First nights at the opera
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
First nights at the opera
Yale University Press, c2004
- : cloth
- : pbk
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Note
Includes discography (p. 393-400), bibliographical references (p. 401-405), and index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
: cloth ISBN 9780300100440
Description
Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, opera was the grandest entertainment in Western culture. In First Nights at the Opera, the renowned music scholar Thomas Kelly narrates the social history of European opera during its golden age by taking us behind the scenes at the premiere performances of five extraordinary and influential operas: Handel's Giulio Cesare (London, 1724), Mozart's Don Giovanni (Prague, 1787), Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots (Paris, 1836), Wagner's Das Rheingold (Bayreuth, 1876), and Verdi's Otello (Milan, 1887). What was it like to be there, to see and hear and perform these operas for the very first time? Kelly takes us behind the curtains to introduce us to the nervous composers, the anxious impresarios, and the performers who had never sung these words to an audience before. Members of the audience, eager with expectation, take to their seats and boxes: What will appear on stage? Will someone miss a line? Will it be a triumph or a humiliation for the composer? Richly illustrated and briskly narrated, this glittering introduction to the world of opera will delight aficionados and neophytes alike.
- Volume
-
: pbk ISBN 9780300115260
Description
A behind-the-scenes look at the premieres of five extraordinary operas
What was it like at the opening night of Mozart's Don Giovanni or Wagner's Das Rheingold? This glittering introduction to the world of opera takes us behind the scenes during premiere performances of five extraordinary operas.
"A rare and wonderful cultural history."-Philip Kennicott, Washington Post
"An absorbing tangle of minutiae about performing circumstances, personalities, conventions, expectations, critical responses, gossip. . . . This book is readable. Addictively."-Michael White, Opera Now
"This thoroughly enjoyable and informative book will delight all opera lovers; highly recommended."-Library Journal
by "Nielsen BookData"