Thirty Years' Musical Recollections 2 Volume Paperback Set
2 primary works
Volume 1
Thirty Years' Musical Recollections, first published in 1862, is a year-by-year commentary in two volumes on the European operas, ballets, singers and dancers popular in London from 1830 to 1859. It's author was music critic of The Athaneum for over thirty years and also wrote book reviews, novels, plays and poems. Volume 1 covers the period 1830-1847 and serves as a valuable reference work to the musical life of London during these years. Starting with his reminiscences of the opera season in 1830, Chorley takes the reader on a journey from early performances of Italian and German opera in England, via works by Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti and the first appearances of Lablache and of Mademoiselle Taglioni, through to Verdi's operas in 1846. He also describes famous opera singers including Maria Malibran, Giambattista Rubini, Madame Grisi, Madame Pasta, Madame Persiani, Rachel Felix, Signor Mario, and Mademoiselle Jenny Lind.
Volume 2
Thirty Years' Musical Recollections, first published in 1862, is a year-by-year commentary in two volumes on the European operas, ballets, singers and dancers popular in London from 1830 to 1859. Its author was music critic of The Athaneum for over thirty years and also wrote book reviews, novels, plays and poems. Volume 2 covers the period 1847-1859 and serves as a valuable reference work to the musical life of London during these years. It begins with an account of the deterioration of Her Majesty's Theatre and the opening of the Royal Italian Opera. Chorley intersperses discerning observations about the changing trends in public taste with descriptions of famous opera singers - including Mademoiselle Alboni, Signor Ronconi, the Countess Rossi, Madame Ristori and Madame Pauline Viardot - and highlights their more noteworthy performances. The book is an entertaining eyewitness account of the lively musical scene in mid-nineteenth-century London.