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9780190637897

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Wilson's exploration of La boheme takes the reader on a thoroughly fascinating journey, which starts from an approachable, jargon-free reading of the opera and its cultural context, and then travels from late nineteenth-century Paris, where the opera is set, through diverse times and places.Balancing admirably between documents and interpretation, and paying due attention to popular culture and conceptual staging, this book is a model in its kind, and will engage readers who are looking for an entry point into a beloved masterpiece as well as those who are already familiar with La boheme and in search of new insights and perspectives. * Francesco Izzo, Professor of Music University of Southampton and General Editor of The Works of Giuseppe Verdi * Wilson is one of a few truly innovative Puccini scholars writing today. In this fascinating new book she explains how - against many odds and contrary to the expectations of early critics - La boheme became the work that still speaks to all of us, across generations and regardless of national, social and cultural boundaries. Her book is peppered with fascinating responses to Puccini's opera, from directors, critics and audiences. If we are to understand the success of Puccini's language, we have to look beyond conventional ideas of operatic italianita. Wilson's book shows us how to do this. * Axel Koerner, University College London *

Wilson is one of a few truly innovative Puccini scholars writing today. In this fascinating new book she explains how - against many odds and contrary to the expectations of early critics - La boheme became the work that still speaks to all of us, across generations and regardless of national, social and cultural boundaries. Her book is peppered with fascinating responses to Puccini's opera, from directors, critics and audiences. If we are to understand the success of Puccini's language, we have to look beyond conventional ideas of operatic italianita. Wilson's book shows us how to do this. * Axel Koerner, University College London * Wilson's exploration of La boheme takes the reader on a thoroughly fascinating journey, which starts from an approachable, jargon-free reading of the opera and its cultural context, and then travels from late nineteenth-century Paris, where the opera is set, through diverse times and places.Balancing admirably between documents and interpretation, and paying due attention to popular culture and conceptual staging, this book is a model in its kind, and will engage readers who are looking for an entry point into a beloved masterpiece as well as those who are already familiar with La boheme and in search of new insights and perspectives. * Francesco Izzo, Professor of Music University of Southampton and General Editor of The Works of Giuseppe Verdi *

"""Wilson's exploration of La bohème takes the reader on a thoroughly fascinating journey, which starts from an approachable, jargon-free reading of the opera and its cultural context, and then travels from late nineteenth-century Paris, where the opera is set, through diverse times and places.ÂBalancing admirably between documents and interpretation, and paying due attention to popular culture and conceptual staging, this book is a model in its kind, and will engage readers who are looking for an entry point into a beloved masterpiece as well as those who are already familiar with La bohème and in search of new insights and perspectives."" -- Francesco Izzo, Professor of Music University of Southampton and General Editor of The Works of Giuseppe Verdi ""Wilson is one of a few truly innovative Puccini scholars writing today. In this fascinating new book she explains how DL against many odds and contrary to the expectations of early critics DL La bohème became the work that still speaks to all of us, across generations and regardless of national, social and cultural boundaries. Her book is peppered with fascinating responses to Puccini's opera, from directors, critics and audiences. If we are to understand the success of Puccini's language, we have to look beyond conventional ideas of operatic italianità. Wilson's book shows us how to do this."" -- Axel Körner, University College London"

Author Information

Alexandra Wilson is Professor of Music and Cultural History at Oxford Brookes University. Her research focuses on opera and operatic culture from the nineteenth century to the present. Her publications include the award-winning The Puccini Problem: Opera, Nationalism, and Modernity and a monograph on Opera in the Jazz Age: Cultural Politics in 1920s Britain (OUP, 2019), and she regularly works with the UK's leading opera companies.

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