具体描述
From 1732 until World War II, London's privately owned and operated Royal Opera House (ROH) at Covent Garden was reflective of the country it served -- the rich and noble enjoyed performances in the luxury of the theater and concert hall while the rest of the classes viewed the shows from the dimly-lit top gallery. In 1945, with Britain in financial crisis, its cities in ruins, and its citizens living on strict food and fuel rations, Covent Garden was reborn as a public company after economist Maynard Keynes called for state money to support an Arts Council and Royal Opera House, under his own chairmanship, that would resurrect the nation's fortunes and spirit through the preservation of English culture and performing arts. From that point on, says Norman Lebrecht, ROH, with its Royal Opera and Royal Ballet companies, purported to conduct this postwar national mission while attaching itself to the social elite, creating a recipe for disaster that finally exploded half a century later when the world-class Covent Garden was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy.
In this comprehensive and unvarnished history, Lebrecht explains the astonishing failure of an institution that was designed to define a nation. Four chief executives came and went in eighteen months, and the off-stage dramas, catastrophes, misadventures, and infighting became comic fodder for the press and Parliament. Lebrecht's illuminating account of the rise, decline, and fall of the ROH during the second half of the twentieth century is situated within the broader context of upheavals and changes in English cultural life that have eroded the very notion of "Englishness" and transformed the country from heroic poverty to heartless wealth.
With unprecedented access to private archives and key players, Lebrecht recounts an intriguing tale of special relationships between internal management and successive governments and arts councils, hidden public cash, corruption, anti-semitism, and campaigns against homosexuals. He also provides colorful details about the many celebrated performers and personalities, including Maria Callas, Rudolf Nureyev, Margot Fonteyn, Georg Solti, and Kiri te Kanawa, who helped shape Covent Garden's storied traditions.
Lebrecht concludes by offering thoughts on what the future holds for this notable institution, arguing that Covent Garden should be privatized along the same lines as the Metropolitan Opera.
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In the late 1990s, the Royal Opera House, which was barely fifty years old as a performance institution, suffered a managerial and financial crisis which brought it under critical scrutiny, including investigation by a Parliamentary committee and attacks in...
评分In the late 1990s, the Royal Opera House, which was barely fifty years old as a performance institution, suffered a managerial and financial crisis which brought it under critical scrutiny, including investigation by a Parliamentary committee and attacks in...
评分In the late 1990s, the Royal Opera House, which was barely fifty years old as a performance institution, suffered a managerial and financial crisis which brought it under critical scrutiny, including investigation by a Parliamentary committee and attacks in...
评分In the late 1990s, the Royal Opera House, which was barely fifty years old as a performance institution, suffered a managerial and financial crisis which brought it under critical scrutiny, including investigation by a Parliamentary committee and attacks in...
评分In the late 1990s, the Royal Opera House, which was barely fifty years old as a performance institution, suffered a managerial and financial crisis which brought it under critical scrutiny, including investigation by a Parliamentary committee and attacks in...
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不得不说，这本书的写作风格极其独特，它不像那种教科书式的历史陈述，更像是一部精心打磨的文学作品。作者的文字功底深厚，遣词造句充满了诗意和画面感，读起来是一种纯粹的享受。我尤其欣赏他如何将宏大的历史背景与微观的生活片段巧妙地融合在一起。比如，当他描述那些昔日辉煌的商铺如何随着时代变迁而逐渐沉寂时，那种淡淡的忧伤和对逝去美好的追忆，让人不禁唏嘘。它让我思考了关于“变迁”这个永恒的主题，任何繁华都逃不过时间的冲刷，但那些留下的故事和精神却能穿越时空。这本书的结构安排也很有匠心，章节之间的过渡自然流畅，每一个小标题都像是一个迷人的谜语，引人入胜。如果你寻求的不是枯燥的年代记，而是能触动灵魂深处的文字，那么这本书绝对不会让你失望。它带来的阅读体验是沉浸式的、多维度的。
评分坦白说，一开始我还有点担心内容会过于聚焦于某一个狭隘的领域，但这本书的视野广阔得出乎我的意料。它涵盖了社会阶层、经济变迁、艺术革新乃至普通市民的日常琐事，构成了一幅立体而生动的历史画卷。作者在处理不同主题间的转换时，展现了大师级的掌控力，没有突兀感，一切都像是自然演化。最难得的是，尽管涉及大量历史人物和事件，作者始终保持着一种清晰的叙事脉络，确保即便是对这段历史不太熟悉的读者，也能轻松跟上节奏。我个人特别喜欢它对特定历史时期社会思潮的捕捉，那种时代特有的焦虑与乐观交织的情绪，被描绘得入木三分。这本书不仅仅是关于“一个地方”，它更像是一部关于“时代精神”的深刻剖析，读完后会让人久久不能忘怀，并产生去实地考察一番的冲动。
评分这是一本需要细细品味的“慢阅读”书籍。它不适合匆忙翻阅，因为每一个段落都蕴含着丰富的信息和情感。我发现自己经常会停下来，反复琢磨作者某句话的深层含义，或者仅仅是为了回味刚才描述的那种特定的氛围。它不是一本轻松读物，但绝对是充实心灵的佳作。作者没有刻意去美化或丑化历史，而是力求呈现出一种真实且复杂的状态。这种对真实性的执着，使得整本书的基调显得格外沉稳有力。读这本书，就像是进行了一次深度的文化考古，你不仅了解了建筑和人物，更重要的是，你理解了驱动那个社会运转的底层逻辑和文化基因。它拓宽了我对城市历史叙事的理解边界，让我开始用一种全新的视角去看待我所身处的环境。
评分这家伙的书，简直就是一本活生生的伦敦缩影，读起来就像是亲身走在那些石板路上，耳边还能听到叫卖声和马蹄声。作者对细节的把握简直是令人咋舌，从街角的咖啡馆里飘出的烘焙香，到那些古老剧院里精致的装饰，无一不被描绘得淋漓尽致。我特别喜欢他讲述那些小人物的故事，那些在舞台背后默默付出的人，他们的喜怒哀乐，他们的挣扎与梦想，都被赋予了鲜活的生命。这本书的叙事节奏把握得非常好，时而舒缓，时而紧张，让你完全沉浸在那个时代的大背景下，感受着历史的脉搏。它不仅仅是关于一个地方的历史，更是关于人的故事，关于坚韧和希望。读完后，我感觉自己对那段历史有了更深层次的理解，那种感觉很奇妙，就像是和过去的一段时光进行了深刻的对话。我强烈推荐给所有对英伦文化和历史感兴趣的人，保证让你爱不释手。
评分这本书最让我震撼的地方在于它挖掘了许多鲜为人知的幕后花絮。那些关于艺术、政治和市井生活的交织，被揭示得毫不留情，却又带着一种尊重历史的态度。我以前对那个区域的认知非常表面，总觉得它只是一个购物和娱乐的场所，但读了这本书，我才发现它背后承载了多少重量级的故事和人物的命运起伏。作者显然做了大量的案头工作，考据之严谨令人叹服，但所有的资料都被巧妙地编织成了引人入胜的叙事线索，完全没有那种学术论文的沉闷感。它成功地将历史的厚重感和故事的趣味性完美结合，让读者在获取知识的同时，也获得了极大的阅读满足感。特别是那些关于早期戏剧界冲突的描述，简直是精彩绝伦，充满了戏剧性的张力，仿佛能听到当时观众的喝彩与嘘声。
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