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One of the world's greatest Wagnerian sopranos talks about an illustrious career that flourished for over five decades.
For Astrid Varnay, opera was the family business. The daughter of coloratura soprano Mária Jávor and dramatic tenor Alexander Várnay, she literally grew up backstage at the opera. Vocally and musically trained by her mother and mentor (and later husband) Hermann Weigert, she was just twenty-three years old when she made her unofficial debut at the Metropolitan Opera as a last-minute replacement for the suddenly ill Lotte Lehmann. Varnay's critically acclaimed performance as Sieglinde in Die Walküre catapulted her into the limelight.Varnay reflects on her remarkable life in opera, discussing her signature roles and performances, vocal preparation and technique, interpretive acting style, ...
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This unique book explores the lives and work of nearly 300 New Jersey women from the Colonial period to the present century. Included are biographies of notable, often nationally known individuals, as well as less celebrated people, whose vibrant personal stories illustrate the richness of women's experiences in New Jersey—and, really, in America—from 1600 to the present. Researched, written and illustrated by The Women's Project of New Jersey, this volume both recovers and re-tells the life stories of women who have helped shape our world. Past and Promise is a long-overdue celebration of the accomplishments of these individuals who succeeded, often against overwhelming odds. Past and P...
Sketches of opera composers, opera synopses, and CD reviews.
Once tainted by association with Hitler and Nazism, Richard Wagner's work has experienced an international cultural renaissance in the last 25 years. His magnum opus, Der Ring des Nibelungen, which took him over 20 years to finish, is a complex tale with themes of greed, corruption and loss, spun out in more than 16 hours of powerfully moving opera. This book, with provocative essays for both the uninitiated and the seasoned fan, examines Wagner's Ring cycle from a wide array of modern perspectives. Divided into six parts, this anthology first offers a foundation for the Ring, with a chronology and an introduction, along with a look at Wagner as an enterprising marketer. Part Two explores di...
As an American woman who attained the highest rank in her chosen field, she is an example of what can be accomplished through a combination of natural talent and the will to succeed. Rise's career is unique in that it encompassed opera, recordings, radio, films, television, academic, and arts administration. She was a mainstay at the Metropolitan Opera for twenty-three seasons. In the 1940s she had her own radio show, she appeared in a classic film. In the 1950s she was a popular guest on television, her recordings sold in the thousands. The complete Carmen has been in print for over fifty years, the Mannes School of Music survived a bleak period in the 1960s because of her, the Metropolitan...
One of the most controversial figures in the history of ideas as well as music, Richard Wagner continues to stimulate debate whenever his works are performed. Drawing upon the scholarship of The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, the most comprehensive dictionary of opera in the world, Barry Millington offers a concise, portable survey and guide, which will make a welcome addition to the shelf of anyone who loves opera. Millington has completely updated the original pieces and contributed four new chapters on Wagner, including a summary of Wagner productions from 1876 to the present day, a suggested listening and viewing gyide, complete chronology of Wagner's operas, and a glossary of terms that...
First published to wide acclaim in Sweden (1995) and in Germany (1997), the autobiography of opera legend Birgit Nilsson (1918-2005) is finally available in an English translation. From her humble roots in rural Sweden to her artistic triumphs in Stockholm, Bayreuth, Milan, and the Metropolitan Opera House, this candid and utterly charming memoir reveals the personality behind one of the great voices of the past century. Gracefully weaving together the private and professional, Nilsson chronicles her idyllic childhood in Vastra Karup, the early recognition of her unique natural abilities, and her first tentative steps into a wider artistic world. After achieving national acclaim in Verdi's L...
American baritone Lawrence Tibbett created an overnight sensation at the Metropolitan Opera in 1925 when the audience stopped the performance of Falstaff to honor their compatriot for his exceptional talent. Tibbett's now legendary curtain call foreshadowed a startling new era for classically trained native singers who rarely received the public recognition or respect given to their European colleagues. In this absorbing work, Victoria Etnier Villamil chronicles the extraordinary time from 1935 to 1950 when American artists, who felt intensely inferior to foreign performers, journeyed from being unappreciated in their own country to standing without apology on stages at home and abroad. Draw...