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(Hardback)

This second volume of The Paris Opera offers descriptions of balletic and lyrical compositions and biographical sketches of famous vocalists, dancers, choreographers, composers, and librettists. Contents of scenarios and librettos are reported scene by scene or act by act.

(Paperback)

This concise edition of the critically-acclaimed New Penguin Opera Guide focusses on the composers and works most frequently performed today - ranging from Britten to Massenet, and from Mozart to Wagner. Composer biographies are accompanied by informed articles on individual operas, offering plot synopses, musical analysis and general commentary.

(Paperback)

(Hardback)

Giroud and Kaye tell the full story of The Tales of Hoffman for the first time. After discussing the work's influences and history, the book details sources for the opera, including the complete Barbier and Carr play. The annotated libretto is published in full, with the variants, and essays explain the enduring evolution of the opera.

(Paperback)

Who 'speaks' to us in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", in Wagner's operas, in a Mahler symphony This title opens nineteenth-century operas and instrumental works to new interpretations as the author explores the voices projected by music.

(Paperback)

That Wagner conceived of himself creatively as both man and woman is central to an understanding of his life and art. So argues Jean-Jacques Nattiez in this richly insightful work, where he draws from semiology, music criticism, and psychoanalysis to explore such topics as Wagner's theories of music drama, his anti-Semitism, and his psyche. Wagner

(Hardback)

(Hardback)

By contrasting the Ring with the dramas of Schiller, Hebbel, Hofmannsthal, and Brecht, different facets of Wagner's work are highlighted beyond theoretical generalizations or broad overviews.

(Paperback)

This study overturns twentieth-century thinking about pasticcio opera, redefining it as method not genre, and recontextualising it among many artforms which created new works from pre-existing parts. Its history is interwoven with society's transition from a predominantly oral to literate culture and evolutions in conceptualising the self.

(Paperback)

(Paperback)

Discusses ten of Wagner's most beloved operas, illuminates their key themes and the myths and literary sources behind the librettos, and demonstrates how the composer's style changed from work to work.

(Paperback)

English National Opera Guides are ideal companions to the opera. They provide stimulating introductory articles together with the complete text of each opera in English and the original.

(Paperback)

From the Wall Street Journal's opera critic, a wide-ranging narrative history of how and why the New York City Opera went bankrupt - and what it means for the future of the arts.

(Hardback)

Richard Wagner is one of the influential and also the polarizing composers in the history of music. Over the course of his long career, he produced a stream of spellbinding works that challenged musical convention through their experimentation, paving the way for modernism. This title offers an overview of Wagners life, work and times.

(Hardback)

(Paperback)

This companion volume to the librettos offers essays, surveys and summaries. In this treasury of information, topics discussed range from the genesis and literary sources of the Ring to its performance history.

(Paperback)

Each libretto volume offers scene-by-scene synopses, introductions to all the new leitmotifs of that scene, a bibliography and selective discography. The translation runs side-by-side with the German text, the margins identifying the motifs and offering a running commentary on the action.

(Paperback)

Each libretto volume offers scene-by-scene synopses, introductions to all the new leitmotifs of that scene, a bibliography and selective discography. The translation runs side-by-side with the German text, the margins identifying the motifs and offering a running commentary on the action.

(Paperback)

Each libretto volume offers scene-by-scene synopses, introductions to all the new leitmotifs of that scene, a bibliography and selective discography. The translation runs side-by-side with the German text, the margins identifying the motifs and offering a running commentary on the action.

(Paperback)

From La Traviata to Aida, from Carmen to Don Giovanni, here are the plots of the world's best-loved operas, recounted in an engaging, picturesque, and readable manner. In addition to highlighting the most important aspects of each opera, the author discusses main characters, famous plot twists, and the most significant arias.

(Paperback)

Why has opera transfixed and fascinated audiences for centuries The authors answer this question in their scrupulous and provocative retelling of the history of opera, examining its development, the means by which it communicates, and its societal role.

(Hardback)

A lively introduction to opera, from the Renaissance to the twenty-first century

(Paperback)

This newly commissioned opera guide contains a thematic guide, and an up-to-date bibliography, select discography and website guide.