The opera / Robert Donington.
| Author/creator | Donington, Robert |
| Format | Book |
| Publication Info | New York : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., ©1978. |
| Description | x, 238 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm. |
| Subjects |
| Series | The Harbrace history of musical forms |
| Contents | The making of opera. Conditions leading to opera ; Toward opera in Florence ; The resources of opera -- Part one: Continuous opera. The first great period: to 1700. The earliest operas. Peri and the first opera ; Cavalieri and his borderline opera ; Opera at court -- The spread of opera. The genius of Monteverdi ; Rome ; Venice ; After Monteverdi -- The parting of the ways. The French opera of Lully ; A chivalric fantasy ; Germany and England ; Italian opera in transition -- Part two: Number opera. The second great period: to 1775. Serious and comic. The transition into number opera ; Italian serious opera ; Italian comic opera -- The rejoining of the ways. Gluck and the reform of opera ; The transition toward classical opera -- Part three: Scene opera. The third great period: to 1850. Mozart, the central point. The hero with a heart of stone ; Opera as fairy tale ; Mozart's contemporaries -- Toward Romantic opera. The rescue opera ; The approach to grand opera ; Early Romantic opera in Germany ; The height of grand opera in France -- Part four: Act opera. The fourth great period. The Italian Verdi. Verdi's maturity ; Verdi's old age -- The German Wagner. Theory and practice ; The Ring cycle ; Night and day -- France, Russia, and Italy. French restraint ; Russian nationalism ; Italian "realism": Mascagni and Puccini -- The Romantic Strauss. The advanced operas ; The Romantic operas ; The last testament -- Yesterday and today. The primary divergence ; Secondary directions -- Today and tomorrow. Traditional opera today ; Advanced opera tomorrow? |
| Abstract | This book gives an account of opera from its growth out of the ballets and interludes of the sixteenth century down to its varied and often strange developments in the present time. This book is an introduction to opera that takes into consideration both of its main components: the words that articulate the drama and the music that expresses it. Important composers are represented by a selection of their operas, taken as samples in depth, to show their places in the long sweep of operatic history. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliography (pages 227-228) and index. |
| LCCN | 77093589 |
| ISBN | 0155675362 |
| ISBN | 9780155675360 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Closed Stacks - Ask at Circulation Desk | ML1700.D66 O7 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |