Opera: A History in Documents / Edition 1

Opera: A History in Documents / Edition 1

by Piero Weiss
ISBN-10:
0195116380
ISBN-13:
2900195116389
Pub. Date:
02/21/2002
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Opera: A History in Documents / Edition 1

Opera: A History in Documents / Edition 1

by Piero Weiss
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Overview

Richly textured, extravagantly colorful, and filled with larger-than-life characters, the history of opera is as mesmerizing and commanding as opera itself. And no art form benefits more from being seen from the inside out--through eye-witness accounts of singers, composers, librettists, critics, historians, patrons, satirists, impresarios, designers, performers, and others--than opera.

Now, in Opera: A History in Documents, Piero Weiss presents a sweeping, vivid, and carefully researched tour of operatic history. The chronologically organized primary sources include 115 passages--private letters, portions of libretti, literary criticism, satire, and poetry--from opera's late Renaissance infancy through modern times. This first-hand testimony allows readers to experience the history of opera as eyewitnesses, offering an immediacy and validity unmatched by standard histories. Opera lovers will be transported to a Medici wedding in sixteenth century Florence, to the Haymarket Theatre for a performance of Handel's Rinaldo, to Mozart at work on Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail, and to Bertoldt Brecht's writing desk, among many other landmarks in opera's history. Weiss expertly guides readers, providing highly accessible introductions to each section that both contextualize the excerpts and position them within the broader historical narrative. In addition, Weiss offers original translations of more than half of the material in the book, many of them appearing in English for the first time. Stage settings, costumes, portraits, contemporary playbills, and other illustrations enliven the text and help to recreate the feel of the era under discussion.

Perfect for opera aficionados, Opera: A History in Documents offers a uniquely exciting entree into the origins and development of one of our most enduring art forms.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 2900195116389
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication date: 02/21/2002
Edition description: New Edition
Pages: 352
Product dimensions: 9.10(w) x 6.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Piero Weiss is Chair of the Musicology Department at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

Table of Contents

, Preface1. The Medici Wedding Festivities of 1589 (de' Rossi)2. Pietro Bardi on the Birth of Opera3. L'Euridice, the Second Opera (Buonarroti, Rinuccini, Peri, Caccini)4. Cavalieri's Rappresentatione di anima, et di corpo (Guidotti, Cavalieri)5. Monteverdi Criticizes a Libretto6. Sant'Alessio at the Barberini Palace, Rome (Rospigliosi, Bouchard)7. Opera Comes to Venice and Goes Public (Ivanovich)8. Lully is Granted a Monopoly on Opera in French (Colbert, Lully)9. The Grand Siècle Absorbs the Tragédie en musique (Perrault, La Fontaine, Boileau)10. Saint-Évremond's Views on Opera11. The First English Operas (Dryden)12. Handel's Rinaldo at the Haymarket Theatre (Hill, G. Rossi, Addison, Steele)13. Pier Jacopo Martello on Opera (1715)14. The Président de Bosses in Italy (1739)15. Metastasio on Setting Dramatic Recitative to Music16. From Rousseau's Confessions17. The War of the Buffoons (d'Holbach)Interlude: A Traveling Company (G. Gozzi)18. Operatic Reform in Vienna: Gluck and Calzabigi19. Gluck in Paris (Meister)20. Mozart at Work on Die Entführung aus dem Serail21. Grétry's Richard Coeur-de-Lion (Meister, Grétry)22. The Making of Le nozze di Figaro (L. and W.A. Mozart, Da Ponte)23. Kierkegaard's Don Giovanni24. Fidelio in 1806 (Röckel)25. Berlioz's Estimate of Spontini26. E. T. A. Hoffman on "Music Drama That Springs from the Heart"27. The First Performance of Il barbiere di Siviglia (Righetti-Giorgi)28. Der Freischütz: A German Triumph (M. M. von Weber)29. Parisian Grand Opera: Auber's La Muette de Portici as Seen by WagnerInterlude: Madame Pasta (Hunt)30. Verdi's Own Story of How Nabucco Was Composed31. Verdi's Operatic Style Analyzed by a Contemporary (Basevi)32. Wagner on the Evolution of his Style33. Wagner's Theory of Drama34. Divergent Reactions to Boris Godunov (Laroche, Stasov)35. Tchaikovsky on Eugene Onegin36. Nietzsche vs. Wagner37. Verdi's Otello (Boito, Verdi, Morelli)Interlude: Verdi and Wagner in Vienna (J. Sulzer)38. Verismo (Verga)39. Four Men at Work on La bohème (Illica, Puccini, Ricordi, Giacosa)40. Pelléas et Mélisande (Mauclair, journalist, Debussy)41. Strauss and Hofmannsthal Work on Der Rosenkavalier42. Duke Bluebeard's Castle (Ballász)43. Busoni and the Reinstatement of Disbelief44. In Defense of Kát'a Kabanová (Stuart)45. Alban Berg on Wozzeck46. Brecht on "Epic Opera"47. Shostakovich and the Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk Debacle (Shostakovich, Pravda)Interlude: An Italian Claque (Montale)48. Peter Grimes in Postwar London (Edm. Wilson)49. Stravinsky, Auden, and The Rake's Progress50. A First Reaction to Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites (Mila)51. Einstein on the Beach by Philip Glass (Page)52. John Adams on Nixon in China, Index
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