Mozart and His Operas - Hardcover

Sadie, Stanley

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0333790197 ISBN 13: 9780333790199

Publisher: Macmillan Reference Ltd St Martins, 2000

Synopsis

Mozart and his Operas is derived from the prestigious New Grove Dictionary of Opera, the world's leading reference work on opera. Mozart and his Operas brings together in one affordable volume not only the story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's life and career, and synopses and appreciations of all his operas from Apollo et Hyacinthus ('Apollo and Hyacinthus') to Die Zauberflvte ('The Magic Flute'), but looks also at the singers and librettists with whom Mozart is most closely associated. A chronological table will help the reader to situate Mozart's operas in the wider context of his life and career, and a glossary will provide readers with concise and informative explanations of any operatic terms used in the text. Generously illustrated, Mozart and his Operas will be an enjoyable and enlightening read for opera lovers of all levels.

About this title

Review:

Although the material in this useful new volume is culled from the New Grove Dictionary of Opera, there is no sense of dry, academic detachment. The "Interpreters" section, for example, concentrates on singers and conductors who created the canonical operas, and the juxtapositions of repertory are fascinating.

Many readers will first be drawn to the excellent synopses of the operas (including the early, unfamiliar works). Julian Rushton's contributions are exemplary. He manages to cover the sprawling plot of The Magic Flute with economy yet still find room to make an interpretive point about the Papageno-Papagena duet and address the issue of antifeminism in this work. His notes on Cosi fan tutte don't neglect the touchy subject of how the opera is supposed to end. Rushton acknowledges the difficulty of ordering the scenes in Act III of The Marriage of Figaro while still keeping the plot foremost.

The book includes a glossary (which, however, lacks an entry for buffo), an index to names of roles, and a few musical examples. Readers will want much more discussion of the performance histories of the works, but will not otherwise be disappointed. The series also includes volumes on Wagner, Puccini, and Verdi. --William R. Braun

About the Author:

STANLEY SADIE edited The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1980) and The New Grove Dictionary of Opera (1992), both of which are the standard international reference works. From 1967 to 1987 he was editor of The Musical Times, the most senior musical journal of its kind, and for seventeen years was a music critic for the London Times. He was President of the International Musicological Society from 1972 to 1997.

About this edition

• Publisher: Macmillan Reference Ltd St Martins
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0333790197
• ISBN 13: 9780333790199
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1