Download or read book Benjamin Lumley's Victorian Opera written by Susie Timms and published by Bezazzy Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sensational, brilliant, disastrous. Solicitor turned impresario Benjamin Lumley counted Napoleon, Count d'Orsay, Verdi, Mendelssohn, and 'Swedish Nightingale' soprano Jenny Lind amongst his friends. Once dubbed 'the mysterious man', and a reluctant successor to actor-manager Laporte, he survived two turbulent mid-19th century decades of directing the Italian opera and ballet at London's Her Majesty's Theatre. Lumley's Reminiscences of the Opera (1864) gives a rare insight, as well as providing interest for students of law, management, opera and theatre. Yet these are only part of his remarkable story. This is a new view of the 'Reminiscences', with added detail about Lumley's life and death, his dedication to Mrs Grote, his fascination with light and colour, his vision of another world and his creative writing under a pseudonym. This title is fully indexed and features contemporary illustrations.