The Politics of Opera: A History from Monteverdi to Mozart

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A wide-ranging look at the interplay of opera and political ideas through the centuries The Politics of Opera takes readers on a fascinating journey into the entwined development of opera and politics, from the Renaissance through the turn of the nineteenth century. What political backdrops have shaped opera How has opera conveyed the political i

Reviews

"Shortlisted for the Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European Studies, Nanovic Institute, University of Notre Dame"
"Winner of the 2018 PROSE Award in Music & the Performing Arts, Association of American Publishers"
"Winner of the 2018 Presidential Excellence Award for Distinguished Scholarship, Baruch College, City University of New York"
"One of the Evening Standard Best Books of 2017 (chosen by Anne McElvoy)"
"The Politics of Opera: A History from Monteverdi to Mozart has boldly placed Machiavelli and early modern political theory at the center of the early history of opera, reflecting creatively on the ways in which the reverberations of the great Florentine realist reached even into the musical realm. . . . Cohen has demonstrated that the history of opera is connected to the history of political theory, but operatic masterpieces also acquire new layers of political meaning as they encounter new generations and newly fraught political circumstances."---Larry Wolff, New York Review of Books
"This subtly insightful book helps readers experience these timeless masterpieces anew." * Foreign Affairs *
"Surprises await even the well-informed operaphile." * Opera News *
"A fascinating study of opera's musicology, performance history, and the political operatives who were pulling the artistic strings." * New York Journal of Books *
"Delving into the world of composers such as Monteverdi, Lully, Rameau and Mozart, the author reveals how operas, through story lines, symbols, harmonies and musical motifs, have spoken of politics--sometimes loudly, sometimes sotto voce." * Opera America *
"[A] first-rate scholarly work . . . that is both instructive in itself and methodologically and conceptually valuable for other periods and, indeed, media."---Jeremy Black, Foreign Policy Research Institute
"Mitchell Cohen has written a very erudite book that takes us down the highways and, especially, the byways of European political thought in the early modern period. . . . The persevering reader will find much instruction and new insight into some old favourites."---Tim Blanning, Literary Review
"Operas, the author argues, change their political meanings according to their setting, and the deep research and clear prose here hit a high C."---Anne McElvoy, The Evening Standard
"Suffice it to say, when Mitchell Cohen sees and hears an opera, he sees and hears a lot. To you, it may seem primarily a piece of music or a piece of lyric theater. For him, it reveals layer upon layer, politically, socially, and historically. . . . Cohen is very good at getting under the skin of a piece and gauging the environment in which it was created. At the same time, he realizes that a really good work of art transcends time and space. . . . A book such as Cohens may not be for everyone--whose is--but it is certainly for some."---Jay Nordlinger, The Weekly Standard
"How should the history of political thought be written . . . [A bold] step has been taken by Mitchell Cohen in his new book. Cohen, a political scientist who is also a music lover, is equally interested in the place of music in politics (metaphors of harmony, for instance) and the place of politics in music. . . . [His book] discusses not only the political context of operas and what is said openly in their librettos but, more unusually, the music as wellchanging keys, recurrent motifs, and their emotional associations. . . . He often impresses."---Peter Burke, Common Knowledge

Author Bio

Mitchell Cohen is professor of political science at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and editor emeritus of Dissent magazine. His books include Zion and State and The Wager of Lucien Goldmann (Princeton). His writing has appeared in such publications as the New York Times and the Times Literary Supplement. He lives in New York City.