Word: splendid
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Solomon, a musicologist who wrote a splendid biography of Beethoven in 1977, relates these and a host of other incidents smoothly and seamlessly, providing us with just enough of the details of court protocol, carriage rides and commissions that make the late 18th century so exotic. Mozart and the members of his circle come vividly alive-not only his father and remote, tragic mother, but also Constanze, his flighty, second-choice wife who turned professional widow (and mythmaker) after his death; and his cousin Basle, with whom he not only exchanged famously scatological letters but also, Solomon suggests, enjoyed active...
Tomorrow Is Another Country is an oddly bifurcated book. The first half is a splendid and original history of the cloak-and-dagger negotiations that led to Mandela's release in 1990. It is precisely the kind of tale that only a journalistic insider with trusted access to all the players could put together. The second half is less compelling: a more workmanlike, cut-and-paste retelling of the events since 1990, lacking the back-room detail and color that make the book's first half a page turner...
According to the Unofficial Guide to Life at Harvard, the Harvard Salient was "founded in 1981 by students who sought to provide a journalistic alternative to what they felt was a predominantly liberal campus press." And what a splendid alternative it is. If you want to be liberal, work for Perspective, Lighthouse, HQ or any number of campus publications. If financial insolvency is your thing--perhaps you're a budding turnaround artist--then go work for the Salient...
...simple tragedy-and-triumph movie. It means there are still heroes in the land. They may be frightened boys-or grown men who see righteous revenge achieved for the boys they once were. A&E might have shown a little of that courage to honor them and this splendid film...
Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4 (Sony). Krzysztof Penderecki may be better known, but Lutoslawski, a composer of uncompromising integrity, was the dean of contemporary Polish composers. He died in February, but his work lives on in these splendid readings by Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Particularly noteworthy is the Fourth Symphony, Lutoslawski's last and most moving orchestral essay...