The story of the Metropolitan Opera, 1883-1950 : a candid history / by Irving Kolodin.
| Author/creator | Kolodin, Irving |
| Format | Book |
| Edition | First edition. |
| Publication Info | New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1953. |
| Description | xx, 607, xxxviii pages : illustrations, portraits ; 25 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | I. Patrons and purposes -- II. House and home -- III. Operas and artists -- The Metropolitan Opera and Real Estate Company -- The Henry Abbey Opera Company, 1883-4 -- Opera in German, 1884-91 -- The De Reszkes and the "golden age of song" -- The Abbey-Schoeffel-Grau Opera Company, 1891-7 -- The Maurice Grau Opera Company, 1897-1903 -- The Conried Metropolitan Opera Company, 1903-8 -- The Metropolitan Opera Company -- The years of Toscanini, 1908-15 -- The First War years, 1915-21 -- The post-Caruso seasons, 1921-32 -- The Metropolitan Opera Association -- Depression and deficit, 1932-5 -- The Johnson period, 1935-50 -- Epilogue -- Postlude: Bing and beyond. |
| Abstract | "Telling the story of the Metropolitan Opera from day of its opening in 1883 to the present era, Irving Kolodin has written a candid history. His big book relates the ascents and declines, the glories and shortcomings, of America's foremost lyrical theater for nearly seventy years, and is therefore a cavalcade of color, of internationally familiar names, of musicians, social leaders, civic figures, and critics. The first part of The Metropolitan Opera deals with the individuals who brought the Metropolitan into existence, and who--with their families and friends--guided its course for fifty years, thereafter turning its future over to public support. The second section details the interacting social purposes served by the familiar building on Broadway between Thirty-ninth and Fortieth streets--and especially by its famed boxes. The third, major, part of the book relates in detail (often with affection, but at times in perplexity and anger) the march of performances and personalities which has given the Metropolitan its unique position in American life and a leading place among the lyric theaters of the world. Written from an unparalleled wealth of source material, The Metropolitan Opera is everywhere interspersed with financial, personal, and anecdotal details that illuminate and often explain the passionate addiction to the subject possessed by the author and by uncounted thousands of other Americans. In a brief interlude, Mr. Kolodin assays the first seasons of Rudolf Bing's regime at the Metropolitan, attempting to define its tendencies and direction. The book is illustrated with portraits of singers, conductors, directors, and other personnel, with stage panoramas, and with news shots, a total of one hundred and fifty pictures."--Dust jacket. |
| General note | Includes index. |
| General note | "Compilation of works (operas, ballets, choral pieces) presented at the Metropolitan Opera House during the regular subscription seasons from 1883-4 to 1951": pages 597-607. |
| Biographical note | "Irving Kolodin was born in New York in 1908. He served on the music staff of the New York Sun from 1932 to 1949, being music editor and music critic from 1945 to 1949. Beginning in 1947, he was editor of the Recordings section of the Saturday Review, becoming its music editor and critic in 1949: he is now one of its associate editors. In addition to the present book and an earlier book on the Metropolitan, he has published a Guide to Recorded Music and was co-author of the Saturday Review Home Book of Recorded Music and Sound Reproduction. He has in recent years made trips across the United States and to Europe, reporting the course of current music. Mr. Kolodin is married and lives in New York."--Dust jacket. |
| LCCN | 52012212 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Closed Stacks - Ask at Circulation Desk | ML1711.8.N32 M45 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |