The Puccini Problem

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The Puccini Problem

Author : Alexandra Wilson
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1139460196
Total Pages : 211 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (394 download)

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Book Synopsis The Puccini Problem by : Alexandra Wilson

Download or read book The Puccini Problem written by Alexandra Wilson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2007-03-08 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A detailed investigation of the reception and cultural contexts of Puccini's music, this book offers a fresh view of this historically important but frequently overlooked composer. Wilson's study explores the ways in which Puccini's music and persona were held up as both the antidote to and the embodiment of the decadence widely felt to be afflicting late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Italy, a nation which although politically unified remained culturally divided. The book focuses upon two central, related questions that were debated throughout Puccini's career: his status as a national or international composer, and his status as a traditionalist or modernist. In addition, Wilson examines how Puccini's operas became caught up in a wide range of extra-musical controversies concerning such issues as gender and class. This book makes a major contribution to our understanding of both the history of opera and of the wider artistic and intellectual life of turn-of-the-century Italy.

Puccini's La Bohème

Author : Alexandra Wilson
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190637919
Total Pages : 177 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (96 download)

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Book Synopsis Puccini's La Bohème by : Alexandra Wilson

Download or read book Puccini's La Bohème written by Alexandra Wilson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-11-20 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème is one of the most frequently performed operas in the world. But how did it come to be so adored? In this book, author Alexandra Wilson traces La Bohème's rise to fame and demonstrates that its success grew steadily through stage performances, recordings, filmed versions and the endorsements of star singers. More recently, popular songs, film soundtracks and musicals that draw on the opera's music and themes added further to its immense cultural impact. This cultural history offers a fresh reading of a familiar work. Wilson argues that La Bohème's approach to realism and its flouting of conventions of the Italian operatic tradition made it strikingly modern for the 1890s. She explores how Puccini and his librettists engaged with gender, urban poverty and nostalgia--themes that grew out of the work's own time and continue to resonate with audiences more than 120 years later. Her analysis of the opera's depiction of Paris reveals that La Bohème was not only influenced by the romantic mythologies surrounding the city to this day but also helped shape them. Wilson's consideration of how directors have reinvented this opera for a new age completes this fascinating history of La Bohème, making it essential reading for anyone interested in this opera and the works it inspired.

Puccini in Context

Author : Alexandra Wilson
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1108875688
Total Pages : 517 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (88 download)

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Book Synopsis Puccini in Context by : Alexandra Wilson

Download or read book Puccini in Context written by Alexandra Wilson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2023-09-14 with total page 517 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exploring the many dimensions of Giacomo Puccini's historical legacy and significance, this book situates the much-loved opera composer within the cultural, social, political, and aesthetic contexts of his time and demonstrates how political concerns shape the way we approach and interpret his works in the present day.

Puccini Without Excuses

Author : William Berger
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 0307542904
Total Pages : 480 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (75 download)

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Book Synopsis Puccini Without Excuses by : William Berger

Download or read book Puccini Without Excuses written by William Berger and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2009-07-01 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Puccini is the most beloved composer of opera in the world: one quarter of all opera performances in the U.S. are of his operas, his music pervades movie soundtracks, and his plots have infiltrated our popular culture. But, although Puccini’s art still captivates audiences and the popularity of such works as Tosca, La Bohéme, and Madama Butterfly has never waned, he has long been a victim of critical snobbery and cultural marginalization. In this witty and informative guide for beginners and fans alike, William Berger sets the record straight, reclaiming Puccini as a serious artist. Combining his trademark irreverent humor with passionate enthusiasm, Berger strikes just the right balance of introductory information and thought-provoking analysis. He includes a biography, discussions of each opera, a glossary, fun facts and anecdotes, and above all keen insight into Puccini’s enduring power. For anyone who loves Puccini and for anyone who just wonders what all the fuss is about, Puccini Without Excuses is funny, challenging, and always a pleasure to read. INCLUDES: • Why Puccini’s art and its message of hope is crucial to our world today • How Anglo audiences often miss the mythic significance of his operas • The use of his music as shorthand in films, from A Room with a View to Fatal Attraction • A scene-by scene analysis of each opera • A guide to the wealth of available recordings, books, and videos

The Puccini Problem

Author : Alexandra May Wilson (musicologue.)
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 313 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (469 download)

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Book Synopsis The Puccini Problem by : Alexandra May Wilson (musicologue.)

Download or read book The Puccini Problem written by Alexandra May Wilson (musicologue.) and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Giacomo Puccini and His World

Author : Arman Schwartz
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400884063
Total Pages : 360 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

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Book Synopsis Giacomo Puccini and His World by : Arman Schwartz

Download or read book Giacomo Puccini and His World written by Arman Schwartz and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2016-08-09 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924) is the world's most frequently performed operatic composer, yet he is only beginning to receive serious scholarly attention. In Giacomo Puccini and His World, an international roster of music specialists, several writing on Puccini for the first time, offers a variety of new critical perspectives on the composer and his works. Containing discussions of all of Puccini’s operas from Manon Lescaut (1893) to Turandot (1926), this volume aims to move beyond clichés of the composer as a Romantic epigone and to resituate him at the heart of early twentieth-century musical modernity. This collection’s essays explore Puccini’s engagement with spoken theater and operetta, and with new technologies like photography and cinema. Other essays consider the philosophical problems raised by "realist" opera, discuss the composer’s place in a variety of cosmopolitan formations, and reevaluate Puccini’s orientalism and his complex interactions with the Italian fascist state. A rich array of primary source material, including previously unpublished letters and documents, provides vital information on Puccini’s interactions with singers, conductors, and stage directors, and on the early reception of the verismo movement. Excerpts from Fausto Torrefranca’s notorious Giacomo Puccini and International Opera, perhaps the most vicious diatribe ever directed against the composer, appear here in English for the first time. The contributors are Micaela Baranello, Leon Botstein, Alessandra Campana, Delia Casadei, Ben Earle, Elaine Fitz Gibbon, Walter Frisch, Michele Girardi, Arthur Groos, Steven Huebner, Ellen Lockhart, Christopher Morris, Arman Schwartz, Emanuele Senici, and Alexandra Wilson.

Giacomo Puccini

Author : Linda B. Fairtile
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1135592349
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (355 download)

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Book Synopsis Giacomo Puccini by : Linda B. Fairtile

Download or read book Giacomo Puccini written by Linda B. Fairtile and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-08 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Puccini

Author : Julian Budden
Publisher : Master Musicians
ISBN 13 : 0195179749
Total Pages : 538 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (951 download)

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Book Synopsis Puccini by : Julian Budden

Download or read book Puccini written by Julian Budden and published by Master Musicians. This book was released on 2005 with total page 538 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Julian Budden provides a look at the process of putting an opera together, the cut-and-slash of nineteenth-century Italian opera, -the struggle to find the right performers for the debut of La Boheme, Puccini's anxiety about completing Turandot (he in fact died of cancer before he did so), and his animosity toward his rival Leoncavallo (whom he called Leonasino or "lion-ass"). Budden provides an analysis of the operas themselves, examining the music act by act. He highlights, among other things, the influence of Wagner on Puccini--alone among his Italian contemporaries, Puccini followed Wagner's example in bringing the motif into the forefront of his narrative, sometimes voicing the singer's unexpressed thoughts, sometimes sending out a signal to the audience of which the character is unaware. And Budden also paints a portrait of Puccini the man--talented but modest, a man who had friends from every walk of life: shopkeepers, priests, wealthy landowners, fellow artists. --From publisher's description.

Opera in the Jazz Age

Author : Alexandra Wilson
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0190912669
Total Pages : 257 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (99 download)

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Book Synopsis Opera in the Jazz Age by : Alexandra Wilson

Download or read book Opera in the Jazz Age written by Alexandra Wilson and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2018-12-31 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jazz, the Charleston, nightclubs, cocktails, cinema, and musical theatre: 1920s British nightlife was vibrant and exhilarating. But where did opera fit into this fashionable new entertainment world? Opera in the Jazz Age: Cultural Politics in 1920s Britain explores the interaction between opera and popular culture at a key historical moment when there was a growing imperative to categorize art forms as "highbrow," "middlebrow," or "lowbrow." Literary studies of the so-called "battle of the brows" have been numerous, but this is the first book to consider the place of opera in interwar debates about high and low culture. This study by Alexandra Wilson argues that opera was extremely difficult to pigeonhole: although some contemporary commentators believed it to be too highbrow, others thought it not highbrow enough. Opera in the Jazz Age paints a lively and engaging picture of 1920s operatic culture, and introduces a charismatic cast of early twentieth-century critics, conductors, and celebrity singers. Opera was performed during this period to socially mixed audiences in a variety of spaces beyond the conventional opera house: music halls, cinemas, cafés and schools. Performance and production standards were not always high - often quite the reverse - but opera-going was evidently great fun. Office boys whistled operatic tunes they had heard on the gramophone and there was a genuine sense that opera was for everyone. In this provocative and timely study, Wilson considers how the opera debate of the 1920s continues to shape the ways in which we discuss the art form, and draws connections between the battle of the brows and present-day discussions about elitism. The book makes a major contribution to our understanding of the cultural politics of twentieth-century Britain and is essential reading for anybody interested in the history of opera, the battle of the brows, or simply the perennially fascinating decade that was the 1920s.

Puccini's La Bohème

Author : Alexandra Wilson
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190637900
Total Pages : 128 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (96 download)

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Book Synopsis Puccini's La Bohème by : Alexandra Wilson

Download or read book Puccini's La Bohème written by Alexandra Wilson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-11-10 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème is one of the most frequently performed operas in the world. But how did it come to be so adored? In this book, author Alexandra Wilson traces La Bohème's rise to fame and demonstrates that its success grew steadily through stage performances, recordings, filmed versions and the endorsements of star singers. More recently, popular songs, film soundtracks and musicals that draw on the opera's music and themes added further to its immense cultural impact. This cultural history offers a fresh reading of a familiar work. Wilson argues that La Bohème's approach to realism and its flouting of conventions of the Italian operatic tradition made it strikingly modern for the 1890s. She explores how Puccini and his librettists engaged with gender, urban poverty and nostalgia--themes that grew out of the work's own time and continue to resonate with audiences more than 120 years later. Her analysis of the opera's depiction of Paris reveals that La Bohème was not only influenced by the romantic mythologies surrounding the city to this day but also helped shape them. Wilson's consideration of how directors have reinvented this opera for a new age completes this fascinating history of La Bohème, making it essential reading for anyone interested in this opera and the works it inspired.

Il Trittico, Turandot, and Puccini's Late Style

Author : Andrew Davis
Publisher : Indiana University Press
ISBN 13 : 0253004721
Total Pages : 328 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (53 download)

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Book Synopsis Il Trittico, Turandot, and Puccini's Late Style by : Andrew Davis

Download or read book Il Trittico, Turandot, and Puccini's Late Style written by Andrew Davis and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2010-09-09 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Giacomo Puccini is one of the most frequently performed and best loved of all operatic composers. In Il Trittico, Turandot, and Puccini's Late Style, Andrew Davis takes on the subject of Puccini's last two works to better understand how the composer creates meaning through the juxtaposition of the conventional and the unfamiliar -- situating Puccini in past operatic traditions and modern European musical theater. Davis asserts that hearing Puccini's late works within the context of la solita forma allows listeners to interpret the composer's expressive strategies. He examines Puccini's compositional language, with insightful analyses of melody, orchestration, harmony, voice-leading, and rhythm and meter.

Giacomo Puccini

Author : Conrad Wilson
Publisher : Phaidon Press
ISBN 13 : 9780714847757
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (477 download)

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Book Synopsis Giacomo Puccini by : Conrad Wilson

Download or read book Giacomo Puccini written by Conrad Wilson and published by Phaidon Press. This book was released on 2008-04-23 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The life of Giacomo Puccini, composer of many well-loved operas.

Landscape and Gender in Italian Opera

Author : Emanuele Senici
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521834377
Total Pages : 380 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (343 download)

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Book Synopsis Landscape and Gender in Italian Opera by : Emanuele Senici

Download or read book Landscape and Gender in Italian Opera written by Emanuele Senici and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-08-11 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An unusual look at Italian opera in the nineteenth century.

The Question of Animal Awareness

Author : Donald Redfield Griffin
Publisher : Rockefeller Univ. Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 148 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis The Question of Animal Awareness by : Donald Redfield Griffin

Download or read book The Question of Animal Awareness written by Donald Redfield Griffin and published by Rockefeller Univ. Press. This book was released on 1981 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The Italian Traditions & Puccini

Author : Nicholas Baragwanath
Publisher : Indiana University Press
ISBN 13 : 0253001668
Total Pages : 439 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (53 download)

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Book Synopsis The Italian Traditions & Puccini by : Nicholas Baragwanath

Download or read book The Italian Traditions & Puccini written by Nicholas Baragwanath and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2011-07-08 with total page 439 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A major contribution . . . not only to Puccini studies but also to the study of nineteenth-century Italian opera in general.” —Nineteenth-Century Music Review In this groundbreaking survey of the fundamentals, methods, and formulas that were taught at Italian music conservatories during the 19th Century, Nicholas Baragwanath explores the compositional significance of tradition in Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, Boito, and, most importantly, Puccini. Taking account of some 400 primary sources, Baragwanath explains the varying theories and practices of the period in light of current theoretical and analytical conceptions of this music. The Italian Traditions and Puccini offers a guide to an informed interpretation and appreciation of Italian opera by underscoring the proximity of archaic traditions to the music of Puccini. “Dense and challenging in its detail and analysis, this work is an important addition to the growing corpus of Puccini studies. . . . Highly recommended.” —Choice

Franco Alfano

Author : Konrad Dryden
Publisher : Scarecrow Press
ISBN 13 : 0810869713
Total Pages : 239 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (18 download)

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Book Synopsis Franco Alfano by : Konrad Dryden

Download or read book Franco Alfano written by Konrad Dryden and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 2009-09-01 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Franco Alfano: Transcending Turandot is the first fully documented biography in any language of Italy's last verismo composer, Franco Alfano (1875-1954), the composer chosen to complete Giacomo Puccini's swansong, Turandot, in 1924. Alfano remains one of the most undervalued composers, despite arguably representing the best of Puccini's contemporaries. His ability and prowess and his intimate friendship with Puccini, led to his selection for Turandot's completion: a daunting, enervating, and ultimately thankless task, which nearly robbed him of sight. This biography finally sheds light on Alfano's view of the events, as opposed to the all-too customary Toscanini/Puccini perspective, thereby revealing a largely unknown facet of one of the most important operatic works of the 20th-century. Konrad Dryden, a friend of the composer's late daughter, Nina Alfano, sets out to unravel and organize the facts of Alfano's life, offering a chronological presentation of the composer's vita as well as an examination of his major operas and their literary origins, providing the most complete portrait of the composer to date. Based on unpublished correspondence from international archives freshly translated by Dryden, the book also sheds light on such colleagues and contemporaries as Puccini, Toscanini, Mary Garden, Edward Johnson, Giordano, Rostand, Mascagni, and Mussolini. A selection of previously unpublished photographs is included, as well as plot synopses of Alfano's operatic works. A foreword by the legendary soprano Magda Olivero-his preferred interpreter and Li_ in the world premiere recording of Turandot-and an appendix listing the composer's opus round out this important reference.

Puccini's Turandot

Author : William Ashbrook
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400866677
Total Pages : 204 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

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Book Synopsis Puccini's Turandot by : William Ashbrook

Download or read book Puccini's Turandot written by William Ashbrook and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2014-12-25 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unfinished at Puccini's death in 1924, Turandot was not only his most ambitious work, but it became the last Italian opera to enter the international repertory. In this colorful study two renowned music scholars demonstrate that this work, despite the modern climate in which it was written, was a fitting finale for the centuries-old Great Tradition of Italian opera. Here they provide concrete instances of how a listener might encounter the dramatic and musical structures of Turandot in light of the Italian melodramma, and firmly establish Puccini's last work within the tradition of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi. In a summary of the sounds, sights, and symbolism of Turandot, the authors touch on earlier treatments of the subject, outline the conception, birth, and reception of the work, and analyze its coordinated dramatic and musical design. Showing how the evolution of the libretto documents Puccini's reversion to large musical forms typical of the Great Tradition in the late nineteenth century, they give particular attention to his use of contrasting Romantic, modernist, and two kinds of orientalist coloration in the general musical structure. They suggest that Puccini's inability to complete the opera resulted mainly from inadequate dramatic buildup for Turandot's last-minute change of heart combined with an overly successful treatment of the secondary character.