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Vissi d'arte - Love and Music
 
 

Vissi d'arte - Love and Music [Kindle Edition]

Joanna Stephen-Ward
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product Description

Product Description

A woman with a secret.
An inquisitive journalist.
An ambitious young theatre director.
Student opera singers with brilliant voices.

Young singers at an opera school learn drama, music, movement and languages. Their passion for opera unites them. Their love affairs, ambition and political views divide them.

Unhappy when his fiance breaks their engagement, Nicholas arrives in Melbourne from swinging London in 1968. Baffled by the cultural differences he struggles to adjust. He and his aunt, Harriet, quarrel when she refuses to allow him to update operas and the critics scorn the productions she forces on him.

The novel follows the progress of five young singers from their auditions to the start of their professional careers.

The lives of the characters entwine. Love affairs begin and end. Friends and enemies are made. Arguments about Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War erupt. Convention competes with change. Harriet has a dark secret which is in danger of being made public. Past and present collide as the forces from the past wreak their destruction.

Vissi d’arte is about ambition, love, betrayal, success and failure.

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 760 KB
  • Print Length: 451 pages
  • Publisher: Popham Gardens Publishing (3 Feb 2011)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language English
  • ASIN: B004NNVWDE
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #168,439 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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More About the Author

Joanna Stephen-Ward
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
A Fascinating Read 14 July 2011
Format:Kindle Edition
Another great book by Joanna Stephen-Ward. Set predominantly in Australia, the story takes the reader into the world of opera training in Melbourne. The story itself is "operatic" in the high drama that takes place among the students and their choices in life and love. As in her book Eumeralla, much of the story pivots around a secret. The author makes interesting choices and introduces plot twists that take the reader by surprise. Just when you think you've got it all figured out, the story moves in an unexpected direction, but one that makes sense, as if you should have seen it coming all along.
The story weaves the ordinary with the extraordinary, old age with youth, success with failure. Gawky youths become magnificent divas, transformed by the magic of art, music, costumes - and rigorous discipline; then off-stage they once again become young people who must deal with their insecurities, doubts, and day to day concerns.
Reading about the main character alone makes this book worthwhile. Harriet Shaw, the fictional founder of the National Theatre, captures our attention by her forceful personality, her commitment to art, and the power her secret has over her (I love reading about older heroines and they're not that easy to come by). Ward's books have a movie-like quality to them: rich in drama, incredibly visual, and inhabited by engaging characters who are strong and unpredictable, yet always identifiable.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Complex and rewarding 27 Oct 2011
Format:Kindle Edition
I really enjoyed this book. Set in Melbourne against a background of opera and theatre, the story is about Harriet Shaw, the founder of an opera and theatre school, its teachers and pupils, their successes, failures, loves and obsessions.

The narrative is rich, the characters wonderfully drawn and the mystery, the unfolding of which brings the story to a dramatic climax, very cleverly constructed. I particularly like the way the author handles the complexities of the relationships between the students at the school.

This story, an original concept set against an intriguing backdrop, is very well-written and highly recommended.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:  5 reviews
35 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Beautiful andf perfectly-paced 30 Mar 2011
By Dan Holloway - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Kindle Edition
This is an utterly exquisite experience for anyone who wants to lose themselves in a world of the senses. But, for all it is set in a world where music is the air the characters breathe, it never gets bogged down, never lets up the beautifully-paced narration. A joy
33 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Promising new author! Characters you'll love! 15 Feb 2011
By Rhonda Parker - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Kindle Edition
This is a great Kindle read! The novel follows the progress of five young singers from their auditions to the start of their professional careers.

The lives of the characters entwine. Love affairs begin and end. Friends and enemies are made. Arguments about Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War erupts. Convention competes with change. Harriet's secret is in danger of being made public. Past and present collide as the forces from the past wreak their destruction.
A promising Aussie author with a fresh voice and a knack for brilliant characterization! I highly recommend!
27 of 27 people found the following review helpful
A Fascinating Read 14 July 2011
By Agnes Irene - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Another great book by Joanna Stephen-Ward. Set predominantly in Australia, the story takes the reader into the world of opera training in Melbourne's National Theatre. The story itself is "operatic" in the high drama that takes place among the students and their choices in life and love. As in her book Eumeralla, much of the story pivots around a secret. The author makes interesting choices and introduces plot twists that take the reader by surprise. Just when you think you've got it all figured out, the story moves in an unexpected direction, but one that makes sense, as if you should have seen it coming all along.
The story weaves the ordinary with the extraordinary, old age with youth, success with failure. Gawky youths become magnificent divas, transformed by the magic of art, music, costumes - and rigorous discipline; then off-stage they once again become young people who must deal with their insecurities, doubts, and day to day concerns.
Reading about the main character alone makes this book worthwhile. Harriet Shaw, the fictional founder of the National Theatre, captures our attention by her forceful personality, her commitment to art, and the power her secret has over her (I love reading about older heroines and they're not that easy to come by). Ward's books have a movie-like quality to them: rich in drama, incredibly visual, and inhabited by engaging characters who are strong and unpredictable, yet always identifiable.
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