Memoirs of Lorenzo Da Ponte (New York Review Books Classics)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.91 (920 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0940322358 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 472 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-07-28 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Plot and counterplot lie at the heart of Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, and The Marriage of Figaro, the three brilliant libretti that Lorenzo Da Ponte prepared for Mozart. His Memoirs record a fantastic variety of romantic, political, and professional intrigues, and tell of meetings with a host of remarkable men. They were also central to Da Ponte's own extraordinary life. His Memoirs, a minor classic of Italian literature, are the picaresque and engrossing story of a man of enormous talent and unsurpassed flair who was, above all, an indefatigable survivor."I shall speak of things so singular in their oddity as in some manner to instruct, or
One reason to write memoirs is to tell your side of the story, and Da Ponte spends a lot of time settling scores. The notes do inform us when the author is mixing up his facts, which is fairly often. At the Italian Opera in London, on the way to being forced out of another position, he juggles the egos of two rapacious divas: "The Lord help you if Morichelli gets a better reception in Martini's opera than I do in mine!" says one. The 1929 translation by Elisabeth Abbott, blending 18th-century elegance with 20th-century crispness, has previously been available only in an expensive hardcover edition. "It was as though Providence had willed that I should ever, all my life long, keep falling into the hands of knaves," writes Lorenzo da Ponte. Da Ponte is know
Interesting Book, Shameful Presentation Buce Da Ponte's Memoirs are a worthy, if eccentric, addition to the NYRB catalog, but the NYRB provides almost no help in situating it. This translation first appeared, I believe, in 1929 and has been available in recent years from both Dover and Da Capo. One, (or was it both?), carried an excellent preface by the distinguished scholar of the Renaissance, Thomas Bergin. NYRB does not republish Bergin. It does republish the original 1929 introduction (by Arthur Livingston, once a teacher of Italian at Columbia) but with no hint of its provenance and, so far as I can discern,. Les Edward White said Five Stars. It's nice to have a translation to check when you're reading the original in Italian!. Mozart's Librettist richard fineo The intrigues of Italian life in the late 1700's rival the intrigues of a Mozart opera. What a tale! The scullduggery is endless-and shameless-and makes for compulsive reading.