These five biographies provide the first complete survey of Italian opera from the early buffo operas of Rossini to Verdi's great masterpieces, Otello and Falstaff, and the verismo operas of Puccini. Andrew Porter has been highly praised for his original and enlightening account of Verdi, and Philip Gossett has received similar acclaim for his treatment of Rossini. Porter, Gossett, William Ashbrooke, Julian Budden, Mosco Carner, and Friedrich Lippmann, all acknowledged experts in the field of Italian opera, combine to offer insight into the traditions and workings of one of the most fascinating periods in the history of opera. Book jacket.
(Unlocking the Masters). Giuseppe Verdi's career forms one of the loveliest arcs in musical history. The passion of his works resonates universally, while the sophistication of his middle and late operas satisfies demanding ears and tastes. In Verdi: The Operas and Choral Works , Victor Lederer surveys every one of the master's 28 operas and his greatest choral pieces, showing Verdi's growth as a musical dramatist he would revolutionize the hidebound conventions of 19th-century Italian opera and his single-minded pursuit of dramatic truth. After describing the chaotic milieu in which Verdi learned his craft, the book provides act-by-act analyses of the early masterpieces Nabucco , Ernani , and Macbeth . The neglected operas from the composer's self-described "years in the galleys" are covered together. Lederer then takes readers through the magnificent sequence of Verdi operas from Luisa Miller onward, including the fine but underrated Stiffelio . Each of the late operas Don Carlo , Aida , and Otello and Falstaff , the twin Shakespearean masterworks that crown Verdi's oeuvre is discussed at length in its own chapter. Lederer also examines Verdi's monumental Requiem along with the choral Quattro pezzi sacri , Verdi's sublime final achievement. The book comes with audio of musical selections representing highlights from throughout Verdi's long, remarkable career.
Excerpt from Masters of Italian Music No one who ventures to write about modem Italian music can hope to avoid a certain element of monotony. At the present time, and indeed for many years past, music in Italy has meant Opera, and Opera alone. The vast majority of Italian composers devote their best energies to this peculiarly national form of art, while those who cultivate its other branches constitute a minority so insignificant as scarcely to be worthy of mention. In France and Germany Opera has divided honours with Orchestral Music and Oratorio. In Italy it has reigned supreme. In England, except at a few favoured moments, Opera has always been an exotic. At the present time, as a national form of art it is practically non-existent. It would be tedious to discuss the various causes which have combined to make England an unoperatic country. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Adelina Patti was the most highly regarded singer in history. She earned nearly $5,000 a night and had her own railway carriage. Yet a minor comic singer would perform for the cost of his food and a pair of shoes to wear on stage. John Rosselli's wide-ranging study introduces all those singers, members of the chorus as well as stars, who have sung Italian opera from 1600 to the twentieth century. Singers are shown slowly emancipating themselves from dependence on great patrons and entering the dangerous freedom of the market. Rosselli also examines the sexist prejudices against the castrati of the eighteenth century and against women singers. Securely rooted in painstaking scholarship and sprinkled with amusing anecdote, this is a book to fascinate and inform opera fans at all levels.
Giacomo Puccini, in full Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (born December 22, 1858, Lucca, Tuscany [Italy]-died November 29, 1924, Brussels, Belgium), Italian composer, one of the greatest exponents of operatic realism, who virtually brought the history of Italian opera to an end. His mature operas include La Bohème (1896), Tosca (1900), Madama Butterfly (1904), and Turandot, left incomplete.
