About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherOxford University Press, Incorporated

ISBN-100195335538

ISBN-139780195335538

eBay Product ID (ePID)169854432

Product Key Features

Number of Pages1152 Pages

Publication NameOxford Handbook of Opera

LanguageEnglish

SubjectGeneral, Genres & Styles / Opera

Publication Year2014

TypeTextbook

Subject AreaMusic

AuthorHelen M. Greenwald

SeriesOxford Handbooks Ser.

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height2.4 in

Item Weight155.2 Oz

Item Length7 in

Item Width9.8 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional

LCCN2013-028673

Dewey Edition23

TitleLeadingThe

Reviews"[I]f one wishes to engage broadly and in-depth with this infuriating but addictive art form...[t]here are many hours of fascinating reading therein."--Australian Book Review "Greenwald and her large cast are to be congratulated on having produced a major contribution to opera scholarship. No single theme or thesis is propounded; rather, the book covers an exceptionally wide range of issues intelligently investigated."--Opera "The best writers here are erudite,witty, thoughtful, a little weird. They can analyse and explain but they are are still prepared to surrender to the impact of a greedy, usually overtly emotional art form."--The Times Literary Supplement, "[I]f one wishes to engage broadly and in-depth with this infuriating but addictive art form...[t]here are many hours of fascinating reading therein."--Australian Book Review "Greenwald and her large cast are to be congratulated on having produced a major contribution to opera scholarship. No single theme or thesis is propounded; rather, the book covers an exceptionally wide range of issues intelligently investigated."--Opera "The best writers here are erudite,witty, thoughtful, a little weird. They can analyse and explain but they are are still prepared to surrender to the impact of a greedy, usually overtly emotional art form."--The Times Literary Supplement "I don't know any other book quite like this...Drawing upon the enormously varied ways the performing arts are experienced, this handbook shows how modern scholarship commands the routes into thinking and writing about the constantly evolving genre of opera. The range of subject matter is remarkable. After an exhilarating plunge into the possible responses to the question posed in Tim Carter's sparkling essay, "What is Opera," the book settles into a more sober assessment of the basics of genre, form, and style, plots and the words they are told in, and some of the controversies and curiosities embedded in this multi-dimensional medium. It is an inviting approach: the structure is clear and...the language is accessible...Some chapters seem destined to become classics...This impressive handbook...deserves to be in frequent use..."--The Musical Times "It's good, and rightly contemporary, to see some 250 pages, more than a fifth of the text, given up to "Performance and Production," a subject now recognized as integral to assessing opera in print...Because it is new and has contributions from a large number of scholars working at the coalface of their subjects...the Handbook's strength is its close contact with a wide range of current opera scholarship...It is also readable in a way that might have been considered suspect a few decades ago...[I]t looks handsome and has been well printed, the illustrations included."--The Wagner Journal "[The Oxford Handbook of Opera] offers us an unprecedentedly thorough cross-examination of the many positions and approaches now taken within what might be called 'opera studies.'...A wealth of intriguing material is presented in these essays...It is nonetheless the three chapters that explicitly address editorial practice that are most thought-provoking in the context of [The Oxford Handbook of Opera] as a whole. Taken together, these contributions...will offer many readers a rare insight into the processes, decisions, and difficulties that surround and inform one of the discipline's more mysterious portals to contemporary operatic culture."--Music and Letters, "[I]f one wishes to engage broadly and in-depth with this infuriating but addictive art form...[t]here are many hours of fascinating reading therein."--Australian Book Review"Greenwald and her large cast are to be congratulated on having produced a major contribution to opera scholarship. No single theme or thesis is propounded; rather, the book covers an exceptionally wide range of issues intelligently investigated."--Opera"The best writers here are erudite,witty, thoughtful, a little weird. They can analyse and explain but they are are still prepared to surrender to the impact of a greedy, usually overtly emotional art form."--The Times Literary Supplement"I don't know any other book quite like this...Drawing upon the enormously varied ways the performing arts are experienced, this handbook shows how modern scholarship commands the routes into thinking and writing about the constantly evolving genre of opera. The range of subject matter is remarkable. After an exhilarating plunge into the possible responses to the question posed in Tim Carter's sparkling essay, "What is Opera," the book settles into a more sober assessment of the basics of genre, form, and style, plots and the words they are told in, and some of the controversies and curiosities embedded in this multi-dimensional medium. It is an inviting approach: the structure is clear and...the language is accessible...Some chapters seem destined to become classics...This impressive handbook...deserves to be in frequent use..."--The Musical Times"It's good, and rightly contemporary, to see some 250 pages, more than a fifth of the text, given up to "Performance and Production," a subject now recognized as integral to assessing opera in print...Because it is new and has contributions from a large number of scholars working at the coalface of their subjects...the Handbook's strength is its close contact with a wide range of current opera scholarship...It is also readable in a way that might have been considered suspect a few decades ago...[I]t looks handsome and has been well printed, the illustrations included."--The Wagner Journal"[The Oxford Handbook of Opera] offers us an unprecedentedly thorough cross-examination of the many positions and approaches now taken within what might be called 'opera studies.'...A wealth of intriguing material is presented in these essays...It is nonetheless the three chapters that explicitly address editorial practice that are most thought-provoking in the context of [The Oxford Handbook of Opera] as a whole. Taken together, these contributions...will offer many readers a rare insight into the processes, decisions, and difficulties that surround and inform one of the discipline's more mysterious portals to contemporary operatic culture."--Music and Letters, "[I]f one wishes to engage broadly and in-depth with this infuriating but addictive art form...[t]here are many hours of fascinating reading therein."--Australian Book Review "Greenwald and her large cast are to be congratulated on having produced a major contribution to opera scholarship. No single theme or thesis is propounded; rather, the book convers an exceptionally wide range of issues intelligently investigated."--Opera, "[I]f one wishes to engage broadly and in-depth with this infuriating but addictive art form . . . [t]here are many hours of fascinating reading therein."--Australian Book Review, "[I]f one wishes to engage broadly and in-depth with this infuriating but addictive art form...[t]here are many hours of fascinating reading therein."--Australian Book Review "Greenwald and her large cast are to be congratulated on having produced a major contribution to opera scholarship. No single theme or thesis is propounded; rather, the book covers an exceptionally wide range of issues intelligently investigated."--Opera, "[I]f one wishes to engage broadly and in-depth with this infuriating but addictive art form...[t]here are many hours of fascinating reading therein."--Australian Book Review"Greenwald and her large cast are to be congratulated on having produced a major contribution to opera scholarship. No single theme or thesis is propounded; rather, the book covers an exceptionally wide range of issues intelligently investigated."--Opera"The best writers here are erudite,witty, thoughtful, a little weird. They can analyse and explain but they are are still prepared to surrender to the impact of a greedy, usually overtly emotional art form."--The Times Literary Supplement"I don't know any other book quite like this...Drawing upon the enormously varied ways the performing arts are experienced, this handbook shows how modern scholarship commands the routes into thinking and writing about the constantly evolving genre of opera. The range of subject matter is remarkable. After an exhilarating plunge into the possible responses to the question posed in Tim Carter's sparkling essay, "What is Opera," the book settles into a moresober assessment of the basics of genre, form, and style, plots and the words they are told in, and some of the controversies and curiosities embedded in this multi-dimensional medium. It is an invitingapproach: the structure is clear and...the language is accessible...Some chapters seem destined to become classics...This impressive handbook...deserves to be in frequent use..."--The Musical Times"It's good, and rightly contemporary, to see some 250 pages, more than a fifth of the text, given up to "Performance and Production," a subject now recognized as integral to assessing opera in print...Because it is new and has contributions from a large number of scholars working at the coalface of their subjects...the Handbook's strength is its close contact with a wide range of current opera scholarship...It is also readable in a way that might have beenconsidered suspect a few decades ago...[I]t looks handsome and has been well printed, the illustrations included."--The Wagner Journal"[The Oxford Handbook of Opera] offers us an unprecedentedly thorough cross-examination of the many positions and approaches now taken within what might be called 'opera studies.'...A wealth of intriguing material is presented in these essays...It is nonetheless the three chapters that explicitly address editorial practice that are most thought-provoking in the context of [The Oxford Handbook of Opera] as a whole. Taken together, these contributions...will offer many readers a rare insight into the processes, decisions, and difficulties that surround and inform one of the discipline's more mysterious portals to contemporary operatic culture."--Musicand Letters

IllustratedYes

Dewey Decimal782.1

Table Of ContentList of FiguresList of Musical ExamplesList of TablesList of ContributorsAcknowledgementsA Note about Translations and Music ExamplesIntroductionPART I. WHAT IS OPERA?1. What is Opera?2. Genre3. Musical Theater(s)4. Operatorio?5. The Concept of OperaPART II. WORDS, MUSIC, AND MEANINGThe Libretto and the Score6. Oft-Told Tales7. The Problem of National Style8. Musical Dramaturgy9. Versification10. The German Libretto of the Early Nineteenth Century11. Analyzing OperaHumanism, Verisimilitude, and Voice12. Opera between the Ancients and the Moderns13. Verisimilitude14. Voice15. Characterization16. MeaningPART III: PERFORMANCE AND PRODUCTION17. Divas and Divos18. Castrato Acts19. Rehearsal Practices20. Acting21. The Chorus22. The Orchestra23. Dance24. Production Aesthetics and Materials25. Costumes26. Regietheater/ Director's Theater27. Historically Informed PerformancePART IV: OPERA AND SOCIETY28. Opera Composition and Cultural Environment29. Patronage30. Audiences31. Autographs, Memorabilia, and the Aesthetics of Collecting32. Politics33. Religion34. Race35. Gender36. Exoticism37. CensorshipPART V: TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION38. How Opera Traveled39. The Operatic Canon40. Critics41. Soundings Offstage42. Visual Media43. Operatic Images44. Sources45. Reconstructions46. Editing Opera47. Writing the History of OperaPART VI: OPERA ON THE EDGE48. 1900-194549. After the CanonEPILOGUE50. Composing Opera TodayIndex of Musical WorksGeneral Index

SynopsisWhat IS opera? Contributors to The Oxford Handbook of Opera respond to this deceptively simple question with a rich and compelling exploration of opera's adaption to changing artistic and political currents. Fifty of the world's most respected scholars cast opera as a fluid entity that continuously reinvents itself in a reflection of its patrons, audience, and creators. The synergy of power, performance, and identity recurs thematically throughout the volume's major topics: "Words, Music, and Meaning"; "Performance and Production"; "Opera and Society"; and "Transmission and Reception." Individual essays engage with repertoire from Monteverdi, Mozart, and Meyerbeer to Strauss, Henze, and Adams in studies of composition, national identity, transmission, reception, sources, media, iconography, humanism, the art of collecting, theory, analysis, commerce, singers, directors, criticism, editions, politics, staging, race, and gender. The title of the penultimate section, "Opera on the Edge," suggests the uncertainty of opera's future: is opera headed towards catastrophe or have social and musical developments of the last hundred years stimulated something new and exciting-and, well, operatic? In an epilogue to the volume, a contemporary opera composer speaks candidly about opera composition today. The Oxford Handbook of Opera is an essential companion to scholars, educators, advanced students, performers, and knowledgeable listeners: those who simply love opera., What is opera? Contributors to The Oxford Handbook of Opera respond to this deceptively simple question with a rich and compelling exploration of opera's adaption to changing artistic and political currents. Fifty of the world's most respected scholars cast opera as a fluid entity that continuously reinvents itself in a reflection of its patrons, audience, and creators. The synergy of power, performance, and identity recurs thematically throughout the volume's major topics: "Words, Music, and Meaning"; "Performance and Production"; "Opera and Society"; and "Transmission and Reception." Individual essays engage with repertoire from Monteverdi, Mozart, and Meyerbeer to Strauss, Henze, and Adams in studies of composition, national identity, transmission, reception, sources, media, iconography, humanism, the art of collecting, theory, analysis, commerce, singers, directors, criticism, editions, politics, staging, race, and gender. The title of the penultimate section, "Opera on the Edge," suggests the uncertainty of opera's future: is opera headed towards catastrophe or have social and musical developments of the last hundred years stimulated something new and exciting-and, well, operatic? In an epilogue to the volume, a contemporary opera composer speaks candidly about opera composition today. The Oxford Handbook of Opera is an essential companion to scholars, educators, advanced students, performers, and knowledgeable listeners: those who simply love opera., What IS opera? Contributors to The Oxford Handbook of Opera respond to this deceptively simple question with a rich and compelling exploration of opera's adaption to changing artistic and political currents. Fifty of the world's most respected scholars cast opera as a fluid entity that continuously reinvents itself in a reflection of its patrons, audience, and creators. The synergy of power, performance, and identity recurs thematically throughout the volume's major topics: Words, Music, and Meaning; Performance and Production; Opera and Society; and Transmission and Reception. Individual essays engage with repertoire from Monteverdi, Mozart, and Meyerbeer to Strauss, Henze, and Adams in studies of composition, national identity, transmission, reception, sources, media, iconography, humanism, the art of collecting, theory, analysis, commerce, singers, directors, criticism, editions, politics, staging, race, and gender. The title of the penultimate section, Opera on the Edge, suggests the uncertainty of opera's future: is opera headed toward catastrophe or have social and musical developments of the last hundred years stimulated something new and exciting, and, well, operatic? In an epilogue to the volume, a contemporary opera composer speaks candidly about opera composition today. The Oxford Handbook of Opera is an essential companion to scholars, educators, advanced students, performers, and knowledgeable listeners: those who simply love opera., The Oxford Handbook of Opera offers a series of trenchant, cutting-edge, and previously unpublished essays on the most important and compelling issues confronting those who think and write about opera. The handbook emphasizes not only operas themselves, but such broad concerns of the discipline as genre, voice, performance, censorship, staging, film, editions, and aesthetics.

LC Classification NumberML1700.O916 2014