My Life with Janáček

Download or read book My Life with Janáček written by Zdenka Janáčková and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Zdenka Janackova's intimate and revealing memoir of her husband, the great Czech composer Leos Janacek, was dictated to a secretary in 1933-5, a few years before her death. In it she tells the tale of her extraordinary life with Janacek, from her years as his young piano pupil (when the composer was 23) to his sudden death at the age of 74. Her Story provides a first-hand - and not always flattering - account of Janacek's day-to-day life. Its many dramatic revelations include an account of his tempestuous affair with the singer Gabriela Horvatova, Zdenka's subsequent suicide attempt and her strange 'divorce' from her husband (they continued to live together until his death). Among other striking passages are her harrowing description of the long illness and painful death of their daughter Olga and a forthright account of Janacek's increasing infatuation during his late years with his 'muse' Kamila Stosslova and of the events surrounding his death.