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Books > Arts & Architecture > Performing arts > Theatre, drama > Opera

Opera - The Definitive Illustrated Story (Hardcover): Alan Riding, Leslie Dunton-Downer Opera - The Definitive Illustrated Story (Hardcover)
Alan Riding, Leslie Dunton-Downer
R1,538 R1,276 Discovery Miles 12 760 Save R262 (17%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days
Mozart the Dramatist - The Value of His Operas to Him, to His Age and to Us (Paperback, 2nd Revised edition): Brigid Brophy Mozart the Dramatist - The Value of His Operas to Him, to His Age and to Us (Paperback, 2nd Revised edition)
Brigid Brophy
R416 Discovery Miles 4 160 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This study sets Mozart, especially his four most celebrated operas - "Il Seraglio", "Cosi Fan Tutte", "Don Giovanni" and "The Magic Flute", in the context of Enlightenment literature and thought. For this new edition, the author has revised a number of passages and has focused on "Idomeneo" and "La Clemenza di Tito".

The Composer in Hollywood (Hardcover): Christopher Palmer The Composer in Hollywood (Hardcover)
Christopher Palmer
R545 Discovery Miles 5 450 Ships in 12 - 17 working days
Opera Obscura - A Wholly Improbable Selection of Impossible Opera (Paperback): Peter Kent Opera Obscura - A Wholly Improbable Selection of Impossible Opera (Paperback)
Peter Kent; Illustrated by Peter Kent
R403 Discovery Miles 4 030 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Many musical and theatrical traditions walk the very narrow path between the sublime and the ridiculous, but perhaps none more so than opera, which, while maintaining an elegant reputation, makes a show out of princes making romantic speeches to soft fruit, noses being accidentally cut off and woodpeckers performing wedding ceremonies. Opera Obscura is a beautifully illustrated collection that contributes twenty-five brand new impossibly madcap operas to the canon of magnificent absurdities, along with the intricate blueprints for several incredible opera houses and information on of a whole range of almost unbelievably incredible instruments.

Regina Mingotti: Diva and Impresario at the King's Theatre, London (Paperback): Michael Burden Regina Mingotti: Diva and Impresario at the King's Theatre, London (Paperback)
Michael Burden
R1,415 Discovery Miles 14 150 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Regina Mingotti was the first female impresario to run London's opera house. Born in Naples in 1722, she was the daughter of an Austrian diplomat, and had worked at Dresden under Hasse from 1747. Mingotti left Germany in 1752, and travelled to Madrid to sing at the Spanish court, where the opera was directed by the great castrato, Farinelli. It is not known quite how Francesco Vanneschi, the opera promoter, came to hire Mingotti, but in 1754 (travelling to England via Paris), she was announced as being engaged for the opera in London 'having been admired at Naples and other parts of Italy, by all the Connoisseurs, as much for the elegance of her voice as that of her features'. Michael Burden offers the first considered survey of Mingotti's London years, including material on Mingotti's publication activities, and the identification of the characters in the key satirical print 'The Idol'. Burden makes a significant contribution to the knowledge and understanding of eighteenth-century singers' careers and status, and discusses the management, the finance, the choice of repertory, and the pasticcio practice at The King's Theatre, Haymarket during the middle of the eighteenth century. Burden also argues that Mingotti's years with Farinelli influenced her understanding of drama, fed her appreciation of Metastasio, and were partly responsible for London labelling her a 'female Garrick'. The book includes the important publication of the complete texts of both of Mingotti's Appeals to the Publick, accounts of the squabble between Mingotti and Vanneschi, which shed light on the role a singer could play in the replacement of arias.

The Beginner's Guide to Opera Stage Management - Gathering the Tools You Need to Work in Opera (Paperback): Danielle Ranno The Beginner's Guide to Opera Stage Management - Gathering the Tools You Need to Work in Opera (Paperback)
Danielle Ranno
R954 Discovery Miles 9 540 Ships in 9 - 15 working days

The first book devoted to stage managing opera productions. Perfect for aspiring and professional stage managers looking to expand their skillset into another genre of production. Features experience and advice from a variety of stage managers.

Opera on the Couch - Music, Emotional Life, and Unconscious Aspects of Mind (Paperback): Steven H. Goldberg, Lee Rather Opera on the Couch - Music, Emotional Life, and Unconscious Aspects of Mind (Paperback)
Steven H. Goldberg, Lee Rather
R1,014 Discovery Miles 10 140 Ships in 9 - 15 working days

In this widely ranging collection of essays, a group of contemporary psychoanalyst/authors turn their finely-honed listening skills and clinical experience to plumb the depths and illuminate themes of character, drama, myth, culture, and psychobiography in some of the world's most beloved operas. The richly diverse chapters are unified by a psychoanalytic approach to the nuances of unconscious mental life and emotional experience as they unfold synergistically in opera's music, words, and drama. Opera creates a unique bridge between thought and feeling, mind and body, and conscious and unconscious that offers fertile ground for psychological exploration of profound human truths. Each piece is written in a colorful and non-technical manner that will appeal to mental health professionals, musicians, academics, and general readers wishing to better understand and appreciate opera as an art form.

Medievalism and Nationalism in German Opera - Euryanthe to Lohengrin (Paperback): Michael S. Richardson Medievalism and Nationalism in German Opera - Euryanthe to Lohengrin (Paperback)
Michael S. Richardson
R1,204 Discovery Miles 12 040 Ships in 9 - 15 working days

Medievalism, or the reception or interpretation of the Middle Ages, was a prominent aesthetic for German opera composers in the first half of the nineteenth century. A healthy competition to establish a Germanic operatic repertory arose at this time, and fascination with medieval times served a critical role in shaping the desire for a unified national and cultural identity. Using operas by Weber, Schubert, Marshner, Wagner, and Schumann as case studies, Richardson investigates what historical information was available to German composers in their recreations of medieval music, and whether or not such information had any demonstrable effect on their compositions. The significant role that nationalism played in the choice of medieval subject matter for opera is also examined, along with how audiences and critics responded to the medieval milieu of these works. In this book, readers will gain a clear understanding of the rise of German opera in the early nineteenth century and the cultural and historical context in which this occurred. This book will also provide insight on the reception of medieval history and medieval music in nineteenth-century Germany, and will demonstrate how medievalism and nationalism were mutually reinforcing phenomena at this time and place in history.

The Crafty Art of Opera - For those who make it, love it or hate it (Hardcover): Michael Hampe The Crafty Art of Opera - For those who make it, love it or hate it (Hardcover)
Michael Hampe; Translated by Chris Walton
R732 Discovery Miles 7 320 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Insights into an opera stage director's work from an internationally acclaimed director and teacher. Opera is nowadays performed worldwide. But as an art form it is little understood by performers and audiences alike. The Crafty Art of Opera wants to change that. Here, Michael Hampe brings glimpses of the director's work to a wider audience, uncovering the many techniques and rules that should inform an opera's staging: the need for singers to know their orchestra, the importance of space around singers, the gestures of languages, what we all can learn from Mozart, and the primacy of sense over effect, to name but a few. He shows how stories, through music, become tangible and real. Packed with many anecdotes from the author's luminous career, this book is dedicatedto opera-lovers who want to understand 'how it is done'; to opera-makers who want to better understand their craft; and, last but not least, to those who loathe opera, in order to prove them wrong. Eminently readable, it brings both insight and wit from a life spent in opera as director and teacher. MICHAEL HAMPE is an internationally acclaimed opera stage director. The Crafty Art of Opera was published in German as Opernschule.

Giuseppe Verdi - A Research and Information Guide (Hardcover, 2nd edition): Gregory Harwood Giuseppe Verdi - A Research and Information Guide (Hardcover, 2nd edition)
Gregory Harwood
R4,245 Discovery Miles 42 450 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This comprehensive research guide surveys the most significant published materials relating to Giuseppe Verdi. This new edition includes research since the publication of the first edition in 1998.

Affect in Social Thinking and Behavior (Hardcover): Joseph P. Forgas Affect in Social Thinking and Behavior (Hardcover)
Joseph P. Forgas
R3,937 Discovery Miles 39 370 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

The role of affect in how people think and behave in social situations has been a source of fascination to laymen and philosophers since time immemorial. Surprisingly, most of what we know about the role of feelings in social thinking and behavior has been discovered only during the last two decades. Affect in Social Thinking and Behavior reviews and integrates the most recent research and theories on this exciting topic, and features original contributions reviewing key areas of affect research from leading researchers active in the area.
The book covers fundamental issues, such as the nature and relationship between affect and cognition, as well as chapters that deal with the cognitive antecedents of emotion, and the consequences of affect for social cognition and behavior.
This volume offers a highly integrated and comprehensive coverage of this field, and is suitable as a core textbook in advanced courses dealing with the role of affect in social cognition and behavior.

Opening Doors: Orchestras, Opera Companies and Community Engagement (Hardcover): Emily Dollman Opening Doors: Orchestras, Opera Companies and Community Engagement (Hardcover)
Emily Dollman
R4,045 Discovery Miles 40 450 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

What is the role of classical music in the 21st Century? How will classical musicians maintain their relevance and purpose? This book follows the working activities of professional orchestral musicians and opera singers as they move off stage into schools, community centres, prisons, libraries and corporations, engaging with their communities in new, rich ways through education and community engagement programmes. Key examples of collaborative partnership between orchestras, opera companies, schools and music services in the delivery of music education are investigated, with a focus on the UK's Music Hub system. The impact of these partnerships is examined, both in terms of how they inspire and foster the next generation of musicians as well as the extent to which they broaden access to quality music education. Detailed case studies are provided on the impact of classical music education programmes on social cohesion, health and wellbeing and education outcomes for students from low socio-economic communities. The implications for the future training of classical musicians are analysed, as are the new career paths for orchestral musicians and composers straddling performance and education. Opening Doors: Orchestras, Opera Companies and Community Engagement investigates the ways in which the classical music industry is reinventing its sense of purpose, never a more important or urgent pursuit than in the present decade.

Beethoven and the Lyric Impulse - Essays on Beethoven Song (Paperback): Amanda Glauert Beethoven and the Lyric Impulse - Essays on Beethoven Song (Paperback)
Amanda Glauert
R627 Discovery Miles 6 270 Ships in 9 - 15 working days

Amanda Glauert revisits Beethoven's songs and studies his profound engagement with the aesthetics of the poets he was setting, particularly those of Herder and Goethe. The book offers readers a rich exploration of the poetical and philosophical context in which Beethoven found himself when composing songs. It also offers detailed commentaries on possible responses to specific songs, responses designed to open up new ways for performing, hearing and appreciating this provocative song repertoire. This study will be of great interest to researchers of Beethoven; German song; aesthetics of words and music.

Richard D'Oyly Carte (Paperback): Paul Seeley Richard D'Oyly Carte (Paperback)
Paul Seeley
R1,245 Discovery Miles 12 450 Ships in 9 - 15 working days

The first biography of Richard D'Oyly Carte, this is a critical survey of the career of the impresario whose ambitions went beyond the famous partnership of Gilbert and Sullivan. Errors and misconceptions in current literature are challenged and corrected to give a truer portrayal of one of the most influential music theatre promoters in the nineteenth century.

Opera - A Research and Information Guide (Hardcover, 2 Revised Edition): Guy A. Marco Opera - A Research and Information Guide (Hardcover, 2 Revised Edition)
Guy A. Marco
R5,151 Discovery Miles 51 510 Ships in 12 - 17 working days


Praise for the first edition'An essential reference tool for all academic libraries as well as public libraries' - Choice UL

Staging Voice (Hardcover): Michal Grover-Friedlander Staging Voice (Hardcover)
Michal Grover-Friedlander
R1,491 Discovery Miles 14 910 Ships in 9 - 15 working days

History, Opera, Music, Stage, Voice, Theatre, Performance

Szymanowski's King Roger - The Opera and its Origins (Hardcover): Alistair Wightman Szymanowski's King Roger - The Opera and its Origins (Hardcover)
Alistair Wightman
R733 Discovery Miles 7 330 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

A guide to the origins and music of Szymanowski's exquisitely beautiful opera King Roger. Karol Szymanowski (1881-1937), the most important Polish composer after Chopin, wrote only two operas, the second of which, King Roger, completed in 1924, is a masterpiece. After decades of neglect this magnificent work hasbegun to receive more attention around the world, and this first extended study of King Roger investigates its origins, uncovers its ideology, examines its music and documents its history. The book opens with an outline of the role the theatre played in Szymanowski's career, from his early operetta, Lottery for Husbands, and the rousing ballet panotmime, Harnasie, based on legends from the Polish highlands. Intracing the evolution of King Roger from conception to completion, Alistair Wightman, one of the leading Szymanowki scholars, examines the contribution of the co-librettist, Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz, and serveys the various strands which make up its ideology, from Euripides The Bacchae and Plato Phaedrus and The Symposium to works by Pater, Nietzsche, Merezhkovsky and Micinski. He charts Szymanowski's fascination with the historical background of the opera, the world of the twelfth-century ruler of Norman Sicily, Roger II (1095-1154). Szymanowski's own novel, Efebos, written in 1918-19 and only partially preserved offers intriguing parallels with hisopera. ALISTAIR WIGHTMAN has written extensively about Polish music of the early twentieth century and his translation, Szymanowski on Music was published by Toccata Press in 1999.

The Impresario's Ten Commandments - Continental Recruitment for Italian Opera in London 1763-64 (Hardcover, New Ed):... The Impresario's Ten Commandments - Continental Recruitment for Italian Opera in London 1763-64 (Hardcover, New Ed)
Curtis Price, Judith Milhous
R2,579 Discovery Miles 25 790 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

The extraordinary correspondence between the impresario Felice Giardini and his friend Gabriele Leone lies at the centre of this study of Italian opera in London in the eighteenth century. Hired by Giardini in 1763 to engage Italian performers for a season of opera and ballet at The King's Theatre, Leone was sued by the impresario when the performers he had recruited proved to be second rate. His response was to publish the letters and instructions that Giardini had sent to him, which feature the impresario's ten commandments for the novice foreign opera agent. These letters are transcribed and translated in this volume. As the authors reveal, the documents provide a vivid and detailed source of information about the world of eighteenth-century Italian opera, both in London and in Italy.

The Song of the Soul - Understanding Poppea (Hardcover, New Ed): Iain Fenlon, Peter N. Miller The Song of the Soul - Understanding Poppea (Hardcover, New Ed)
Iain Fenlon, Peter N. Miller
R3,899 Discovery Miles 38 990 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

L'incoronazione di Poppea is the most compelling of all early Italian operas and this has, in part, been responsible for the way in which it has become separated from its social and historical context. In this book, Iain Fenlon and Peter Miller show how an understanding of contemporary Venetian intellectual currents and preoccupations provides a key to the structure of the opera's libretto, the progress of the action and the points of emphasis in both the music and the text.

Audience Experience and Contemporary Classical Music - Negotiating the Experimental and the Accessible in a High Art Subculture... Audience Experience and Contemporary Classical Music - Negotiating the Experimental and the Accessible in a High Art Subculture (Hardcover)
Gina Emerson
R3,755 Discovery Miles 37 550 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This book responds to recent debates on cultural participation and the relevancy of music composed today with the first large-scale audience experience study on contemporary classical music. Through analysing how existing audience members experience live contemporary classical music, this book seeks to make data-informed contributions to future discussions on audience diversity and accessibility. The author takes a multidimensional view of audience experience, looking at how sociodemographic factors and the frames of social context and concert format shape aesthetic responses and experiences in the concert hall. The book presents quantitative and qualitative audience data collected at twelve concerts in ten different European countries, analysing general trends alongside case studies. It also offers the first large-scale comparisons between the concert experiences and tastes of contemporary classical and classical music audiences. Contemporary classical music is critically discussed as a 'high art subculture' rife with contradictions and conflicts around its cultural value. This book sheds light on how audiences negotiate the tensions between experimentalism and accessibility that currently define this genre. It provides insights relevant to academics from audience research in the performing arts and from musicology, as well as to institutions, practitioners, and artists.

Norma (Paperback): Vincenzo Bellini Norma (Paperback)
Vincenzo Bellini
R366 R317 Discovery Miles 3 170 Save R49 (13%) Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Vincenzo Bellini's Norma, first produced at La Scala, Milan, in 1831, is widely regarded as the greatest achievement of the bel canto era. Its title role, sung at the premiere by Giuditta Pasta, has been undertaken in more recent times by Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland and Monserrat Caballe and remains one of the supremely challenging soprano parts in the operatic repertory. The opera tells of the conflicting loyalties of the High Priestess of the Druids, Norma, who is torn between her duty to her people and her love for the father of her two children, the proconsul of the occupying Roman forces in Gaul. The guide contains articles on the background to the opera and the development of bel canto, a detailed examination of its musical structure and a survey of its performance history, dealing in particular with the approaches of some of the many distinguished singers who have appeared in its principal roles. There is also a discussion of the contentious issue of which voice-types should more appropriately be singing each of the two leading female characters. The guide includes the full libretto with English translation, sixteen pages of illustrations, a musical thematic guide, a discography, a bibliography, and DVD and website guides.

Bed and Sofa - A Silent Movie Opera (Book): Polly Pen Bed and Sofa - A Silent Movie Opera (Book)
Polly Pen
R296 Discovery Miles 2 960 Ships in 12 - 17 working days
What Opera Means - Categories and Case-studies (Paperback): Christopher Wintle, Kate Hopkins What Opera Means - Categories and Case-studies (Paperback)
Christopher Wintle, Kate Hopkins; Edited by Kate Hopkins
R490 Discovery Miles 4 900 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

A fresh, elegant and vital enquiry into the elusive character of opera, unfolded through categories and case-studies, with an emphasis on historical background, psychology and performance. This book mounts a searching enquiry into the elusive character of opera. The author argues that any work of art can be grasped primarily through its constellation of Platonic ideas, or 'categories', several of which he explores in light of a new definition of the art-form. He elaborates each category with case-studies rooted in the time, place and circumstance of an opera's origin: most of these are adaptations of previously-published essays, though somedraw on talks for universities, opera houses and the BBC. Although he looks back to the infancy of opera, he concentrates on later, more familiar repertory - principally Wagner, Verdi, Strauss and Britten. Case-studies included under 'Psychology' reveal his long-standing involvement with psychoanalysis, and those under 'Performance' reinforce his view of opera as a branch of rhetoric. As the first of a two-volume project, What Opera Means deals with categories accessible to all: of fifty entries, only two require basic musical knowledge (the second volume will be for specialists). The book is thus suitable for the general reader, as well as for college courses. CHRISTOPHER WINTLE is Emeritus Senior Lecturer in Music at King's College London and General Editor of the series Defining Opera (Plumbago Books). He has published extensively on nineteenth- and twentieth-century music, and for twenty years was an opera critic for the Times Literary Supplement. KATE HOPKINS (Editor) is Content Producer for Opera at the Royal Opera House and Senior Assistant Editor of Plumbago Books. She has written on opera and literature for ENO, WNO and The Royal Opera.

Victorian Vocalists (Paperback): Kurt Ganzl Victorian Vocalists (Paperback)
Kurt Ganzl
R1,405 Discovery Miles 14 050 Ships in 9 - 15 working days

Victorian Vocalists is a masterful and entertaining collection of 100 biographies of mid- to late-19th-century singers and stars. Kurt Ganzl paints a vivid picture of the Victorian operatic and concert world, revealing the backgrounds, journeys, successes, failures and misdemeanours of these singers. This volume is not only an outstanding reference work for anyone interested in vocalists of the era, but also a compelling, meticulously researched picture of life in the vast shark tank that was Victorian music.

Opera Outside the Box - Notions of Opera in Nineteenth-Century Britain (Hardcover): Roberta Montemorra Marvin Opera Outside the Box - Notions of Opera in Nineteenth-Century Britain (Hardcover)
Roberta Montemorra Marvin
R3,765 Discovery Miles 37 650 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Opera Outside the Box: Notions of Opera in Nineteenth-Century Britain addresses operatic "experiences" outside the opera houses of Britain during the nineteenth century. The essays adopt a variety of perspectives exploring the processes through which opera and ideas about opera were cultivated and disseminated, by examining opera-related matters in publication and performance, in both musical and non-musical genres, outside the traditional approaches to transmission of operatic works and associated concepts. As a group, they exemplify the broad array of questions to be grappled with in seeking to identify commonalities that might shed light in new and imaginative ways on the experiences and manifestations of opera and notions of opera in Victorian Britain. In unpacking the significance, relevance, uses, and impacts of opera within British society, the collection seeks to enhance understanding of a few of the manifold ways in which the population learned about and experienced opera, how audiences and the broader public understood the genre and the aesthetics surrounding it, how familiarity with opera played out in British culture, and how British customs, values, and principles affected the genre of opera and perceptions of it.

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