and invented conversations, but useful information on personalities and condi-
tions of the time is pervasive.- Braun, Edward. Meyerhold: A Revolution in Theatre.2nd ed. Iowa City: U. of
Iowa Press, 1995. 347p. ISBN 0-87745-514-7. PN2728 .M4 B72.
First edition, The Theatre of Meyerhold(London: Methuen, 1979). Russian
director Vsevold E. Meierkhol’d was involved with spoken theater and opera.
His career is thoroughly appraised here, to its grim conclusion in 1940, when
he was executed for treason (later he was “rehabilitated”). Footnotes, bibliog-
raphy of about 100 items, expansive index. - Leach, Robert. Vsevold Meyerhold.New York: Cambridge U.P., 1989. xiv,
223p. ISBN 0-521-26739-0. PN2728 .M4 L43.
A useful biography, with chronology of presentations and 75 black-and-white
illustrations. Backnotes, good bibliography of about 100 items, index.
319.Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Arbeiten für Salzburg, 1968–1988. Salzburg: Salzburger
Festspiele, 1989. 128p. No ISBN. ML141 .S15 P66.
A photo book, with citations from reviews. Also a chronology and some infor-
mation about Ponnelle. - Styan, J. L. Max Reinhardt. New York: Cambridge U.P., 1982. ISBN 0-521-
22444-6. PN2658 .R4 S8.
A chronology of productions, with commentary, from 1900 to 1943. Back-
notes, short bibliography, good index. - Rennert, Günther. Opernarbeit: Inszenierungern 1963–1973.Kassel: Bärenre-
iter, 1974. 263p. ISBN 3-7618-0432-6. ML3858 .R45.
A picture book of his stage designs, mostly from Munich, where he was Inten-
dant from 1967 to 1976. Covers standard operas, plus some modern com-
posers like Janácek and Penderecki—the latter represented by a wild naked
scene from Devils of Loudon. No notes or index. - Littlejohn, David. “Reflections on Peter Sellars’s Mozart.” OQ7-2 (Summer
1990): 6–36.
In addition to consideration of the Sellars productions, some pros and cons
about the basic question of altering the original format of an opera. - Rumiantsev, Pavel Ivanovich. Stanislavski on Opera. Trans. and ed. Elizabeth
Reynolds Hapgood. New York: Theatre Arts, 1975. x, 374p. ISBN 0-87830-
132-1. ML429 .S8 R813.
Stanislavskii directed the new opera studio of the Bol’shoi Theater from 1918;
in 1924 this became the Stanislavskii Opera Studio and in 1928 the
Stanislavskii Opera Theatre. His influence on operatic acting was consider-
able, but this book—primarily comprising imaginary conversations in which
the director gives advice on specific roles to various singers—does not do jus-
tice to him. Rumiantsev was a singer and director in most of Stanislavskii’s
productions. No bibliography, no index.
Production 69