クラシックの作曲家と仲良くなろう！クラシック音楽というと、遠い国の遠い昔の音楽…って思うかもしれませんが、不思議なくらい、今の私たちの心にもぴったりと寄り添ってくれたり、楽しい気分

Frédéric Chopin is the pianist-composer par excellence. Here, his life - from his birth in Poland, his famous affair with the French writer George Sand, and his death at the age of 49 in Paris - is told with his music featuring prominently.

Tchaikovsky declared that Mozart was 'full of divine beauty', and Schubert's wonder at the 'countless images of a brighter and better world' that Mozart was able to conjure up through his music knew no bounds. Many of us carry the image of Mozart as a transcendent genius, but what do we really know about his life and career, and indeed his music? This entertaining and informative biography takes us from Mozart's beginnings as a child prodigy to his greatest successes and cruellest setbacks.

朗読むすめの朗読Bookシリーズ創刊！第６弾は、オペラ抜粋朗読劇（４）「モーツアルト　ドン・ジョバンニ　より」第一幕「お手をどうぞ」んｐ場面 こちらは、2022年5月5日におこなわれた

The music of Bohemian composer Antonín Dvořák is suffused with natural nobility, fluency and freshness, and embodies the spirit of his native land. This revealing biography portrays Dvořák as a complex and wide-ranging composer, and explores the creation and performance of his music as well as its reception on both sides of the Atlantic, tracing his art in all its richness and variety.

Frédéric Chopin is the pianist-composer par excellence. Regarded as one of the most mesmerizing performers of his day, he lives on in his music – his waltzes, mazurkas, études, preludes, nocturnes, three piano sonatas, two piano concertos, and much more. Here, his life, from his birth in Poland, his famous affair with the French writer George Sand, to his death at the age of 39 in Paris, is told with his music featuring prominently. We think of Chopin as a "frail, sheltered genius" but this forthright portrait demonstrates he was far more boisterous than that.

Madama Butterfly runs the gamut of operatic emotions. The title heroine has a fragility wonderfully expressed in her entry music, deep sexual instincts as shown in the love duet, and immense tragic stature in her last hours. The fate of Madama Butterfly - married to an American sailor and then abandoned - engages our emotions to a degree equaled by few other opera heroines. The oriental setting and the exquisite orchestral and choral writings are treasured bonuses.

Claude Debussy is regarded by many as the quintessential French composer, with music that invited both warm applause and frosty criticism in his day. While our ears no longer hear him as controversial, his works heralded the dawn of an artistic period founded on innovation and experiment, and a desire to break with the past in search of new expressive means. With never a dull moment, Debussy went from being a musical misfit at the Paris Conservatoire to bohemian life amongst the Symbolist poets and some scandalous love affairs.

The Magic Flute almost defines a masterpiece, because it can be enjoyed on every level. It is a superb fairy story, complete with dragons, demons, a handsome prince, and a lovely maiden seriously in need of rescue; it is a political satire, social commentary, and psychological drama; it is full of tunes from the playful to the heart-stopping, jolly songs, and deeply spiritual outpourings. It is, in short, "Mozart" - and there is no greater compliment than that.

La Traviata owes its enduring popularity to a superb story of young love and fatal sacrifice, set to music by Italy’s master melodist at the peak of his powers. Interest and poignancy are added by the fact that this is a true story - the baritone ‘heavy’ is Alexander Dumas who wrote The Count of Monte Cristo. But it is the central figure, the heroine Violetta, the archetypal ‘whore with the heart of gold’ who dominates the piece. It is her opera and we love her for it.

Puccini’s swansong has a claim to being the last great popular opera. Its melodies have enchanted audiences since its posthumous premiere in 1926, two years after Puccini’s death. It involves a chilling story of love and cruelty, an intriguing cast of characters against the exotic backdrop of Imperial China, magnificent choruses and ensembles, and dazzling orchestration in an exotic score that comprises a string of remarkable arias - among which the great tenor aria "Nessun dorma" is the jewel. It is more than Puccini’s last opera: It is the last word, in every sense, on Italian opera.

徳川慶喜は将軍なのに江戸にいなかった？ 薩英戦争で戦ったのはスイカ売り？ええっ、作り話ですって？ いいえ、史料や調査から明らかになった歴史です。

This book builds vocabulary by presenting the fascinating histories behind those words we need for more effective communication and comprehension. Focusing on a core of 100 words and their background stories, the author links these words with hundreds of synonyms and antonyms. Greek and Latin word parts introduce additional words. Informative and amusing exercises reinforce the vocabulary entries.

【内容紹介】最前線のエジプト研究に基づいたピラミッドの歴史と、古代エジプト人の宗教観を紹介。エジプト考古学研究者の近藤二郎氏による丁寧な解説で、古代エジプトの思想を垣間見ることができます。【講師紹介】早稲田大学エジプト学研究所所長 近藤二郎- 1951年、東京都生まれ。専門はエジプト学、考古学、世界遺産論など。著書『ものの始まり50話』『エジプトの考古学』『エジプト美術』など多数。

名だたる文筆家が登場する、文藝春秋の文化講演会。 十四代将軍・家茂と皇女和宮の仲睦まじい姿を、増上寺に埋められた棺の副葬品から思い描く。遣欧使節団の足跡を訪ねて遥々イギリスまで足を運んだ綱淵は、家茂の副葬品、「金側の時計」にひとつの空想を膨らませる。(1989年10月6日 和歌山市民会館 菊池寛生誕記念百周年記念講演会より)
●紀尾井町の少年家茂 ●倫敦のサムライ ●二つの菩提寺 ●金側の懐中時計 ●愛妻家は棺に眠る 文藝春秋の文化講演会は、文学談や執筆秘話に人生論も交え、含蓄と味わい深い講演があなたの生き方に豊かさと彩りを添えます。