Wotan's Daughter

Wotan's Daughter PDF Author: Richard Harding Davis
Publisher: Wakefield Press
ISBN: 1743051220
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 362

Book Description
This title recounts the turbulent life and career of Marjorie Lawrence, one of Australia's most renowned opera stars. From humble beginnings in rural Victoria, Lawrence rose to become one of the pre-eminent Wagner singers of her generation, acclaimed in Europe and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York where she shared roles with Kirsten Flagstad.

“Music’s Obedient Daughter”

“Music’s Obedient Daughter” PDF Author: Sabine Lichtenstein
Publisher: Rodopi
ISBN: 9401210551
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 505

Book Description
A libretto is an indispensable part of an opera as a musical genre: with few exceptions, operas have been the subject of musicological studies, and instrumental versions of sung or unsung opera numbers may be heard, but we never listen to libretto texts being performed without the music. Thus as a literary form the libretto is a highly specific genre with its own particular attributes. This volume offers an approach to the libretto through the discussion of these attributes in many different examples. It explores what may be expected of a librettist in response to the demands of the genre’s characteristics, his trials and tribulations, his exchanges with the composer while adapting or converting a source, almost always a literary source, into the eventual libretto, and about the different musical ways of dealing with the text. In this way the volume clarifies the fundamental differences between the libretto and other literary genres.

The Teutonic Way: Wotan

The Teutonic Way: Wotan PDF Author: Kveldulf Gundarsson
Publisher: The Three Little Sisters
ISBN: 1959350110
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 262

Book Description
Wotan, The Road to Valhalla is a comprehensive and in depth guide on the god Wotan/Odin. The bookcovers everything you ever wanted to know about Odin. It shows us his origins, relevant lore and historical worship through the centuries. The book includes modern stories about the current followers of Odin and rituals for practicaluse. Join the author, Kveldúlf Gundarsson in his personal thought to understanding Wotan.

Expecting Someone Taller

Expecting Someone Taller PDF Author: Tom Holt
Publisher: Hachette+ORM
ISBN: 0316233420
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 167

Book Description
All Malcolm Fisher did was run over a badger. Unfortunately the badger turned out to be Ingolf, last of the giants. With his dying breath he reluctantly gave Malcolm two gifts of power and made him ruler of the world.

Ring of Power

Ring of Power PDF Author: Jean Shinoda Bolen
Publisher: Nicolas-Hays, Inc.
ISBN: 0892546077
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 264

Book Description
A vivid grasp of the story and the characters in "The Ring of Niebelung" brings Richard Wagner's mythic four-opera cycle to life. The Ring Cycle has a hold on our imagination like no other operatic work because it is archetypal and has the power of myth as well as music to reverberate in the psyche. Bolen shows how myth illuminates psychology, and more - Ring of Power goes beyond the psychology of the individual, revealing dysfunctional families and patriarchal institutions.

Narcissistic Fantasies in Film and Fiction

Narcissistic Fantasies in Film and Fiction PDF Author: Ilany Kogan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000030555
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 178

Book Description
This book has grown from a belief that the psychoanalytic exploration of literature and performances leads to a richer and fuller understanding of each individual’s internal reality. It includes an exploration of narcissistic fantasies from various protagonists of film and novels and focuses on the fantasy of the omnipotence of the self, which is a predominantly narcissistic desire to be a "Master of the Universe", a deity, an omnipotent, immortal figure. Psychoanalysis and art interact in exploring the individual's refusal to give up grandiose fantasies about the self, or his inability to modulate and integrate them within his personality, which are at the origin of his wish to transcend the human condition. These narcissistic fantasies are often expressed through aggressive and self-destructive behaviour, including flirtation with death and destruction. The emotional truth that great artists convey through symbols which often resonates in the audience is examined in this book through studies and comparisons of narcissistic characters in opera, film and contemporary fiction. Identifying with these figures, who place themselves above the law, may give us the illusion of omnipotence and immortality, which corresponds to a primary narcissistic fantasy, the traces of which exist in various degrees in all of us. Part of the popular International Psychoanalytical Association Psychoanalytic Ideas and Applications Series, this book is unique in its focus on the narcissistic fantasy of the omnipotence of the self by means of an analysis of a variety of protagonists from the worlds of the performing arts and literature, and on the exploration of their impact on the audience. It will be of interest to psychoanalysts, therapists, and those with an interest in the intersection of psychoanalytic theory with film and literature.

Sleeping Beauty, a Legend in Progress

Sleeping Beauty, a Legend in Progress PDF Author: Tim Scholl
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300128827
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Book Description
In 1999 the Maryinsky (formerly Kirov) Ballet and Theater in St. Petersburg re-created its 1890 production of Sleeping Beauty. The revival showed the classic work in its original sets and costumes and restored pantomime and choreography that had been eliminated over the past century. Nevertheless, the work proved unexpectedly controversial, with many Russian dance professionals and historians denouncing it. In order to understand how a historically informed performance could be ridiculed by those responsible for writing the history of Russian and Soviet ballet, Tim Scholl discusses the tradition, ideology, and popular legend that have shaped the development of Sleeping Beauty. In the process he provides a history of Russian and Soviet ballet during the twentieth century. A fascinating slice of cultural history, the book will appeal not only to dance historians but also to those interested in the arts and cultural policies of the Soviet and post-Soviet periods.

The Ring of Truth

The Ring of Truth PDF Author: Roger Scruton
Publisher: Abrams
ISBN: 1468315501
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 260

Book Description
“Nothing in opera is grander than The Ring, no work more suited to the deep reading the writer gives here.” —Opera News Richard Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung is one of the greatest works of art created in modern times, and has fascinated both critics and devotees for over a century and a half. No recent study has examined the meaning of Wagner’s masterpiece with the attention to detail and intellectual power that Roger Scruton brings to it in this inspiring account. The Ring of Truth is an exploration of the drama, music, symbolism, and philosophy of The Ring from a writer whose knowledge and understanding of the Western musical tradition are the equal of his capacities as a philosopher. Scruton shows how, through musical connections and brilliant dramatic strokes, Wagner is able to express truths about the human condition which few other creative artists have been able to convey so convincingly. For Wagner, writes Scruton, the task of art is to “show us freedom in its immediate, contingent, human form, reminding us of what it means to us. Even if we live in a world from which gods and heroes have disappeared we can, by imagining them, dramatize the deep truths of our condition and renew our faith in what we are.” Love, death, sacrifice and the liberation that we win through sacrifice—these are the great themes of The Ring, as they are of this book. Scruton’s passionate and moving interpretation allows us to understand more fully than ever how Wagner conveys his ideas about who we are, and why TheRing continues to be such a hypnotically absorbing work. “Scruton’s presentation is grounded throughout in a deep understanding of the culture of Wagner’s era . . . the writing is clear and persuasive.” —Library Journal (starred review) “A fascinating and valuable study.” —Sunday Times

Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung: A Companion

Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung: A Companion PDF Author: Barry Millington
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
ISBN: 0500771464
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 509

Book Description
"Scrupulous . . . planned and executed with quite unusual care." —Opera There has long been a need for a modern English translation of Wagner's Ring—a version that is reliable and readable yet at the same time is a true reflection of the literary quality of the German libretto. This acclaimed translation, which follows the verse form of the original exactly, fills that niche. It reads smoothly and idiomatically, yet is the result of prolonged thought and deep background knowledge. The translation is accompanied by Stewart Spencer's introductory essay on the libretto and a series of specially commissioned texts by Barry Millington, Roger Hollinrake, Elizabeth Magee and Warren Darcy that discuss the cycle's musical structure, philosophical implications, medieval sources and Wagner's own changing attitude to its meaning. With a glossary of names, a review of audio and video recordings, and a select bibliography, the book is an essential complement to Wagner's great epic.

The Bards of Bromley and Other Plays

The Bards of Bromley and Other Plays PDF Author: Perry Pontac
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1849437777
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 65

Book Description
Foreword by Maureen Lipman Having produced a new Shakespearean canon in his previous collection of plays Codpieces, Perry Pontac turns his attention to other great names in European culture.The Three Seagulls is a Chekhovian comedy with representative characters drawn from each of Chekhov’s major plays, as well as a selection of his plot-lines. The Lunchtime of the Gods is Wagner’s Ring recycled into a thirty-minute play telling the entire story,plus several jokes not in the original. And in The Bards of Bromley,the first meeting of a writers’ workshop is attended by a group of unusually promising authors: William Wordsworth, George Eliot, August Strindberg, A A Milne and Johan Wolfgang von Goethe.