This book presents in a broad panorama the role technology played in creating a cosmopolitan European culture. It’s a point I first came across in an earlier book, Hugh MacDonald’s 1853 in Music, 2012. The two books complement each other. MacDonald’s focus is narrow: one technology (rail travel), one of the arts, and one year.
Figes, by contrast, covers the century from Napoleon’s downfall to World War I’s outbreak. He treats, in addition to music, visual arts, books and reading, and theatre. While the railroad is the first technology he focuses on, he also deals with other developments, such as lithographic reproduction. Figes also makes fascinating connections between art forms, such as the popularity of photography leading to a more visual style of fiction.
The role of wealth is a crucial factor: from the capital that financed the rail lines, opera houses, and museums to the growing wealth of the middle class (particularly in Britain — renowned more for its consumption of culture than its creation) that provided expanded audiences. Unfortunately, Figes pays little attention to the poverty and exploitation of the working classes that allowed the donor elite to accumulate wealth.
I learned many things in the book, mainly about the origins of cultural activities I’ve simply accepted as standard parts of life.
The cast of characters is vast. Figes wisely focuses on a triad, Louis and Pauline Viardot and their devoted friend Ivan Turgenev. Nevertheless, interweaving their storylines with all the other narrative paths the author pursued led to an irritating amount of repetition. For example, how often does the reader need to be reminded that Turgenev traveled constantly or that Pauline Viardot had to tour because the doors to Paris opera houses remained closed to her? And while one can understand the occasional mistake in a book with so much detail, I still was nettled that the Swiss author Gottfried Keller was twice referred to as German.
At the end of the book, in the Acknowledgements, Figes reveals that he and his sister reclaimed their German nationality following the Brexit decision. It is a poignant conclusion to the book’s ode to international exchange. Moreover, it corresponds to my nostalgia for how the cosmopolitan nineteenth century enriched European culture, which was why I chose to read this book. ( )

What I mostly picked this book up for related to what the author had to say about cosmopolitanism. What I found the most interesting was what Figes had to say about culture as business. As for the main historical characters here, Ivan Turgenev on one hand, and Pauline & Louis Viardot on the other, I'm going to admit that Pauline, the singer and musician, most captured my imagination, as opposed to Turgenev the literary figure and Louis the impresario and journalist. I found her embodiment of talent and hard-headed business sense to be particularly modern. ( )

los europeos es la historia apasionante del nacimiento de la cultura compartida de nuestro continente en el siglo XIX, contada a través de un maravilloso y extraño triangulo amoroso formado por el gran escritor Iván Turguénev, Pauline Viardot, de origen español, una delas cantantes de opera mas famosa del mundo , y su marido, Luis Viardot, hispanista francés y gran experto en arte. ( )

El siglo XIX europeo, un momento de logros artísticos sin precedentes, fue la primera era de la globalización cultural, una época en que las comunicaciones masivas y los viajes en tren de alta velocidad reunieron a Europa, superando las barreras del nacionalismo y facilitando el surgimiento de un verdadero canon europeo de obras artísticas, musicales y literarias. Llegado 1900, se leían los mismos libros, se reproducían las mismas obras artísticas, se representaban las mismas óperas y se interpretaba la misma música en los hogares y se escuchaba en las salas de conciertos a lo largo de todo el continente.

Partiendo de una gran cantidad de documentos, cartas y otros materiales de archivo, el aclamado historiador Orlando Figes examina cómo fue posible esta unificación. En el centro del libro hay un triángulo amoroso conmovedor: Ivan Turgenev, el primer gran escritor ruso en convertirse en una celebridad europea, Pauline Viardot, de origen español, una de las cantantes de ópera más famosas del mundo, además de compositora y profesora de canto, y Louis Viardot, director de teatro, activista republicano y gran experto en arte(autor de las primeras guías de grandes museos del mundo, el Prado entre otros)y esposo de Pauline, por cuya carrera musical sacrificó parte de la suya.

Juntos, Turgenev y los Viardot estuvieron en el centro del intercambio cultural europeo: conocían o se cruzaban con Delacroix, Berlioz, Chopin, Brahms, Liszt, Schumann, Hugo, Flaubert, Dickens y Dostoyevski, entre muchas otras figuras destacadas.

Como observa Figes, casi todos los grandes avances de la civilización se han producido durante los períodos de mayor cosmopolitismo, cuando las personas, las ideas y las creaciones artísticas circulan libremente entre las naciones. Vívido y perspicaz, L os europeos muestra cómo ese fermento cosmopolita fraguó tradiciones artísticas que llegaron a dominar la cultura mundial.

The Europeans are diminished today because of their so-called Eurocentric orientation. However, the author shows us the significance of European culture by the examination of several key lives. Europe is a worldwide significance and it is not only because of an interest in, but the profound influence of, Europe that we are interested at all.