Maurice Sendak, American author and set designer, passed away at age 83 two days ago on May 8, 2012. Mr. Sendak is widely recognized for the writing and illustration of the children’s book, Where the Wild Things Are. However, as The New York Times explains, “he was a man of many enthusiasms – for music, art, literature, argument and the essential rightness of children’s perceptions of the world around them.” In addition to the writing and illustration of children’s books, Mr. Sendak also applied his talents to the stage. Working with the Houston Grand Opera and the New York City Opera, Mr. Sendak designed the sets of operatic staples like Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, and Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen. When designing for opera, Mr. Sendak told WQXR radio, “the answer to the artistic puzzle lies within the music.”
In 1979 Mr. Sendak started the process of adapting his own book, Where the Wild Things Are, to the opera stage. In collaboration with British Composer Oliver Knussen, the revised version of Where the Wild Things Are premiered in London in 1984. Just two short years later, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City brought Where the Wild Things Are to the Midwest.
Learn more about Mr. Sendak:
WQXR: http://www.wqxr.org/#!/blogs/wqxr-blog/2012/may/08/classical-music-fueled-maurice-sendak-muse/
NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/books/maurice-sendak-childrens-author-dies-at-83.html
NPR: http://www.npr.org/2012/05/08/152248367/maurice-sendak-where-wild-things-are-author-dies
Clip of Where the Wild Things are with Glyndebourne Opera: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSbOCfIh3HI
