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Giacomo Meyerbeer, one of the most important and influential opera composers of the nineteenth century, enjoyed a fame during his lifetime hardly rivalled by any of his contemporaries. This ten volume set provides in one collection all the operatic texts set by Meyerbeer in his career. The texts offer the most complete versions available. Each libretto is translated into modern English by Richard Arsenty; and each work is introduced by Robert Letellier. In this comprehensive edition of Meyerbeer's libretti, the original text and its translation are placed on…
This volume presents the libretto for Meyerbeer’s final grand opéra, L’Africaine. A fictional treatment of Vasco da Gama’s voyage, it is a mixture of history and fairytale. In this edition, the original text and its English translation are on facing pages.
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Operetta
A Sourcebook, Volumes I and II
Operetta developed in the second half of the 19th century from the French opéra-comique and the more lighthearted German Singspiel. As the century progressed, the serious concerns of mainstream opera were sustained and intensified, leaving a gap between opéra-comique and vaudeville that necessitated a new type of stage work. Jacques Offenbach, son of a Cologne synagogue cantor, established himself in Paris with his series of opéras-bouffes. The popular success of this individual new form of entertainment light, humorous, satirical and also sentimental led to the emergence of operetta as a…
From 19th-century Paris to Broadway, this source book surveys operetta’s international schools and principal composers. It offers a chronology, biographical material, selected synopses, a discography, and a comprehensive index.
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Giacomo Meyerbeer
Jephtas Gelübde (Jephtha's Vow) - Orchestral Score
Meyerbeer's first opera, Jephtas Gelübde, has a libretto by the German academic Alois Schreiber, based on a Biblical theme taken from chapters 11-12 of the Book of Judges. The conflict between paternal love and love of country intrinsic to this story was is also the basic theme of the opera scenario, and is reflected in the overture, a symphonic anticipation of the essential features of the action. The opera, whose final rehearsals were conducted by the composer in person, was admirably produced by the Munich Court Opera on 23 December…
Though Meyerbeer’s first opera, Jephtas Gelübde (1812), failed at its premiere, this score contains the seeds of his future greatness. It reveals his famed orchestral virtuosity and psychological exploration, pointing beyond Gluck toward Weber-Wagner.
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An Anthology of French and Francophone Singers, from A to Z, 2nd Edition
Singin' in French
French song is a vector of cultural, social, and stylistic values. Throughout the world, songs in the French language are used in the teaching of French: professors incorporate songs into the curriculum in order to illustrate differences of register and linguistic variation, as well as to raise lexical or grammatical questions. Every musical form has had an impact on the linguistic practices of our society. As a form of popular expression, song is a genre that has, in recent years, become the focus of serious academic scholarship and criticism.…
This richly illustrated mini-dictionary offers portraits of the greatest singers of the French language. Discover how classic and contemporary artists have constructed the musical landscape, influenced the French language, and nourished our collective imagination.
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L’Africaine
The Facsimile
The genesis of Meyerbeer’s last opera, L’Africaine, is something of a legend. He had first considered the subject in 1837 when Scribe presented him with two new drafts, intended to clinch the triumphant successes of Robert le Diable (1831) and Les Huguenots (1836). The composer began composing Le Prophète immediately, but had the other project ever in his mind. By 1843 a piano score was ready, but the subject as it stood then, concerning Fernando da Soto explorations in West Africa, did not satisfy Meyerbeer. Scribe was asked to rewrite…
The genesis of Meyerbeer’s last opera, L’Africaine, is legendary. A glorious posthumous tribute, it was a favourite of tenors like Caruso and Domingo. This fascinating facsimile of the manuscript uniquely gives us Meyerbeer’s original intentions.
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Les Huguenots
The Manuscript Facsimiles
This huge exploration of faith, tolerance, hatred, extermination, love, loyalty, self-sacrifice and hope in despair, is the first panel of a central diptych on the Reformation, and the heart of the wider tetralogy of Meyerbeer’s grand operas, where issues of power, religion and love are examined in a variety of modes. For five years after the sensational première of Robert le Diable, Meyerbeer was thought to be resting on his laurels. Instead, he was drudging over a gigantic drama, partly adapted by Scribe from Merimée's Chronique de Charles IX. It…
Set against the St. Bartholomew Massacre, this is a huge exploration of faith, love, and hatred. The music for this sombre tapestry of religious intolerance and personal anguish springs from the vivid action, reaching sublime heights of music drama.
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Le Prophète
The Manuscript Facsimiles
Le Prophète is the second panel of Meyerbeer’s Reformation diptych, his darkest and most mysterious opera. It explores issues of power and religion, fanaticism and faith, betrayal and trust, the demonic forces of history and the witness of little people caught up in them—the ultimate and enduring sacrificial power of love. In some ways it is almost like a political pamphlet or religious tract, and its oppressive but fascinating world can cast a compulsive spell. The plot is based on the revolt of the Westphalian Anabaptists under the leadership of…
Meyerbeer’s darkest opera explores fanaticism, faith, and betrayal. Based on the revolt of the Anabaptists, a tailor rises to become a prophet—a man of faith but also an imposter whose dilemma and relationship with his mother are the heart of the action.
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In his lifetime, the opera composer Fromental Halévy was considered the leader of the French school; his admirers included Wagner, Berlioz, and later Mahler. Today, he is chiefly remembered for his grand tragic opera La Juive (Paris, 1835), a unique work exploring the nature of freedom, faith, and tolerance. It has enjoyed rediscovery in recent times, and its perennial challenge to our presuppositions makes it a work of intense artistic significance. Halevy worked in the heady context of Paris after the 1830 Revolution and before the debacle of 1870—when the…
Once the leader of the French school, composer Fromental Halévy is now a shadowy figure chiefly remembered for his grand tragic opera La Juive, a work exploring freedom, faith, and tolerance. This study illuminates his life and operas, examining each one’s origin and music.
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From £47.99
In his lifetime, the opera composer Fromental Halévy was considered the leader of the French school; his admirers included Wagner, Berlioz, and later Mahler. Today, he is chiefly remembered for his grand tragic opera La Juive (1835). Halévy, a native of Paris, was active when the French capital was at the centre of the operatic world. His 30 operas worked within established genres of grand opéra and opéra-comique, and many of them attained considerable popularity across Europe and the wider world (such as La Reine de Chypre 1841, Charles VI…
Once the leader of the French school of opera, admired by Wagner and Berlioz, Fromental Halévy is now remembered only for La Juive. This study throws light on this shadowy figure, examining his life, his many popular but forgotten operas, and their place in history.
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The Marriage between Perfume and the Lyric Stage
The Essence of Opera
“But what is this scent of balmy air? What this ray of light in my tomb? I seem to see an angel, amid a scent of roses” sings Florestan in Fidelio, Beethoven’s only opera. The role of scents, smells, fragrances, and odours in opera has long been neglected, just as how much opera and its stars have influenced the world of perfumery from the nineteenth century to the present day. In the first book-length study on the topic, Professor Mary May Robertson explores the relationship between opera, perfumes, and their…
The role of scents in opera and its influence on perfumery has long been neglected. In the first book-length study on the topic, Professor Mary May Robertson explores the previously undiscussed connection between the two, revealing their ultimate marriage in Operatic Perfumes.
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£89.99
This study examines the life and work of François-Adrien Boieldieu (1775-1834). He is famous for the operas Jean de Paris (1812) and especially La Dame blanche (1825). Working in Paris and St Petersburg, then returning to Paris, he, collaborating with the brilliant dramatist Eugène Scribe (1791-1861), stimulated the flowering of the Romantic opéra-comique. The genre reached an apogee in his masterpiece based on Sir Walter Scott’s novel Guy Mannering (1815), with its romance of the Highlands and Scottish folklore. La Dame blanche owes something to the Romantic manner of Carl…
This study examines François-Adrien Boieldieu, composer of the masterpiece La Dame blanche. Collaborating with dramatist Eugène Scribe, he stimulated the flowering of the Romantic opéra-comique. Based on Sir Walter Scott, his work influenced composers across Europe, even Wagner.
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This study examines the life and work of Louis-Ferdinand Hérold (1791-1833), famous for the operas Marie (1826), Zampa (1831) and Le Pré aux clercs (1832), as well as for the ballets La Somnambule (1827) and La Fille mal gardée (1828). In these works, Hérold contributed to the flowering of the Romantic opéra-comique and the early Romantic ballet in Paris from the late 1820s. Hérold increased the importance of the orchestra and sought for greater depth of Romantic feeling without forfeiting a Gallic lightness of manner. Le Pré aux clercs became…
This study examines Louis-Ferdinand Hérold, whose famous works like the opera Zampa and the ballet La Fille mal gardée shaped the Romantic opéra-comique and ballet in 1820s Paris. Hérold sought greater Romantic depth without forfeiting a Gallic lightness of manner.
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The Life and Work of Percy Aldridge Grainger
Till Life Become Fire
What goes into the making of a creative genius and how can their gifts be used to help uplift humankind? These were questions that led the Australian/American pianist, composer, and music educator Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882-1961) to exhaustively document his life, his thoughts, and his associations and establish in the country of his birth a museum dedicated to helping answer those questions. Grainger was a creative genius who thought more in terms of the future than of the present and was an advocate for the role that music can play…
Creative genius Percy Grainger documented his life to explore how music can uplift humankind. This book is the first to detail his life and music using his own words, unpublished documents, and musical examples in a study that is both accessible and detailed.
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Giacomo Meyerbeer
A Critical Life and Iconography
Giacomo Meyerbeer was once one of the most famous of all opera composers, enjoying into the twentieth century the same universal admiration and performance as a composer like Puccini does today. Through a series of adverse factors, his reputation was seriously damaged with the resurgence of nationalism and the growing ant-Semitism in France and Germany at the end of the nineteenth century, the propagation of a Wagnerian operatic aesthetic, the decline of the bel canto vocal tradition, and the disfavour manifested towards the heroism of French grand opera. All these…
Once a titan of opera, Giacomo Meyerbeer’s legacy was all but erased. Based on newly recovered private papers, this definitive biography reveals the man behind the myth, charting his downfall and modern rediscovery.
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Symbol and Metaphor in Opera
The Power and the Glory
This study examines the role of symbolism in the history of opera, with its attendant use of mythology, allegory, metaphor and imagery. From the very first, Orpheus emerges as the patron and guiding light of the genre, with its roots deeply embedded in the Classical heritage. The underpinning of action and meaning in the ancient stories provides a symbolic resonance that imparts so much of the enduring mystic and meaning of this rich genre. The various types and layers of figurative concepts and language are examined throughout the history of…
This study examines symbolism throughout the history of opera, from its mythological roots to contemporary works. It analyzes how allegory, metaphor, and imagery impart the enduring mystic and meaning of this rich genre, while reflecting on its future.
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The composer Adolphe-Charles Adam (1803-1856) is known all over the world for the famous Christmas anthem ‘Minuit chrétiens’ (‘O Holy Night’). However, he wrote much more than just this. His ballet Giselle (1841) is the quintessence of mystical Romanticism and one of the most enduring works of the dance repertoire. Adam composed a series of ballets, principally for the Paris Opéra, establishing this genre as a serious and integral musical form. His last work was Le Corsaire (1856) which reaches sublime heights. However, Adam was just as famous as a…
Adolphe Adam is known for ‘O Holy Night’, but his legacy is much more. His ballet Giselle is the quintessence of Romanticism, while his opera Le Postillon de Lonjumeau is still played worldwide. This study considers the composer’s life, examining his 42 operas and 14 ballets.
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The Seven-String Guitar in Russia
Its Origins, Repertoire, and Performance Practice, 1800-1850
This definitive work on the history of the seven-string guitar in Russia, its cosmopolitan origins, its vast and diverse repertoire, and its unique sound and performance practice is a goldmine of information on the instrument’s players and composers—Andrei Sychra, Semion Aksionov, Mikhail Vysotsky, and many others––who brought the art of playing to unprecedented heights. It details various connections between this musical tradition and the country's peculiar cultural and political context, including the contribution of women composers in the 18th century, the cultural implications of the Third Partition of…
This definitive history of the seven-string guitar in Russia explores its cosmopolitan origins, diverse repertoire, and unique sound. It details the tradition’s connections to the country’s cultural and political context, including the role of the Russian Roma in its formation.
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Operetta
A Sourcebook, Volume I
Operetta developed in the second half of the 19th century from the French opéra-comique and the more lighthearted German Singspiel. As the century progressed, the serious concerns of mainstream opera were sustained and intensified, leaving a gap between opéra-comique and vaudeville that necessitated a new type of stage work. Jacques Offenbach, son of a Cologne synagogue cantor, established himself in Paris with his series of opéras-bouffes. The popular success of this individual new form of entertainment light, humorous, satirical and also sentimental led to the emergence of operetta as a…
From Offenbach’s Paris to the Vienna of Strauss and Lehár, operetta flourished. This source book presents an overview of the genre, tracing its history to modern musical comedy with composer biographies, a chronology, and selected synopses.
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This is the only comprehensive musical biography in English of Mikis Theodorakis (1925-2021), the revolutionary Greek composer. The first edition (1980) was written with the assistance and support of Theodorakis himself; this new edition was commissioned after Theodorakis’ death and extends the assessment of his work to the operas, symphonies and other works composed since 1980. As a political figure in modern Greece, Theodorakis embodied the spirit of resistance to the abuse of authority, from the Nazi occupation of his country and the ensuing civil war to the military dictatorship…
The definitive musical biography of Mikis Theodorakis, the revolutionary composer who became a Greek icon of resistance. Born from the author’s personal friendship with the composer and written with his blessing, this is the authoritative account of a true popular hero.
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Perspectives on Contemporary Musical Practices
From Research to Creation
This volume sheds light on the wide range of perspectives on musical activity today, and shows how it can be analyzed from different points of view, working within a diverse theoretical framework. It is organized into three sections, the first of which discusses the changing contexts of musical work compositions over the 20th century. The second part offers a rich and in-depth musical analysis, rigorously connected to the performative and interpretative dimension, while the third considers the relationship between technology and music, and its influence on the creation of new…
This volume sheds light on the wide range of perspectives on musical activity today. It discusses the changing contexts of 20th-century compositions, offers in-depth musical analysis connected to performance, and considers technology’s influence on musical creation.
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