Massenet: A Chronicle of His Life and Times

by Demar B. Irvine and Annabeth Albert

Book Overview

MASSENET A CHRONICLE OF HIS LIFE AND TIMES

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1574670247
• ISBN13: 9781574670240
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Globe Pequot Publishing Group Inc/Bloomsbury
• Length: 420 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Pendantic at Times, But Certainly Extremely Useful

Musicologist Demar Irvine was repeatedly turned down in 1974 when he tried to publish his biography of French opera composer Jules Massenet. When no publisher would consider it, Irvine finally sent out a hundred typed copies to various places and assumed that was that. But Amadeus Press decided to offer his magnum opus, and here it is. There being no other recent book in English on Massenet, and precious little in French on the composer, it will have to do. Irvine is conscientious about his subject to a fault, one of those writers who often does not seem to be able or willing to differentiate between what belongs in the main text, what belongs in the footnotes, and what is best left out altogether. Although the title warns us this is not merely a bio of Massenet, but one of his "Life and Times", things frequently can become a bit much. For example, whole paragraphs are taken up sorting out the locations of Parisian buildings in the last century. Endless minor artists and figures receive the luxury of short bios. At times these notes on Massenet's contemporaries threaten to overwhelm the central character! The result is a book that at 400 pages might easily be cut by scores of pages. I have no idea how much Carol Odlum, the editor, trimmed from the orignal typescript, but it most certainly wasn't near enough. Despite these serious reservations, Irvine's work does offer an outstanding review of the life and works of Massenet. The operas are discussed in detail, with Irvine's incessant detailing paying dividends when it comes to the initial performances and casts, the public reaction, and so forth. I was most impressed with how remarkable an array of contemporary criticism is given on many works, and how sharp an eye some of the critics show - the writing on "Esclarmonde" has any number of apt phrases. Devotees of 19th Century opera will be happily served, for Irvine merrily relates for their delectation all the innumerable adventures and pitfalls of the Parisian stage of the Belle Époque. Massenet the man emerges clearly - an extremely hard-working fellow with considerable talent. After a few tries he wins the Prix de Rome, comes back to France and marries well, survives the Franco-Prussian War, and has a Légion d'Honneur by July 1876: Throughout his life Massenet finds success and honor. An early admirer of Wagner, Massenet even at an early age shows himself to be a quick study and an artist at heart, listening to Wagner playing at the keyboard from Tannhäuser in 1860, the young Frenchman notes aprovingly how Wagner plays "like a musician, not at all like a pianist". Such charming moments - often taken from Massenet's own Memoirs, My Recollections are frequently found, delightful anecdotal oases in a larger sea of general facts. Perhaps the most vital picture of the composer the book reveals is that of someone never satisfied, restless, willing to shift directions in a continuing almost radical path. In preparing the young American soprano S