Richard Wagners Die Meistersinger has always called forth superlatives from those who have fallen under its spell. Toscanini wanted to lay his baton down for the last time only after he had conducted a performance of it. Paderewski called it the greatest work of genius ever achieved by any artist in any field of human endeavour. H.L. Mencken declared; It took more skill to plan and write it than it took to plan and write the whole canon of Shakespeare.And yet Wagners many-splendoured comedy has come under severe criticism in recent years for what has been called its dark underside; its fascist brutality; and its ugly anti-Semitism. In Wagner and the Wonder of Art; renowned opera expert M. Owen Lee addresses that criticism. He also provides an introduction to the opera and an analysis that will surprise even those veteran operagoers who may not have explored the works intricate structure and the emotional drama at its centre. The book includes the on-air commentary that Father Lee gave during the first radio broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera after the events of 9/11. He thought it necessary; after attempting to refute the charges leveled against Wagners opera; to say something about its truthfulness; its life-affirming music; its insight into the madness that can destroy human lives; and its witness to the importance of art for the survival of our civilizations.
#460585 in eBooks 2009-07-01 2009-07-01File Name: B005CK4MRU
Review
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful. SMALL but MIGHTYBy MaryHave a couple of other colored pencil how-to books but this one has the most useful information. Better examples of materials. pencil strokes and color schemes; even different ways to hold your pencils. Lots of animal examples: guinea pig. tree frog. puppy. kitten. horse more; several man-made objects such as shoes. glassware and a classic car which are very helpful to learn transparency shine of surfaces; a daisy flower plus the cover example of assorted fruit provide a wide assortment of practice to build your skills. Although written for those with drawing aspirations I find its wonderful for getting realistic renditions in coloring books. I will be looking for more of the authors books.14 of 14 people found the following review helpful. Short but sweet projectsBy John MorganMany colored pencil books share two features: involved exercises copying full fledged works by the author. and interminable layers of color. often provided without explanation. This book does neither. and benefits from the omissions. Inside are short projects. usually consisting of a single figure on a white background. The figures are often adorable--a tree frog. a kitten. a turtle. and so on. The layering used to produce the colors is also stripped down. rarely consisting of more than three colors. This approach has the twin advantage of offering easily digestible chunks that can be produced in a single sitting. a big advantage for those of us who are extremely busy but like to unwind with art. and simple enough color schemes that the underlying idea becomes transferable to other projects.I take this book on airplanes with me. along with a colored pencil roll and a small sketchbook. Its a wonderful way to pass the time on a flight and Ive even managed to trade some of the resulting drawings for things like fishing lessons while in flight.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Walter Foster books are very good for beginners in Colored Pencils.By JeanneThese Walter Foster books are very good for beginner color pencil lessons. I have several and have been working my way through them. They give very good directions and have sketches for each picture that can be enlarged and copies to start you off ready to use the color. I dont have all the colors they recommend. especially the greys. but if can probably pick them up individually. I use Derwent pencils. Artist and Colorsoft. These books may be using Prismacolor or other brand; so at the beginning of each lesson I match the colors listed with my pencils color grids and select the closest color I have to the one listed. I guess the good thing about that is that I have to really look at the colors and I am getting better at judging the warm/cool aspect and color matching.
