Otello (Othello)
Otello (Othello)
Rigoletto
Rigoletto was first produced at the Teatro La Fenice, Venice, in 1851, and is generally seen as marking the beginning of Giuseppe Verdi's extraordinary middle period. It was followed in quick succession by Il trovatore and La traviata, and even af...
Rembrandt's Themes
Rembrandt van Rjin (1606-1669) was among the few celebrated old masters who enjoyed considerable freedom in his choice of subject matter. Living and working in the Protestant Netherlands, he painted largely for private patrons and the open market,...
Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball)
Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball)
Cézanne
An updated edition of this classic survey, a thorough overview of Paul Cézanne’s life and work. For Picasso he was ‘like our father’; for Matisse, ‘a god of painting’. Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) is widely regarded as the father of modern art. In this authoritative and accessible study, Richard Verdi traces the evolution of Cézanne’s landscape, still-life and figure compositions, from the turbulently romantic creations of his youth to the visionary masterpieces of his final years. The painter’s biography – his fluctuating reputation and strained relations with his parents, wife and close friend Emile Zola – is vividly evoked using excerpts from his own letters and from contemporary accounts of the artist. Cézanne was torn between the desires to create art and to seek inspiration – to master the themes of the past, through his copying sessions in the Louvre, and to explore the eternal qualities of nature in the countryside of his native Provence. In this way the artist sought ‘to make of
Rigoletto
"The subject cannot fail!" exulted Verdi, when recommending Victor Hugo's play Le Roi s'amuse to his librettist. But the censors made every effort to stop it, and the baritone was not easily convinced that a hunchback role would suit him...
Aida
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La Traviata
La Traviata
Velázquez
A comprehensive introduction to Velázquez's life and art which includes a discussion of all his major works. Diego Velázquez (1599-1660) was one of the towering figures of western painting and Baroque art, a technical master renowned for his focus...
