Rosa Ponselle - A Centenary Biography (Hardcover, New)

A marvelous celebration of the life and career of the brilliant American soprano, incorporating interviews with the singer (who died in 1981) as well as the recollections of people who worked with her and for her, of family members, and of artistic colleagues. Each chapter of interviews is followed by a comprehensive documentary section drawn from such items as letters by Ponselle and reviews of her performances. The result is a fascinating, complex, and convincing portrait of a remarkable woman. Rosa Ponselle was born in 1897, in Meriden, Conn., to Italian immigrants. She studied music with her mother, and with her sister Carmilla formed the Italian Girls, a successful vaudeville act that eventually took them to New York, where they shared the bill with such luminaries as Al Jolson, Ed Wynn, and the Astaires. Caruso heard her sing, and the rest is history: In 1919 she became an overnight star at the Metropolitan Opera, and for roughly 20 years she was the American prima diva, a tempestuous star not just of opera, but the concert stage, radio, and recordings. She made her last appearence at the Met in 1937, after some 365 performances; she was, she tells Drake, "tired of the grind." She spent the rest of her long life as a society hostess, usually living alone (her one marriage didn't last long). We know her through her recordings, most of which she condemns as ruined by "that damned clock" (i.e., the need to fit a performance within the confines of a 78 rpm recording, which drove singers to sing faster and louder, sacrificing nuance and contrast). Some of her recordings, such as the two arias from Vestale made in 1926, are classics. Her recollections of fellow perforers are frank, vivid and perceptive. Ponselle's husband remembered her as "alluring, bright, shrewd . . . sometimes just impossible." Drake's splendid book gives us the full measure of her - both as diva and vaudeville star turned society hostess and self-exiled recluse. (Kirkus Reviews)

Rosa Ponselle's place as one of the century's great singers was destined from the moment of her 1918 debut, opposite Enrico Caruso, in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of La forza del destino. For the next two decades, her voice of unparalleled beauty and power continued to mesmerize audiences. Even today, her recordings keep her influence alive in the Italian repertory. Ponselle's path from Meriden, Connecticut, through her apprenticeship on the vaudeville circuit with her sister Carmela to acclaim on the stage of the Met is one of opera's great romantic stories. The author of this centenary biography, James A. Drake, began researching that story in collaboration with Ponselle herself for their 1982 book, Ponselle: A Singer's Life. The present work not only collects many of the interviews with Ponselle that provided the raw material for the earlier biography, but also includes interviews with friends, colleagues, and associates that supplement, support - and sometimes contradict - her own recollections. In addition, the author has scrutinized the documentary record for contemporary reports of these events, and has woven them into a well-crafted, absorbing chronicle of the diva's struggle from New York to Hollywood and abroad. Supplemented with many rare photographs, an updated discography, an extensive bibliography, and a chronology of her vaudeville, operatic, and concert performances, Rosa Ponselle: A Centenary Biography is an invitation to readers to join in the engrossing search for the real Rosa Ponselle.

General

Imprint:	Amadeus Press
Country of origin:	United States
Series:	Amadeus
Release date:	April 1997
First published:	March 2003
Authors:	James A. Drake
Dimensions:	233 x 161 x 38mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	534
Edition:	New
ISBN-13:	978-1-57467-019-6
Categories:	Books > Language & Literature > Biography & autobiography > Film, television, music, theatre Books > Arts & Architecture > Performing arts > Theatre, drama > Opera Books > Biography > Film, television, music, theatre Promotions
LSN:	1-57467-019-0
Barcode:	9781574670196

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!