Orpheus at Eighty

by Vincent Sheean, Unknown

extremely rare,very good condition

384 pages, Hardcover

First published November 10, 1975

Reviews

[Susan Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book not long after it was published in 1958, and have re-read it over the years, completing my most recent "re-read" today, June 14, 2015. I found it as absorbing and fascinating this time as I did when I first read it. Vincent Sheean has written a thorough and thoughtful book about the genius Giuseppe Verdi, beginning the book near the end of the composer's life, the night of his triumph in Milan with his final opera, FALSTAFF. Sheean uses that as a starting point in recalling Verdi's personal and creative life from his beginnings as a peasant boy in Busetto, through the trials of his early years as a composer, through his early successes and frustrations. He also spends considerable time on Rome and the Risorgimento as Italy struggled to become unified, and the impact those events had on Verdi -- and the impact Verdi had on the political life of his country during those turbulent years. He describes some of Verdi's operas in considerable detail, especially OTELLO, the opera that was the immediate predecessor to FALSTAFF. Verdi had considered himself "retired" until another genius, Arrigo Boito, basically turned all of his creative being over to the composer by becoming his librettist. It's a very compelling part of the story. Anyone who loves opera, and appreciates Verdi's genius, will recognize the wealth of information Sheean has included in this fine book. (It surprised me to read some reviews of the work, and made me wonder if the reviewers had actually taken the time to read the entire book. If so, that is most unfortunate.)

[Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this many years ago, and was just reminded of it when listening to a radio broadcast of Verdi's opera 'Falstaff'.

This book is a biography of Verdi's later life, and in particular his composition of his last opera, 'Falstaff', which he completed at the age of eighty in 1893.