首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Anniversaries are the opium of museums, publishers, theaters and opera houses. Fixing their eyes on some round-number birth or d
Anniversaries are the opium of museums, publishers, theaters and opera houses. Fixing their eyes on some round-number birth or d
admin
2011-01-02
55
问题
Anniversaries are the opium of museums, publishers, theaters and opera houses. Fixing their eyes on some round-number birth or death date of a major creator, they start planning to cash in years before. For 2006, birthdays are the winning numbers: Rembrandt’s 400th; Mozart’s 250th; and the 100th for Samuel Beckett and Dmitri Shostakovich.
The Dutch have organized a score of Rembrandt shows, starting appropriately with an exhibition based around his mother in the town of his birth, Leiden. Mozart’s music will be heard more than usual in churches, concert hails and opera houses around the world, with his birthplace, Salzburg, once again trying to compensate for the indifference it showed him during his lifetime.
But do such anniversaries and accompanying celebrations serve much purpose? Are they just marketing devices to sell tickets to museums and performances? Or do they help draw the attention of younger generations to the giants of Western culture who at times seem crowded out by the pygmies of popular culture?
As it happens, the practice is not new. The birth of Bardolatry, or Shakespeare worship, is generally traced to the Shakespeare Jubilee, which was organized by the actor-manager David Garrick to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the playwright’s birth (the jubilee was actually held in 1769, five years after the anniversary, but presumably time was more flexible in those days).
Until then, perhaps surprisingly, Shakespeare was not doing too well. The populatity of many of his plays did not survive the 18-year-long closure of London’s theaters during the Civil War and Cromwell’s role. Then, after theaters reopened in 1660 with the Restoration of the monarchy, several of his major works — "Richard III" and "King Lear" among them — were drastically revised by other playwrights.
Today, Mozart, for one, is hardly in need of revival. No opera house plans a season these clays without including at least one of his stage masterpieces: "Le Nozze di Figaro", "Don Giovanni", "Cosi fan tutte" and "Die Zauberflote". His "Requiem", "Coronation Mass" and other sacred works are regularly performed. His instrumental works — he wrote hundreds -- keep Soloists and orchestras busy throughout the year.
A more interesting reflection for Jan. 27, the 250th anniversary of his birth, is: how would Western culture have fared without Mozart?
True, the same question might be asked of myriad great artists who have bequeathed beauty, emotion and understanding. Yet Mozart was unique, not only because he excelled in every kind of music (while, say, Verdi and Wagner were great composers only of opera), but also because, more even than Bach, he turned listening into a deeply personal experience.
There is that perennial: who killed Mozart? In Peter Schaffer’s 1979 play, "Amadeus", adapted as an Oscar-winning movie by Milos Forman in 1984, the finger of guilt was pointed at Mozart’s contemporary, Antonio Salieri. But even that charge was old hat: Pushkin first raised it in his 1830 play, "Mozart and Salieri", which Rimsky-Korsakov adapted as an opera in 1897. Still, the question is again being trotted out for the anniversary.
No such mystery surrounds Rembrandt’s life or death. But if his greatness was only fully recognized in the 19th century, he certainly is in need of no anniversary "special offers" to be admired today. His more than 600 oils are in collections around the world and, whenever selected for exhibitions, they draw huge crowds.
The organizers of Rembrandt 400, as the anniversary has been tagged, evidently again have crowds in mind, hoping that some 250,000 people will travel to the Netherlands for the occasion.
Will Rembrandt’s fans cross paths with those of Mozart?
If they did, they might find that their idols have something in common. In his 75 or so self- portraits, recording his passage from youth to old age, Rembrandt seems to offer a window into his soul. Cannot Mozart’s compositions also be considered as self-portraits? Certainly, it is by displaying their intimacy that they share their genius with us.
But of course only time will define their place in the pantheon. As happened to Rembrandt and many others, great artists are often forgotten before they are enshrined by posterity. After that, thankfully, anniversaries make little difference.
选项
答案
B
解析
态度题。询问作者对周年纪念的观点态度。文章开头就说周年纪念就像鸦片,目的只是为了赚钱;结尾又说只有时间才能决定艺术家的地位,伟大的艺术家经常先是被人遗忘,后来才流芳百世;不过在此之后,周年纪念就变得可有可无了。可见作者对周年纪念持否定态度,故选B。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/mIeO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
A、isolationB、insecurityC、povertyD、crowdednessA
IntheAgeofGenetics,younolongerhavetotrytocutoutsmokingorthinktwiceaboutgobblingthatcandybarinyourdeskd
Professionalwomenwhoputcareersonholdforfamilyorotherreasonsearn18percentlessoncetheyreturntotheworkforce,a
Afterhavingassuredtheirreturnjourney,thewriterandhiscompanioncouldconcentrateoncollectingandfilmanimals.Decidi
A、OptimisticB、PessimisticC、Objective.D、NotconcernedB
A、Amodelcontainingalargeamountofrice.B、Asculptureshowingtheinsideofoldhouses.C、Adisplaymadeupoffishandgla
Thetelevisioncommerciallookslikeone-minuteversionofthemovieCloseEncountersoftheThirdKind.Awell-dressedthreesom
A、Optimistic.B、Doubtful.C、Indifferent.D、Enthusiastic.B
Anniversariesaretheopiumofmuseums,publishers,theatersandoperahouses.Fixingtheireyesonsomeround-numberbirthord
随机试题
A.肉桂B.杜仲C.白鲜皮D.秦皮E.厚朴内表面红棕色而油润,两层中间有1条黄棕色的线纹,气香浓烈,味甜、辣的药材是()。
为什么水源是地下水时也需消毒处理?
写出与下列判断等值的联言判断,并用真值表加以验证。并非“或者他是劳动模范,或者是运动健将。”(用p表示“他是劳动模范”,q表示“他是运动健将”。)
甲公司向乙公司转让了一项技术秘密。技术转让合同履行完毕后,经查该技术秘密是甲公司通过不正当手段从丙公司获得的,但乙公司对此并不知情,且支付了合理对价。下列哪一表述是正确的?(2013年卷三第16题)
用友报表系统中,只能生成报表数据,不能进行图表分析。 ( )
甲公司为上市公司,该公司内部审计部门在对其2013年度财务报表进行内审时,对以下交易或事项的会计处理提出疑问:(1)2013年12月31日,甲公司有以下两份尚未履行的合同:①2013年2月,甲公司与乙公司签订一份不可撤销合同,约定在2014年3月以每
凡要求计算的项目,均须列出计算过程;计算结果出现小数的,均保留小数点后两位小数。甲有限责任公司(简称甲公司)为增值税一般纳税人,适用的增值税税率为17%。原材料等存货按实际成本进行日常核算。2009年1月1日有关账户余额如表所示:2009年甲公司发生
下列美术作品与创作者对应不正确的一项是()。
将语句依次填入下面横线处,衔接最恰当的一组是:庐山瀑布群是有历史的,____________。庐山瀑布群便是以不同的风貌向世人展示她的万般风情。①赞颂其壮观雄伟,给庐山瀑布带来了极高的声誉②庐山瀑布群还有开生瀑、石门涧、玉帘泉、黄龙潭和乌龙潭瀑布等
遇人要热情,______是陌生人,______不能做出一付冷酷的样子。
最新回复
(
0
)