Donizetti and His Operas (Book, New Ed)

An "entirely reworked and updated version" of Ashbrook's 1965 Donizetti study, this massive volume remains the fundamental resource for serious students, if not for casual opera-fans. First comes a dry 200-page life history, "not intended to be a full-length" biography (Herbert Weinstock's 1963 bio is rather richer); Ashbrook debunks legends about Donizetti's political activism, stresses his problems with the censors, emphasizes the importance of the underrated early operas, finds the composer to be generally "admirable" and "intensely human" (he "shared nothing of Bellini's neurasthenic malice"), but doesn't downplay the syphilis which destroyed both Donizetti and (probably) his wife. Part II offers two brief essays - on Donizetti's "operatic world" (his influences, his more blatantly Rossini-an contemporaries, the contrast with Bellini); and on D.'s use of operatic conventions (overtures, preludes, introductory choruses, prima donna arias, duets, ensembles). Next: musico-dramatic commentary on all 60-some extant operas, ranging in length from a quarter-page to a dozen pages or more - with the longest treatments going not only to the famous operas but also to under-appreciated standouts (Marin Faliero, Maria de Rudenz, Maria Padilla); the critical analysis here, while never as full or eloquent as Julian Budden's on Verdi, is in the Budden mode, often crisp and shrewd - with notes on Donizetti's self-borrowings, his writing for specific singers, his increasing interest in revelation-of-character, his foreshadowings of Verdi, his libretto problems, his conscious departures from the Rossinian model. And a final section gives basic data and brief plot summaries for all the operas. With generous musical examples: the all-in-one Donizetti reference for anyone studying Italian opera from Rossini to Verdi - and passionate fans will find some of their favorite operas (Roberto Devereux especially) discussed in illuminating detail. (Kirkus Reviews)

This new imprint is established to publish in paperback for an individual readership the Press's most outstanding original monographs. These are titles that would normally appear only in hardback editions for specialists, but whose quality and general academic importance justify their special promotion in this prestige imprint. The series will include both new and recent titles drawn from the whole range of the Press's very substantial publishing programs in the humanities and social sciences, and therefore represents some of the best current scholarship in the English language.

General

Imprint:	Cambridge UniversityPress
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	July 1983
First published:	1982
Authors:	William Ashbrook
Dimensions:	232 x 158 x 41mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Book
Pages:	756
Edition:	New Ed
ISBN-13:	978-0-521-27663-4
Categories:	Books > Arts & Architecture > Performing arts > Theatre, drama > Opera
LSN:	0-521-27663-2
Barcode:	9780521276634

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