Background
Reinhardt was born Maximilian Goldmann in the spa town of Baden near Vienna, the son of Wilhelm Goldmann (1846–1911), a Jewish merchant from Stomfa, Hungary, and his wife Rosa née Wengraf (1851–1924).
(Max Reinhardt (1873-1943), one of the major theatre figur...)
Max Reinhardt (1873-1943), one of the major theatre figures of the twentieth century, was among the first to establish the importance of the director in modern theatre. His fame outside Germany rests somewhat unfairly on his distorted image as producer of giant, Gothic spectacles staged in vast auditoria or cathedral squares. In this book Professor Styan is concerned to illustrate Reinhardt's astonishing versatility as director of more than six hundred productions, which together cover almost all the dramatic genres and all the major theatrical movements of the time. Professor Styan explains Reinhardt's place in the history of Austrian and German culture and world theatrical movements. Using contemporary reviews and the Regiebuch, or director's promptbook, he describes in detail the organization, performance and impact of some of the director's major productions: his symbolist interpretation of Ghosts and Salome; the expressionist experiment with plays by Wedekind, Strindberg, Sorge and Buchner; the Shakespeare sequence, including the classic A Midsummer Night's Dream; productions of Greek tragedy, Goethe, and the baroque spectacles such as Everyman, which together cover almost all the dramatic genres and all the major theatrical movements of the time. Professor Styan explains Reinhardt's place in the history of Austrian and German culture and world theatrical movements. Using contemporary reviews and the Regiebuch, or director's promptbook, he describes in detail the organization, performance and impact of some of the director's major productions: his symbolist interpretation of Ghosts and Salome; the expressionist experiment with plays by Wedekind, Strindberg, Sorge and Buchner; the Shakespeare sequence, including the classic A Midsummer Night's Dream; productions of Greek tragedy, Goethe, and the baroque spectacles such as Everyman.
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(The golden age of German cinema began at the end of the F...)
The golden age of German cinema began at the end of the First World War and ended shortly after the coming of sound. From The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari onwards the principal films of this period were characterized by two influences: literary Expressionism and the innovations of the theater directors of this period, in particular Max Reinhardt. This book demonstrates the connection between German Romanticism and the cinema through Expressionist writings. The golden age of German cinema began at the end of the First World War and ended shortly after the coming of sound. From The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari onwards the principal films of this period were characterized by two influences: literary Expressionism and the innovations of the theater directors of this period, in particular Max Reinhardt. This book demonstrates the connection between German Romanticism and the cinema through Expressionist writings.
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(Maurice El Médioni (born on 18 October 1928 in Oran, Alge...)
Maurice El Médioni (born on 18 October 1928 in Oran, Algeria) is an Algerian Jewish pianist, composer and interpreter of Andalusian, Rai, Chaabi, Sephardic and Arab music. He is one of the few living artists to have performed with the great Chaabi artists Lili Labassi, Line Monty, Samy el Maghribi, and Reinette l’Oranaise along with modern Rai greats like Khaled. This book contains his original handwritten memoirs, translated by Jonathan Walton. He tells firsthand the story of his early life in the derb (Oran's Jewish quarter); his first piano; Rommel's Nazi forces and his experiences during WW2 with the Dominican and Puerto Rican GIs; how he developed his unique 'pianorientale' style; the subsequent golden years of nightlife in Oran, the 'Paris of the South'; the horrific years of bloodshed that followed in the Algerian war of Independence; his exile from Algeria; and his later life in France.
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(Alain de Botton's bestselling The Consolations of Philoso...)
Alain de Botton's bestselling The Consolations of Philosophy--later made into a six-part TV series--has helped popularize ancient philosophy and especially the work of Seneca. This superb volume offers the finest translation of Seneca's dialogues and essays in print, capturing the full range of his philosophical interests. Here the Stoic philosopher outlines his thoughts on how to live in a troubled world. Tutor to the young emperor Nero, Seneca wrote exercises in practical philosophy that draw upon contemporary Roman life and illuminate the intellectual concerns of the day. They also have much to say to the modern reader, as Seneca ranges widely across subjects such as the shortness of life, tranquility of mind, anger, mercy, happiness, and grief at the loss of a loved one. Seneca's accessible, aphoristic style makes his writing especially attractive as an introduction to Stoic philosophy, and belies its reputation for austerity and dogmatism. This edition combines a clear and modern translation by John Davies with Tobias Reinhardt's fascinating introduction to Seneca's career, literary style, and influence, including a superb summary of Stoic philosophy and Seneca's interpretation of it. The book's notes are the fullest of any comparable edition. About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
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(The Golden Age of German cinema began at the end of the F...)
The Golden Age of German cinema began at the end of the First World War and ended shortly after the coming of sound. From The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari onwards the principal films of this period were characterized by two influences: literary Expressionism, and the innovations of the theatre directors of this period, in particular Max Reinhardt. This book demonstrates the connection between German Romanticism and the cinema through Expressionist writings. It discusses the influence of the theatre: the handling of crowds; the use of different levels, and of selective lighting on a predominately dark stage; the reliance on formalized gesture; the innovation of the intimate theatre. Against this background the principal films of the period are examined in detail. The author explains the key critical concepts of the time, and surveys not only the work of the great directors, such as Fritz Lang and F. W. Murnau, but also the contribution of their writers, cameramen, and designers. As The Times Literary Supplement wrote, 'Mme. Eisner is first and foremost a film critic, and one of the best in the world. She has all the necessary gifts.' And it described the original French edition of this book as 'one of the very few classics of writing on the film and arguably the best book on the cinema yet written.' The Golden Age of German cinema began at the end of the First World War and ended shortly after the coming of sound. From The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari onwards the principal films of this period were characterized by two influences: literary Expressionism, and the innovations of the theatre directors of this period, in particular Max Reinhardt. This book demonstrates the connection between German Romanticism and the cinema through Expressionist writings. It discusses the influence of the theatre: the handling of crowds; the use of different levels, and of selective lighting on a predominately dark stage; the reliance on formalized gesture; the innovation of the intimate theatre. Against this background the principal films of the period are examined in detail. The author explains the key critical concepts of the time, and surveys not only the work of the great directors, such as Fritz Lang and F. W. Murnau, but also the contribution of their writers, cameramen, and designers. As The Times Literary Supplement wrote, 'Mme. Eisner is first and foremost a film critic, and one of the best in the world. She has all the necessary gifts.' And it described the original French edition of this book as 'one of the very few classics of writing on the film and arguably the best book on the cinema yet written.'
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0520024796/?tag=2022091-20
Reinhardt was born Maximilian Goldmann in the spa town of Baden near Vienna, the son of Wilhelm Goldmann (1846–1911), a Jewish merchant from Stomfa, Hungary, and his wife Rosa née Wengraf (1851–1924).
Having finished school, he began an apprenticeship at a bank, but already took acting lessons. In 1890, he gave his debut on a private stage in Vienna with the artist's name Max Reinhardt (possibly after the protagonist Reinhard Werner in Theodor Storm's novella Immensee). In 1893 he performed at the re-opened Salzburg City Theatre and one year later joined the Deutsches Theater ensemble under director Otto Brahm in Berlin.
Max Reinhardt began his career as an actor and assistant director at the age of seventeen at the Salzburg State Theater, specializing in portraying old men. In 1894 Otto Brahm brought him to Berlin to the Deutsches Theater. In 1902 he was performing Strindberg and Wilde at the Kleines Theater and in 1903 played Luka in Gorky's The Lower Depths. That year he began directing and by 1904 had staged forty-two plays.
His best remembered triumph came in 1905 with his first staging of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream, which made him famous throughout Germany. He employed a revolving stage that eliminated scene changes and allowed scenes to flow one into another. Karl Walser built a forest with moss, trees trailing foliage, and a pond lit from beneath for the fairies. His direction was inventive, imaginative, swift, colorful, and joyous.
In contrast, his 1908 staging of King Lear used angular sets. The palace was archaic and decorated with barbaric chevron design and filled with massive chairs. Reinhardt had neitherstyleorformula. He sought to integrate the two main theatrical traditions of his time, the baroque (Vienna) and the literary and intellectual (Berlin). He chose the appropriate style for each play, be they light comedy or massive spectacles. The latter particularly attracted his attention. His 1909 Hamlet was performed in modern dress.
Reinhardt indirectly exerted enormous influence on the course of German and international cinema. Most of the important film directors of the Judith Resnick before the launching of the Challenger.
1920s and 1930s trained under him at his theaters, including such directors as F. W. Murnau, Paul Leni, Ernst Lubitsch, Paul Wegener, William Dieterle, and Otto Preminger. Among the actors were such stars as Conrad Veidt, Emil Jannings, Luise Rainer, Marlene Dietrich, and Joseph Schildkraut.
Reinhardt succeeded Brahm as director of the Deutsches Theater in 1905, bought the theater and established an acting school to train ensemble actors. He built the Kammerspiele next door for intimate productions and modern plays. He staged over 600 productions including 22 Shakespeare plays, Greek drama, expressionist works, Molière, Shaw, Ibsen, Wilde, Synge. Strindberg, and Gilbert and Sullivan, and revived German classics. From 1915 to 1920 he presented matinee performance of new plays by young writers at the Berlin Volksbuhne. He presented Jedermann (“Everyman”) from the medieval morality play every summer at the Salzburg Festival from 1920 until the early 1930s.
He traveled to London in 1911 and for The Miracle — with a cast of 2,000 — converted the Olympia Theater into a Gothic cathedral. He returned to London in 1912 with his staging of Oedipus Rex and spent the 1927-1928 season in New York.
When the Nazis came to power, Reinhardt lost all his theaters and left Germany. For a while he toured Europe as a guest director with various companies and in 1933 went to New York. He spent the remainder of his years producing and directing. He founded an acting school and theater workshop in Hollywood. In 1934 he produced A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Hollywood Bowl and a year later codirected a film version with William Dieterle. His final production was The Eternal Road, a biblical play by Fran/ Werlel at the Manhattan Opera House, Newr York, in 1937.
Reinhardt died in New York City in 1943 and is interred at Westchester Hills Cemetery in Hastings-on-Hudson, Westchester County, New York. His papers and literary estate are housed at Binghamton University (SUNY), in the Max Reinhardt Archives and Library.
His sons, Wolfgang and Gottfried Reinhardt, were well-regarded film producers. One of his grandsons (by adoption), Stephen Reinhardt, is a labor lawyer who has served notably on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit since his appointment by Jimmy Carter in 1980. Another grandson, Michael Reinhardt is a successful fashion photographer. In 2015 his granddaughter Jelena Ulrika Reinhardt was appointed as researcher at the University of Perugia in German literature.
(Alain de Botton's bestselling The Consolations of Philoso...)
(Maurice El Médioni (born on 18 October 1928 in Oran, Alge...)
(Max Reinhardt (1873-1943), one of the major theatre figur...)
(The golden age of German cinema began at the end of the F...)
(The Golden Age of German cinema began at the end of the F...)
(The genius: A memoir of Max Reinhardt [Gottfried Reinhard...)
Quotations: A man of few words, his stage philosophy was “Our standard must not be to act a play as it was acted in the days of its author. How to make a play live in our time, that is decisive for us."
Member council Royal Academy Dramatic Art, 1965-1996, Pilgrim, 1965. Member Publishers Association (member council 1963-1969), Royal Society Arts.
He was married two times: Else Heims (1910-1935; divorced; 1 child)
Helene Thimig (1935-1943; his death).