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| THE SIBYL SANDERSON STORY |
The Sibyl Sanderson Story: Requiem for a Diva
Jack Winsor Hansen
For the first time in operatic history, this revealing and long-awaited biography uncovers the tragically short yet elegant life and glorious career of the beautiful California soprano Sybil Sanderson. Educated privately as a child, she was sent to Paris at age 16 to study at the Paris Conservatory, following the breakup of her engagement to American journalism pioneer William Randolph Hearst. In 1887, a chance meeting with a musical prodigy and one of the most highly regarded musicians in Europe—Jules Massenet—served as the catalyst to her stellar, decade-long success there. She became the first American singer for whom the major European composer Massenet wrote operatic works. Massenet, enraptured by Sanderson’s beauty, three-octave range, temperament, and histrionic ability, crafted Thaïs and Esclarmonde specifically for her. He also reconstructed his Manon to feature her high voice and to allow her to reinterpret the title role.
A great read for opera romantics of all generations and a true story with all the drama of period fiction, this biography is enhanced by Jack Winsor Hansen’s complete access to the Sanderson family archives and decades of dedicated research about her life in Europe and in the United States. It includes exclusive, previously unpublished correspondence, diaries, memoirs, and extensive interviews with the people who knew both Sanderson and Massenet, including Sanderson’s stepdaughter and opera star Mary Garden, whose career in the Paris opera was spearheaded by Sanderson.
1-57467-094-8, 528 pp, 6 x 9", hardcover, © 2004
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Price: $29.95 US
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What people are saying about this book...
Media Reviews
". . . packed with romanticism and gossip that will delight and titillate true worshipers of operatic divas and inquisitive opera fans. It also fills a gap in them music-historical writings about opera at the end of the 19th century. . . . the attention to detail and thorough review of the numerous documents surrounding Sanderson's lfie and career attest . . . to Hansen's integrity as a biographer . . . Clearly, he has left no stone unturned . . . an entertaining biography of an unusual operatic personality."
— OperaToday.com
". . . a voluminous biography . . . With research from papers kept by Sanderson's relatives . . . and a skillful balance of the many sides of her life, it's a basic resource for any study of Sanderson. Winsor uses his impressive background in music for a biography that is sympathetic and insightful."
— Reviewer's Bookwatch
"Extraordinarily detailed, the reader is carried along on a tumultuous ride that is both sympathetic and shocking."
— "Books & Authors", The Post-Star
, April 24, 2005
""If it is possible for a category of opera biography to include a guilty pleasure, The Sibyl Sanderson Story would qualify. Does Hollywood know about this?""
— Opera News
"[ The Sibyl Sanderson Story ] is . . ., despite being 'an authorized biography,' as frank and detailed as any hit piece by some contemporary Kitty Kelley. Yet, oddly, the more truth we learn about Sibyl Sanderson, the more interesting and appealing she becomes."
— Bay Area Reporter
, December 24, 1980
"". . . I would recommend this book. It documents a once-important figure whom not many people todasy are familiar with, and it gives a thorough picture of the French operatic scene of the time.""
— American Record Guide
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