Opera: Passion Power Politics

About this book

Opera is traditionally regarded as an elitist art form far removed from reality with its fantastical plots and melodramatic divas. This lush new book shows that beneath all the opulent sets and sumptuous costumes operalike all the artsdraws on essential human emotions creating an experience that can be endlessly reinvented to reflect changes in society. Through the lens of seven opera premieres in seven cities across the past 400 years the authors look at snapshots in time where politics art and social history intersected providing an immersive account of the society from which these pieces and performances evolved. Noted opera designers performers conductors singers and directors come together with musicologists and historians to discuss the following premieres: Venice Monteverdis LIncoronazione di Poppea (1642) London Handels Rinaldo (1711) Vienna Mozarts The Marriage of Figaro (1786) Milan Verdis Nabucco (1842) Paris Wagners Tannhuser (1861) Dresden Strauss Salome (1905) St Petersburg Shostakovitchs Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (1934) This book will fascinate seasoned opera goers and history buffs alike.