Synopses & Reviews
During the performances of fashionable operas in an unidentified but "civilized" town in northern Europe, the musicians (with the exception of the conscientious bass drummer) tell tales, read stories, and exchange gossip to relieve the tedium of the bad music they are paid to perform. In this delightful and now classic narrative written by the brilliant composer and critic Hector Berlioz, we are privy to twenty-five highly entertaining evenings with a fascinating group of distracted performers. As we near the two-hundredth anniversary of Berlioz's birth, Jacques Barzun's pitch-perfect translation of
Evenings with the Orchestra and#8212;with a new foreword by Berlioz scholar Peter Bloomand#8212;testifies to the enduring pleasure found in this most witty and amusing book.
"[F]ull of knowledge, penetration, good sense, individual wit, stock humor, justifiable exasperation, understanding exaggeration, emotion and rhetoric of every kind."and#8212;Randall Jarrell, New York Times Book Review
"To succeed in [writing these tales], as Berlioz most brilliantly does, requires a combination of qualities which is very rare, the many-faceted curiosity of the dramatist with the aggressively personal vision of the lyric poet."and#8212;W. H. Auden, The Griffin
Table of Contents
Preface to the Phoenix Edition by Jacques Barzun
Introduction by Jacques Barzun
Prologue
First Evening
The First Operaandmdash;Vincenzaandmdash;The Vexations of Kleiner the Elder
Second Evening
The Strolling Harpistandmdash;The Performance of an Oratorioandmdash;The Sleep of the Just
Third Evening [Der Freischanduuml;ltz]
Fourth Evening
A Debut in Freischanduuml;tzandmdash;Marescot
Fifth Evening
The S in Robert le diable
Sixth Evening
How a Tenor Revolves around the Publicandmdash;The Vexations of Kleiner the Younger
Seventh Evening
Historical and Philosophical Studies: De viris illustribus urbis Romaeandmdash;A Roman Womanandmdash;Vocabulary of the Roman Language
Eighth Evening
Romans of the New Worldandmdash;Mr. Barnumandmdash;Jenny Lindand#39;s Trip to America
Ninth Evening
The Paris Opera and Londonand#39;s Opera Houses
Tenth Evening
On the Present State of Musicandmdash;The Tradition of Tackandmdash;A Victim of Tack
Eleventh Evening [A Masterpiece]
Twelfth Evening
Suicide from Enthusiasm
Thirteenth Evening
Spontini, a Biographical Sketch
Fourteenth Evening
Operas off the Assembly Lineandmdash;The Problem of Beautyandmdash;Schillerand#39;s Mary Stuartandmdash;A Visit to Tom Thumb
Fifteenth Evening
Another Vexation of Kleiner the Elderand#39;s
Sixteenth Evening
Musical and Phrenological Studiesandmdash;Nightmaresandmdash;The Puritans of Sacred Musicandmdash;Paganini
Seventeenth Evening [The Barber of Seville]
Eighteenth Evening
Charles Leveled against the Authorand#39;s Criticismandmdash;Analysis of The Lighthouseandmdash;The Piano Possessed
Nineteenth Evening [Don Giovanni]
Twentieth Evening
Historical Gleanings: Napoleonand#39;s Odd Susceptibilityandmdash;His Musical Judgmentandmdash;Napoleon and Lesueurandmdash;Napoleon and the Republic of San Marino
Twenty-first Evening
The Study of Music
Twenty-second Evening [Iphigenia in Tauris]
Twenty-third Evening
Gluck and the Conservatory in Naplesandmdash;A Saying of Duranteand#39;s
Twenty-fourth Evening [Les Huguenots]
Twenty-fifth Evening
Euphonia, or the Musical City
Epilogue
The Farewell Dinner
Second Epilogue
Corsinoand#39;s Letter to the Authorandmdash;The Authorand#39;s Reply to Corsinoandmdash;Beethoven and His Three Stylesandmdash;Beethovenand#39;s Statue at Bonnandmdash;Mandeacute;bulandmdash;Conestabile on Paganiniandmdash;Vincent Wallace
Index