Mozart the dramatist : a new view of Mozart, his operas and his age / Brigid Brophy.
| Author/creator | Brophy, Brigid |
| Format | Book |
| Edition | First American edition. |
| Publication Info | New York : Harcourt, Brace & World, ©1964. |
| Description | 328 pages ; 22 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | The importance of Mozart's operas -- Women and opera -- Opera, cities and enlightenment -- Singing and theology -- The quest for pleasure -- Anarchy, impotence and classicism -- The rococo seducer -- Compulsive seduction -- "He bien! La guerre" -- Chivalry inverted -- Seduction in Mozart's operas (with a note on Who is Cherubino, what is he?) -- Mozart proposes a truce -- Hell, love and society -- 'Die Zauberfl̲te' solved -- The exotic -- Near the core -- 'Don Giovanni' and 'Hamlet' -- Mozart and brimstone -- "Such as the father is, such is the son ... the father eternal, the son eternal ..." -- Society's guilt -- Enlightenment and psychology -- Mozart as literature, and as super-literature. |
| Abstract | In this stimulating study, the author suggests that Mozart reached the heights of genius in equal measure as musician and dramatist. His operas, merging these two demanding forms, express his most intimate artistic ambitions. Although Mozart did not write his own libretti, he was so careful about selecting his librettists and then adapting their work to his own requirements that the plots of his operas must be considered as much his as the music. The author approaches the operas as something more than masterpieces in their own right; they are, taken together with his letters, our prime clue to Mozart's personal psychology. She places opera in relation to eighteenth-century society and then Mozart's operas in relation to that era's thought. In the course of this examination a new solution to the puzzle of The Magic Flute is presented; Don Giovanni is seen in the light of the century's, as well as Mozart's, sexual dilemmas; literary influences, including Voltaire and Shakespeare, are analyzed; and, most important, the mind of Mozart emerges in fresh and striking perspective. |
| General note | "A psychological and historical study of genius"--At head of front cover of book jacket. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical footnotes and references (pages 316-320). |
| LCCN | 64018282 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Music Stacks | ML410.M9 B818 1964 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |