RANDOM JOTTINGS

Well the Wimbledon rant is done and dusted, the covers are on and the burblings of Messrs Castle and Lloyd are, thankfully, gone for another year and I can turn my mind to reviewing books which is what Random is supposed to do.

I am an opera lover and enjoy books which have operatic settings. There are not that many though I read a book some years back called the Maestro's Voice by Roland Vernon which I found enthralling but other than that there seem very few around which is suprising as the opera world is rife with sex and scandal and singing. When my ex was singing in the Covent Garden chorus some of the gossip and stories of what went on would make your hair curl. 

Donna Leon set two of her Inspector Brunetti mysteries at La Fenice Opera house in Venice which was a wonderful combinaition.   I swear the conductor she described was based on Karajan. 

There was a series of Mills & Boon books by Mary Burchell which had an operatic and musical background and they were great fun, light reading but the musical knowledge shown was spot on and from somebody who knew their Puccini from their Wagner.   Mary Burchell was a pen name for Ida Cook, a biographer of Tito Gobbi (my most favourite operatic baritone. I actually met him a couple of times – a roly poly little beaming man who could turn himself into a Scarpia that took your breath away).  Ida and her sister travelled all over Europe attending so many opera performances that they became well known and recognised at the airports of the cities they visited.   During the Second World War Ida used the income generated from her romantic novels to help Jewish refugees escape to England.   It seems she hid money and jewellery in her furs knowing that she and her sister would not be searched.  Read this fascinating article here.

One book I remember well from my teenage years is Of Lena Geyer by Marcia Davenport.

"Her first novel, Of Lena Geyer (1936, reprinted 1982), is the story of a poor Czech girl and of her ascent to fame and fortune, triumph and tragedy. It is a work of fiction, yet Lena is only partly the child of imagination: she is a composite figure of several singers Davenport had known intimately, among them her own mother. The background of the novel opens a wide vista on the golden age of opera both in New York and in Europe".

The author, Marcia Davenport was the daughter of Alma Gluck, a celebrated American soprano and spent most of her childhood, indeed her whole life, immersed in the world of music and opera.   In the story of Lena Geyer we are introduced to 'real' people.  Lena works with Gustav Mahler at the New York Met who conducts when she sings in Don Giovanni, Lilli Lehmann is her singing teacher and Jean de Reszke is her co-star in Tannhauser. The production notes and details about her performances were so detailed and informative that they sent me scrabbling to the back of the book looking for a non-existent index and references.

When I first read Of Lena Geyer, I knew nothing about Wagner, but once I saw the light and became a devotee, I re-read all the chapters dealing with Wagner performances and found their detail and background information was spot on.  Hardly surprising as Marcia Davenport must have watched all these productions unfolding in front of her.  What an incredible experience.

Much though I love this story, I do feel that in creating the perfect opera diva in Lena Geyer she strikes me as being almost TOO talented.  She seems to be able to switch from Puccini, Mozart and Verdi to the  heavier Wagner roles without batting an eyelid, a feat which is well beyond most operatic singers.  To my knowledge, the only singer who did essay this, though I am prepared to be proved wrong, was Maria Callas who sang all the coloratura roles and, in her early years, also sang some Wagner.  She abandoned the heavier German repertoire though for most of her career.

When writing this post I did some Googling and came across a fascinating article about the great Wagnerian soprano, Birgit Nilson, who was stalked for years by a female fan who sent her flowers before each performance and messages containing quotes from 'Of Lena Geyer'.  Quite chilling.

I am sure this is a cult book for all opera buffs. Copies are available on line though you have to hunt for them.   I have one on my shelves which was withdrawn from the public library where I worked a lifetime ago.

Cannot recall who recommended it be taken down from the shelves….