My life with Janáček : the memoirs of Zdenka Janáčková / edited by John Tyrell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Janáčková, Zdenka.

Contributor:

Tyrrell, John, 1942-2018.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Janáček, Leoš, 1854-1928.

Janáček, Leoš.

Janáčková, Zdenka.

Composers--Czechoslovakia--Biography.

Composers.

Czechoslovakia.

Composers' spouses--Czechoslovakia--Biography.

Composers' spouses.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xviii, 278 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; Boston : Faber and Faber, 1998.

Summary:

Zdenka Janackova's intimate and revealing memoir of her husband, the great Czech composer Leos Janacek.

Janackova's memoirs were considered too personal for publication at the time of her death in 1937. She tells the tale of her extraordinary life with Janacek, from her years as his young piano pupil (when the composer was 23) to his sudden death at the age of 74. Her story provides a first-hand -- and not always flattering -- account of Janacek's day-today life. Its revelations include an account of his tempestuous affair with the singer Gabriela Horvatova, Zdenka's subsequent suicide attempt and her strange "divorce" from her husband (they continued to live together until his death).

With its woman-in-the-streets perspective of World War I and the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Janackova's compelling and startlingly frank story sets the record straight, and paints a fascinating picture of the changing times during which the composer lived.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0571175406

OCLC:

39748039