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THE MUSIC ROOM

Name: THE MUSIC ROOM
Author: Namita Devidayal
ISBN: 978-0-312-53664-0

A MEMOIR

by Namita Devidayal ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2009

Quietly passionate, edifying and inspiring.

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A student’s loving tribute to her musical guru.

Growing up in an affluent Bombay family, Devidayal participated in an increasingly Westernized lifestyle. Nonetheless, her mother insisted she must learn to sing Indian classical music from the best teacher available. At age ten she met Dhondutai, a musical disciple of the great singer Alladiya Khan. Dhondutai’s training was rigorous; she instructed Devidayal to start out singing just a single note for weeks, progressing with painstaking slowness through one raga, or musical mode, at a time. Their relationship enfolded the girl in a priceless tradition, which involved knowledge passed down from teacher to student over centuries. In addition to melodies and rhythms, Devidayal absorbed the stories and legends of an illustrious but neglected heritage. Although the physical location of the music room changed a few times, the sacred space that Dhondutai created within and around their lessons remained constant. The author paints herself in the background of this memoir, rendering her teacher’s story in full color. She balances narrative time between the present and Dhondutai’s past, presumably as reported during years of conversation. She seeks to unfold the mystery of why Dhondutai never attained the popular success that seemed to be promised by superlative talent and well-connected teachers, including the fiery diva Kesarbai Kerkar. Devidayal also relates the history of Indian classical music, a blend of Muslim and Hindu influences, and charts the changing roles of female performers, long considered courtesans and unfit for proper society. She pays homage to the precious knowledge with which she was entrusted, not only of the subtle and powerful ragas, but of the art form’s luminaries and their intimate life stories.

Quietly passionate, edifying and inspiring.

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2009

ISBN: 978-0-312-53664-0

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2008

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.