.

Royal League byla mezinárodní soutěž nejlepších fotbalových klubů z Dánska, Švédska a Norska. Založena byla v roce 2004. Do Royal League se kvalifikovaly první, druhý, třetí a čtvrtý tým dánské ligy (SAS Ligaen), norské ligy (Tippeligaen) a švédské ligy (Allsvenskan). Liga měla jen tři ročníky, vítězem byl vždy dánský tým.


Background.

The French playwright Victorien Sardou wrote more than 70 plays, almost all of them successful, and none of them performed today. In the early 1880s Sardou began a collaboration with actress Sarah Bernhardt, whom he provided with a series of historical melodramas. His third Bernhardt play, "La Tosca", which premiered in Paris on 24 November 1887, and in which she starred throughout Europe, was an outstanding success, with more than 3,000 performances in France alone.  Puccini had seen "La Tosca" at least twice, in Milan and Turin. On 7 May 1889 he wrote to his publisher, Giulio Ricordi, begging him to get Sardou's permission for the work to be made into an opera: "I see in this "Tosca" the opera I need, with no overblown proportions, no elaborate spectacle, nor will it call for the usual excessive amount of music."  Ricordi sent his agent in Paris, Emanuele Muzio, to negotiate with Sardou, who preferred that his play be

Synopsis.

Historical context.

According to the libretto, the action of "Tosca" occurs in Rome in June 1800. Sardou, in his play, dates it more precisely; "La Tosca" takes place in the afternoon, evening, and early morning of 17 and 18 June 1800.  Italy had long been divided into a number of small states, with the Pope in Rome ruling the Papal States in Central Italy. Following the French Revolution, a French army under Napoleon invaded Italy in 1796, entering Rome almost unopposed on 11 February 1798 and establishing a republic there. Pope Pius VI was taken prisoner, and was sent into exile on February 20, 1798. (Pius VI would die in exile in 1799, and his successor, Pius VII, who was elected in Venice on 14 March 1800, would not

Act 1.

"Inside the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle" Cesare Angelotti, former consul of the Roman Republic and now an escaped political prisoner, runs into the church and hides in the Attavanti private chapel – his sister, the Marchesa Attavanti, has left a key to the chapel hidden at the feet of the statue of the Madonna. The elderly Sacristan enters and begins cleaning. The Sacristan kneels in prayer as the Angelus sounds.  The painter Mario Cavaradossi arrives to continue work on his picture of Mary Magdalene. The Sacristan identifies a likeness between the portrait

Act 2.

"Scarpia's apartment in the Palazzo Farnese, that evening"  Scarpia, at supper, sends a note to Tosca asking her to come to his apartment, anticipating that two of his goals will soon be fulfilled at once. His agent, Spoletta, arrives to report that Angelotti remains at large, but Cavaradossi has been arrested for questioning. He is brought in, and an interrogation ensues. As the painter steadfastly denies knowing anything about Angelotti's escape, Tosca's voice is heard singing a celebratory cantata elsewhere in the Palace.  She enters the apartment in time to see Cavaradossi being escorted to an antechamber. All he has time to say is that she mustn't tell them anything. Scarpia then claims she can save her lover from indescribable pain if she reveals Angelotti's hiding place. She resists, but the sound of screams coming through the door eventually breaks her down, and she tells Scarpia to search the well in the garden of Cavaradossi's villa.  Scarpia orders his torturers to cease, and the bloodied painter is dragged back in. He is devastated to discover that Tosca has betrayed his friend. Sciarrone, another agent, then enters with news:

Act 3.

"The upper parts of the Castel Sant'Angelo, early the following morning"  A shepherd boy is heard offstage singing (in Romanesco dialect) "Io de' sospiri" ("I give you sighs") as church bells sound for matins. The guards lead Cavaradossi in and inform him that he has one hour to live. He declines to see a priest, but asks permission to write a letter to Tosca. He begins to write, but is soon overwhelmed by memories: "E lucevan le stelle" ("And the stars shone").  Tosca enters and shows him the safe-conduct pass she's obtained, adding that she has killed Scarpia and that the imminent execution is a sham. Cavaradossi must feign death, after which they can flee together

Adaptation and writing.

Sardou's five-act play "La Tosca" contains a large amount of dialogue and exposition. While the broad details of the play are present in the opera's plot, the original work contains many more characters and much detail not present in the opera. In the play the lovers are portrayed as though they were French: the character Floria Tosca is closely modelled on Bernhardt's personality, while her lover Cavaradossi, of Roman descent, is born in Paris. Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, the playwright who joined the project to polish the verses, needed not only to cut back the play drastically, but to make the characters' motivations and actions suitable for Italian opera. Giacosa and Puccini repeatedly clashed over the condensation, with Giacosa feeling that Puccini did not really want to complete the project.  The first draft libretto that Illica produced for Puccini resurfaced in 2000 after being lost for many years. It contains considerable differences from the final libretto, relatively minor in the first two acts but much more appreciable in the third, where the description of the Roman dawn that opens the third act is much longer, and Cavaradossi's tragic aria, the eventual "E lucevan le stelle", has different words. The 1896 libretto also offers a different ending, in which Tosca does not die but instead goes mad. In the final scene, she cradles her lover's head in her lap and hallucinates that she and her Mario are on a gondola, and that she is asking the gondolier for silence. Sardou refused to consider this change, insisting that as in the play, Tosca must throw herself from the parapet to her death. Puccini agreed with Sardou, telling him that the mad scene would have the audiences anticipate the ending and start moving towards the cloakrooms. Puccini pressed his librettists hard, and Giacosa issued a series of melodramatic threats to abandon the work. The two librettists were finally able to give Puccini what they hoped was a final version of the libretto in 1898.  Little work was done on the score during 1897, which Puccini devoted mostly to performances of "La bohème". The opening page of the autograph "Tosca"

Reception and performance history.

Premiere.

By December 1899, "Tosca" was in rehearsal at the Teatro Costanzi. Because of the Roman setting, Ricordi arranged a Roman premiere for the opera, even though this meant that Arturo Toscanini could not conduct it as Puccini had planned—Toscanini was fully engaged at La Scala in Milan. Leopoldo Mugnone was appointed to conduct. The accomplished (but temperamental) soprano Hariclea Darclée was selected for the title role; Eugenio Giraldoni, whose father had originated many Verdi roles, became the first Scarpia. The young Enrico Caruso had hoped to create the role of Cavaradossi, but was passed over in favour of the more experienced Emilio De Marchi. The performance was to be directed by Nino Vignuzzi, with stage designs by Adolfo Hohenstein.  At the time of the premiere, Italy had experienced political and social unrest for several years. The start of the Holy Year in December 1899 attracted the religious to the city, but also brought threats from anarchists

Subsequent productions.

The Milan premiere at La Scala took place under Toscanini on 17 March 1900. Darclée and Giraldoni reprised their roles; the prominent tenor Giuseppe Borgatti replaced De Marchi as Cavaradossi. The opera was a great success at La Scala, and played to full houses. Puccini travelled to London for the British premiere at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on 12 July, with Milka Ternina and Fernando De Lucia as the doomed lovers and Antonio Scotti as Scarpia. Puccini wrote that "Tosca" was "<nowiki>[a]</nowiki> complete triumph", and Ricordi's London representative quickly signed a contract to take "Tosca" to New York. The premiere at the Metropolitan Opera was on 4 February 1901, with De Lucia's replacement by Giuseppe

Critical reception.

The enduring popularity of "Tosca" has not been matched by consistent critical enthusiasm. After the premiere, Ippolito Valetta of "Nuova antologia" wrote, "<nowiki>[Puccini]</nowiki> finds in his palette all colours, all shades; in his hands, the instrumental texture becomes completely supple, the gradations of sonority are innumerable, the blend unfailingly grateful to the ear." However, one critic described act 2 as overly long and wordy; another echoed Illica and Giacosa in stating that the rush of action did not permit enough lyricism, to the great detriment of the music. A third called the opera "three hours of noise".  The critics gave the work a generally kinder reception in London, where "The Times" called Puccini "a master in the art of poignant expression", and praised the "wonderful skill and sustained power" of the music. In "The Musical Times", Puccini's score was admired for its sincerity and "strength of utterance." After the 1903 Paris opening,

Music.

General style.

By the end of the 19th century the classic form of opera structure, in which arias, duets and other set-piece vocal numbers are interspersed with passages of recitative or dialogue, had been largely abandoned, even in Italy. Operas were "through-composed", with a continuous stream of music which in some cases eliminated all identifiable set-pieces. In what critic Edward Greenfield calls the "Grand Tune" concept, Puccini retains a limited number of set-pieces, distinguished from their musical surroundings by their memorable melodies. Even in the passages linking these "Grand Tunes", Puccini maintains a strong degree of lyricism and

Act 1.

The opera begins without any prelude; the opening chords of the Scarpia motif lead immediately to the agitated appearance of Angelotti and the enunciation of the "fugitive" motif. The sacristan's entry, accompanied by his sprightly buffo theme, lifts the mood, as does the generally light-hearted colloquy with Cavaradossi which follows after the latter's entrance. This leads to the first of the "Grand Tunes", Cavaradossi's "Recondita armonia" with its sustained high B flat, accompanied by the sacristan's grumbling counter-melody. The domination, in that aria, of themes which will be repeated in the love duet make it clear that though the painting may incorporate the Marchesa's features, Tosca is the ultimate inspiration of his work. Cavaradossi's dialogue with Angelotti is interrupted by Tosca's arrival, signalled by her motif which incorporates, in Newman's words, "the feline, caressing cadence so characteristic of her." Though Tosca enters violently and suspiciously, the music paints her

Act 2.

In the second act of "Tosca", according to Newman, Puccini rises to his greatest height as a master of the musical macabre. The act begins quietly, with Scarpia musing on the forthcoming downfall of Angelotti and Cavaradossi, while in the background a gavotte is played in a distant quarter of the Farnese Palace. For this music Puccini adapted a fifteen-year-old student exercise by his late brother, Michele, stating that in this way his brother could live again through him. In the dialogue with Spoletta, the "torture" motif—an "ideogram of suffering", according to Budden—is heard for the first time as a foretaste of what is to come. As Cavaradossi is brought in for interrogation, Tosca's voice is heard with the offstage chorus singing a cantata, "[its] suave strains contrast[ing] dramatically with the increasing tension and ever-darkening colour of the stage action". The

Act 3.

The third act's tranquil beginning provides a brief respite from the drama. An introductory 16-bar theme for the horns will later be sung by Cavaradossi and Tosca in their final duet. The orchestral prelude which follows portrays the Roman dawn; the pastoral aura is accentuated by the shepherd boy's song, and the sounds of sheep bells and church bells, the authenticity of the latter validated by Puccini's early morning visits to Rome. Themes reminiscent of Scarpia, Tosca and Cavaradossi emerge in the music, which changes tone as the drama resumes with Cavaradossi's entrance, to an orchestral statement of what becomes the melody of his aria "E lucevan le stelle".  This is a farewell to love and life, "an anguished lament and grief built around the words'muoio disperato' (I die in despair)". Puccini insisted on the inclusion of these words, and later stated that admirers of the aria had treble cause to be grateful to

Recordings.

The first complete "Tosca" recording was made in 1918, using the acoustic process. The conductor, Carlo Sabajno, had been the Gramophone Company's house conductor since 1904; he had made early complete recordings of several operas, including Verdi's "La traviata" and "Rigoletto", before tackling "Tosca" with a largely unknown cast, featuring the Italian soprano Lya Remondini in the title role. The next year, in 1919, Sabajno recorded "Tosca" again, this time with more well-known singers, including Valentina Bartolomasi and Attilio Salvaneschi as Tosca and Cavaradossi. Ten years later, in 1929, Sabajno returned to the opera for the third time, recording it, by the electrical process, with the orchestra and chorus of the Teatro alla Scala and with stars Carmen Melis and Apollo Granforte in the roles of Tosca and Scarpia. In 1938 HMV secured the services of the renowned tenor Beniamino Gigli, together with the soprano Maria Caniglia as Tosca and conductor Oliviero De Fabritiis, for a "practically complete" recording that extended over 14 double-sided shellac discs.  In the post-war period, following the invention of long-playing records, "Tosca" recordings were dominated by Maria Callas. In 1953, with conductor Victor de Sabata and the La Scala forces,

Editions and amendments.

The orchestral score of "Tosca" was published in late 1899 by Casa Ricordi. Despite some dissatisfaction expressed by Ricordi concerning the final act, the score remained relatively unchanged in the 1909 edition. An unamended edition was published by Dover Press in 1991.  The 1909 score contains a number of minor changes from the autograph score. Some are changes of phrase: Cavaradossi's reply to the sacristan when he asks if the painter is doing penance is changed from "Pranzai" ("I have eaten.") to "Fame non ho" ("I am not hungry."), which William Ashbrook states, in his study of Puccini's operas, accentuates the class distinction between the two. When Tosca comforts Cavaradossi after the torture scene, she now tells him, "Ma il giusto Iddio lo punirá" ("But a just God will punish him" <nowiki> [Scarpia]</nowiki>); formerly she stated,

References.

Notes Sources

Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language dramatic play, "La Tosca", is a melodramatic piece set in Rome in June 1800, with the Kingdom of Naples's control of Rome threatened by Napoleon's invasion of Italy. It contains depictions of torture, murder and suicide, as well as some of Puccini's best-known lyrical arias.

Tosca ([toska]) je opera o třech dějstvích italského skladatele Giacoma Pucciniho na italské libreto, které napsali Luigi Illica a Giuseppe Giacosa. Premiéra se konala v divadle Teatro Costanzi v Římě dne 14. ledna 1900. Libreto, napsané na základě francouzské divadelní hry "La Tosca" Victoriena Sardoua z roku 1887, je melodramatické dílo odehrávající se v Římě v červnu 1800 v době, kdy nadvláda Neapolského království nad Římem byla ohrožena Napoleonovou invazí do Itálie. Obsahuje nejen vyobrazení vášnivého milostného vztahu, ale také mučení, vraždy a sebevraždy, a také některé z nejznámějších Pucciniho dramatických a lyrických árií.