Full Product Details
Author: René Weis (Professor of English, Professor of English, UCL)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 14.30cm
, Height: 2.30cm
, Length: 21.50cm
Weight: 0.514kg
ISBN: 9780198828297
ISBN 10: 0198828292
Pages: 416
Publication Date: 21 January 2019
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Reviews
... well-researched, meticulously sifting the claims and counter-claims of previous biographers ... this book will provide an intriguing glimpse of the poignant and often bitter realities' of Violetta * VerdiPerspektiven * Rene Weis retraces, with meticulous attention to detail, tact, and sensitivity, the thousand hidden and not so hidden facets of a woman who was celebrated, courted, and adored by the 'Tout-Paris', and who died rejected and ignored by all ... an excellent and accomplished book that holds the reader in its spell throughout, because it engages with, and reveals, a woman who was honest, lovable, and 'of good company' * Herve Le Mansec, Res Musica * An instructive account og an extraordinary world. * John Robert Brown, Classical Music magazine * Weis's accomplished depiction shows an intelligent, worldly and wise young woman who managed to keep her lovers (and her husband) as friends. * New Statesman * [A] scrupulously researched biography ... Weis powerfully delineates the social forces that victimized Duplessis, while still managing to convey the independence of spirit that made her so captivating. * The New Yorker * [A] superbly readable and meticulously researched biography... It is hard to think of a more dramatic life, from a horrific childhood to the glamour of high society, and Weis tells it with operatic pathos. * Sunday Times, Bee Wilson * [A] scrupulous biography ... Weis has meticulously combed public records, private letters, libraries, archives and historic sites throughout France, fusing fact, myth, lore and hypothesis to breathe life into the woman who would inspire the novel and play La Dame aux Camelias, by Alexander Dumas fils, Verdis Traviata, and screen portrayals ranging from Garbo to Julia Roberts ... [His] description of Maries Cinderella rise from waif to cafe society is heartbreaking ... * Opera News * [Weis's] delineation of [Duplessis's] apotheosis as Verdi's Violetta is masterly and moving. Weis is an opera oficionado, and the discussions of the evolution of Piave's libretto, the autobiographical echoes of Verdi's own life and sublimity of the score of La Traviata itself bring an extraordinary and revelatory breadth of understanding to the work. * Lisa Hilton, Times Literary Supplement *
This diligently researched book casts an astutely observant light upon [Duplessis's] memory and myth. * Aiste Anusaite, Londoniete * [An] immensely detailed biography ... impeccably researched ... an entertaining and informative account. * Susan Elkin, Ink Pellet * Impeccably researched and astutely observed, Weis's book sifts through facts and myth, and conjures up the texture of life in 19th-century Paris, with its many flaneurs, boulevards and cafes. Bravo. * Juanita Coulson, The Lady * Weis traces his protagonist's short but event-filled life - she died at the age of 23 - in painstaking detail. He also offers new insights into the genesis of Alexandre Dumas's fictionalised accounts of her life and of Verdi's opera. This book will intrigue fans of La traviata, but its broader account of the treatment of women in early 19th-century France deserves a wider readership. * Alexandra Wilson, BBC Music Magazine *
[An] immensely detailed biography ... impeccably researched ... an entertaining and informative account. * Susan Elkin, Ink Pellet * Impeccably researched and astutely observed, Weis's book sifts through facts and myth, and conjures up the texture of life in 19th-century Paris, with its many flaneurs, boulevards and cafes. Bravo. * Juanita Coulson, The Lady * Weis traces his protagonist's short but event-filled life - she died at the age of 23 - in painstaking detail. He also offers new insights into the genesis of Alexandre Dumas's fictionalised accounts of her life and of Verdi's opera. This book will intrigue fans of La traviata, but its broader account of the treatment of women in early 19th-century France deserves a wider readership. * Alexandra Wilson, BBC Music Magazine * Weis traces his protagonist's short but event-filled life - she died at the age of 23 - in painstaking detail. He also offers new insights into the genesis of Alexandre Dumas's fictionalised accounts of her life and of Verdi's opera. This book will intrigue fans of La traviata, but its broader account of the treatment of women in early 19th-century France deserves a wider readership. * Alexandra Wilson, BBC Music Magazine *
[An] immensely detailed biography ... impeccably researched ... an entertaining and informative account. * Susan Elkin, Ink Pellet * Impeccably researched and astutely observed, Weis's book sifts through facts and myth, and conjures up the texture of life in 19th-century Paris, with its many flaneurs, boulevards and cafes. Bravo. * Juanita Coulson, The Lady * Weis traces his protagonist's short but event-filled life - she died at the age of 23 - in painstaking detail. He also offers new insights into the genesis of Alexandre Dumas's fictionalised accounts of her life and of Verdi's opera. This book will intrigue fans of La traviata, but its broader account of the treatment of women in early 19th-century France deserves a wider readership. * Alexandra Wilson, BBC Music Magazine *
Impeccably researched and astutely observed, Weis's book sifts through facts and myth, and conjures up the texture of life in 19th-century Paris, with its many flaneurs, boulevards and cafes. Bravo. * Juanita Coulson, The Lady *
Author Information
René Weis is a freelance author and Professor of English at University College London. He has a written on a wide variety of subjects, including Edith Thompson (of the infamous 'Thompson and Bywaters' murder case in the 1920s), the last Cathar insurgency in the Pyrenees in the Middle Ages, and a biography of Shakespeare. As a professional Shakespearian, he has published extensively on Shakespeare and Renaissance drama, his publications including editions of Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Henry IV Part 2, and an Oxford World's Classics edition of the works of John Webster. A lifelong lover of opera, he also contributes regular pieces to the programmes for Royal Opera House productions.
