Download Free The Opera Companion Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online The Opera Companion and write the review.

Provides synopses of forty-seven operas, a history of the opera, and a glossary of operatic terms.
Written by a well-known authority, this book consists of 175 entries that set some of the most popular operas within the context of their composer's career, outline the plot, discuss the music, and more.
This Companion celebrates the extraordinary riches of the twentieth-century operatic repertoire in a collection of specially commissioned essays written by a distinguished team of academics, critics and practitioners. Beginning with a discussion of the century's vital inheritance from late-romantic operatic traditions in Germany and Italy, the text embraces fresh investigations into various aspects of the genre in the modern age, with a comprehensive coverage of the work of individual composers from Debussy and Schoenberg to John Adams and Harrison Birtwistle. Traditional stylistic categorizations (including symbolism, expressionism, neo-classicism and minimalism) are reassessed from new critical perspectives, and the distinctive operatic traditions of Continental and Eastern Europe, Russia and the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and United States are subjected to fresh scrutiny. The volume includes essays devoted to avant-garde music theatre, operettas and musicals, filmed opera, and ends with a discussion of the position of the genre in today's cultural marketplace.
The perfect accompaniment to courses on eighteenth-century opera for both students and teachers, this Companion is a definitive reference resource.
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.
One of the most successful musicals of all time, Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'The Phantom Of The Opera' has now been adapted for the cinema. This book traces the 'Phantom' legend from Gaston Leroux's original story, covering both the history of the stage musical and the making of Joel Schumacher's film adaptation.
The first comprehensive attempt to map the current field of opera studies by leading scholars in the discipline.
One of the most successful musicals of all time, Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'The Phantom of the Opera' has been running for nearly 20 years on Broadway and in the West End. It has delighted over 100 million people in 22 countries. 'The Phantom of the Opera Companion' is the definitive account of the award-winning masterpiece, tracing the phantom legend from its' origins in historical fact, through numerous artistic incarnations to the present-day theatre production and film. Divided into three parts, the first section introduces the reader to Gaston Leroux's classic story, based on the Paris Opera House during la belle époque; the second section provides a unique insight into the renowned theatre production, with backstage pictures and enlightening interviews with the director, designers and crew. The final section covers the making of Joel Schumacher's 2004 film production. As the authorised volume book to accompany the film, 'The Phantom of the Opera' is a lavish insight into this classic story and its' modern-day reincarnation.
This Companion provides a biographical, theatrical, and social-cultural background for Verdi's operas, examines in detail important general aspects of its style and method of composing, and synthesizes stylistic themes in discussions of representative works. Aspects of Verdi's milieu, style, creative process, and critical reception are explored in essays by highly reputed specialists. Like others in the series this Companion is aimed primarily at students and opera lovers.
Up-to-date, authoritative, and accessible, this is the best Mozart opera guide available This wise and friendly guide to Mozart's operas encompasses the full range of his most popular works--Figaro, Don Giovanni, Così, Magic Flute, Seraglio, Clemenza di Tito--as well as lesser known works like Mitridate and Il re Pastore. Music historian Mary Hunter provides a lively introduction to each opera for any listener who has enjoyed a performance, either on the stage or in a video recording, and who wishes to understand the opera more fully. The Companion includes a synopsis and commentary on each work, as well as background information on the three main genres in which Mozart wrote: opera seria, opera buffa, and Singspiel. An essay on the "anatomy" of a Mozart opera points out the musical conventions with which the composer worked and suggests nontechnical ways to think about his musical choices. The book also places modern productions of the operas in historical context and explores how modern directors, producers, and conductors present Mozart's works today. Filled with factual information and interesting issues to ponder while watching a performance, this guide will appeal to newcomers and seasoned opera aficionados alike.