{"product_id":"150-years-of-opera-in-chicago-9780875803531","title":"150 Years of Opera in Chicago","description":"\u003cp\u003eChicagos love affair with opera began early  in 1850  when the frontier town welcomed its first traveling opera singers. A full house applauded the opening performance  but during a repeat performance the next day  the theater burned to the ground. Nonetheless  Chicago had been bitten by the opera bug  and it has never lost its enthusiasm for the art. More than sixty yearsand many visiting opera companieswould pass before the city established an opera company of its own. Robert Marsh recounts the trials and triumphs of the entrepreneurs and the colorful international artists who brought opera to Chicago and staged it in a number of different theaters. In the first half of the twentieth century  seven opera companies were started in Chicagoand failed. Finally  in 1954  three friends launched the company that became Lyric Opera of Chicago  and the city gained a company that not only thrived but earned recognition as one of the nations great cultural institutions. This book also details the history and fortunes of the Chicago Opera Theater from its inception in 1974 to the present. Singers  musicians  enterprising impresarios  richly decorated opera houses  and performances that held audiences spellbound all figure into Marshs lively account of opera in Chicago. The story also provides an overview of changes in the operatic repertoire  audience development  and approaches to production as opera grew from a \"stand-and-sing\" event to its full flowering as enriching musical drama. Enlivened with nearly a hundred illustrations  150 Years of Opera in Chicago embraces its subject enthusiastically. This broad and engaging overview is supplemented with a list of professional opera performances in Chicago  from 1850 to 2005.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45646666924085,"sku":"ByrdShop_0875803539","price":39.07,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780875803531.jpg?v=1781676980","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/150-years-of-opera-in-chicago-9780875803531","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}