The New York Times Essential Library: Opera

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Author :
Publisher : Macmillan
ISBN 13 : 0805074597
Total Pages : 340 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (5 download)

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Book Synopsis The New York Times Essential Library: Opera by : Anthony Tommasini

Download or read book The New York Times Essential Library: Opera written by Anthony Tommasini and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2004-11 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An insightful, provocative selection of the best opera performances, chosen by The New York Times's chief classical music critic in one hundred original essays Opera intertwines the drama of the theater with the powerful emotionality of music. In this magical and illuminating guide to the best opera recordings, Anthony Tommasini delves into the ways story and music interweave to create the subtle but telling moments that move us. Tommasini brings to life the rich history of opera performance and the singers and conductors who, over the past century, have come to own the music. He chooses masterworks, such as Arturo Toscanini's La Boheme, captured for posterity fifty years after he conducted the opera's 1896 premiere for Puccini, and Leontyne Price's Leonora in Il Trovatore, an encapsulation of the ideal Verdi soprano. For aficionados and newcomers alike, Tommasini is the perfect guide to the passions and playfulness of the opera.

The Indispensable Composers

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 1594205930
Total Pages : 498 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (942 download)

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Book Synopsis The Indispensable Composers by : Anthony Tommasini

Download or read book The Indispensable Composers written by Anthony Tommasini and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The chief classical music critic of "The New York Times" explores the concept of greatness in relation to composers, considering elements of biography, influence, and shifting attitudes toward a composer's work over time.

The Snowy Day

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Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0670013250
Total Pages : 32 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (7 download)

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Book Synopsis The Snowy Day by : Ezra Jack Keats

Download or read book The Snowy Day written by Ezra Jack Keats and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-10-11 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The magic and wonder of winter’s first snowfall is perfectly captured in Ezra Jack Keat’s Caldecott Medal-winning picture book. Young readers can enjoy this celebrated classic as a full-sized board book, perfect for read-alouds of all kinds and a great gift for the holiday season. In 1962, a little boy named Peter put on his snowsuit and stepped out of his house and into the hearts of millions of readers. Universal in its appeal, this story beautifully depicts a child's wonder at a new world, and the hope of capturing and keeping that wonder forever. This big, sturdy edition will bring even more young readers to the story of Peter and his adventures in the snow. Ezra Jack Keats was also the creator of such classics as Goggles, A Letter to Amy, Pet Show!, Peter’s Chair, and A Whistle for Willie. (This book is also available in Spanish, as Un dia de nieve.) Praise for The Snowy Day: “Keats made Peter’s world so inviting that it beckons us. Perhaps the busyness of daily life in the 21st century makes us appreciate Peter even more—a kid who has the luxury of a whole day to just be outside, surrounded by snow that’s begging to be enjoyed.” —The Atlantic "Ezra Jack Keats's classic The Snowy Day, winner of the 1963 Caldecott Medal, pays homage to the wonder and pure pleasure a child experiences when the world is blanketed in snow."—Publisher's Weekly

The New York Times Essential Library: Classical Music

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Author :
Publisher : Macmillan
ISBN 13 : 0805070702
Total Pages : 386 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (5 download)

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Book Synopsis The New York Times Essential Library: Classical Music by : Allan Kozinn

Download or read book The New York Times Essential Library: Classical Music written by Allan Kozinn and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2004-08-02 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kozinn's essays on the most dazzling recordings available provide both practical guidance for building a library and insight into the transcendent power of classical music."--BOOK JACKET.

Avidly Reads Opera

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Publisher : NYU Press
ISBN 13 : 1479811769
Total Pages : 114 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (798 download)

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Book Synopsis Avidly Reads Opera by : Alison Kinney

Download or read book Avidly Reads Opera written by Alison Kinney and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2021-10-12 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Opera is community, comfort, art, voice, breath, life. It’s hope.” All art exists to make life more bearable. For Alison Kinney, it was the wild, fantastical world of opera that transformed her listening and her life. Whether we’re listening for the first time or revisiting the arias that first stole our hearts, Avidly Reads Opera welcomes readers and listeners to a community full of friendship, passion, critique—and, always, beautiful music. In times of delirious, madcap fun and political turmoil, opera fans have expressed their passion by dispatching records into the cosmos, building fairy-tale castles, and singing together through the arduous work of social activism. Avidly Reads Opera is a love letter to the music and those who love it, complete with playlists, a crowdsourced tip sheet from ultra-fans to newbies, and stories of the turbulent, genre-busting, and often hilarious history of opera and its audiences. Across five acts—and the requisite intermission—Alison Kinney takes us everywhere opera’s rich melodies are heard, from the cozy bedrooms of listeners at home, to exclusive music festivals, to protests, and even prisons. Part of the Avidly Reads series, this slim book gives us a new way of looking at culture. With the singular blend of personal reflection and cultural criticism featured in the series, Avidly Reads Opera is an homage to the marvelous, sensational world of opera for the casual viewer.

The New York Times Book of Broadway

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Publisher : Macmillan
ISBN 13 : 9780312284114
Total Pages : 296 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (841 download)

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Book Synopsis The New York Times Book of Broadway by : Ben Brantley

Download or read book The New York Times Book of Broadway written by Ben Brantley and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2001-11-14 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This volume, essential for anyone who loves Broadway, includes a full introduction by Ben Brantley, chief theater critic of The Times, his selection of 25 of the influential Broadway plays that defined the twentieth century, and his choice of 100 other, memorable plays - right up through plays currently running on Broadway.".

A Mad Love

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Publisher : Basic Books
ISBN 13 : 0465096948
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (65 download)

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Book Synopsis A Mad Love by : Vivien Schweitzer

Download or read book A Mad Love written by Vivien Schweitzer and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2018-09-18 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A lively introduction to opera, from the Renaissance to the twenty-first century There are few art forms as visceral and emotional as opera-and few that are as daunting for newcomers. A Mad Love offers a spirited and indispensable tour of opera's eclectic past and present, beginning with Monteverdi's L'Orfeo in 1607, generally considered the first successful opera, through classics like Carmen and La Boheme, and spanning to Brokeback Mountain and The Death of Klinghoffer in recent years. Musician and critic Vivien Schweitzer acquaints readers with the genre's most important composers and some of its most influential performers, recounts its long-standing debates, and explains its essential terminology. Today, opera is everywhere, from the historic houses of major opera companies to movie theaters and public parks to offbeat performance spaces and our earbuds. A Mad Love is an essential book for anyone who wants to appreciate this living, evolving art form in all its richness.

Intimate Apparel

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 160 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (321 download)

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Book Synopsis Intimate Apparel by : Lynn Nottage

Download or read book Intimate Apparel written by Lynn Nottage and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Lynn Nottage's work explores depths of humanness, the overlapping complexities of race, gender, culture and history-and the startling simplicity of desire-with a clear tenderness, with humor, with compassion." -Paula Vogel, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Intimate Apparel: "Thoughtful, affecting new play . . . with seamless elegance."-Charles Isherwood, Variety Fabulation: "Robustly entertaining comedy . . . with punchy social insights and the firecracker snap of unexpected humor."-Ben Brantley, The New York Times With her two latest plays, "exceptionally gifted playwright" (New York Observer) Lynn Nottage has created companion pieces that span 100 years in the lives of African American women. Intimate Apparel is about the empowerment of Esther, a proud and shy seamstress in 1905 New York who creates exquisite lingerie for both Fifth Avenue boudoirs and Tenderloin bordellos. In Fabulation Nottage re-imagines Esther as Undine, the PR-diva of today, who spirals down from her swanky Manhattan office to her roots back in Brooklyn. Through opposite journeys, Esther and Undine achieve the same satisfying end, one of self-discovery. Lynn Nottage's plays include Crumbs from the Table of Joy; Mud, River, Stone; Por' Knockers; Las Menias; Fabulation and Intimate Apparel, for which she was awarded the Francesca Primus Prize and the American Theatre Critics/Steinberg New Play Award in 2004. Her plays have been produced at theatres throughout the country, with Intimate Apparel slated for 16 productions during the 2005a__2006 season.

A Doll's Life

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Publisher : Baker's Plays
ISBN 13 : 9780573681912
Total Pages : 112 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (819 download)

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Book Synopsis A Doll's Life by : Larry Grossman

Download or read book A Doll's Life written by Larry Grossman and published by Baker's Plays. This book was released on 1983 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Set within the framing of a contemporary rehearsal of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, A Dol's Life imagines what happened after Nora slammed the door , leaving her husband Torvald. Borrowing train fare from a young violinist, Otto, she travels to Christiania, where she begins to work in a cafe. Soon she becomes involved not only with Otto, but Eric Didrickson, the wealthy owner of shipping lines and fish canneries, and Johan Blecker, a lawyer. Scenes of her new life mingle with flashbacks to her old.

Encyclopedia of Opera on Screen

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Publisher : New Haven : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780300102635
Total Pages : 872 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (26 download)

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Book Synopsis Encyclopedia of Opera on Screen by : Ken Wlaschin

Download or read book Encyclopedia of Opera on Screen written by Ken Wlaschin and published by New Haven : Yale University Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 872 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “This wondrous encyclopedia is an invaluable boon to all movie and opera buffs. I shall be referring to it frequently to slake my curiosity and to settle bets.”--Tom Lehrer This bountiful book is a comprehensive guide to the thousands of films, DVDs, and videocassettes featuring operas and opera singers from 1896 to the present. From ABC Television to Franco Zeffirelli, the encyclopedia is a storehouse of fascinating information for film and opera aficionados and casual browsers alike. Find answers to such questions as: * What were the first operas filmed? * Why did they make silent films of operas? * Why was a pseudo-opera written for Citizen Kane? * What was the title of Maria Callas’s only film? Organized alphabetically with more than 1,900 fully cross-referenced entries, the book casts a wide net that covers not only expected topics--operas, operettas, zarzuelas, composers, singers, conductors, writers, and film directors--but also the unexpected and offbeat--animated opera, first operas on film, puppet opera films, silent films about opera, and many other lesser-known topics. Encyclopedia of Opera on Screen illuminates the many intersections between opera and film as never before.

Ticket to the Opera

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Publisher : Ballantine Books
ISBN 13 : 0449005666
Total Pages : 721 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (49 download)

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Book Synopsis Ticket to the Opera by : Phil G. Goulding

Download or read book Ticket to the Opera written by Phil G. Goulding and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 1999-08-31 with total page 721 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Ticket to the Opera, Phil G. Goulding finally makes the magic and mystique of opera accessible to all. Here he offers a complete operatic education, including history, definitions of key musical terms, opera lore and gossip, portraits of famous singers and the roles they immortalized, as well as pithy introductions to the greatest operas of Europe and America and their composers. The book's centerpiece is what Goulding terms "the collection"--85 classics, among them Aida, The Marriage of Figaro, Carmen, and Madama Butterfly, that have been packing the world's opera houses for years. This entertaining, meticulously researched book also includes a fascinating chapter on American opera from George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess to Philip Glass's Einstein on the Beach and a discussion of the gems of twentieth-century opera featuring works like Leos Janácek's The Cunning Little Vixen, Alban Berg's Lulu, and Serge Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges. Whether you're a curious neophyte, a music lover interested in branching out, or an aficionado eager to compare notes with a brilliant fellow opera buff, you'll prize Ticket to the Opera as an essential volume in your music library.

Mad Scenes and Exit Arias

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Publisher : Metropolitan Books
ISBN 13 : 1627794972
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (277 download)

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Book Synopsis Mad Scenes and Exit Arias by : Heidi Waleson

Download or read book Mad Scenes and Exit Arias written by Heidi Waleson and published by Metropolitan Books. This book was released on 2018-10-02 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the Wall Street Journal's opera critic, a wide-ranging narrative history of how and why the New York City Opera went bankrupt—and what it means for the future of the arts In October 2013, the arts world was rocked by the news that the New York City Opera—“the people’s opera”—had finally succumbed to financial hardship after 70 years in operation. The company had been a fixture on the national opera scene—as the populist antithesis of the grand Metropolitan Opera, a nurturing home for young American talent, and a place where new, lively ideas shook up a venerable art form. But NYCO’s demise represented more than the loss of a cherished organization: it was a harbinger of massive upheaval in the performing arts—and a warning about how cultural institutions would need to change in order to survive. Drawing on extensive research and reporting, Heidi Waleson, one of the foremost American opera critics, recounts the history of this scrappy company and reveals how, from the beginning, it precariously balanced an ambitious artistic program on fragile financial supports. Waleson also looks forward and considers some better-managed, more visionary opera companies that have taken City Opera’s lessons to heart. Above all, Mad Scenes and Exit Arias is a story of money, ego, changes in institutional identity, competing forces of populism and elitism, and the ongoing debate about the role of the arts in society. It serves as a detailed case study not only for an American arts organization, but also for the sustainability and management of nonprofit organizations across the country.

Opera 101

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Publisher : Hachette Books
ISBN 13 : 1401306004
Total Pages : 444 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (13 download)

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Book Synopsis Opera 101 by : Fred Plotkin

Download or read book Opera 101 written by Fred Plotkin and published by Hachette Books. This book was released on 2013-07-16 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Opera is the fastest growing of all the performing arts, attracting audiences of all ages who are enthralled by the gorgeous music, vivid drama, and magnificent production values. If you've decided that the time has finally come to learn about opera and discover for yourself what it is about opera that sends your normally reserved friends into states of ecstatic abandon, this is the book for you. Opera 101 is recognized as the standard text in English for anyone who wants to become an opera lover--a clear, friendly, and truly complete handbook to learning how to listen to opera, whether on the radio, on recordings, or live at the opera house. Fred Plotkin, an internationally respected writer and teacher about opera who for many years was performance manager of the Metropolitan Opera, introduces the reader (whatever his or her level of musical knowledge) to all the elements that make up opera, including: A brief, entertaining history of opera; An explanation of key operatic concepts, from vocal types to musical conventions; Hints on the best way to approach the first opera you attend and how to best understand what is happening both offstage and on; Lists of recommended books and recordings, and the most complete traveler's guide to opera houses around the world. The major part of Opera 101 is devoted to an almost minute-by-minute analysis of eleven key operas, ranging from Verdi's thunderous masterpiece Rigoletto and Puccini's electrifying Tosca through works by Mozart, Donizetti, Rossini, Offenbach, Tchaikovsky, and Wagner, to the psychological complexities of Richard Strauss's Elektra. Once you have completed Opera 101, you will be prepared to see and hear any opera you encounter, thanks to this book's unprecedentedly detailed and enjoyable method of revealing the riches of opera.

The Opera Manual

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Publisher : Scarecrow Press
ISBN 13 : 0810888696
Total Pages : 488 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (18 download)

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Book Synopsis The Opera Manual by : Nicholas Ivor Martin

Download or read book The Opera Manual written by Nicholas Ivor Martin and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 2013-10-30 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: You are getting ready for a performance of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore and you have a few questions. How many clarinets are in the orchestra? How many orchestra members appear onstage? How many different sets are there? How long does the opera typically run? What are the key arias? Are any special effects or ballet choreography required? Who owns the rights? Where was it premiered? What are the leading and supporting roles? The Opera Manual is the only single source for the answers to these and other important questions. It is the ultimate companion for opera lovers, professionals, scholars, and teachers, featuring comprehensive information about, and plot summaries for, more than 550 operas—including every opera that is likely to be performed today, from standard to rediscovered contemporary works. The book is invaluable, especially for opera professionals, who will find everything they need for choosing and staging operas. But it is also a treasure for listeners. Similar reference books commonly skip over scenes and supporting characters in their plot summaries, lacking even the most basic facts about staging, orchestral, and vocal requirements. The Opera Manual, based on the actual scores of the works discussed, is the only exhaustive, up-to-date opera companion—a “recipe book” that will enable its readers to explore those operas they know and discover new ones to sample and enjoy.

Our Missing Hearts

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Author :
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0593492552
Total Pages : 286 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (934 download)

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Book Synopsis Our Missing Hearts by : Celeste Ng

Download or read book Our Missing Hearts written by Celeste Ng and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-10-04 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An instant New York Times bestseller • A New York Times Notable Book of 2022 • Named a Best Book of 2022 by People, TIME Magazine, The Washington Post, USA Today, NPR, Los Angeles Times, and Oprah Daily, and more • A Reese's Book Club Pick • New York Times Paperback Row Selection From the #1 bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere, comes the inspiring new novel about a mother’s unshakeable love. “It’s impossible not to be moved.” —Stephen King, The New York Times Book Review “Riveting, tender, and timely.” —People, Book of the Week “Thought-provoking, heart-wrenching . . . I was so invested in the future of this mother and son, and I can’t wait to hear what you think of this deeply suspenseful story!” —Reese Witherspoon (Reese’s Book Club Pick) Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. His mother Margaret, a Chinese American poet, left without a trace when he was nine years old. He doesn’t know what happened to her—only that her books have been banned—and he resents that she cared more about her work than about him. Then one day, Bird receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, and soon he is pulled into a quest to find her. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of heroic librarians, and finally to New York City, where he will finally learn the truth about what happened to his mother, and what the future holds for them both. Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can ignore the most searing injustice. It’s about the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children, and the power of art to create change.

The Lincoln Highway

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Author :
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0735222363
Total Pages : 593 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (352 download)

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Book Synopsis The Lincoln Highway by : Amor Towles

Download or read book The Lincoln Highway written by Amor Towles and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2023-03-21 with total page 593 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER More than ONE MILLION copies sold A TODAY Show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick A New York Times Notable Book, and Chosen by Oprah Daily, Time, NPR, The Washington Post, Bill Gates and Barack Obama as a Best Book of the Year “Wise and wildly entertaining . . . permeated with light, wit, youth.” —The New York Times Book Review “A classic that we will read for years to come.” —Jenna Bush Hager, Read with Jenna book club “Fantastic. Set in 1954, Towles uses the story of two brothers to show that our personal journeys are never as linear or predictable as we might hope.” —Bill Gates “A real joyride . . . elegantly constructed and compulsively readable.” —NPR The bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility and master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction returns with a stylish and propulsive novel set in 1950s America In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the juvenile work farm where he has just served fifteen months for involuntary manslaughter. His mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett's intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother, Billy, and head to California where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden's car. Together, they have hatched an altogether different plan for Emmett's future, one that will take them all on a fateful journey in the opposite direction—to the City of New York. Spanning just ten days and told from multiple points of view, Towles's third novel will satisfy fans of his multi-layered literary styling while providing them an array of new and richly imagined settings, characters, and themes. “Once again, I was wowed by Towles’s writing—especially because The Lincoln Highway is so different from A Gentleman in Moscow in terms of setting, plot, and themes. Towles is not a one-trick pony. Like all the best storytellers, he has range. He takes inspiration from famous hero’s journeys, including The Iliad, The Odyssey, Hamlet, Huckleberry Finn, and Of Mice and Men. He seems to be saying that our personal journeys are never as linear or predictable as an interstate highway. But, he suggests, when something (or someone) tries to steer us off course, it is possible to take the wheel.” – Bill Gates

First Nights

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Author :
Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780300091052
Total Pages : 420 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis First Nights by : Thomas Forrest Kelly

Download or read book First Nights written by Thomas Forrest Kelly and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2000-01-01 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This lively book takes us back to the first performances of five famous musical compositions: Monteverdi's Orfeo in 1607, Handel's Messiah in 1742, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in 1824, Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique in 1830, and Stravinsky's Sacre du printemps in 1913. Thomas Forrest Kelly sets the scene for each of these premieres, describing the cities in which they took place, the concert halls, audiences, conductors, and musicians, the sound of the music when it was first performed (often with instruments now extinct), and the popular and critical responses. He explores how performance styles and conditions have changed over the centuries and what music can reveal about the societies that produce it. Kelly tells us, for example, that Handel recruited musicians he didn't know to perform Messiah in a newly built hall in Dublin; that Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was performed with a mixture of professional and amateur musicians after only three rehearsals; and that Berlioz was still buying strings for the violas and mutes for the violins on the day his symphony was first played. Kelly's narrative, which is enhanced by extracts from contemporary letters, press reports, account books, and other sources, as well as by a rich selection of illustrations, gives us a fresh appreciation of these five masterworks, encouraging us to sort out our own late twentieth-century expectations from what is inherent in the music.