Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. The Cambridge Companion to Grand Opera
  • Cited by 12
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
November 2011
Print publication year:
2003
Online ISBN:
9781139002127
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL9780521641180
Subjects:
Music, Opera, Music: General Interest
Collection:
The Cambridge Companions to Music
Series:
Cambridge Companions to Music
Information

Book description

This 2003 Companion is a fascinating and accessible exploration of the world of grand opera. Through this volume a team of scholars and writers on opera examine those important Romantic operas which embraced the Shakespearean sweep of tragedy, history, love in time of conflict, and the struggle for national self-determination. Rival nations, rival religions and violent resolutions are common elements, with various social or political groups represented in the form of operatic choruses. The book traces the origins and development of a style created during an increasingly technical age, which exploited the world-renowned skills of Parisian stage-designers, artists, and dancers as well as singers. It analyses in detail the grand operas by Rossini, Auber, Meyerbeer and Halévy, discusses grand opera in Russia and Germany, and also in the Czech lands, Italy, Britain and the Americas. The volume also includes an essay by the renowned opera director David Pountney.

Reviews

‘… contains more information about its subject than any previous publication in English. For the serious lover of opera, as well as for the cultural historian, this is not only an impressive collection but one that will be dipped into for many years.’

Source: Contemporary Review

‘… a book, that deserves no recommendation lower than the very high one conferred by its own scholarship.’

Source: Gramophone

‘This collection of 19 essays offers a thematic survey of the genre … although written largely by academics, this absorbing book is refreshingly free of academic jargon. Its contributors obviously share a love of the subject and are keen to share their enthusiasm. It will appeal to anyone who enjoys opera.’

Source: Classical Music

‘Charlton’s book is well-illustrated (copious music examples) and annotated and has been seen through the press with agreeable accuracy. It reads well, is an invaluable reference work and should have the English language to itself for many a long year.’

Source: BBC Music Magazine

'This is a comprehensive and extensive book. Anyone needing to study grand opera should ensure that they have it to hand. It also provides superb background reading if you want to explore the operas of Meyerbeer et al.'

Refine List

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

Contents

Contents

Metrics

Altmetric attention score

Full text views

Total number of HTML views: 0
Total number of PDF views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

Book summary page views

Total views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

* Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

Usage data cannot currently be displayed.