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Books > Arts & Architecture > Performing arts > Theatre, drama > Opera
Purcell's Dido and Aeneas stands as the greatest operatic
achievement of seventeenth-century England, and yet, despite its
global renown, it remains cloaked in mystery. The date and place of
its first performance cannot be fixed with precision, and the
absolute accuracy of the surviving scores, which date from almost
100 years after the work was written, cannot be assumed. In this
thirtieth-anniversary new edition of her book, Ellen Harris closely
examines the many theories that have been proposed for the opera's
origin and chronology, considering the opera both as political
allegory and as a positive exemplar for young women. Her study
explores the work's historical position in the Restoration theater,
revealing its roots in seventeenth-century English theatrical and
musical traditions, and carefully evaluates the surviving sources
for the various readings they offer-of line designations in the
text (who sings what), the vocal ranges of the soloists, the use of
dance and chorus, and overall layout. It goes on to provide
substantive analysis of Purcell's musical declamation and use of
ground bass. In tracing the performance history of Dido and Aeneas,
Harris presents an in-depth examination of the adaptations made by
the Academy of Ancient Music at the end of the eighteenth century
based on the surviving manuscripts. She then follows the growing
interest in the creation of an "authentic" version in the
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries through published editions
and performance reviews, and considers the opera as an important
factor in the so-called English Musical Renaissance. To a
significant degree, the continuing fascination with Purcell's Dido
and Aeneas rests on its apparent mutability, and Harris shows this
has been inherent in the opera effectively from its origin.
John Deathridge presents a different and critical view of Richard
Wagner based on recent research that does not shy away from some
unpalatable truths about this most controversial of composers in
the canon of Western music. Deathridge writes authoritatively on
what Wagner did, said, and wrote, drawing from abundant material
already well known but also from less familiar sources, including
hitherto seldom discussed letters and diaries and previously
unpublished musical sketches.At the same time, Deathridge suggests
that a true estimation of Wagner does not lie in an all too easy
condemnation of his many provocative actions and ideas. Rather, it
is to be found in the questions about the modern world and our
place in it posed by the best of his stage works, among them
Tristan und Isolde and Der Ring des Nibelungen. Controversy about
Wagner is unlikely to go away, but rather than taking the line of
least resistance by regarding him blandly as a "classic" in the
Western art tradition, Deathridge suggests that we need to confront
the debates that have raged about him and reach beyond them, toward
a fresh and engaging assessment of what he ultimately achieved.
Le nozze di Figaro is one of Mozart's best-loved and most enduring
works. The first of the three operas he wrote with Lorenzo da Ponte
and based on Beaumarchais's play, it established the
thirty-year-old Mozart as an opera composer of the very first rank.
Its combination of wit, acute psychological observation and sublime
music has enthralled audiences ever since its premiere in Prague in
1786. This guide contains articles about the historical background
to the opera, as well as musical and dramatic commentaries. Further
articles deal with the changes in musical performance brought about
in recent times by the period practice movement and with the
particular uses Mozart makes of recitatives. There is also a survey
of the opera's most important productions. Illustrations, a
thematic guide, the full libretto with English translation and
reference sections are also included.
Children of many generations have been greatly impressed by the
story of Yona in the belly of the whale and imagined the deep
darkness of the "big fish" and the miraculous landing on safe
shore. But the Book of Yona also contains a different story. The
Christian, the Judaic and the Islamic narrative all show: this
prophet must have been a rather stubborn man: He knew how to tell
right from wrong and he was ready to bet not only his own life but
the life and welfare of others on this truth. This chamber opera
explores what such a strong sense of justice could have meant to
his own family and the neighbors in his village. How did it affect
his traveling companions on the boat when he run away from God's
command and headed for Tarshish, the farthest place he could
imagine? What did the people of Jerusalem, whom he warned first as
a messenger of God, make of Yona? How did the people of Nineveh,
who were rescued from destruction by his prophesies, see this man?
While all the above people are mentioned in the traditional
legends, they appear in Yona as individual characters. The story is
narrated from the perspective of Yona's fictitious daughter Shachar
(morning, dawn). The scenes of the opera are all set in Yona's
house. The time is right after the funeral of the prophet, while
his daughter is sitting the seven days of Shiva for her father.
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Ben Holt
(Hardcover)
Mayme Wilkins Holt; As told to Nevilla E Ottley
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The UK's biggest-selling classical artist reveals how her angelic
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note ?
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