Wagner and His Operas ([The New Grove composers series]) - Hardcover

Sadie, Stanley (editor)

9780333790212: Wagner and His Operas ([The New Grove composers series])

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0333790219 ISBN 13: 9780333790212

Publisher: St Martins Press, 2000

Wagner and his Operas is derived from the prestigious New Grove Dictionary of Opera, the world's leading reference work on opera. Wagner and his Operas brings together in one affordable volume the story of Richard Wagner's life and career, and synopses and authoritative appreciations of all his operas from Die Feen ('The Fairies') to Die Walk|re ('The Valkyrie'). A chronological table will help the reader to situate Wagner'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, Wagner and his Operas will be an enjoyable and enlightening read for opera lovers of all levels.

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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.

Arnold Whittal contributes a trenchant, clear, and concise discussion of leitmotif, yet he still manages to make an important connection to Stockhausen and Schoenberg. Many readers will first be drawn to the excellent synopses of the operas (including the early, unfamiliar works). In many cases, such as Barry Millington's nine-page guide to Tristan und Isolde, it is difficult to imagine how this could be better handled.

The book includes a glossary, an index to names of roles, and a few musical examples. Readers will want much more discussion of the performance histories of the works--a crucial issue with regard to Wagner--but will not otherwise be disappointed. The series also includes volumes on Mozart, 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.

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