bookshelf

THE PARISIAN WORLDS OF FREDERIC CHOPIN

Name: THE PARISIAN WORLDS OF FREDERIC CHOPIN
Author: William G. Atwood
ISBN: 0-300-07773-4

by William G. Atwood ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 1999

bookshelf

“An artist, a man has no home in Europe save in Paris”: Nietzsche’s maxim could well serve as the epigraph to this scintillating biography of Chopin and his life in the French capital, in which Atwood depicts the joys of the city in as roseate a light as his hero’s talents. Though ostensibly a biographer of Chopin’s time in Paris after the composer fled Warsaw to escape invading Russian troops, Atwood, whose scholarly life of Chopin appeared in 1987, appears so mesmerized by the eternal glories of the City of Lights that he almost slights the composer. He begins with a tour of the twelve arrondissements of Paris in the 1830s, a lively and detailed recounting of what we would have found there and whom we might have encountered. The heady worlds of high society and salons, where, for example, George Sand, Victor Hugo, Eugäne Delacroix, HonorÇ Daumier, and HonorÇ de Balzac traipsed, traveled, and transgressed provide the backdrop to scandal and art, intrigue and amour. The political milieu of post-revolutionary France contributes as well to a Parisian scene ripe with expectation, plump with possibilities, where the conservative rococos and the romantic dÇcousus clashed over ideology and aesthetics. In this volatile mix of pomp and personality Chopin remained until his death in 1849. Atwood’s keen eye for detail and his fervent zeal for this bygone world create tableau after tableau of Chopin experiencing a society delicious in its many delights, yet transformed by the ramifications of politically revolutionary acts past and present. A life of Chopin that does equal duty as a social history of Paris in the middle of the 19th century. For lovers of the city as well as fans of Chopin, the countless scenes of the Parisian world—with their photographic clarity and robust characterizations—offer a delightful flashback to a time long gone but well-remembered. (151 illus.)

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-300-07773-4

Page Count: 416

Publisher: Yale Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

bookshelf

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

bookshelf

TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

bookshelf

An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.