Word: octavians
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
STRAUSS: Der Rosenkavalier. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf as the Marschallin, Sena Jurinac as Octavian, Anneliese Rothenberger as Sophie, Otto Edelmann as Baron Ochs. Herbert von Karajan conducting the Vienna Philharmonic. Video Arts International; $79.95; hi-fi mono. Pride of place belongs to this classic, filmed at the Salzburg Festival and released in 1962. The cast is the cream of central Europe at the time: Schwarzkopf, regal but warm in what was her greatest role; Jurinac, an ardent youthful swain; Rothenberger, silvery voiced and breathtakingly beautiful; and Edelmann, a bumptious hick from the sticks. Karajan's mastery of the score so gloriously displayed...
...been eight years since Cleopatra put an asp to her bosom, Mark Antony had fallen upon his sword, and Rome's victorious Octavian had taken over Egypt. But the Nubian villagers of Dendur, 400 miles up the Nile from Alexandria, had nothing against the Romans. In fact, on the orders of the new Emperor, now called Augustus, visiting Egyptian artisans were building a temple dedicated to two young Nubian princes, Pedesi and Pihor. Both had drowned in the Nile, and victims so chosen by the god of the Nile were automatically apotheosized, as a Greek might be by a lightning...
These problems, plus the need to fashion a viable political structure for the country, will test the Directory's staying power. Prospects for its stability are not too good, since most collective leaderships have been the victims of their members' quests for unshared power. Octavian outmaneuvered his fellow triumvirs-Mark Antony and Lepidus-to become undisputed ruler of ancient Rome, and Soviet history is littered with collective leaderships that failed. Following Lenin's death, Stalin served on two consecutive triumvirates, each time ruthlessly eliminating his supposedly coequal partners. After Stalin, the various members of the Kremlin...
...major asset: Bernstein had persuaded Mezzo Christa Ludwig to abandon her accustomed role as the youth Octavian for the lead role of the aging Marschallin, usually sung by a soprano. Ludwig's vocal prowess, womanly softness and pathos proved her a perfect choice. Said Bernstein: "She was so marvelous in the last scene that I cried watching her." And that was no Viennese exaggeration...
...subjects of Miss Murdoch's examination are met at a charming summer house in Dorset by the sea. The house belongs to Octavian, a fat, well-placed government official who loves his wife Kate (despite an occasional lapse involving his secretary), and cheerfully allows her to take in a widow with son, a divorcee with twins, a Dachau survivor and Latinist, and Octavian's brother, a failed India hand. The couple's dear friend, John Ducane, is a constant visitor, a wealthy bachelor lawyer who is so far gone in his infatuation for Kate that stolen kisses...