The price of genius : a life of Pauline Viardot / April FitzLyon.
| Author/creator | FitzLyon, April |
| Format | Book |
| Publication Info | New York : Appleton-Century, 1965, ©1964. |
| Description | 520 pages : illustrations, genealogical table, portraits ; 21 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Introduction -- Part I. A brood of eagles, not nightingales ; The making of an artist -- Part II. The making of a woman -- Part III. The antidotes -- Part IV. The pier of old age ; The Garcia family. |
| Abstract | "The daughter of the famous singer and composer Manuel Garcia and younger sister of the celebrated Malibran, Pauline Garcia Viardot was the center of artistic and cultural life in the nineteenth century. She was a singer of genius who originated a number of operatic roles, brought Mozart to Russia and Glinka and Tchaikovsky to the western world; she was also a woman of outstanding intellect who formed a cultural bridge between Europe and Russia. This book recreates not only the life of Madame Viardot and her admirers and friends but succeeds admirably in capturing the elegant panorama of nineteenth century art: the colorful and diverse personalities of the de Musset brothers, Chopin, George Sand (whose novel Consuelo was inspired by the life and personality of Viardot), Meyerbeer, Berlioz, Gounod, Saint-Saens and, above all, Ivan Turgenev, move with a new dynamism through the events of her life. At the core of the book, Mrs. FitzLyon has succeeded in presenting Madame Viardot as a product of the intellectual climate of her age: a woman who, in spite of marriage and childbearing, found in her art an ideal and obligation which were to take pre-eminence over all domestic and romantic considerations. In addition, she has revealed and tenderly annotated one of the greatest and most moving of all true love stories. In 1843 Madame Viardot met the young Turgenev in St. Petersburg. From their first meeting until his death in 1883 he remained devoted to her, becoming for long periods in his life a member of her household. Their love, the exact nature of which must perhaps always remain a mystery, continued in the face of great hostility from the Russian intelligentsia, and despite long separations attained moments of deep spiritual joy. Mrs. FitzLyon has produced a book which reads like a great Russian novel and which will appeal to opera-lovers, historians, and the general reader. Her biography of Mozart's librettist da Ponte appeared some years ago. She is a French and Russian scholar and translator of Tolstoy as well as of many French classics. Her literary and musical interests combine to make this an authoritative and tender book which as used much hitherto unknown source material in a fascinating and readable study."--Dust jacket. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 495-505). |
| LCCN | 64024474 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Closed Stacks - Ask at Circulation Desk | ML420.V36 F6 1964 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |