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Meyerbeer's Le Prophete - A Parable of Politics, Faith and Transcendence (Hardcover, Unabridged edition)
Loot Price: R2,277
Discovery Miles 22 770
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Meyerbeer's Le Prophete - A Parable of Politics, Faith and Transcendence (Hardcover, Unabridged edition)
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For a period of close to half a century, French grand opera, as
exemplified by the works of Giacomo Meyerbeer and his school, was
the preferred form of music for the theatre in most of the
civilized world. During the July Monarchy, French grand operas,
with their plots drawn from historical events, tended to be
received as metaphors for current political themes. Meyerbee's Le
Prophete illustrates the complex, contested nature of political
meaning during this period. This opera was set in the context of
the emerging liberal historiography pioneered by Jules Michelet,
and reactions to it illustrate the manner in which audiences and
critics constructed `meanings' with reference to their personal and
collective experience and memories, with grand opera occupying a
central role at that time. Le Prophete was once one of the most
famous of operas, performed over 500 times at the Paris Opera, and
given throughout the civilized world, in the days when opera was
ever-present in society. The plot has been called absurd, based as
it is on the history of the Anabaptists in Munster (1534-35).
However, history is far stranger than fiction, and Eugene Scribe's
libretto provides a modification of the garish facts in the
interests of a highly symbolic scenario based on a tragic
Reformation episode, and exploring the implication of the role of
religion, power and politics in the fate of humanity. The music is
powerful, gripping, and torrential in its flow. Each act is
beautifully structured, each set piece crafted to perfection,
dominated by an overwhelming sound world of instrumental colours
and disturbing harmony. The ballet plays a vital function as a
countersign to the human deeds of darkness and despair that
characterize the action. The Coronation Scene is fascinating, and
overwhelming in its impact, one of opera's greatest moments.This
study examines the origins and creation of the opera, its
dramaturgy and musical style, the history of its astonishing
reception around the world until the 1930s. One of the special
features of this book is the collection of iconography associated
with the work and its interpretation by many of the greatest
singers of the Golden Age of opera.
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