Remaking the song : operatic visions and revisions from Handel to Berio / Roger Parker.

Author/creator Parker, Roger, 1951-
Format Book
Publication InfoBerkeley, CA : University of California Press, ©2006.
Descriptionxii, 165 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
Subjects
Operas.
Music--Philosophy and aesthetics.

SeriesErnest Bloch lectures
Ernest Bloch lectures. ^A19935
Contents Remaking the song -- Of Andalusian maidens and recognition scenes: crossed wires in Il Trovatore and La Traviata -- Ersatz ditties: Adriana Ferrarese's Susanna -- In search of Verdi -- Berio's Turandot: once more the great tradition -- Sudden charms: the progress of an aria.
Abstract Opera performances are often radically inventive. Composers? revisions, singers? improvisations, and stage directors? re-imaginings continually challenge our visions of canonical works. But do they go far enough? This elegantly written, beautifully concise book, spanning almost the entire history of opera, reexamines attitudes toward some of our best-loved musical works. It looks at opera's history of multiple visions and revisions and asks a simple question: what exactly is opera? This book, rich in imaginative answers, considers works by Handel, Mozart, Donizetti, Verdi, Wagner, Puccini, and Berio in order to challenge what many regard as sacroscant: the opera?s musical text. Scholarly tradition favors the idea of great operatic texts permanently inscribed in the canon. The author, considering examples ranging from Cecilia Bartoli's much-criticized insistence on using Mozart's alternative arias in the Marriage of Figaro to Luciano Berio's new ending to Puccini's unfinished Turandot, argues that opera is an inherently mutable form, and that all of us?performers, listeners, scholars?should celebrate operatic revisions as a way of opening works to contemporary needs and new pleasures.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references (pages 141-160) and index.
LCCN 2005020676
ISBN0520244184 (cloth : alk. paper)

Availability

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Music Music Stacks ML1700 .P37 2006 ✔ Available Place Hold