Overview

Opera is a visceral, emotional experience. No prior knowledge is needed to enjoy a soaring aria, or to be moved to laughter and to tears by popular operas like Carmen and La Boheme. But to fully appreciate this centuries-old art form, one must know its history and the many ways its component parts-music, poetry, theater-can be fit together. In A Mad Love, critic Vivien Schweitzer offers a lively introduction to opera, spanning from Monteverdi's L'Orfeo in 1600, generally considered the first successful opera, to Dead Man Walking and Anna Nicole Smith in recent decades. Along the way, she introduces readers to the genre's most important composers, performers, and conductors, and to its key terminology, from coloratura to recitative. She recounts the longstanding debates about how best to pair story and song that have shaped opera over the centuries, highlighting some of the ways operas have shocked and delighted listeners. Dissecting opera's eclectic musical language, she equips readers to assess precisely how a particular performance succeeded or failed. There is undoubtedly a thrill to hearing a great opera singer fill a beautiful, historic theater with his or her unamplified voice. But today, opera ranges far beyond these traditional quarters; it is everywhere, from movie theaters to public parks and offbeat performance spaces to our earbuds. A Mad Love is an essential book for anyone who wants to appreciate this living, evolving art form in all its richness.

Full Product Details

9780465096930

Table of Contents

Reviews

A lively and engaging introduction to an art form that belongs to us all, whether or not we know it yet. Welcome in. --Tim Page, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and professor of music and journalism, University of Southern California Dynamic. Passionate. Searing. ALIVE! Vivien Schweitzer's A Mad Love: An Introduction to Opera captures everything I love about this often misunderstood art form. She connects the stories and musical treasures from across the centuries of opera to go straight to the heart of why opera is addictive and life-affirming. This is the perfect starting point if you're a beginner, and an ideal landing point if you need to be reminded of why you fell in love with opera in the first place! --Joyce DiDonato A lively and engaging introduction to an art form that belongs to us all, whether or not we know it yet. Welcome in.--Tim Page, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and professor of music and journalism, University of Southern California,

A lively and engaging introduction to an art form that belongs to us all, whether or not we know it yet. Welcome in.--Tim Page, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and professor of music and journalism, University of Southern California,

A lively and engaging introduction to an art form that belongs to us all, whether or not we know it yet. Welcome in.--Tim Page, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and professor of music and journalism, University of Southern California

Author Information

Vivien Schweitzer is a writer and pianist based in New York. She worked for ten years as a classical music and opera critic for the New York Times. She has also written for the BBC, the Moscow Times, and The Economist.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available