Search results for ""Author Giacomo Puccini""

The Black Dog Opera Library is the best, easiest and most informative and budget-friendly way to enjoy four of the greatest operas of all time. Finally available again, and packaged with gorgeous new covers, each book in the library includes the complete opera on 2 CDs, featuring world-class performances and orchestras; the complete libretto, plus its English translation; an exciting history of the opera; a biography of the composer; a synopsis of the story, broken down by act and scene; and dozens of photographs and drawings depicting performances, singers, sets, costumes, and more.La Boh?me features Nicolai Gedda and Mirella Freni, with Thomas Schippers conducting the Orchestro e Coro del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma.Also available:Carmen features Grace Bumbry, Jon Vickers, Mirella Freni, and Kostas Paskalis, with Rafael Fru?beck de Burgos conducting the Orchestra of the Th??tre National de l'Op?ra. La Traviata features Beverly Sills, Nicolai Gedda, and Rolando Panerai, with Aldo Ceccato conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; The Marriage of Figaro features Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Heather Harper, Judith Blegen, Geraint Evans, Teresa Berganza, and Birgit Finnil?, with Daniel Barenboim conducting the English Chamber Orchestra.Listen. Enjoy. Learn.

Read more less

These Opera Guides are ideal companions to the opera. They provide stimulating introductory articles together with the complete text of each opera in English and the original. ‘Puccini’s motto could be: “The maximum effect with the simplest means”,’ suggests Bernard Keeffe. He analyses different aspects of the score, noting particularly Puccini’s genius for orchestration, and the infinitely subtle effects that give the melodrama irresistible vitality. Stuart Woolfe’s scholarly assessment of the significance of the historical themes for Puccini explains many of the motives of the protagonists. Tosca is a supreme example of music’s power to enthral an audience and Bernard Williams discusses the particular quality of its appeal.

Read more less

There's a reason ÊLa Boh¬meÊ has been staged at the Met more often than any other opera: Puccini's enticing music perfectly conveys the enchantment of new young love and the anguish that comes with loss and death. ÊLa Boh¬meÊ the passionate and timeless story of love among impoverished young artists in Paris can stake its claim as the world's most popular opera. It has a marvelous ability to make a powerful first impression (even on those new to opera) and to reveal unexpected treasures after dozens of hearings. At first glance ÊLa Boh¬meÊ is the definitive depiction of the joys and sorrows of love and loss; on closer inspection it reveals the deep emotional significance hidden in the trivial things (a bonnet an old overcoat a chance meeting with a neighbor) that make up our everyday lives. This touching story of tenderness and tragedy never fails to move audiences and melt hearts.ÞThis gorgeous souvenir libretto includes extensive background notes and photos from productions through the years.

Read more less

These Opera Guides are ideal com-panions to the opera. They provide stimulating introductory articles together with the complete text of each opera in English and the original. Italian opera expert William Ashbrook asks why this love story attracted new audiences to the opera house when it was first performed, and what gives this 'tragedy of fragile sentiment' such an enduring appeal. Neither subject nor score is conventional, yet the sound picture is bound together with a quickness and lightness of touch that the young composer learnt from the eighty-year-old Verdi, whose Falstaff was premiered while La boheme was being conceived. Joanna Richardson surveys the actual Bohemians who inspired, or at least unwittingly supplied the raw material for, Murger's book on which the story is based. Edward Greenfield and Nicholas John examine the subtleties of this best-loved of operas and the merits of a libretto which took Italy's best librettists over three years to finish.

Read more less

Puccini’s La bohème is one of the most beloved and enduring operas of all time. In this guide, William Ashbrook evaluates the opera’s initial reception, the reasons for its wide appeal and Verdi’s influence on the composition. Nicholas John discusses the tortuous evolution of the libretto over the course of three and a half years and gives a synopsis, outlining the main themes of La bohème. Edward Greenfield presents an essay on the musical structure and consistency of the opera, whose ‘very accessibility tends to obscure the musical genius behind the score’. Finally, Joanna Richardson surveys the Bohemians in Paris portrayed by Henry Murger, whose stories formed the basis for Puccini’s work. This edition has over twenty photographs, a detailed thematic analysis and the original libretto with a facing literal translation by William Weaver. It also has an up-to-date bibliography, discography, DVD and website details. The guide is essential reading for anyone interested in the background to this opera, its themes and composition.

Read more less

Tosca, one of Puccini’s greatest and most popular operas, is a supreme example of music’s power to enthral the audience. In his introductory essay to this guide, Bernard Williams discusses the enduring quality of its appeal. Bernard Keeffe, in his article, analyses different aspects of the score, noting Puccini’s special genius for orchestration and the subtle effects that give the opera its irresistible vitality, while Stuart Woolf’s survey of the historical background reveals its political and nationalistic undertones. Enriched by twenty-five archive photographs, a detailed thematic analysis, the original libretto with the facing literal translation and a section containing up-to-date discographical and bibliographical information, this guide will prove an invaluable companion for opera-goers and anyone wanting to delve deeper into the genesis, history and significance of Puccini’s work.

Read more less

“A Turandot filtered through a modern brain”, wrote Puccini, describing his plans to rework the eighteenth-century fable by Carlo Gozzi. According to Mosco Carner, Puccini’s last and supreme work is an advanced score which, with an orchestration that reflects contemporaries such as Richard Strauss and Stravinsky as well as genuine Chinese rhythms and harmonies, remains true to the Italian vocal tradition. The musicologist Jürgen Maehder analyses of the ending, which Franco Alfano composed from Puccini’s sketches. In addition, the great British soprano Dame Eva Turner recalls her experiences of singing the title role, of which she was a legendary interpreter. Contents: The Genesis of the Opera, Mosco Carner; The Score, Mosco Carner; Puccini’s ‘Turandot’: A Fragment, Jürgen Maehder; Carlo Gozzi’s ‘Turandot’ and Its Transformation into Puccini’s Libretto, John Black; Memories of Performing ‘Turandot’, Eva Turner; Turandot: Libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni; Turandot: English literal translation by William Weaver

Read more less

Madama Butterfly is one of the most popular operas of all time, despite its disastrous premiere, after which it was immediately withdrawn and revised. This guide explores how and why the libretto was softened to suit the tastes of European opera-goers, and the different variants are set out, side by side. Professor Jean-Pierre Lehmann introduces the story and shows how the theme of a Japanese girl deserted by a heartless foreigner became a classic. Since John Luther Long’s novella – on which the opera was based – is included as well, it is possible to judge how successful Puccini was in catching its essence in his hauntingly beautiful score. Contents: Images of the Orient, John-Pierre Lehmann; Tribulations of a Score, Julian Smith; Madame Butterfly, John Luther Long; Madama Butterfly: Libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi lllica after the book by John Luther Long and the play by David Belasco; Madam Butterfly: English version based on that of R.H. Elkin

Read more less