Impresario sol hurok biography
- Sol Hurok was a 20th-century American impresario.
- He wrote two volumes of autobiography—Impresario (1946; movie version Tonight We Sing, 1953).
- Sol Hurok was a 20th-century American impresario.
- •
BOOK REVIEW / BIOGRAPHY : Finding Gist of Genius Proves an Elusive Goal : THE LAST IMPRESARIO: The Life, Times and Legacy of Sol Hurok <i> by Harlow Robinson</i> ; Viking $24.95, 538 pages.
A master of self-invention, Sol Hurok remains an enigmatic figure even after Harlow Robinson’s exhaustive account of his subject’s astonishing career, “The Last Impresario: The Life, Times and Legacy of Sol Hurok.”
Although the author is reasonably certain that Hurok was born in the small Ukrainian town of Pogar in 1888, emigrated to America in 1906 and had, within a mere five years, achieved a modest success supplying performers for various public events, reasonably certain are the operative words.
The only absolutes in this diligent biography are the accounts of the great performers he introduced to America under the magical heading of “Sol Hurok Presents.”
Virtually everything else about the man is open to discussion, even the location of his birthplace, “a town of no importance” on the Sudost River in Ukraine. “Or was it Ukraine?” Robinson asks, doubtful even after he mad
- •
Solomon Hurok (Gurkov) (1888-1974)
Ballet in America was nonexistent outside the very large cities in the 1920's. Today we can see dance performances almost any night we want to. It is hard to believe that dance has not always been an easily available form of entertainment. We are in debt to Sol Hurok for his role in making ballet one of the most popular theatrical art forms in the 20th century.
Hurok was born Solomon Gurkov in 1888 in the Ukrainian village, of Pogar, a town of 5000 people with no paved roads. Hurok's father ran a hardware store and taught him the business so he could follow in his footsteps. Although the family was Jewish, in an era marred by outbreaks of anti-Semitism, Hurok downplayed his Jewish background throughout his life, and re-created his past. There have been at least three books and a movie (Darryl Zanuck's Tonight We Sing) chronicling his life. Hurok's chief memory of his birthplace was that of music. He claimed that music was everywhere, and that people sang as they walked the streets. Entertainment for the villagers was singing around a camp fire.
- •
The Last Impresario: The Life, Times and Legacy of Sol Hurok
From Library Journal
Published to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Hurok's death, this is the first biography of a remarkable figure in modern American cultural history. From a humble beginning in Ukraine, Hurok rose to become a dominant force in the entertainment business. Among the attractions appearing under the banner "S. Hurok Presents" were dancer Rudolf Nureyev, pianist Arthur Rubinstein, opera singer Fyodor Chaliapin, and dance companies such as the Kirov and Bolshoi Ballets.
From Publishers Weekly
The day Sol Hurok died he had lunched with Andres Segovia, met with Rudolf Nureyev and was on his way to see David Rockefeller when he collapsed of a heart attack. Hurok (1888-1974), who was born in an obscure Ukrainian village, traveled a long way to become probably the greatest impresario ever, a promoter of world-class ballet, performing companies, opera stars and musicians for some 50 years. Robinson's ( Sergei Prokofiev ) highly entertaining, fair-minded and closely researched biography is infinitely
Copyright ©spyalley.pages.dev 2025