Saturday, December 02, 2006
What I'm reading:
5000 nights at the opera, by Sir Rudolph Bing.
Bing was director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, but I'm not at that part of the book yet. Childhood in Vienna, early career in Germany, 14 years running an opera for an eccentric english gentleman at his county estate, glyndebourne, dramatic escape from Austria as the Nazis invade.
I don't know anything about opera, but this is a fun book, partly because it builds on some earlier reading: Recording the Ring was about a guy who made records of Wagner in the 60s, so this book overlaps a bit with that story, and Memoirs of a Sexologist was by a German doctor, only I left it behind half read in the break room of a job I quit, after I'd been told to do something I considered dishonest, but can't discuss here because of a non-disclosure agreement.
Also because a close late friend of mine was a butler from an eccentric english gentleman at his country estate
I have no idea where I picked up the Bing, but it's the first book I've read in about a month. I've been busy, and had the impression I didn't have any good books handy, and found this on a shelf. Last year I blogged the 50 book challenge, but I've let that go this year - not sure if I've read 50 books this year.
Amazon says they have the Bing for sale for $0.01 - it's worth every penny.
He drops names that even I recognize - Mahler, Eugene Ormandy, Shostakovitz {sp], Bruno Walter, Alec Guinness, Benjamin Britten, etc.
Bing, Sir Rudolf
(born Jan. 9, 1902, Vienna, Austria-Hungary-died Sept. 2, 1997, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Austrian-born British opera impresario. After holding positions in German opera houses, he assumed the position of general manager at the Glyndebourne Opera in England (1935–49). In 1946 he helped found the Edinburgh Festival. From 1950 until 1972 he served as general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, where, wielding autocratic power, he raised the institution's performance standards, extended its season, encouraged innovations in design and production, ended the exclusion of black singers, and oversaw the company's move to Lincoln Center in 1966.
Britannica.com.
Edinburgh Festival
International festival of the arts, with an emphasis on music and drama. Founded in 1947 by Rudolf Bing, it is held for three weeks each summer. Its theatrical offerings include plays by major international theatrical companies; plays premiered at the festival include T.S. Eliot's The Cocktail Party (1949) and Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker (1954). The adjunct Edinburgh Fringe attracts amateur theatre groups and has launched works such as Beyond the Fringe (1960) and Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966).
Eugene Onegin google video. What's opera doc? Bugs Bunny cartoon 1957 google video.
The ring, Wagner, Bayreuth, 1 hour google video.
5000 nights at the opera, by Sir Rudolph Bing.
Bing was director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, but I'm not at that part of the book yet. Childhood in Vienna, early career in Germany, 14 years running an opera for an eccentric english gentleman at his county estate, glyndebourne, dramatic escape from Austria as the Nazis invade.
I don't know anything about opera, but this is a fun book, partly because it builds on some earlier reading: Recording the Ring was about a guy who made records of Wagner in the 60s, so this book overlaps a bit with that story, and Memoirs of a Sexologist was by a German doctor, only I left it behind half read in the break room of a job I quit, after I'd been told to do something I considered dishonest, but can't discuss here because of a non-disclosure agreement.
Also because a close late friend of mine was a butler from an eccentric english gentleman at his country estate
I have no idea where I picked up the Bing, but it's the first book I've read in about a month. I've been busy, and had the impression I didn't have any good books handy, and found this on a shelf. Last year I blogged the 50 book challenge, but I've let that go this year - not sure if I've read 50 books this year.
Amazon says they have the Bing for sale for $0.01 - it's worth every penny.
He drops names that even I recognize - Mahler, Eugene Ormandy, Shostakovitz {sp], Bruno Walter, Alec Guinness, Benjamin Britten, etc.
Bing, Sir Rudolf
(born Jan. 9, 1902, Vienna, Austria-Hungary-died Sept. 2, 1997, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Austrian-born British opera impresario. After holding positions in German opera houses, he assumed the position of general manager at the Glyndebourne Opera in England (1935–49). In 1946 he helped found the Edinburgh Festival. From 1950 until 1972 he served as general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, where, wielding autocratic power, he raised the institution's performance standards, extended its season, encouraged innovations in design and production, ended the exclusion of black singers, and oversaw the company's move to Lincoln Center in 1966.
Britannica.com.
Edinburgh Festival
International festival of the arts, with an emphasis on music and drama. Founded in 1947 by Rudolf Bing, it is held for three weeks each summer. Its theatrical offerings include plays by major international theatrical companies; plays premiered at the festival include T.S. Eliot's The Cocktail Party (1949) and Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker (1954). The adjunct Edinburgh Fringe attracts amateur theatre groups and has launched works such as Beyond the Fringe (1960) and Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966).
Eugene Onegin google video. What's opera doc? Bugs Bunny cartoon 1957 google video.
The ring, Wagner, Bayreuth, 1 hour google video.
Comments:
Post a Comment
