The P. Craig Russell Library of Opera Adaptations, Volume 3: Adaptations of Pelleas & Melisande, Salome, Ein Heldentraum, Cavalleria Rusticana - Hardcover

Russell, P. Craig

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1561633887 ISBN 13: 9781561633883

Publisher: NBM Publishing, 2004

Synopsis

This collection of Russell’s classic adaptations concludes with Pelleas & Melisande by Maeterlinck and Debussy, Salome by Richard Strauss and the all new The Godfather’s Code from Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni.

About this title

About the Author

P. Craig Russell is one of the most respected artists in comics and is well-known for his many stunning adaptations. He lives in Kent, Ohio.

Reviews

High School/Adult–This oversized volume contains Pelleas & Melisande, Salome, Ein Heldentraum, and Cavalleria Rusticana. The adaptations, in graphic-novel format, stay very close to the originals: some are almost transcribed to the page word for word. Detailed color illustrations define the settings effectively. It might be argued that without the music, an essential part is lacking, but told this way the stories become central and are brought out in a new, welcoming light that may interest comics lovers in opera. What seems more likely, however, is that the book will stand as a high-quality work that, if not promoted, may be a shelf-sitter. Nevertheless, the talented Russell does an admirable job lending credibility to both opera and graphic novels.–J. M. Poole, East Rochester Public Library, NY
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This final book in its series adapts Pelléas & Mélisande, Salome, Ein Heldentraum and Cavallieria Rusticana, introducing each opera with an educational text on the work and its author. The first, Pelléas & Mélisande, tells the story of a girl whom readers meet weeping in a forest, and the ensuing love triangle between her and brothers Pelléas and Golaud, which destroys them all. Russell's new interpretation of the metaphysical fantasies of Maeterlinck and Debussy is ravishing. The beautiful illustrations and dream-like colors (evoking light, sea and stars) make this tortured story of love and grief even more epic. The short Ein Heldentraum is a single song, and Russell's art and coloring provide a unique reinterpretation of the lyrics and add an additional layer of meaning. Cavallieria Rusticana ("The Godfather's Code") is another story of cuckoldry; it contrasts vengeance with the sunny rebirth of an Easter morning. Lastly, Salome, based on the Oscar Wilde play, decadently contrasts spiritual and physical virtue. Russell channels Aubrey Beardsley's original illustrations while giving the story his own spin. His ambitious plan to adapt the great works of opera into comics form is audacious, but his flowing, poetic lines and fanciful colors are an art in and of themselves.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The third helping of Russell's comics versions of operas collects two old and two new projects. Eldest and longest, Russell's take on Pelleas et Melisande, is nothing if not ambitious. The piece's drawn-out, misty story of a strange young woman found by and married to a prince but loved by her husband's half-brother is a perfect vehicle for the tonal ambiguity and swirling textures of Debussy's music, to which Russell responds with luscious, unreal color schemes and the art nouveau decorativeness that is his forte. Richard Strauss' setting of Oscar Wilde's one-act about the beheading of John the Baptist, Salome, is similarly treated but arguably more satisfying because, despite awful faux-biblical dialogue, definite motives propel the plot. The new pieces are "Ein Heldentraum," a lavish realization of a Hugo Wolf art song a la the two Mahler songs Russell envisioned in volume 2 of this series [BKL F 1 04], and "The Godfather's Code," which is colored far more naturally to reflect its source, Mascagni's verismo (realistic) masterpiece, Cavalleria Rusticana. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: NBM Publishing
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1561633887
• ISBN 13: 9781561633883
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 140