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Abramo Basevi published his study of Verdi's operas in Florence in 1859, in the middle of the composer's career. The first thorough, systematic examination of Verdi's operas, it covered the twenty works produced between 1842 and 1857-from Nabucco and Macbeth to Il trovatore, La traviata, and Aroldo. But while Basevi's work is still widely cited and discussed-and nowhere more so than in the English-speaking world-no translation of the entire volume has previously been available. The Operas of Giuseppe Verdi fills this gap, at the same time providing an invaluable critical apparatus and commentary on Basevi's work. As a contemporary of Verdi and a trained musician, erudite scholar, and critic conversant with current and past operatic repertories, Basevi presented pointed discussion of the operas and their historical context, offering today's readers a unique window into many aspects of operatic culture, and culture in general, in Verdi's Italy. He wrote with precision on formal aspects, use of melody and orchestration, and other compositional features, which made his study an acknowledged model for the growing field of music criticism. Carefully annotated and with an engaging introduction and detailed glossary by editor Stefano Castelvecchi, this translation illuminates Basevi's musical and historical references as well as aspects of his language that remain difficult to grasp even for Italian readers. Making Basevi's important contribution to our understanding of Verdi and his operas available to a broad audience for the first time, The Operas of Giuseppe Verdi will delight scholars and opera enthusiasts alike.

MUSIC / General. --- Verdi, Giuseppe, --- verdi, opera, drama, performing arts, theater, music, nabucco, macbeth, il trovatore, la traviata, aroldo, melody, orchestration, i lombardi alla prima crociata, ernani, due foscari, giovanna darco, alzira, attila, masnadieri, corsaro, battaglia di legnano, luisa miller, stiffelio, rigoletto, de guzman, simon boccanegra, nonfiction, history, culture, musicology, criticism.

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Opera performances are often radically inventive. Composers' revisions, singers' improvisations, and stage directors' re-imaginings continually challenge our visions of canonical works. But do they go far enough? This elegantly written, beautifully concise book, spanning almost the entire history of opera, reexamines attitudes toward some of our best-loved musical works. It looks at opera's history of multiple visions and revisions and asks a simple question: what exactly is opera? Remaking the Song, rich in imaginative answers, considers works by Handel, Mozart, Donizetti, Verdi, Wagner, Puccini, and Berio in order to challenge what many regard as sacroscant: the opera's musical text. Scholarly tradition favors the idea of great operatic texts permanently inscribed in the canon. Roger Parker, considering examples ranging from Cecilia Bartoli's much-criticized insistence on using Mozart's alternative arias in the Marriage of Figaro to Luciano Berio's new ending to Puccini's unfinished Turandot, argues that opera is an inherently mutable form, and that all of us-performers, listeners, scholars-should celebrate operatic revisions as a way of opening works to contemporary needs and new pleasures.

Music --- Operas. --- Hermeneutics (Music) --- Musical aesthetics --- Aesthetics --- Music theory --- Burlettas --- Comic operas --- Intermezzos (Operas) --- Light operas --- Opera buffas --- Opera serias --- Opéras comiques --- Operettas --- Puppet operas --- Singspiels --- Dramatic music --- Philosophy and aesthetics. --- Philosophy --- Philosophy and aesthetics --- adaptation. --- adelia. --- amato. --- aria. --- art criticism. --- art. --- azucena. --- bartoli. --- berio. --- boito. --- cabaletta. --- composers. --- donizetti. --- drama. --- europe. --- ferrarese. --- gypsies. --- handel. --- il trovatore. --- la traviata. --- marriage of figaro. --- mozart. --- music history. --- music theory. --- nonfiction. --- opera singers. --- opera. --- operatic texts. --- performance. --- performing arts. --- puccini. --- revision. --- rigoletto. --- stage directors. --- susanna. --- theater. --- theatrical music. --- turandot. --- verdi. --- wagner.