Cyrano de Bergerac: by Edmund Rostand translated by Anthony Burgess (Applause Books) Review

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(More customer reviews)If there's one thing that has me miffed, it's those ridiculous academic critiques of this play. Yes, it's unrealistic, yes, it's energetic to the point of insanity, yes, the character of Cyrano is particularly vulnerable to the ridiculous Freudian analyses that Lit. professors are obsessed with. But the essence of this work, what makes it breathe, are the very qualities so mocked by elitists: its color, its flamboyance, and above all its wonderfully unashamed idealism.

First of all, this is entertaining reading at its best: a combination of witty repartee and laugh-out-loud humor, balanced with emotional depth that is subtle yet wrenching in its intensity. With just a few lines the scenes come alive, with characters whose brash gallantry is reminiscent of Dumas' Musketeers.
All this virtuoso treatment finds a focal point in the character of Cyrano, who is at once comic and tragic: his biting wit provides a facade for a soul in torment, for his sensitivity to beauty makes his own ugliness that much more painful. Yet there is so much fire and pride in Cyrano that never once does he beg for our pity, and endures the pain of thwarted love with the same charisma and bravery with which he does battle.
The contradiction between Cyrano as he is inside--a veritable furnace of eloquent passion--and his markedly ugly exterior, is his tragedy. Through the vehicle of this contradiction, Edmond Rostand explores the nature of love, particularly regarding how much of it is dependant upon exteriors. Yet this theme does not smother the tale, which is such a heady mixture of beauty, hilarity and subtle insight that it fairly intoxicates. My only complaint, upon finishing it, was that it had to end.

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This acclaimed adaptation for the stage by Anthony Burgess has garnered such reviews as: "Emotional depth Rostand himself would surely have envied...Burgess' extravagant verse keeps its contours, yet trips off the tongue almost as though it were contemporary speech." - London Times. Paperback.

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Carmen (Simm)(2P4H) Review

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(More customer reviews)Bizet's CARMEN OVERTURE is well known and frequently used in the occasion that a champion comes out.In my opinion,Carmen is a champion,a champion of love,a champion of freedom.Mérimée,the author of CARMEM,describes Carmen as a sparkish and abandoned woman,searching for true love and sticking to freedom.In this book, Mérimée narrates how he ran across Don Jose' and the whole story between Don Jose' and Carmen.Don Jose',a soldier,falls in love with Carmen,a prisoner who kills a woman worker,when he is on his way to send her to prison.He gives her reins in spite of being punished.He becomes a bandit and killer so as to stay with her and please her.He kills her eventually for preventing her from loving someone else.It is a tragic ending.And I am deeply shocked.But if not for the death of Carmen,her spirit of chasing freedom can't be that striking.
There are two plots that make me consider a lot:
1.FOR OBTAINING CARMEN,DON JOSE' KILLS A SUBALTERN.
He was injured,and Carmen took good care of him until he recovered.I am moved for it.Someone may say Carmen has many lovers,and her love to Don Jose' is not true love.But I can't agree with it.From this part,we can see clearly that her love is of ligeance.Why she risked her life to save Don Jose',just for exploiting him sometime?Absolutely not.Don't forget Carmen can let any man do anything.Don Jose' is puny,but her love is significant.It can be confirmed in the latter part.When they were attacked by the army,Don Jose' was unfortunately shot,and Carmen looked after him patiently and attentively,without sleeping.She did love him with every beat of her heart.It must be noticed that only one time Carmen's crying was mentioned and this was the first time Don Jose' had seen her weep.Carmen stole Mérimée's watch but failed to get his ring for the prevention of Don Jose'.And then they quarrelled.Don Jose' beat her.A woman who is beat will cry,but a woman who cries is not certainly beat.Personaly I think Carmen cried for love,not for the beat.
2.FOR OCCUPYING CARMEN,DON JOSE' KILLS HER.
Here,the story comes to climax.Even when Don Jose' took out a knife to threaten her,Carmen did not quail a bit.she took off the ring he had given to her and threw it into the jungle.Finally,he thrust into her heart...She died for her freedom,and her freedom survived.I don't think one should give up freedom in order to love someone.Carmen is a classic example.She prefers being killed to staying with Don Jose'.Her love is for freedom,and her freedom is for love.She will love whom gives her freedom.Free love is unselfish.Don Jose' can't give her free love,and longs to occupy her on his own,so he is doomed to fail.
So,do remember that Real Love is a rational emotion!

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Carmen is a multi-movement work, and this arrangement provides all the lustre from the original orchestral score equally shared by the two pianists, creating a most exciting performance piece. Movements may be performed separately, thus making it a bit more simple to learn, or it may be performed in its entirety. Sure to be a big hit with two-piano teams.

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One-Act Comedies of Moliere: Seven Plays (Actor's Moliere, Vol 4) Review

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(More customer reviews)If you're producing Moliere for an American audience, Bermel's translations/adaptations are the BEST! His texts play magnificently and his ability to transcode Moliere's sense of humor into an American-accessible format is extraordinary.

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These are the best of MolireÕs masterful one-acts, blending broad farce and pointed wit to express his never-ending delight in human foibles. But Molire is more than just the "master of the laugh", for behind the comic gestures of these matchless rogues, tight-fisted masters, possessive lovers and elegant ladies lurk fears, insecurities and their consequences.

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The Miser and George Dandin: The Actor's Moliere - Volume 1 Review

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(More customer reviews)No self respecting actor would ever use this text!It assumes you know absolutely nothing.It attempts to put the text into a readable form, but I see nothing charming about translating Moliere into American slang or braindead sentences.Get a real translation and don't waste your time!

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Harpagon, the most desperate, scheming miser in literature, starves his servants, declines to pay them, cheats his own children if he can save (or make) a few coins, and when his hoard of gold disappears, insanely accuses himself of being the thief. Dandin, in this rousing classic, not previously available in English for sixty years, is a man in a plight that everybody but him will find entertaining.

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Chopin's Letters Review

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(More customer reviews)Reading the early passages in Chopin's letters, one is almost heartbroken by the youth, the enthusiasm, the childlike good humor evident therein.Chopin at 17 was a wide-eyed kid from Warsaw with unparalleled musicaltalent and his whole life in front of him, the world apparently his oyster. To read his letters in subsequent years -- after the Russian invasion ofPoland that stranded him in Paris; the abortive betrothal to MariaWodzinska; the complex and finally tragic relationship with George Sand --is to watch a man reach adulthood step by step.Though they contain onlysmall, tantalizing glimpses of Chopin's opinions on music, the letters makefor an effective counterpoint to his immortal compositions.The man whowrote the great Ballades and Scherzi was just a man like any other: he wasannoyed at lazy servants, he unconsciously exploited his friends, he wantedto move in the circles of great aristocrats, he had provincial andprejudiced opinions.The lesson is banal, but true, and vividly made clearin these letters.

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Nearly 300 letters reveal Chopin as both man and artist and illuminate his fascinating world-Europe of the 1830's and 1840's. "They abound in delightful gossip, are merry rather than malicious, are engagingly witty, and at times their humor becomes positively Rabelaisian."-Books. Preface. Index.

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The Doctor in Spite of Himself and The Bourgeois Gentleman: The Actor's Moliere Vol. 2 Review

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(More customer reviews)Bermel's translations are funny and sharp and a little bawdier than most, but they will appeal more to modern audiences reared on Mtv and reality shows. The Doctor is especially sharp and would make an excellent piece for college theatre groups. Both bring forth Moliere's satire beautifully.

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In The Doctor in Spite of Himself, Moliere's scalpel-sharp satire of the medical profession, Sganarelle's wife spreads the word the he is secretly a brilliant doctor who won't reveal his skills unless he is unmercifully punished. The Bourgeois Gentleman, Moliere's classic treatment of snobbery, presents Monsieur Jordain's obsessive desire to move up out of the ranks of the middle class and associate with the gentry.

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The Creation in Full Score (Dover Miniature Scores) Review

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(More customer reviews)Dover deserves praise for making the score of Haydn's masterpiece available at such a low price.Naturally, what you get is not the most recent scholarship, but rather a reproduction of an old out-of-copyright edition (C. F. Peters, Leipzig, 19th century).At the price, this is fair.
The text is legible, but not outstandingly so.I would guess that Dover reduced a full-size conductor's score slightly, to piano-music size.But the result is far more legible than a miniature score of the kind sold by Eulenberg would be.
Note that this score is for the purpose of study and following along while you listen.For actual performances, a choral singer would need a normal choral part (various publishers) with a piano reduction, as the previous reviewer noted.This Dover score would involve too many page turns for a singer, and in addition the tenor part is given in an old musical clef that would cause most tenors trouble in reading.
The words are in German with an English version directly underneath.This reflects the composer's original intention:since he had a enthusiastic following in both Austria and England, Haydn insisted that his librettist (Gottfried van Swieten) provide a metrical translation of the German words into English for the first edition.Van Swieten, though not a fluent English speaker, gamely complied, and the occasionally-amusing result is reproduced here.

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Combining the traditions of a Handel oratorio and the Viennese mass with Haydn's own symphonic style, this choral masterwork of seamless perfection joyfully celebrates the wonders described in the book of Genesis. The easily affordable edition includes a text underlay in both German and English.

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