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Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Slatkin , 1944-, American conductor, b. Los Angeles. Slatkin is known for his interpretations of 20th-century American music as well as of the standard classical repertory. Raised in a musical family, he studied violin, viola, piano, and composition. He has been conductor of the New Orleans ...
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Agin-Buryat Autonomous Area
Agin-Buryat Autonomous Area or Aga Buryat , former administrative division, S Siberian Russia, in what is now the Transbaykal Territory. Aginskoye was the capital. Formed in 1937, the area followed the Onon River. Buryats, Buddhist descendants of the Mongols, made up about 54% of the area's popu...
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Montpelier
Montpelier estate, central Va., near Charlottesville; formerly the home of President James Madison . The brick mansion was built c.1760 by Madison's father. Altered and enlarged by later owners, it has been restored (completed 2008) to its appearance when Madison lived there. Madison and his wife ...
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Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti , 1941-, Italian conductor. Principal conductor of the Maggio Musicale (1969-81) in Florence and of the Philharmonia Orchestra (1973-82) in London, he became (1977) principal guest conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra and succeeded (1980) Eugene Ormandy as its musical director, a ...
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Peć
Peć , Albanian Peja, town (1991 pop. 68,163), S Serbia, in the Kosovo region. A trade center, it has industries that produce leather goods, foodstuffs, and handicrafts. Stephen Dušan in 1346 made Peć the seat of the Orthodox patriarchs of Serbia, who resided there until 1766. ...
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Peter Mark Roget
Peter Mark Roget , 1779-1869, English physician and lexicographer. For 50 years while he practiced medicine and was secretary of the Royal Society (1827-49), Roget prepared his Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases (1852). In successive editions supervised by him, his son, his grandson, and other...
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Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare , city (1991 pop. 60,821), North Somerset, SW England, on the Bristol Channel. It is a seaside resort with attractions that include Worlebury Hill, with its Iron Age hill fort and beautiful view of the opposite coast of Wales; a long esplanade; and Brean Down, a bird sanctuary. The...
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Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner 1813-83, German composer, b. Leipzig.
Life and Work
Wagner was reared in a theatrical family, had a classical education, and began composing at 17. He studied harmony and the works of Beethoven and in 1833 became chorus master of the theater at Würzburg, the first of a...
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Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi , 1939-, Malaysian government official and politician. A graduate of the Univ. of Malaya (B.A. 1964) and the son of a prominent politician, he held a series of civil service posts, including deputy secretary general (1974-78) in the ministry of culture, youth, and sports, befor...
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Helen Clark
Helen Clark 1950-, New Zealand politician, prime minister (1999-2008), b. Hamilton, N.Z. A graduate of the Univ. of Auckland (B.A., 1971; M.A., 1974), she taught political science there (1973-81). In 1981 she was elected to parliament as a member of the Labor party. Clark held various cabinet posts...
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