Nikos Kazantzakis, a Romantic
I am often asked about the people who influenced me most. And I often answer, ‘Puccini and Wagner’, and just after the two masters, Rimsky Korsakov. Puccini when it comes to melody and drama, Wagner when it comes to harmonic structure but also to his ideals about ‘Total Theatre’ and Rimsky Korsakov for his orchestration manuals, the great sailor who so generously helped other great Russian composers. But when it comes to all the rest, when it comes to the way I started thinking about my life, my role in it, the beginning of the ‘path that never ends…’ the
