Unlocking potential with the best learning and research solutions

The Cambridge Companion to Grand Opera

Part of Cambridge Companions to Music

Editor: David Charlton, Royal Holloway, University of London

David Charlton, Hervé Lacombe, Nicholas White, Simon Williams, James Parakilas, Marian Smith, Mary Ann Smart, David Pountney, Sarah Hibberd, Herbert Schneider, Matthias Brzoska, John H. Roberts, Diana R. Hallman, M. Elizabeth C. Bartlet, Steven Huebner, Thomas Grey, Marina Frolova-Walker, Jan Smaczny, Fiamma Nicolodi

View all contributors

Date Published: November 2003
availability: Available
format: Paperback
isbn: 9780521646833

Rate & review

Paperback

Add to wishlist

Other available formats:
eBook

Looking for an inspection copy?

Please email [email protected] to enquire about an inspection copy of this book

Description

Contents

Resources

Courses

About the Authors

This 2003 Companion is a fascinating and accessible exploration of the world of grand opera. Through this volume a team of scholars and writers on opera examine those important Romantic operas which embraced the Shakespearean sweep of tragedy, history, love in time of conflict, and the struggle for national self-determination. Rival nations, rival religions and violent resolutions are common elements, with various social or political groups represented in the form of operatic choruses. The book traces the origins and development of a style created during an increasingly technical age, which exploited the world-renowned skills of Parisian stage-designers, artists, and dancers as well as singers. It analyses in detail the grand operas by Rossini, Auber, Meyerbeer and Halévy, discusses grand opera in Russia and Germany, and also in the Czech lands, Italy, Britain and the Americas. The volume also includes an essay by the renowned opera director David Pountney.
- Accessible introduction to the world of grand opera and its frequently performed works such as Guillaume Tell
- Also offers insights into those less-performed but important grand operas such as Rienzi and Les Huguenots, among others
- The perfect introduction for opera enthusiasts and students
Read more
Reviews & endorsements
'… contains more information about its subject than any previous publication in English. For the serious lover of opera, as well as for the cultural historian, this is not only an impressive collection but one that will be dipped into for many years.' Contemporary Review
'… a book, that deserves no recommendation lower than the very high one conferred by its own scholarship.' Gramophone
'This collection of 19 essays offers a thematic survey of the genre … although written largely by academics, this absorbing book is refreshingly free of academic jargon. Its contributors obviously share a love of the subject and are keen to share their enthusiasm. It will appeal to anyone who enjoys opera.' Classical Music
'Charlton's book is well-illustrated (copious music examples) and annotated and has been seen through the press with agreeable accuracy. It reads well, is an invaluable reference work and should have the English language to itself for many a long year.' BBC Music Magazine
'This is a comprehensive and extensive book. Anyone needing to study grand opera should ensure that they have it to hand. It also provides superb background reading if you want to explore the operas of Meyerbeer et al.' www.musicweb-international.com
See more reviews
Customer reviews

Not yet reviewed
Be the first to review

Log in to review

Review was not posted due to profanity
×

, create a review

(If you're not , sign out)

Please enter the right captcha value

Please enter a star rating.

Your review must be a minimum of 12 words.

How do you rate this item?

Reviews must contain at least 12 words about the product.

×

Product details
- Date Published: November 2003
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9780521646833
- length: 522 pages
- dimensions: 247 x 175 x 27 mm
- weight: 0.881kg
- contains: 29 b/w illus. 20 tables 46 music examples
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
1. Introduction David Charlton
Part I. The Resourcing of Grand Opera:
2. The 'machine' and the State Hervé Lacombe
3. Fictions and librettos Nicholas White
4. The spectacle of the past in grand opera Simon Williams
5. The chorus James Parakilas
6. Dance and dancers Marian Smith
7. Roles, reputations, shadows: singers at the Opéra, 1828–49 Mary Ann Smart
Part II. Revaluation and the Twenty-first Century:
8. Directing grand opera: Rienzi and Guillaume Tell at the Vienna State Opera David Pountney
Part III. Grand Operas for Paris:
9. La Muette and her context Sarah Hibberd
10. Scribe and Auber: constructing grand opera Herbert Schneider
11. Meyerbeer: Robert le Diable and Les Huguenots Matthias Brzoska
12. Meyerbeer: Le Prophète and L'Africaine John H. Roberts
13. The grand operas of Fromental Halévy Diana R. Hallman
14. From Rossini to Verdi M. Elizabeth C. Bartlett
15. After 1850 at the Paris Opéra: institution and repertory Steven Huebner
Part IV. Transformations of Grand Opera:
16. Richard Wagner and the legacy of French grand opera Thomas Grey
17. Grand opera in Russia: fragments Marina Frolova-Walker
18. Grand opera among the Czechs Jan Smaczny
19. Italian opera Fiamma Nicolodi
20. Grand opera in Britain and the Americas Sarah Hibberd.
Editor
David Charlton, Royal Holloway, University of London
David Charlton is Professor of Music History at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is the author of Grétry and the Growth of Opéra-Comique (Cambridge, 1986), E. T. A. Hoffman's Musical Writings: Kreisleriana; The Poet and the Composer; Music Criticism (Cambridge, 1989) and most recently, French Opera 1730–1830 (2000).
Contributors
David Charlton, Hervé Lacombe, Nicholas White, Simon Williams, James Parakilas, Marian Smith, Mary Ann Smart, David Pountney, Sarah Hibberd, Herbert Schneider, Matthias Brzoska, John H. Roberts, Diana R. Hallman, M. Elizabeth C. Bartlet, Steven Huebner, Thomas Grey, Marina Frolova-Walker, Jan Smaczny, Fiamma Nicolodi