The Chelsea mourns the passing of a long time resident and the opera world mourns the loss of a great librettist, Arnold Weinstein. Playbill's obituary, NYTime's obituary. If you would share your tribute to Arnold with others, it would be greatly appreciated. You can either enter a comment below or e-mail [email protected].
From Granta -- Arthur Miller recalls visiting with Arnold.
http://www.granta.com/extracts/1691
On a recent visit there to Arnold Weinstein with whom I have collaborated on a libretto for a new opera based on A View from the Bridge, with music by William Bolcom, I found myself sinking back, psychologically speaking, into my original warm feelings toward the hotel as of my arrival there over forty years ago. And as we discussed some business in the total chaos of his living room, which is not so much furnished as littered with collectors' items suitable for a massive Salvation Army donation, the door to the corridor swung open and without a knock a powerful maid entered, her exuberant smile and glistening black skin all aglow with some sort of triumph. And raising up over her head four rolls of toilet paper, two spiked on the fingers of each hand, she called out at the top of her joyous contralto voice, 'I didn't forget you, Arnold!' And he rose from his wobbly chair and gratefully accepted her gift. And so I instantly knew that clean facade or not, refurbished lobby notwithstanding, I was back in the Chelsea again. Link to photo of Arnold, Arthur & William Bolcom
Interview with Arnold and William Bolcom
From Opera News, reviews of Arnold's well known works:
The Wedding of the Year,
A View from the Bridge
May 2003, William talks about Arnold's role.
Bolcom composed this extraordinary Medusa with his longtime collaborator, the writer Arnold Weinstein. Bolcom and Weinstein are as much a team as Bolcom and Morris (meaning Joan Morris, the composer’s singer wife, with whom he performs cabaret songs and the like). Weinstein came up with a brilliant libretto on the Medusa theme. As Bolcom says in his accompanying notes, “I have tried to sail my musical boat according to [Weinstein’s] laid-out course...
Personal recollections:
Bill Tchakirides was influenced by Arnold's work.
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