The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas
The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas
Mr. Hurlbut/Hurlbert seems to have some interesting similarities with Aaron Burr. I will be checking my library catalogs for his book, “Diary of a Public Man.”
December 11. Went to La Traviata. . . . Traviata is utter drivel. I could write as bad an opera myself. To call it bad is to do it more than justice; it has not strength enough to stand alone or to be anything. It is definable by the negation of every good quality.
The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas
Strong was not alone in giving thumbs down to Verdi’s masterpiece during the early years (it was first performed in 1853). The following Wikipedia entry, to my surprise, cites George Templeton Strong’s diary, but not the same entry I posted above. What goes on? In the editor’s preface it says, “And though we give numerous excerpts from his discriminating criticism of concerts, oratorios, and operas, again an interesting volume of musical comment could – and some day will – be compiled from the diary.” Maybe that volume of musical comment was indeed published and that is where the citation comes from.