Opera As Drama
Published on 21. August 2013
272 pages
978-0-307-83400-3 (ISBN)
Description
Passionate, witty, and brilliant, Opera as Drama has been lauded as one of the most controversial, thought-provoking, and entertaining works of operatic criticism ever written. First published in 1956 and revised in 1988, Opera as Drama continues to be indispensable reading for all students and lovers of opera.
More details
Person
JOSEPH KERMAN was a leading musicologist, music critic, and music educator from the 1950s to the 2000s. He reshaped our understanding and appreciation of Western classical music with his first book, Opera as Drama (1956), to his last, Opera and the Morbidity of Music (2008), including his studies on Bach, Beethoven, William Byrd, concertos, and more. He was a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, where he served two terms as chair of the Music Department. He wrote Listen together with his wife, Vivian Kerman.
Content
- Intro
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Foreword
- Contents
- Introduction: Opera as Drama
- The Tradition
- 1. Orpheus: the Neoclassic Vision
- 2. The Dark Ages
- 3. Action and the Musical Continuity
- 4. Mozart
- 5. Otello: Traditional Opera and the Image of Shakespeare
- Reform
- 6. Opera as Sung Play
- 7. Opera as Symphonic Poem
- Retrenchment
- 8. Wozzeck and The Rake's Progress
- 9. Drama and the Alternative
