An introduction to Dora Pejačević
But like Bernstein, Viardot — born exactly 200 years ago, on July 18, 1821 — was far more than a Zelig. One of the supreme singers of her time, she was also a prolific composer, whose music is slowly being salvaged from obscurity; a savvy entrepreneur; a gifted visual artist; and a highly respected voice teacher.
Hilary Poriss • A Queen of 19th-Century Opera Gets New Attention (Published 2021)
Faith Hahn added
Stuart Evans added
“It is never as often as we would like that a beautiful and brilliant woman steps away from her assigned role of helpmeet, of mother, of daughter and muse. So we celebrate the ones who we believe – on some artistic plane – were set free.”
Halima Jibril • Joan of Arc: A symbol of fascism or feminism?
Reading about Historical Muses
Started this research project after reading about Georgina Weldon. She’s notorious for having a litigation addiction but I’m obsessed with the time Gounod asked for his sheet music back after their divorce and she sent it with her name written across every page. When he attempted to have her committed, she escaped and... See more
Samia
Molly Snowden added
In my head on this particular day are Tomasini’s String Quartet in B flat major IV, the sound of a thousand butterflies dancing in a field one late summer, the cover illustration from a Penguin edition of Our Mutual Friend, a recipe for Key Lime cheesecake, the text of an A-level Geography book, and a pocket watch.
Sophie Ward • Love and Other Thought Experiments
It was a photograph of a woman, back to the camera, in mid-dance. The film caught her in blurred motion – arms everywhere, stretched high, to her sides, curved to her waist – a tangle of limbs that, Mrs. Richardson realized with a shock, made her resemble an enormous spider, surrounded by a haze of web. It perturbed and perplexed her, but she could
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