The Birth of an Opera offers illuminating insight into how operas are written and the personalities; incidents; and musical circumstances that have shaped their composition.Through a deft compilation of primary sourcesmdash;letters; memoirs; and personal accounts from composers; librettists; and performersmdash;Michael Rose re-creates for his readers the circumstances that gave rise to fifteen operatic milestones. From Monteverdi and Mozart to Puccini and Berg; each chapter focuses on a well-known opera and tells the story that lies behind its creation.Rather than retreading familiar ground with pages of historical and musical analysis; Rose places each opera firmly in the context of the composerrsquo;s life and provides an engaging text in which the varied and colorful personalities involved are seen to discuss; comment; and contribute in one way or another to the progress of its composition. The reader will find Mozart with a new and flamboyant librettist tackling the risky enterprise of Le Nozze di Figaro; Wagner confessing his hidden love for the woman who inspires him as he creates the passionate drama of Tristan und Isolde; Verdi deep in Shakespearian discussion with Boito as they remodel the tragedy of Otello; and Debussy coming almost literally to blows with Maeterlinck over the soprano to take the leading role in Pelleacute;as et Meacute;lisande.Throughout; Rose offers his readers the most direct possible link to events that have often become twisted or obscured by operatic myth; and in so doing he captures the bizarre interactions of chance; genius; practical necessity; and dogged determination that accompanied the making of some of operarsquo;s most enduring masterpieces.
2007-04-28 2007-04-28File Name: B007PSWH5G
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