NPR the Curious Listener's Guide to Opera

by William Berger

Book Overview

Major composers including Mozart, Wagner, Verdi, Puccini, and Strauss * Legendary singers from the great divas to the Three Tenors * What to look for and listen to at the opera * The history of opera and why it endures * Stylistic variations and basic theoretical underpinnings * Appreciating the art form * Biographies of the opera's greatest artists * A survey of classic operas

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399527435
• ISBN13: 9780399527432
• Release Date: February 2002
• Publisher: Perigee Books
• Length: 221 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

How You Can Get Into Opera Without Being A Snob

National Public Radio is an institution with a legacy in America. All the issues brought up in their broadcasts is of common interest to all Americans. When NPR put their label on this publication written by William Berger and with a great introduction by tenor Placido Domingo, I was hooked. This is a very easy-to-follow, informative introduction to opera for those who would'nt even consider attending an opera. Let's face it people. Opera is no longer just a European elite pleasure. It's become an acceptable, highly entertaining art form in America. New operas in any language are being produced even as we speak. Opera is universal and dedicated to all human beings with appreciation for drama set to music and the art of the human singing voice.Spanish tenor Placido Domingo (my favorite tenor) begins this resourceful guide with an interesting look at opera in America. Every major city (New York, New Orleans, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Chicago) have baseball stadiums and an opera house. Both events, baseball games and opera, are now American pasttimes. This book provides a plethora of information regarding the history of opera and how it was made. It was the last creation of the Italian Renaissance. A group of theatre-loving aristocrats set ancient Greek dramas to music and song and the opera was born. George Frederick Handel, classical composer and opera composer was the leading opera composer of this time. His "Julius Caesar" was originally in Italian but when it was "revived" in the 50's and 60's, most Americans heard it sung in English, contrary to what one viewer said, soprano Beverly Sills and bass Norman Treigle put together their efforts into establishing Baroque opera in America and traditionally, these rare Baroque operas were first presented in English and later in Italian. The book then goes on to the highlights of Classical Opera of the 1700's. Besides such obscure names as Salieri, there was the more famous and beloved Mozart, whose operas are regarded as the best in the business- Le Nozze Di Figaro, Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute being the most popular Threesome of operas. The book then goes into Bel Canto Opera- the lyric and dramatic operas of Bellini and Donizetti to the comic but valuable operas of Rossini. Romantic Opera composers- such as Berlioz, whose Les Troyens and Damnation Of Faust are still presented today, to Verdi's masterpieces- Trovatore, La Traviata, Nabucco, Aida, Macbeth, Othello, and Wagner (Tristan and Isolde, Ring of the Nibelung) and of course the ever popular Italian opera king, Puccini (La Boheme, Madame Butterfly, Tosca, Turandot).In addition to tempting recordings of artistic value performed by great singers of at least as far back as pre- World War II Era, this book has all the great singers of past and present. Sopranos- Jenny Lind, Lily Pons, Maria Callas, Marian Anderson, Joan Sutherland, Elizabeth Schwartzkopf, Montserrat Caballe, Victoria De Los Angeles, Beverly Sills, Kathleen Battle, Jes