Author: Mary Elaine Wallace
Publisher: SIU Press
ISBN: 9780809309030
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 312
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Book Description
Musically sound and fully annotated, this new reference work provides ready access to over 700 excerpts from 100 operas, by voice categories, and thus provides information on a wide variety of matters of interest to directors, teachers, and singers. A table of voice categories, coded excerpts (including length and reference to accessible scores), character descriptions (including estimations of degrees of difficulty of the music), summaries of the action of each excerpt, and indexes to titles, composers, and well-known arias and ensembles make this book an indispensable tool.
Author: Evan Baker (Opera historian)
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780226035086
Category : Opera
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Without scenery, costumes, and stage action, an opera would be little more than a concert. But in the audience, we know little (and think less) about the enormous efforts of those involved in bringing an opera to life--by the stagehands who shift scenery, the scenic artists who create beautiful backdrops, the electricians who focus the spotlights, and the stage manager who calls them and the singers to their places during the performance. The first comprehensive history of the behind-the-scenes world of opera production and staging, From the Score to the Stage follows the evolution of visual style and set design in continental Europe from its birth in the seventeenth century up to today. In clear, witty prose, Evan Baker covers all the major players and pieces involved in getting an opera onto the stage, from the stage director who creates the artistic concept for the production and guides the singers' interpretation of their roles to the blocking of singers and placement of scenery. He concentrates on the people--composers, librettists, designers, and technicians--as well as the theaters and events that generated developments in opera production. Additional topics include the many difficulties in performing an opera, the functions of impresarios, and the business of music publishing. Delving into the absorbing and often neglected history of stage directing, theater architecture and technology, and scenic and lighting design, Baker nimbly links these technical aspects of opera to actual performances and performers, and the social context in which they appeared. Out of these details arise illuminating discussions of individual productions that cast new light on the operas of Wagner, Verdi, and others. Packed with nearly two hundred color illustrations, From the Score to the Stage is a revealing, always entertaining look at what happens before the curtain goes up on opening night at the opera house.
Author: Kristina Bendikas
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 147668040X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 206
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Book Description
Sarah Caldwell, the leader of the Opera Company of Boston from 1958-1990, was a groundbreaking and idiosyncratic woman who established her own career as a conductor and stage director in an environment resistant to change. This book investigates her choices as an opera director, her influences, her philosophies, and her methods, and situates her work within the history of opera in America. Though she is remembered primarily as a conductor, her passion, and her greater influence on American opera, was through stage directing. With a repertoire that included ground-breaking interpretations of works such as Nono's Intolleranza 1960, Prokofiev's War and Peace, and Bernstein's Mass, Caldwell continually pushed her own artistic limits, provoked critics, intrigued audiences, and challenged the status quo of opera production. Her passion for opera, her creative use of new technology and her influence in bringing opera to all sectors of American society, culminated in 1997 when she was awarded the National Medal of Arts for her work as a pioneering woman in the American musical landscape, and a tireless and innovative arts entrepreneur.
Author: Susan Fenty Studham
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1040114709
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 194
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Book Description
The Dance and Opera Stage Manager’s Toolkit details unique perspectives and approaches to support stage managers beginning to navigate the fields of dance and opera stage management in live performance. This book demystifies the genre-specific protocols and vocabularies for stage managers who might be unfamiliar with these fields and discusses common practices. Filled with valuable industry-tested tools, templates, and practical information, The Dance and Opera Stage Manager’s Toolkit is designed to assist stage managers interested in pursuing these performance genres. The book also includes interviews and contributions from a range of professional stage managers working in dance and opera. From the student stage manager studying in Theatrical Design and Production university programs to the experienced stage manager wanting to broaden their skill set, this book provides resources and advice for a successful transition into these worlds. The Dance and Opera Stage Manager’s Toolkit includes access to an online repository of resources and paperwork examples to help jumpstart the reader’s journey into dance and opera stage management. To access these resources, visit www.routledge.com/9780367566579.
Author: Daniel Snowman
Publisher: Atlantic Books
ISBN: 1848874367
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 598
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Book Description
Fascinating and highly readable, this is the definitive social history of the world's most romantic, flamboyant, glamorous, and politically influential art-form: opera From its beginnings in the Renaissance cities of northern Italy opera has permeated through Europe, America, and beyond, becoming a global business in the digital age. This history unwraps the story of opera from the charm and chaos of Mozart's Vienna to Frederick the Great's Berlin. It covers the lure of fin-de-siècle Paris, the rough and tumble of the Australian outback, and the new world of the Americas—colorful backdrops to the always dramatic, sometimes tragic, sometimes hilarious episodes that make up this rich and fascinating story.
Author: Charles M. Blow
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0544228049
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 243
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Book Description
A respected journalist describes the abuse he suffered at the hands of a close family relative, the effect this had on his formative years and how he overcame the anger and self-doubt it left behind.
Author: Nina Penner
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253049989
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 312
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Book Description
Storytelling in Opera and Musical Theater is the first systematic exploration of how sung forms of drama tell stories. Through examples from opera's origins to contemporary musicals, Nina Penner examines the roles of character-narrators and how they differ from those in literary and cinematic works, how music can orient spectators to characters' points of view, how being privy to characters' inner thoughts and feelings may evoke feelings of sympathy or empathy, and how performers' choices affect not only who is telling the story but what story is being told. Unique about Penner's approach is her engagement with current work in analytic philosophy. Her study reveals not only the resources this philosophical tradition can bring to musicology but those which musicology can bring to philosophy, challenging and refining accounts of narrative, point of view, and the work-performance relationship within both disciplines. She also considers practical problems singers and directors confront on a daily basis, such as what to do about Wagner's Jewish caricatures and the racism of Orientalist operas. More generally, Penner reflects on how centuries-old works remain meaningful to contemporary audiences and have the power to attract new, more diverse audiences to opera and musical theater. By exploring how practitioners past and present have addressed these issues, Storytelling in Opera and Musical Theater offers suggestions for how opera and musical theater can continue to entertain and enrich the lives of 21st-century audiences.
Author: Alan Riding
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0744076919
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 362
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Book Description
Experience the passion and drama of the world’s greatest operas with this sumptuously illustrated visual guide. Immerse yourself in more than 400 years of the world’s most celebrated operas and discover the fascinating stories behind them. Explore the lives of singers such as Maria Callas, Luciano Pavarotti, and Jonas Kaufmann. Meet composers like Mozart, Wagner, and Britten, and the librettists with whom they collaborated to create the magical blend of words and music that make up opera. From its origins in the 17th-century courts of Italy to live screenings in public spaces today, Opera: The Definitive Illustrated Story follows the history of opera from Monteverdi’s L'Orfeo in 1607, to Cosi fan Tutte, La Bohème, and modern operas such as Brokeback Mountain. It explains musical terminology, traces historical developments, and sets everything in a cultural context. This awe-inspiring opera book further features: -Includes all of the most important operas from the Renaissance to the 21st century -Profiles the key composers, librettists, performers, and companies, with details of their lives, works, and influence -Arranged in chronological order to show the evolution of the genre -Clear, informative explanation of musical terminology and different types of opera This book revels in the sets and costumes that make up the grand spectacle of opera. It also explores the great opera houses of the world, such as La Scala, Milan, the Met in New York, and the Sydney Opera House. Opera: The Definitive Illustrated Story is the essential book for anyone who wants to understand and enjoy the constantly evolving world of this beloved art form. Did you know that there are more than 25,000 opera performances per year worldwide? Opera: The Definitive Illustrated Story can be regarded as the most lavishly illustrated history of opera currently available, covering all of the most important operas from the Renaissance to the 21st century, and is completely global in scope. A must-have volume for opera buffs, whether as a gift or self-purchase, if you’re a music lover looking for an accessible introduction to opera, then this is the book for you!
Author: Emily Roth
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000482898
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 336
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Book Description
Stage Management Basics, second edition, offers a deep dive into the basics of stage management for theatre, dance, and opera productions. Without assuming any intrinsic prior knowledge of the theatrical field and its associated, specialized terminology, this book covers every aspect of stage management, from reading a script, meeting with a director and theatre staff, and running auditions to communication best practices and opening night protocol. This new edition features brand new chapters on opera, dance, and unions, information on working with intimacy and fight directors, updated tips and tricks, and vibrant color images. Using simple language and detailed explanations, this book is the perfect primer for the beginning stage management student. The companion website contains blank form templates, chapter comprehension tests, a suggested reading list, glossary flashcards, and more.
Author: David J. Levin
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226475255
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 276
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Book Description
What happens when operas that are comfortably ensconced in the canon are thoroughly rethought and radically recast on stage? What does a staging do to our understanding of an opera, and of opera generally? While a stage production can disrupt a work that was thought to be established, David J. Levin here argues that the genre of opera is itself unsettled, and that the performance of operas, at its best, clarifies this condition by bringing opera’s restlessness and volatility to life. Unsettling Opera explores a variety of fields, considering questions of operatic textuality, dramaturgical practice, and performance theory. Levin opens with a brief history of opera production, opera studies, and dramatic composition, and goes on to consider in detail various productions of the works of Wagner, Mozart, Verdi, and Alexander Zemlinsky. Ultimately, the book seeks to initiate a dialogue between scholars of music, literature, and performance by addressing questions raised in each field in a manner that influences them all.
