Monthly Archives: October 2016

The Greek translation of the novel The Melancholy of Resistance (1989) by the Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai (1954) appears at a most appropriate time, since the “Poetry of the Left Melancholy” of the Greek Generation of the 2000s, together with various … Continue reading →

I am thinking of three major filmic approaches to Aeschylus’ surviving trilogy: Ferdinando Baldi’s The Forgotten Pistolero (1969, 88’), a spaghetti western set in Mexico; Theo Angelopoulos’ The Traveling Players (1975, 222’), a Brechtian survey of Greek history between 1939-52; … Continue reading →

I am thinking of the three major musical approaches to Aeschylus’ surviving trilogy: Sergei Taneyev’s opera, composed in 1887-94 and based on a Russian adaptation by A. A. Wenkstern; Darius Milhaud’s oratorio, composed in 1913-23 and based on a French … Continue reading →

Idealist philosophy and classical music emerged together in Germany in the 1790s.  They were part of the same grandiose cultural project, the creation of a social discipline I shall call Contemplative Conduct, the self-discipline (which Schiller called “Aesthetic Education”) of … Continue reading →

“Chloris and Zephyr” by Jacopo Amigoni The mélodie, the French art song that flourished between 1880-1920, deserves a very special place among the Hellenisms of classical music. The exquisite songs of Chabrier, Chausson, Debussy, Duparc, Fauré, Hahn, Poulenc, Ravel, Satie … Continue reading →