The New Penguin Opera Guide

The New Penguin Opera Guide PDF Author: Amanda Holden
Publisher: Penguin USA
ISBN: 9780140514759
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 1142

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Book Description
Provides biographical sketches for nearly 850 composers along with articles on approximately 2,000 works.

The New Penguin Opera Guide

The New Penguin Opera Guide PDF Author: Amanda Holden
Publisher: Penguin USA
ISBN: 9780140514759
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 1142

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Book Description
Provides biographical sketches for nearly 850 composers along with articles on approximately 2,000 works.

The Penguin Opera Guide

The Penguin Opera Guide PDF Author: Amanda Holden
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ISBN: 9780140251319
Category : Opera
Languages : en
Pages : 530

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Book Description
"Spanning four centuries of operatic history and drawing on the expertise of more than fifty international contributors, The Penguin Opera Guide is an essential reference for opera enthusiasts and beginners alike. Each of the more than 150 composer entries - from Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, and Verdi to the most acclaimed contemporary composers - presents an outline of the artist's musical career and an overall assessment of his or her contributions to opera. There are entries on more than 450 operas, providing a discussion of the work's background, details of the cast of characters, a plot synopsis, and a musical analysis that directs the listener to highlights and points of interest. Covering both major and little-known composers and tracking the evolution of the operatic form, The Penguin Opera Guide (drawn from the acclaimed Viking Opera Guide) is the perfect companion for those seeking information before attending an opera, a commentary on the music while listening at home, or guidance on operas to see or to purchase on record."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The Penguin Guide to the 1000 Finest Classical Recordings

The Penguin Guide to the 1000 Finest Classical Recordings PDF Author: Edward Greenfield
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141399767
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 921

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Book Description
INDEPENDENT BOOKS OF THE YEAR This completely new edition of the Penguin Guide reviews the 1000 best classical albums issued and reissued over the past five decades, many of which dominate the catalogue because of their sheer excellence, irrespective of recording dates. More comprehensive than ever before, it indicates key recordings on CD, DVD and enhanced SACD, including those in surround sound. If you want the finest available version of any major classical album you will find it listed and assessed in these pages. Ranging from long-established albums to the newest releases, the latest edition represents the cream of the international repertoire and has all the information you need to select the finest classical music available.

The Penguin Concise Guide to Opera

The Penguin Concise Guide to Opera PDF Author: Amanda Holden
Publisher: Penguin Group
ISBN:
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 610

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Book Description
Presents a comprehensive guide to some of the most popular operas from the classic period to the present; and explores the careers of the great composers as well as descriptions of their operas.

The Viking Opera Guide

The Viking Opera Guide PDF Author: Amanda Holden
Publisher: Viking Adult
ISBN:
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 1338

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Book Description
The book, which was published early this year and is available unbundled from the CD-ROM for $69.95, contains information on more than 800 composers and examines some 1,500 operas in detail. Each composer's musical career is outlined, with an assessment of his or her overall contribution to opera. Opera entries include cast lists and orchestral forces, a commentary on the background of the work, a synopsis of the plot, and a musical analysis identifying musical highlights and points of interest. Recording and edition information is included. For those who don't like to turn pages, prefer to read from the screen, or just like the click-click of the mouse, the CD-ROM provides computer access via Windows to the information and pictures (small black and whites) of the book. The CD-ROM holds some enhancements: notably, three hours of music excerpts (unheard by this reviewer who lacks the needed 16-bit sound card; some, according to the press release, are as long as three to five minutes). Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Penguin Guide to Opera on Compact Disc

The Penguin Guide to Opera on Compact Disc PDF Author: Edward Greenfield
Publisher: Penguin Mass Market
ISBN:
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 698

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Book Description


The Metropolitan Opera Guide to Opera on Video

The Metropolitan Opera Guide to Opera on Video PDF Author: Paul Gruber
Publisher: W W Norton & Company Incorporated
ISBN: 9780393045369
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 483

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Book Description
Describes the performances and production values of more than three hundred videos of more than one hundred fifty operas, and recommends the best overall video recording for each opera

Opera 101

Opera 101 PDF Author: Fred Plotkin
Publisher: Hachette Books
ISBN: 1401306004
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 444

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Book Description
Opera is the fastest growing of all the performing arts, attracting audiences of all ages who are enthralled by the gorgeous music, vivid drama, and magnificent production values. If you've decided that the time has finally come to learn about opera and discover for yourself what it is about opera that sends your normally reserved friends into states of ecstatic abandon, this is the book for you. Opera 101 is recognized as the standard text in English for anyone who wants to become an opera lover--a clear, friendly, and truly complete handbook to learning how to listen to opera, whether on the radio, on recordings, or live at the opera house. Fred Plotkin, an internationally respected writer and teacher about opera who for many years was performance manager of the Metropolitan Opera, introduces the reader (whatever his or her level of musical knowledge) to all the elements that make up opera, including: A brief, entertaining history of opera; An explanation of key operatic concepts, from vocal types to musical conventions; Hints on the best way to approach the first opera you attend and how to best understand what is happening both offstage and on; Lists of recommended books and recordings, and the most complete traveler's guide to opera houses around the world. The major part of Opera 101 is devoted to an almost minute-by-minute analysis of eleven key operas, ranging from Verdi's thunderous masterpiece Rigoletto and Puccini's electrifying Tosca through works by Mozart, Donizetti, Rossini, Offenbach, Tchaikovsky, and Wagner, to the psychological complexities of Richard Strauss's Elektra. Once you have completed Opera 101, you will be prepared to see and hear any opera you encounter, thanks to this book's unprecedentedly detailed and enjoyable method of revealing the riches of opera.

Who's Afraid of Opera?

Who's Afraid of Opera? PDF Author: Michael Walsh
Publisher: Diversion Books
ISBN: 1626819661
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
For anyone who has been intimidated, overwhelmed, or just plain confused by what they think opera is, WHO’S AFRAID OF OPERA? offers a lively, readable guide to what author Michael Walsh describes as "the greatest art form yet invented by humankind." From opera's origins in Renaissance Italy to The Who's rock odyssey “Tommy” and Stephen Sondheim's “Into the Woods,” Walsh explores what opera is and what it's not, what makes a great singer, and why it takes Tristan so long to die. So curtain up! It's time to settle into your seat, close up your program, and watch the house lights go down. And get ready for the musical ride of your lives.

Operas in English

Operas in English PDF Author: Margaret Ross Griffel
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 0810883252
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 1015

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Book Description
Although many opera dictionaries and encyclopedias are available, very few are devoted exclusively to operas in a single language. In this revised and expanded edition of Operas in English: A Dictionary, Margaret Ross Griffel brings up to date her original work on operas written specifically to an English text (including works both originally prepared in English, as well as English translations). Since its original publication in 1999, Griffel has added nearly 800 entries to the 4,300 from the original volume, covering the world of opera in the English language from 1634 through 2011. Listed alphabetically by letter, each opera entry includes alternative titles, if any; a full, descriptive title; the number of acts; the composer’s name; the librettist’s name, the original language of the libretto, and the original source of the text, with the source title; the date, place, and cast of the first performance; the date of composition, if it occurred substantially earlier than the premiere date; similar information for the first U.S. (including colonial) and British (i.e., in England, Scotland, or Wales) performances, where applicable; a brief plot summary; the main characters (names and vocal ranges, where known); some of the especially noteworthy numbers cited by name; comments on special musical problems, techniques, or other significant aspects; and other settings of the text, including non-English ones, and/or other operas involving the same story or characters (cross references are indicated by asterisks). Entries also include such information as first and critical editions of the score and libretto; a bibliography, ranging from scholarly studies to more informal journal articles and reviews; a discography; and information on video recordings. Griffel also includes four appendixes, a selective bibliography, and two indexes. The first appendix lists composers, their places and years of birth and death, and their operas included in the text as entries; the second does the same for librettists; the third records authors whose works inspired or were adapted for the librettos; and the fourth comprises a chronological listing of the A–Z entries, including as well as the date of first performance, the city of the premiere, the short title of the opera, and the composer. Griffel also include a main character index and an index of singers, conductors, producers, and other key figures.