Statius' Achilleid is a playful, witty, and open-ended epic in the manner of Ovid. As we follow Achilles' metamorphosis from wild boy to demure girl to lover to hero, the poet brilliantly illustrates a series of contrasting codes of behaviour: male and female, epic and elegiac. This first full-length study of the poem addresses not only the narrative itself, but also sets the myth of Achilles on Scyros within a broad interpretive framework. The exploration ranges from the reception of the Achilleid in Baroque opera to the anthropological parallels that have been adduced to explain Achilles' transvestism. The study's expansive approach, which includes Ovid and Ovidian reception, psychoanalytic perspectives and theorizations of gender in antiquity, makes it essential reading not only for students of Statius, but for students of Latin literature, and of gender in antiquity.

Providing biographical, theatrical, and social-cultural background for Verdi's operas, this Companion examines important general aspects of their style and method of composition. Verdi's milieu, creative process, and critical reception are subsequently explored in essays by specialists who critically appraise his accomplishments.

Contents: Purcell: When I am laid in earth (Dido and Aeneas) - Gluck: Che faro senza Euridice? (Orfeo ed Euridice) - Mozart: Non so piu (Le Nozze di Figaro) * Voi, che sapete (Le Nozze di Figaro) * Smanie implacabili (Cosi fan tutte) - Rossini: Cruda sorte!...Gia so per pratica (L'Italiana in Algeri) * Una voce poco fa (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) * Non piu mesta (La Cenerentola) - Donizetti: Il segreto per esser felici (Orsini's Drinking Song) (Lucrezia Borgia) * O mio Fernando (La Favorita) - Meyerbeer: Nobles seigneurs, salut! (Les Huguenots) - Verdi: Stride la vampa! (Il Trovatore) - Gounod: Faites-lui mes aveux (Faust) * Que fais-tu, blanche tourterelle (Romeo et Juliette) - J. Strauss: Chacun a son got (Die Fledermaus) - Bizet: Habanera (Carmen) * Seguidilla (Carmen) * En vain, pour eviter les reponses ameres (Carmen) - Ponchielli: Voce di donne (La Gioconda) - Saint-Saens: Printemps qui commence (Samson et Dalila) * Amour! viens aider ma faiblesse! (Samson et Dalila) * Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix (Samson et Dalila) - Mascagni: Voi lo sapete (Cavalleria Rusticana) - Massenet: Va! laisse couler mes larmes (Werther) - Cilea: Acerba volutta (Adriana Lecouvreur) - Thomson: We cannot retrace our steps (The Mother of Us All) - Menotti: Lullaby (The Consul) * Au, Michele, don't you know (The Saint of Bleecker Street) - Moore: Augusta! How can you turn away? (The Ballad of Baby Doe) - Barber: Must the Winter Come so Soon? (Vanessa).

Opera has always been a vital and complex mixture of commercial and aesthetic concerns, of bourgeois politics and elite privilege. In its long heyday in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it came to occupy a special place not only among the arts but in urban planning, too - this is, perhaps surprisingly, often still the case. The Oxford Handbook of the Operatic Canon examines how opera has become the concrete edifice it was never meant to be, by tracing its evolution from a market entirely driven by novelty to one of the most canonic art forms still in existence. Throughout the book, a lively assembly of musicologists, historians, and industry professionals tackle key questions of opera's past, present, and future. Why did its canon evolve so differently from that of concert music? Why do its top ten titles, all more than a century old, now account for nearly a quarter of all performances worldwide? Why is this system of production becoming still more top-heavy, even while the repertory seemingly expands, notably to include early music? Topics range from the seventeenth century to the present day, from Russia to England and continental Europe to the Americas. To reflect the contested nature of many of them, each is addressed in paired chapters. These complement each other in different ways: by treating the same geographical location in different periods, by providing different national or regional perspectives on the same period, or by thinking through similar conceptual issues in contrasting or changing contexts. Posing its questions in fresh, provocative terms, The Oxford Handbook of the Operatic Canon challenges scholarly assumptions in music and cultural history, and reinvigorates the dialogue with an industry that is, despite everything, still growing.

Those whose thoughts of musical theatre are dominated by the Broadway musical will find this book a revelation. From the 1850s to the early 1930s, when urban theatres sought to mount glamorous musical entertainment, it was to operetta that they turned. It was a form of musical theatre that crossed national borders with ease and was adored by audiences around the world. This collection of essays by an array of international scholars examines the key figures in operetta in many different countries. It offers a critical and historical study of the widespread production of operetta and of the enthusiasm with which it was welcomed. Furthermore, it challenges nationalistic views of music and approaches operetta as a cosmopolitan genre. This Cambridge Companion contributes to a widening appreciation of the music of operetta and a deepening knowledge of the cultural importance of operetta around the world.

This is the first study to recognize the wider picture of opera within early-modern French culture. Downing Thomas considers the place of music within a cultural environment--the employment of music by Louis XIV as a symbol of absolutism; the use of music as a statement against the monarchy; and the long-term development of opera as a reflection of humanism. Thomas examines key works by Lully, Rameau, and Charpentier, among others, and extends his reach from the late seventeenth century to the end of the eighteenth.

Those whose thoughts of musical theatre are dominated by the Broadway musical will find this book a revelation. From the 1850s to the early 1930s, when urban theatres sought to mount glamorous musical entertainment, it was to operetta that they turned. It was a form of musical theatre that crossed national borders with ease and was adored by audiences around the world. This collection of essays by an array of international scholars examines the key figures in operetta in many different countries. It offers a critical and historical study of the widespread production of operetta and of the enthusiasm with which it was welcomed. Furthermore, it challenges nationalistic views of music and approaches operetta as a cosmopolitan genre. This Cambridge Companion contributes to a widening appreciation of the music of operetta and a deepening knowledge of the cultural importance of operetta around the world.

Diese Festschrift ist dem Musikwissenschaftler Jurgen Maehder anlasslich seines 70. Geburtstags gewidmet und versammelt Beitrage internationaler Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler. Mit fokussiert der Band Forschungsfelder des Jubilars, die seine wissenschaftliche Vita nicht nur begleitet haben, sondern von ihm auch wesentlich gepragt worden sind. Sein Blick auf das Phanomen Musiktheater hat viele in ihrem akademischen Leben nachhaltig beeinflusst: seine Doktorandinnen und Doktoranden ebenso wie langjahrige Weggefahrten in den unterschiedlichen Communitys der Opernforschung. Ein Grossteil dieser Kolleginnen und Kollegen ist in der vorliegenden Festgabe vertreten.

This Futurist opera was presented in snowy Petrograd in December 1913 to a riotous audience. The atonal music composed by Mikhail Matiushin accompanied the alogical libretto by Aleksei Kruchenykh, the action taking place in the 10th Land where "the windows of houses all face inside" and "all the paths go up to the earth", while the hands of a clock "both go backwards immediately before dinner". The cardboard costumes by Kazimir Malevich were surfaces lit by his roving coloured spotlights, the characters bigger than life. This first English translation by Dr. Evgeny Steiner is accompanied by the Russian facsimile, followed by what is known of the musical score by Mikhail Matiushin, and a selection of Malevich's Cubist costume designs. Contemporary documents, from statements by the artists and photographs, to press reviews complete the contents of Vol. 1. Vol. 2 is a collection of scholarly essays on the Russian Futurist arts of language, music and performance, with Kruchenykh's own contribution to the "New Ways of the Word" first published in 1913. Together, this two volume collection of Victory Over the Sun presents Russian Futurism in all its guises. It is a tool for study, while it invites recreations of it today by theatre groups and those interested in the arts of language.

Some of classical music's most famous works are found in opera, and from film soundtracks to football stadiums, it reaches a vast worldwide audience. Packed full of essential information, this pocket-sized handbook explores the key styles in the genre, from the Baroque era to the modern masters, the greatest composers, voices and venues, as well as recommending essential operas to see and tracks to download. Classic FM's Handy Guides are a fun and informative set of introductions to standout subjects within classical music, each of which can be read and digested in one sitting: a perfect collectible series whether you're new to the world of classical music or an aficionado.

This is a brief biography of Russia's greatest musical dramatist, Modest Musorgsky (1839-1881), known the world over for his opera Boris Godunov, for his innovative realistic art songs, and for his pianistic work "Pictures at an Exhibition." Yet during his life Musorgsky had no institutional connections, no "degree," no family of his own, not even a permanent address. This book emphasizes the psychological and economic factors that contributed to the composer's remarkable autodidactic rise and tragic, premature end.

Giuseppe Verdi hat mit seiner Oper "Nabucco" 1842 den Durchbruch zu seinem Welterfolg geschaffen. Wie ist dies in seiner Zeit einzuordnen? Ist sie die musikalische und politische Grundlage des Risorgimento - Judaer kampfen um ihre Freiheit wie jetzt die Italiener - oder wurde sie spater dazu stilisiert? In der Gestalt des Nabucco vereinen sich die drei altorientalischen Herrscher Nebukadnezar II, Nabonid und Kyros II.

Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg is the only comedy among Richard Wagner's mature works. Unusually for Wagner, it is set in a historically specific time and place, sixteenthcentury Nuremberg, and tells of a song contest among the town's guildsmen. It nevertheless explores the same themes of renewal, renunciation and human love as Wagner's other great music dramas. The finely drawn humanity of its principal characters and the brilliance of its musical invention make it one of the most rewarding operas in the repertory. The guide contains articles on the complex historical and political background to the opera, a detailed examination of its musical structure and a survey of its sometimes contentious performance history. Further articles explore some of the work's roots in the poetry of Schiller and the vexed question of the extent to which Wagner's virulent anti-Semitism may be said to be present in the opera. The guide also includes the full libretto with English translation, sixteen pages of illustrations, a musical thematic guide, a discography, a bibliography and DVD and website guides.

Das Buch behandelt literarische Texte, die zur Vertonung fur musikalischen Vortrag bestimmt waren. Der erste Hauptteil handelt vom deutschen Singspiel des 18. Jahrhunderts, vor allem in seiner oesterreichisch-suddeutschen, speziell Wiener, Auspragung. Das Singspiel wahlte hoefische und burgerliche Sujets, aber auch Marchenstoffe, und war fur ausgebildete Sanger gedacht. Seinen Hoehepunkt fand es in der gemeinsamen Arbeit von Emanuel Schikaneder und Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart an der "Zauberfloete" und in Goethes "Zweiter Zauberfloete". Der zweite Hauptteil behandelt die Operndichtungen, die der Wiener Hugo von Hofmannsthal fur den Komponisten Richard Strauss schrieb, besonders die symboltrachtige, vielfach an die "Zauberfloete" anknupfende Oper "Die Frau ohne Schatten" und "Arabella", das letzte gemeinsame Werk beider Kunstler.

This thematic examination of Britten's operas focuses on the way that ideology is presented on stage. To watch or listen is to engage with a vivid artistic testament to the ideological world of mid-twentieth-century Britain. But it is more than that, too, because in many ways Britten's operas continue to proffer a diagnosis of certain unresolved problems in our own time. Only rarely, as in Peter Grimes, which shows the violence inherent in all forms of social and psychological identification, does Britten unmistakably call into question fundamental precepts of his contemporary ideology. This has not, however, prevented some writers from romanticizing Britten as a quiet revolutionary. This book argues, in contrast, that his operas, and some interpretations of them, have obscured a greater social and philosophical complicity that it is timely - if at the same time uncomfortable - for his early twenty-first-century audiences to address.

Fidelio is Beethoven's only complete opera and one of the most admired, and problematic, in the repertoire. This book explores the fascinating musical and dramatic elements within the work as well as the debt to the traditions of French opera in the late eighteenth century and its affinities with the French Revolution. Winton Dean offers a comparison of the opera's first (1805) and final (1814) versions. Essays by Michael Tusa and Joseph Kerman consider its musical idiom and the challenges Beethoven faced as an instrumental composer trying his hand at opera. A final chapter examines the opera's performance history, and the volume also includes a synopsis, bibliography, and informative illustrations.

Italy was the birthplace of opera. In this authoritative and accessible account of Italian opera, David Kimbell introduces the composers and dramatists, the singers and audiences who, over three hundred years, have created not only a national tradition but the central tradition from which others have drawn their inspiration. He traces the history of Italian opera from its origins in the humanism of the Renaissance to Puccini in the early twentieth century, drawing attention not only to musical issues but also to the social, literary, and philosophical ideas that have shaped modern Italian civilisation. Each part is illustrated by a detailed critical discussion of a key work.

Stravinsky's opera-oratorio Oedipus rex is widely acknowledged as one of the most original music-theatre works of the twentieth century. This clear and concise guide is the first ever to be written on this work and it describes the music and its staging in close detail. It offers the first proper explanation of the plot and its relation to its literary sources and provides a fully documented discussion of the origins of Oedipus rex in Stravinsky's own work and thinking. By placing the work in its social context Stephen Walsh paints a vivid picture of Parisian artistic politics in the twenties from which emerges one of the richest and most suggestive works of art of modern times.

A biography of composer Jacques Offenbach that is also a social and cultural history of Second Empire Paris. Siegfried Kracauer's biography of the composer Jacques Offenbach is a remarkable work of social and cultural history. First published in German in 1937 and in English translation in 1938, the book uses the life and work of Offenbach as a focal point for a broad and penetrating portrayal of Second Empire Paris. Offenbach's immensely popular operettas have long been seen as part of the larger historical amnesia and escapism that pervaded Paris in the aftermath of 1848. But Kracauer insists that Offenbach's productions must be understood as more than glittering distractions. The fantasy realms of such operettas as La Belle Helene were as one with the unreality of Napoleon III's imperial masquerade, but they also made a mockery of the pomp and pretense surrounding the apparatuses of power. At the same time, Offenbach's dreamworlds were embedded with a layer of utopian content that can be seen as an indictment of the fraudulence and corruption of the times. This edition includes Kracauer's preface to the original German edition as well as a critical foreword by Gertrud Koch.

'One of the most sought-after tenors with the stamina and heft for Wagner and the ardent warmth for Italian opera' New York Times Jonas Kaufmann is a phenomenon. With his musicality, his vocal technique and his expressive powers - to say nothing of his matinee-idol good looks - he is widely regarded as the greatest tenor of today. Thomas Voigt's intimate biography, written in collaboration with Kaufmann, reflects on the singer's artistic development in recent years; his work in the recording studio; his relationship to Verdi and Wagner; the sacrifices of success; and much more. It gives unparalleled insight into the world of one of the most captivating opera singers of the international stage. WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM PLACIDO DOMINGO, ANJA HARTEROS, ANTONIO PAPPANO AND MANY MORE 'Mr Voigt's journalistic credentials are impeccable ... Mr Kaufmann goes into detail on the physical demands of his art; he speaks eloquently on the fear to which all singers are prone' The Economist

Der Band enthalt Studien zum Musiktheater von der Fruhen Neuzeit bis ins spate 19. Jahrhundert. Im Mittelpunkt stehen Fragen der Poetik und AEsthetik sowie der spezifischen Bedeutungserzeugung im Musiktheater. Als Kombination sprachlicher, musikalischer und szenischer Komponenten erfordert das Musiktheater eigene Methoden der wissenschaftlichen Auseinandersetzung. Dies wird an konkreten Fallbeispielen (auch aus der historischen Operntheorie) gezeigt. Behandelt werden dabei u.a. Werke von Gluck, Mozart und Wagner, Libretti von Goethe und Hoffmann sowie theoretische Schriften von Martello und Algarotti. Die Studien zeigen, welch herausforderndes Potential das Musiktheater insbesondere fur die literaturwissenschaftliche Forschung bereithalt.

The popularity of Carmen endures across generations and continents, with one of the most frequently performed and instantly recognizable operatic scores of all time and a libretto derived from Prosper Merimee's novella of the same name, written 30 years prior to the opera's 1875 debut. In Georges Bizet's Carmen-the latest volume in the Oxford Keynotes series-author Nelly Furman explores the evolution of Carmen's story and its meaning, illuminating how the titular heroine has maintained her status as a universally recognizable cultural icon. Grounded in Ludovic Halevy's and Henri Meilhac's libretto-and drawing on a wealth of mostly French critical theory-this book traces the textual, operatic, and cinematic tellings and retellings of the story, from its success as a novella in the industrial age through to its iconic position in our own cinematic era. As Furman delicately navigates the fraught terrain of racial and gendered discourse and ideology that Bizet's setting of Merimee's work traverses, she uncovers the elements of the story that give it cultural salience and resonance, both in its own right and in support of Bizet's acclaimed musical score. In doing so, Furman reveals how past and present renderings of the Carmen tale mirror the changing concerns and shifting values of individual authors and their societies-and how each new rendering has helped to embed Carmen into the global conscience.

Achilles Tatius was a Greek from Alexandria in Egypt; he is now believed to have flourished in the second century CE. Of his life nothing is known, though the "Suidas" says he became a Christian and a bishop and wrote a work on etymology, one on the sphere, and an account of great men. He is famous however for his surviving novel in eight books, "The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon, " one of the best Greek love stories. Clitophon relates to a friend the various difficulties which he and Leucippe had to overcome before they are happily united. The story is full of incident and readers are kept in suspense. There are many digressions giving scientific facts, myths, meditations, and so on, the interest of which redeems irrelevance.

(Vocal Collection). For well over a century, the G. Schirmer edition of 24 Italian Songs & Arias of the 17th and 18th Centuries has introduced millions of beginning singers to serious Italian vocal literature. Offered in two accessible keys suitable for all singers, it is likely to be the first publication a voice teacher will ask a first-time student to purchase. The classic Parisotti realizations result in rich, satisfying accompaniments which allow singers pure musical enjoyment. For ease of practice, carefully prepared accompaniments are also available that were recorded by John Keene, a New York-based concert accompanist and vocal coach who has performed throughout the United States for radio and television. Educated at the University of Southern California, Keene has taught accompanying at the university level and collaborated with Gian Carlo Menotti and Thea Musgrave on productions of their operas.