Download or read book The Assoluta Voice in Opera 1797 1847 written by Geoffrey S. Riggs and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2003 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is unusual for styles in opera to carry over from one era into another. It would be even more unusual for one era's characteristics to linger two generations into the next. Yet this is precisely what happened during the first half of the nineteenth century, when the intricacies of the fleet bel canto style were combined with the Romantic era's heroic declamation and formidable orchestral emphasis resulting in the creation of the assoluta voice. This work traces the emergence of the impressive vocal writing that resulted from the marriage of the bel canto and Romantic eras. It also covers the uniquely versatile divas who were given the opportunities to make their mark on opera from the time of Cherubini to that of a young Verdi. Here, both the wide-ranging vocalism in the scores themselves and the artists capable of performing this style are referred to as assoluta. Chapters consider Luigi Cherubini's Medee, Gioacchino Rossini's Armida, Carl Maria von Weber's Oberon, Gaetano Donizetti's Anna Bolena, Vincenzo Bellini's Norma, Donizetti's Gemma di Vergy and Roberto Devereux, the time of transition in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco and Macbeth.
Download or read book Verdis Exceptional Women Giuseppina Strepponi and Teresa Stolz written by Caroline Ellsmore and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-12-14 with total page 431 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This investigation offers new perspectives on Giuseppe Verdi’s attitudes to women and the functions which they fulfilled for him. The book explores Verdi’s professional and personal relationship with women who were exceptional within the traditional socio-sexual structure of patria potestà, in the context of women’s changing status in nineteenth-century Italian society. It focusses on two women; the singers Giuseppina Strepponi, who supported and enhanced Verdi’s creativity at the beginning of his professional life and Teresa Stolz, who sustained his sense of self-worth at its end. Each was an essential emotional benefactor without whom Verdi’s career would not have been the same. The subject of the Strepponi-Verdi marriage and the impact of Strepponi’s past deserve further detailed and nuanced discussion. This book demonstrates Verdi’s shifting power-balance with Strepponi as she sought to retain intellectual self-respect while his success and control increased. The negative stereotypes concerning operatic ‘divas’ do not withstand scrutiny when applied either to Strepponi or to Stolz. This book presents a revisionist appraisal of Stolz through close examination of her letters. Revealing Stolz’s value to Verdi, they also provide contemporary operatic criticism and behind-the-scenes comment, some excerpts of which are published here in English for the first time.
Download or read book Embodying Voice written by Margaret Medlyn and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-11-16 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Embodying Voice: Singing Verdi, Singing Wagner articulates the process of developing an operatic voice, explaining how and why the training of such a voice is as complex and sophisticated as it is mysterious. This book illustrates how putting together a voice, embodying a sound, and creating a character are vital to an audience’s emotional involvement and enjoyment. Moreover, it addresses an imbalance of power between the opera director and the orchestra conductor – ultimately, it is the communicative power of the singer’s voice that brings life to an opera, a fact well known by Verdi and Wagner. Embodying Voice highlights the singer’s creative agency to be co-creator of the composer’s music. It explores the ways in which vocal performance is constructed and controlled, connecting layers of mind and bodily engagement that allow operatic singers to achieve expression beyond the text itself. Further reading, listening, and performance lists are provided at the end of each chapter, complemented by musical examples throughout.
Download or read book Historical Dictionary of Opera written by Scott L. Balthazar and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 2013-07-05 with total page 564 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Opera has been around ever since the late 16th century, and it is still going strong in the sense that operas are performed around the world at present, and known by infinitely more persons than just those who attend performances. On the other hand, it has enjoyed periods in the past when more operas were produced to greater acclaim. Those periods inevitably have pride of place in this Historical Dictionary of Opera, as do exceptional singers, and others who combine to fashion the opera, whether or not they appear on stage. But this volume looks even further afield, considering the cities which were and still are opera centers, literary works which were turned into librettos, and types of pieces and genres. While some of the former can be found on the web or in other sources, most of the latter cannot and it is impossible to have the whole picture without them. Indeed, this book has an amazingly broad scope. The dictionary section, with about 340 entries, covers the topics mentioned above but obviously focuses most on composers, not just the likes of Mozart, Verdi and Wagner, but others who are scarcely remembered but made notable contributions. Of course, there are the divas, but others singers as well, and some of the most familiar operas, Don Giovanni, Tosca and more. Technical terms also abound, and reference to different genres, from antimasque to zarzuela. Since opera has been around so long, the chronology is rather lengthy, since it has a lot of ground to cover, and the introduction sets the scene for the rest. This book should not be an end but rather a beginning, so it has a substantial bibliography for readers seeking more specific or specialized works. It is an excellent access point for readers interested in opera.
Download or read book Women in Music written by Karin Pendle and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2005-09-19 with total page 643 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 2006. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an Informa company.
Download or read book Inside the Ring written by John Louis DiGaetani and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2015-03-14 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Once tainted by association with Hitler and Nazism, Richard Wagner's work has experienced an international cultural renaissance in the last 25 years. His magnum opus, Der Ring des Nibelungen, which took him over 20 years to finish, is a complex tale with themes of greed, corruption and loss, spun out in more than 16 hours of powerfully moving opera. This book, with provocative essays for both the uninitiated and the seasoned fan, examines Wagner's Ring cycle from a wide array of modern perspectives. Divided into six parts, this anthology first offers a foundation for the Ring, with a chronology and an introduction, along with a look at Wagner as an enterprising marketer. Part Two explores different interpretations of the Ring, with reference to politics, romanticism and international inspirations. Part Three studies the complex relationship between Wagner's Ring and Germany, with a summary of the opera's influence on German culture and a discussion of its Munich premiere. Part Four offers a production history, including studies of the Ring's effects in America and its influence on world literature. Part Five provides a technical examination of language in the Ring, as well as an interview with the famous Wagnerian soprano Jane Eaglen. The book concludes with an essay on the trouble with Wagnerian opera and an overview of the recorded Ring on disc, video and print.
Download or read book Aging Femininities written by Josephine Dolan and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2020-05-15 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Older women have never been so visible, or so problematised, in popular media culture as now; but what kinds of representations are being offered, and how can we make sense of them in the context of post-feminism and global economic change? Aging Femininities: Troubling Representations offers a timely intervention into the hiatus between the visibility of aging femininity in contemporary circuits of culture and its marginalisation in cultural theory. From “graceful agers” and Saga subscribers, to make-over models and pop divas, each of the essays in this collection interrogates the different manifestations of “aging femininity” in terms of both its historic invisibility and its new visibility. The book forges links between contemporary “lived” experience and feminist cultural theory and research, often through the direct and autobiographical knowledge of the writers themselves. Divided into four sections – Cultural Herstories, Regulations and Transgressions, Problematic Postfeminists? and Divas and Dolls – plus a thought-provoking photo essay, it wrests the discourse of aging away from the twin hegemonies of consumer culture and gerontology to present a diverse selection of essays and positions. Aging Femininities: Troubling Representations establishes the long overlooked richness and the complexity of this field of study.
Download or read book Alto written by Dan H. Marek and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2016-10-20 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Everyone is familiar with the words diva or prima donna, which have come to mean a (usually) outrageous operatic soprano, but there was a time when the star of the show was more often a contralto, or a soprano singing in today's mezzo-soprano range. This performer was referred to as an alto. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the male and female leading roles were likely to be sung by emasculated males, the alto castrati, although there were many great female altos during this period as well. The music for these fantastic artists, written by such composers as Porpora, Vinci, Hasse, and even Handel, has been largely forgotten. At the beginning of the 19th century, as the castrati died out, their roles were often assumed by female altos referred to as musici. New repertoire continued to be written for them by Rossini and others, but gradually, this musical tradition and technique was lost. Now, however, because of the talent and industry of such gifted artists as Marilyn Horne, Cecilia Bartoli, and Joyce DiDonato, and the sudden ease with which the performance of these forgotten works can be obtained, there is a resurgence of interest in the performance and preservation of this lost art. Alto: The Voice of Bel Canto examines the careers of nearly 320 great alto singers, including the great castrati, from the dawn of opera in 1597 to the present. The music of the composers who wrote for the alto voice is discussed along with musical examples and suggestions for listening. The exploration of the greatest altos’ careers and techniques offers inspiration for aspiring young singers as well as absorbing reading for the music lover who wants to know more about the fascinating world of opera.
Download or read book American Book Publishing Record written by and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 964 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Choice written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 782 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Book Review Index written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 1320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every 3rd issue is a quarterly cumulation.
Download or read book Library Journal written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 1372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Library Journal written by Melvil Dewey and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 838 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes, beginning Sept. 15, 1954 (and on the 15th of each month, Sept.-May) a special section: School library journal, ISSN 0000-0035, (called Junior libraries, 1954-May 1961). Also issued separately.
Download or read book Notes written by Music Library Association and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The British National Bibliography written by Arthur James Wells and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 1664 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Analecta homini universali dicata written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 486 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Belliniana et alia musicologica written by Daniel Brandenburg and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
