The Enchantress of Nations: Pauline Viardot: Soprano, Muse and Lover [Hardcover]

Michael Steen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 2004

This is a picturesque but painstakingly researched biography of the life - and the times - of the nineteenth century's Maria Callas. She was among 'the most brilliant dramatic stars of our time', according to Franz Liszt, and billed as 'the most talked of opera singer in Europe'. Dickens - reduced to tears by her singing - regarded her as 'one of the greatest actresses of any time'. Liszt also declared that, with Pauline Viardot, the world had finally found a woman composer of genius. "Enchantress of Nations" is a lavish biography of this amazing woman whose life spanned most of the nineteenth century; and it also weaves a rich tapestry of music and literature in France, England and Russia. We meet George Sand, Dickens, Flaubert, Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky; Rossini, Berlioz, Chopin, and Charles Gounod, with whom Viardot had a stormy friendship; and especially the great Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev, with whom she had a passionate 40-year affair. Michael Steen recounts the back-stage bitchiness, robbery, duels and violence, life in Russia before the emancipation of the serfs, appalling disease and shocking poverty, and the unhappiness experienced by children of successful parents. Luxuriously produced with a colour plate section, it opens a new vista on opera, nineteenth-century literature and history.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'An absolute delight. For lovers of musical biography Michael Steen's compendious volume is required reading. Covering 350 years of European musical history, Steen sketches his canonical figures with Dickensian flair, providing a bona fide crossover title that is also a literary achievement in its own right.' Times Literary Supplement 'What a treat this is. This immense book is a labour of love and learning. Steen seems to know everything, not just about music but everything else.' The Age, Australia"

About the Author

Michael Steen OBE was born in Dublin. He was an organ scholar at Oxford, after the Royal College of Music and Eton. Since retirement from the City he has been chairman of the Royal College of Music Society and is chairman of the trustees of the Friends of the V&A Museum. He is the author of The Lives and Times of the Great Composers (Icon, 2004)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 488 pages
• Publisher: Totem Books (December 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1840468432
• ISBN-13: 978-1840468434
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,535,644 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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2.0 out of 5 stars What Is This Author's Purpose?, March 5, 2010

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This review is from: The Enchantress of Nations: Pauline Viardot: Soprano, Muse and Lover (Hardcover)

On the plus side, the overall presentation of the book is first rate due to its high quality paper and interesting illustrations. One gleans only a rudimentary understanding of the life of the mezzo-soprano. The deception lies with the overall focus. We learn no details about Viardot's vocal training and read primarily about her major roles [a tiny bit on Norma; more on Fides, Sapho, and Orphee] her travels, and the fact that her teaching produced a noise level that annoyed others in her household. Steen's all-consuming interest is on everyone and everything that is on the periphery of Viardot, especially Turgenev. A full chapter of twenty pages examines in exhaustive detail whether or not Viardot and Turgenev had a sexual relationship. [A mature reader would be satisfied with a one paragraph summary.] One reads exhaustedly about Turgenev's personal and literary relationship with Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. The author even provides us with plot summaries of Turgenev's novels! Viardot's life indeed intersected with major musical and literary figures of the nineteenth century. But those readers expecting a musical focus will be disappointed with a volume more devoted to gossip and a panorama of nineteenth century Russian novelists and their oeuvre.