The Chronicle Of Opera

Description

"The Chronicle of Opera" celebrates the great eras of music and performance, mixing fact and anecdote, personalities and stylistic development with hundreds of fascinating illustrations, while key historical dates set the operas in context. With a comprehensive reference section including biographies, a timeline, list of opera house openings and premieres, a discography and recommendations for further reading, this is the essential reference book for all lovers of the operatic arts.

Reviews

"Practical for reference and delightful for browsing....Excellent introduction for the opera novice as well as the more experienced listener."

Author description

Michael Raeburn is the Editor of Heritage of Music.

Table of contents

Introduction; 1. 1589 - 1761: Baroque Opera; 1589 - 1634: The New Art; 1635 - 1646: Opera in Venice; 1647 - 1677: Italian Opera Reaches Paris; 1678 - 1702: France, Germany, England; 1703 - 1716: The Second Century of Opera; 1717 - 1731: Prima Donnas and Castrati; 1732 - 1739: The Seeds of Change; 1740 - 1761: The Death of Handel; 2. 1762 - 1850: Classical and Romantic Opera; 1762 - 1775: Opera is Reborn; 1776 - 1780: Melodrama and Singspiel; 1781 - 1786: Mozart in Vienna; 1787 - 1791: Mozart's Last Operas; 1792 - 1804: Opera After the French Revolution; 1805 - 1816: Opera During the Empire; 1817 - 1821: Weber and German Romanticism; 1822 - 1828: Romantic Opera; 1829 - 1835: Bel Canto; 1836 - 1841: Successors to Rossini; 1842 - 1850: Verdi and Wagner; 3. 1851 - 1914: International Opera; 1851 - 1857: Verdi's Middle Period; 1858 - 1867: The Second Empire; 1868 - 1875: The New Repertory; 1876 - 1882: Bayreuth; 1883 - 1895: Perfect Wagnerites; 1896 - 1902: The Turn of the Century; 1903 - 1907: Revival and Rebellion; 1908 - 1914: A Blaze of Glory; 4. 1915 - 1997: The Age of Recording; 1915 - 1918: Neoclassicism; 1919 - 1925: After the War; 1926 - 1932: Opera in the Weimar Republic; 1933 - 1944: Opera in the Shadow of War; 1945 - 1953: The New Order; 1954 - 1960: Grand Opera Reborn; 1961 - 1975: Opera and Anti-Opera; 1976 - 1997: Postmodernism.