The Cambridge Companion to Twentieth-Century Opera

by Mervyn Cooke

Overview

Celebrating the extraordinary diversity of operatic achievements in the twentieth century, this Companion brings together the work of scholars from both sides of the Atlantic. Beginning with a survey of operatic legacies, the volume analyzes regional styles and aesthetic trends, and features essays on opera and film, popular operetta and the musical, avant-garde music theatre and minimalism, market forces, changing styles and production trends.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521783934
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	12/08/2005
Series:	Cambridge Companions to Music Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	428
Product dimensions:	6.85(w) x 9.72(h) x 0.87(d)

About the Author

Mervyn Cooke is Professor of Music at the University of Nottingham. His books include studies of Britten's Billy Budd and War Requiem (Cambridge University Press), Britten and the Far East, Jazz, and The Chronicle of Jazz; he has also edited The Cambridge Companion to Benjamin Britten and (with David Horn) The Cambridge Companion to Jazz. He is currently writing a history of film music for Cambridge University Press, and is a co-editor of the ongoing and critically acclaimed edition of Britten's correspondence published by Faber. He is also active as a pianist and composer, his compositions having been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and Radio France, and performed at London's South Bank and St John's Smith Square.

Table of Contents

A chronology of twentieth-century opera Nigel Simeone; Part I. Legacies: 1. Opera in transition Arnold Whittall; 2. Wagner and beyond John Deathridge; 3. Puccini and the Italian tradition Virgilio Bernardoni; Part II. Trends: 4. Words and actions Caroline Harvey; 5. Symbolist opera: trials, triumphs, tributaries Philip Weller; 6. Expression and construction: the stage works of Schoenberg and Berg Alan Street; 7. Neo-classical opera Christopher Walton; Part III. Topographies: 8. France and the Mediterranean Nigel Simeone; 9. Austria and Germany, 1918—1960 Guido Heldt; 10. Eastern Europe Rachel Beckles Willson; 11. Russian opera: between modernism and romanticism Marina Frolova-Walker; 12. American opera: innovation and tradition Elise K. Kirk; 13. Opera in England: taking the plunge Christopher Mark; Part IV. Directions: 14. Music theatre since the 1960s Robert Adlington; 15. Minimalist opera Arved Ashby; 16. Opera and film Mervyn Cooke; 17. Popular musical theatre (and film) Stephen Banfield; 18. Opera in the marketplace Nicholas Payne; 19. Technology and interpretation: aspects of 'modernism' Tom Sutcliffe.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The editor has done an excellent job of covering this varied and multifaceted topic. The essays aptly meet the series' aim of providing useful information to both general readers and specialists in the field." — Choice

"This thorough guide provides a wealth of information on the wide array of twentieth-century operatic works and trends, with contributions from numerous distinguished scholars." —The Opera Journal

Editorial Reviews

"The editor has done an excellent job of covering this varied and multifaceted topic. The essays aptly meet the series' aim of providing useful information to both general readers and specialists in the field." — Choice

"This thorough guide provides a wealth of information on the wide array of twentieth-century operatic works and trends, with contributions from numerous distinguished scholars." —The Opera Journal

From the Publisher