Italian Opera

David Kimbell traces the history of Italian opera from the Renaissance to the early twentieth century.

David R. B. Kimbell (Author)

9780521466431, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 10 March 1994

704 pages, 12 b/w illus. 1 map 130 music examples
22.9 x 15.3 x 4.4 cm, 1.011 kg

'… a wonderful read.' Tim Blanning, The Independent

Italy was the birthplace of opera. In this authoritative and accessible account of Italian opera, David Kimbell introduces the composers and dramatists, the singers and audiences who, over three hundred years, have created not only a national tradition but the central tradition from which others have drawn their inspiration. He traces the history of Italian opera from its origins in the humanism of the Renaissance to Puccini in the early twentieth century, drawing attention not only to musical issues but also to the social, literary, and philosophical ideas that have shaped modern Italian civilisation. Each part is illustrated by a detailed critical discussion of a key work.

List of illustrations
Preface
A note on Italian prosody
Map
Introduction: the Italianness of Italian opera
Part I. The Origins of Opera: 1. The Renaissance intermedi
2. The elements of early opera
3. The beginnings of opera
4. Monteverdi's Orfeo
Part II. The Venetian Hegemony: 5. Opera in seventeenth-century Rome
6. Opera comes to Venice
7. The nature of Venetian opera
8. The development of the musical language
9. Cesti's L'Orontea
Part III. Opera Seria: 10. The dramma per musica
11. 'Perfection and public favour'
12. The performance of opera seria
13. The collapse of the Metastasian ideal
14. Opera seria in an age of ferment
15. A half-century of L'Olimpiade
Part IV. The Tragedy of Comedy: 16. The commedia dell'arte
17. Contrascene and intermezzi
18. The flowering of comic opera in Naples and Venice
19. Apogee and decline
20. Il barbiere di Siviglia: Paisiello's and Rossini's settings
Part V. Romantic Opera: 21. Italian Romanticism
22. Dramatic themes: the libretto
23. The life of the theatre
24. The musical language of Italian Romantic opera
25. Rossini in Naples
26. A franker Romanticism
27. The young Verdi
28. Bellini's Norma
Part VI. Cosmopolitanism and Decadence: 29. Italian grand opera
30. Scapigliati and bohemians
31. Verdi and Boito
32. Verismo
Personalia
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Opera [AVGC9]