What To Listen For In Opera

Covering famous operas from 14 Italian, French and German composers, this handbook is designed to help listeners understand and appreciate the special skills required to sing famous operatic songs. The book includes a plot synopsis of each opera with information about each song, which are introduced in their dramatic settings along with the vocal requirements for the most demanding passages. Interactive literary and rhyming exercises help the reader become more engaged and knowledgeable. Foreign language passages are translated into English and key words are highlighted in each language. The operatic vocabulary is defined to help the listener better understand the technical demands for a highly trained voice. The book is designed as a useful handbook for both experienced and beginning opera listeners. Appendices provide information on singers, recordings and useful references.

For anyone who has been intimidated, overwhelmed, or just plain confused by what they think opera is, WHO’S AFRAID OF OPERA? offers a lively, readable guide to what author Michael Walsh describes as "the greatest art form yet invented by humankind." From opera's origins in Renaissance Italy to The Who's rock odyssey “Tommy” and Stephen Sondheim's “Into the Woods,” Walsh explores what opera is and what it's not, what makes a great singer, and why it takes Tristan so long to die. So curtain up! It's time to settle into your seat, close up your program, and watch the house lights go down. And get ready for the musical ride of your lives.

32 Lectures on the history of opera is traced from its beginning in the early 17th century to around 1924. The lectures examine landmark operas; musical, cultural, and social developments that influenced opera's growth; and the influence of national languages and cultures on opera.

This is one of the most comprehensive books ever written about opera. Not only does it contain stories of operas but also music from some of the famous arias. It is so well regarded that it has been updated many times, the latest being 1997. Mr Kobbe, unfortunately, died in an accident before the book was finished, but it was finished posthumously and the indices and photographs arranged for him.

Opera is the fastest growing of all the performing arts, attracting audiences of all ages who are enthralled by the gorgeous music, vivid drama, and magnificent production values. If you've decided that the time has finally come to learn about opera and discover for yourself what it is about opera that sends your normally reserved friends into states of ecstatic abandon, this is the book for you. Opera 101 is recognized as the standard text in English for anyone who wants to become an opera lover--a clear, friendly, and truly complete handbook to learning how to listen to opera, whether on the radio, on recordings, or live at the opera house. Fred Plotkin, an internationally respected writer and teacher about opera who for many years was performance manager of the Metropolitan Opera, introduces the reader (whatever his or her level of musical knowledge) to all the elements that make up opera, including: A brief, entertaining history of opera; An explanation of key operatic concepts, from vocal types to musical conventions; Hints on the best way to approach the first opera you attend and how to best understand what is happening both offstage and on; Lists of recommended books and recordings, and the most complete traveler's guide to opera houses around the world. The major part of Opera 101 is devoted to an almost minute-by-minute analysis of eleven key operas, ranging from Verdi's thunderous masterpiece Rigoletto and Puccini's electrifying Tosca through works by Mozart, Donizetti, Rossini, Offenbach, Tchaikovsky, and Wagner, to the psychological complexities of Richard Strauss's Elektra. Once you have completed Opera 101, you will be prepared to see and hear any opera you encounter, thanks to this book's unprecedentedly detailed and enjoyable method of revealing the riches of opera.

Living Opera is a fascinating collection of 20 wide-ranging interviews with the preeminent opera professionals working on and behind the stage today. Joshua Jampol invites opera-lovers to listen in as performers such as Renee Fleming, Natalie Dessay, Rolando Villazon and Placido Domingo speak in exceptionally frank terms about their strengths and weaknesses, and address such hard-hitting, enduring topics as how they deal with critics, vocal troubles, and balancing their career and family lives. We hear conductors such as James Conlon, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Kent Nagano discuss their likes and dislikes about the state of contemporary opera, their own inspirations, and whom they themselves hope to inspire. World-class directors such as Robert Carsen and Patrice Ch?reau discuss the complexities involved in staging a successful opera, and how opera can remain relevant today. Jampol has unprecedented access to these major singers, conductors, and directors, and the table of contents reads like a "who's who" of the global opera world. Each interview highlights a distinctive voice, and Jampol brings immense knowledge and a wonderful flair to these conversations. He allows his subjects to follow their thoughts wherever they lead, and reveals in the process a more intimate, reflective side of the emotional and extravagant world of the lyric arts. For anyone wanting to know more about the people behind the performances--what they think, how they feel, and who they really are--Living Opera is full of delights and surprises.