An exhibition “The Magic Power of Music”, timed to the 200th anniversary of Charles Francois Gounod (1818–1893), runs in the music and audiovisual documents reading room (305), from June 12 to July 24.
One of the largest French composers of the second half of the nineteenth century entered the history of the musical theater as the creator of the genre of lyric opera, the classical example of which was Faust. "It is impossible to deny," Tchaikovsky wrote, "that Faust is written, if not brilliantly, then with extraordinary skill and not without considerable identity."
Charles Gounod is best known for his operas Sapho, La nonne sanglante (The Bloody Nun), comic operas Philemon et Baucis, La colombe (The Dove), La reine de Saba (The Queen of Sheba). The Gounod opera Romeo et Juliette, premiered in 1867, was the composer’s success and achieved popularity – it was staged 90 times during two years.
In the last years of his life, the composer withdrew from operas, focusing on oratorios сосредоточив внимание преимущественно на жанре оратории (La Redemption, Mors et Vita (Life and Death) and musical criticism. The exposition acquaints with Memoirs of an Artist, an autobiography by Gounod, which reveals the most striking features of the musician's personality: impeccable artistic taste, lively and clear mind, humor, independence and originality of judgments about contemporaries, masterpieces of music and painting.
Gounod was a successful teacher as well. He taught Bizet, Delibes, Saint-Saens and Massenet.
The exhibition presents sheet music: operas Le medicin malgre lui (The Mock Doctor), Mireille, oratoria Gallia, sacred music, romances and songs for the voice and piano, duets, and also audio records of Gounod’s works, performed by the best world’s singers and conductors: I. Archipova, М. Caballe, P. Domingo, Т. Ruffo, B. Khaikin etc.
The exposition also features books and articles about the composer’s life and work.
The opening hours of the exhibition corresponds to the library’s opening hours.
Entrance to the exhibition is available by the library ticket or ticket of the library's social and cultural center.
For more info: (+375 17) 293 27 52.
