There is a special joy in seeing a virtuoso at work, achieving the fulfillment of his art. In a prodigious literary career, demonstrating a virtually limitless range, George Garrett’s dazzling versatility has won high esteem and critical acclaim for his novels, plays, poetry, biography, and short fiction. Now, as testimony to George Garrett’s vivid storytelling powers, An Evening’s Performance: New and Selected Short Stories encompasses some of his best work of the past thirty years. Widely admired for his masterworks of Elizabethan times, Garrett’s stories here are contemporary, colloquial, humorous, bittersweet, deeply felt without sentimentality. Garrett’s gift for language, his forthright and compelling style touch the heart and ignite the senses, as he gives us stories of war and uneasy peace; of soldiers and movie-makers; of families, ghosts, preachers, teachers, and religious conmen. Stories that create a vision quintessentially American, yet universal in spirit.
THE STORY: On tour in rural Dunsk (recently annexed by the hated socialist state of Strevia) a theatrical troupe is obliged to present corny melodramas and creaky verse plays as modern drama has been banned by their new masters. Led by a hammy egom
Written by one of the UK’s most respected working directors, this book is a practical guide to directing in theatre and includes specific advice on every aspect of working with actors, designers, and the text.
In a career that spanned 60 years, Paul Whiteman changed the landscape of American music, beginning with his million-selling recordings in the early 1920s of “Whispering,” “Japanese Sandman,” and “Three O’Clock in the Morning.” Whiteman would then introduce “symphonic jazz,” a powerful blend of the classical and jazz idioms that represented a whole new approach to modern American music, influencing generations of bandleaders and composers. While some hold that at the close of the Roaring Twenties Whiteman’s musical hegemony quickly waned, Don Rayno illustrates in this second volume of Paul Whiteman: Pioneer in American Music how much of a dominant figure Whiteman remained. A major figure on the American music scene for decades to come, he would continue to lead critically-acclaimed orchestras, filling theaters and concert halls alike and diligently seeking out and nurturing musical talent on the largest scale of any orchestra leader in the 20th century. In this second volume of Rayno’s magisterial treatment of the life and music of this remarkable maestro, Whiteman’s career during the second half of his life is explored in the fullest detail, as Whiteman conquers the worlds of theater and vaudeville, the concert hall, radio, motion pictures, and television, winning accolades in all of them. Through hundreds of interviews, extensive documentation, and exhaustive research of over nearly three decades, a portrait emerges of one of American music’s most important musical figures during the last century. Rayno paints a stunning portrait of Whiteman’s considerable accomplishments and far-reaching influence.
Any singer longing to have a career in opera, particularly in Europe, should be familiar with the European system of classifying voices know as Fach. The Opera Singer's Career Guide: Understanding the European Fach System presents valuable information to help readers learn, understand, and use the Fach system to their professional advantage. More than just soprano, alto, tenor, or bass, students and professionals alike should know the 25 different Fach categories fully defined here, along with the examples of roles, audition arias, and European opera houses and agents provided. Based on careful research and personal experience, singer and teacher Pearl Yeadon McGinnis describes the features, characteristics, and benefits of the Fach system, including voice categorization and classification and using Fach to train the young voice. She provides practical information on maintaining a career in opera, such as the different types, procedures, and pitfalls of opera auditions; types of opera contracts and contract negotiations; and the value of networking. She explains the different styles of European opera houses and gives an example of life in a state level German opera house, including the various performance spaces, the makeup and responsibilities of an ensemble, and the jobs and functions of opera house personnel. A glossary and several appendixes supply tools for auditioning, such as newly classified roles for Children, Lyric, and Beginner singers; roles for the established Fach categories; lists of opera agents and houses in the German speaking countries; and suggested audition arias by Fach. In addition, practical details are offered about establishing and maintaining residency in Europe, obtaining permission to live and work in Europe, and helpful hints about customs and travel.
This is the Ebook version of the award-winning "Great Wagner Conductors" published in 2012, now scarce in print. It contains corrections to the hardback edition, and remedies some omissions to the discographies. It also contains all 723 illustrations in the book, brilliantly illuminated, many showing the conductors at work. Some of these are rare, some are in colour. (These are not displayed in the free sample.) "Great Wagner Conductors" is the first in-depth study to bring the great historical Wagner conductors to life - through anecdote, their own views on Wagner’s music, reports of their performances throughout the world, and their recordings. There is a substantial introductory chapter on Wagner - what he was like as a conductor of his own works and what he wanted of his conductors – then follow chapters on Hans von Bülow, Hans Richter, Anton Seidl, Hermann Levi, Felix Mottl, Karl Muck, Artur Nikisch, Albert Coates, Gustav Mahler, Felix Weingartner, Bruno Walter, Arturo Toscanini, Artur Bodanzky, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Fritz Busch, Erich Kleiber, Hans Knappertsbusch, Clemens Krauss, Karl Böhm, Richard Strauss, Otto Klemperer, and Fritz Reiner. Thousands of reviews of performances from many countries have been distilled to bring us as close as we can to knowing what the conductors were really like. There are comprehensive discographies setting out what the conductors recorded. Rare recordings are documented. There is comment on or excerpts from reviews of all the major recordings, and on many of the more obscure. A section on timings of actual and recorded performances, from Wagner onwards, reveals how widely practice has varied. There is a Select Bibliography, and an Index. "The level of detail achieved is quite breathtaking," wrote David Patmore in "Classical Recordings Quarterly" reviewing the hardback, "It extends to a vast arsenal of footnotes … as a resource they will be amazingly useful in a vast range of different contexts…. For anyone interested in conducting from the mid-nineteenth century onwards, and in particular the performance of Wagner, this book will be an essential acquisition. Its strength lies in the collection of so many different and varied contemporary reports of Wagner in performance from approximately 1850 to 1960. If this is where your interest lies, it will provide much fascinating reading." (Winter 2012). "Great Wagner Conductors is a major contribution to the literature on this subject," wrote Gary Galo in the "ARSC Journal", "and belongs in the library of every serious Wagner enthusiast." (May 2013). The book was awarded an Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research in 2013.
