The Oxford History of Opera - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0192840282 ISBN 13: 9780192840288

Verlag: Oxford Paperbacks, 1996

Inhaltsangabe

In its lavish amalgam of theatrical and musical resources, its flamboyant charm, its extravagant appeal to the heart and the mind, and its seemingly inexhaustible power to move and astonish us, opera is clearly the most spectacular of all the arts. Now, eleven leading authorities chronicle the
full sweep of this stunning musical genre, ranging from the earliest known works to such recent experimental efforts as Robert Wilson and Philip Glass's Einstein on the Beach.
The contributors--including such noted opera critics as William Ashbrook, Paul Griffiths, and Barry Millington--provide superb coverage of all the major periods. We read of the remarkable success of opera in republican Venice, where by 1650 some fifty operas had been performed, including
masterworks by Monteverdi, the giant of the era. We learn of opera seria--which within the world of eighteenth-century Italian opera was the summit of prestige--and opera buffa, most noted today for three major works by Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cosi Fan Tutti. We explore the
peak of opera's popularity in nineteenth-century France, Italy, and Germany, with astute commentary on such major composers as Berlioz, Bizet, Rossini, Donizetti, and especially Wagner and Verdi. And we examine the remarkably diverse works of our own century, from Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier and
Alban Berg's Wozzeck to Benjamin Britten's Death in Venice and John Adams's Nixon in China. Throughout, the contributors illuminate how opera often reflects the cultural concerns of the age, how it is part of the social fabric, and in three fascinating sections on staging, singers, and the social
climate, they give us a look behind the scenes as well as a feel for what opera was like in the past. We discover, for instance, that before the late nineteenth century, patrons were not expected to arrive on time, sit still, keep quiet, concentrate on the stage action, or stay to the end (Wagner
put an end to this practice by darkening the theatre).
Nowhere does the rich panoply of opera history unfold more grandly than in this volume. Authoritative, vivid, and beautifully written, it will be treasured by everyone who loves opera.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

About the Editor:
Roger Parker is Lecturer in Music at Oxford University and Fellow of St. Hugh's College. Until recently an Associate Professor of Music at Cornell University, he has published extensively on Verdi and on nineteenth-century Italian opera.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Oxford Paperbacks
• Erscheinungsdatum: 1996
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0192840282
• ISBN 13: 9780192840288
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 390
• Herausgeber: Parker Roger C.
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Ufficio Anagrafiche Messaggerie; ufficio.anagrafiche@meli.it; ; Via Verdi, 8; Assago Milano; 20090; Italien