Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin (1799-1837) is generally considered Russiaís greatest poet. According to Andrew Kahn, his contemporaries held him ìabove all the master of the lyric poem, verse that is famous for its formal perfection and its reticent lyric persona, and infamous for its resistance to translation.î [Alexander Pushkin, The Queen of Spades and Other Stories, trans. Alan Myers, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1997]
Category: Commentary
AbbÈ PrÈvost’s Manon Lescaut
The Story of the Chevalier Des Grieux and Manon Lescaut by AbbÈ PrÈvost stands as one of the great works of French literature. It first appeared in 1731 as an appendix to the series, Memoirs and Adventures of a Man of Quality. It was later revised in 1753 for independent publication under the title Les Aventures du chevalier Des Grieux et Manon Lescaut with illustrations by Pasquier and Gravelot.
New World Symphony
By Russell Platt [The Nation, 3 October 2005] Classical music in America, we are frequently told, is in its death throes: its orchestras bled dry by expensive guest soloists and…
SOUNDS FROM THE STUDIO
The EMI labelís new version of ìTristan und Isolde,î starring Pl·cido Domingo, has received weirdly apocalyptic advance publicity: it has been described as the final large-scale opera recording in history.
Tom Sutcliffe – Behind the scenes
Sheridan Morley, impressed with Michael Grandage’s staging of Schiller’s Don Carlos last February, turned to a fellow critic at the Gielgud Theatre and asked if they had known that it was such a terrific piece, adding jocularly that somebody ought to make an opera of it.
Myth, Muzak and Mozart
As the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth approaches, Proms director Nicholas Kenyon offers a personal guide to enjoying his work
COME RAIN OR COME SHINE
The bittersweet life of Harold Arlen.
The composer Harold Arlen, a dapper man whose songs brought something both dashing and deep to the Republic, liked to tell a story about the time he danced with Marilyn Monroe.
Paul Kellogg to retire as New York City Operaís General and Artistic Director at the end of the 2006-07 Season
Paul Kellogg, General and Artistic Director of City Opera, today announced that he will retire from the Company in June, 2007 at the end of the 2006-2007 season, his 12th with the company.
View from the Top ó David Daniels, ten years on
The life of an opera singer is not for the faint-hearted. Itís one of dizzying highs and lows, a crazy roundabout of heart-warming praise and soul-piercing criticism. No-one gets off lightly ó even the best in the world ó and to survive just a decade of this madness is an achievement in itself. Iíve been following the progress of American star countertenor David Daniels for a while now, so when I was asked to write a ten year retrospective on his career it seemed to me that, with a lot written already about that career, the ìhowî would be more interesting to discuss than the ìwhatî or ìwhenî. And the viewpoint that would give the most insight into how this exceptional singer came to be where he was would be: his own.
Alex Ross on City Operaís fall season
New York City Opera opened in February, 1944, at the height of the battles of Anzio and Truk. If skeptics thought it frivolous to start an opera company in the middle of a world war, Fiorello LaGuardia straightened them out: the music-loving Mayor believed that opera was essential to city life, and he wanted lower- and middle-class New Yorkers to have it at affordable prices, without pretension.