Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1995) is a city (unnamed, as is the country
in which it is located) where nearly all the
inhabitants loose their eyesight, creating a
complex pattern of personal tensions and
social breakdown. These and other novels
have been described as “magic realism” or
even science fiction, but Saramago insists
that they should not be assigned arbitrarily
to some such genre, as they are all reflec-
tions of his consistent perceptions of the
human condition. In the same way, whether
the setting is specifically Portuguese or
unidentified (with even the principal char-
acters never named), he maintains that
everything he writes is shaped by his
thoughts and feelings about his native land.
Perhaps the best guide to the mind and
heart of Saramago remains his
Viagem a
Portugal
(
Journey to Portugal,
1981), a fasci-
nating mixture of travel book, cultural his-
tory, and reflective memoir in which the
author is constantly moving from one level
of awareness to another as he travels about
the country, recalling her past, comment-
ing on her present and speculating about
her future. Significantly he dedicates this
volume to A
LMEIDA
G
ARRETT
, the outstand-
ing literary figure of early 19th-century
Portugal, whose blending of political activ-
ism with poetic emotionalism may be seen
as an anticipation of Saramago's own feel-
ings about the beauties and shortcomings
of Portugal.
public concert at age eight. By 1859 he had
attained an established reputation as a
violinist that was dramatically confirmed
by his performances during 1861 at the
Crystal Palace in London, where all the
wonders of the modern world, both in the
arts and the sciences, attracted an interna-
tional audience.
Sarasate's performances were character-
ized by their melodic and delicate nature
that preserved their sheer beauty despite
an amazing dexterity in handling his instru-
ment and an unrivaled mastery of tech-
nique. A true phenomenon of the age, he
traveled widely, attracting new admirers
during a concert tour in the United States
in 1889 crowned by his triumph in New
York City. Some of the greatest composers
of the day, including Antonín Dvorák and
Camille Saint-Saëns, wrote violin works
specifically for him. His own original com-
positions included the so-called
Zigeuner-
weisen
(Gypsy airs), perhaps the most
frequently performed of his pieces and a
perennial favorite of both violin virtuosi
and their audiences. Sarasate's career
ended amid general mourning when he
died while visiting Biarritz in the Basque
region of France.
Sartorius, José Luis (conde de San
Luis)
(1820-1871)
Spanish statesman
Born in S
EVILLE
to a family of Polish origin
and humble circumstances, Sartorius made
his way to M
ADRID
as a young man. His
quick wits and fertility of imagination gained
him a foothold in journalism and won the
patronage of J
UAN
B
RAVO
M
URILLO
, an
increasingly important political figure. Sar-
torius was enabled to found a newspaper,
El
Sarasate, Pablo de
(1844-1908)
Spanish musician and composer
Born in Pamplona and variously hailed as
Spain's greatest musician, the greatest vio-
lin virtuoso of his time, or the greatest vio-
lin virtuoso of all time, Sarasate began
performing at age five and gave his first
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