Opera's first master : the musical dramas of Claudio Monteverdi / Mark Ringer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ringer, Mark.

Series:

Unlocking the masters series ; no. 8.

Unlocking the masters series ; no. 8

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Monteverdi, Claudio, 1567-1643. Operas.

Monteverdi, Claudio.

Opera--Italy--17th century.

Opera.

Operas--Excerpts.

Operas.

Genre:

Excerpts.

Physical Description:

xiv, 344 pages ; 23 cm + 1 audio disc (digital ; 4 3/4 in.)

Place of Publication:

Pompton Plains, N.J. : Amadeus Press, 2006.

Summary:

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) was the first great opera composer and is often hailed as the creator of modern music. His genius was often likened to that of Mozart, Wagner, and Verdi, but in many of the world's opera houses his operas often receive an almost chilly respect, far removed from the nearly universal love aroused by those later masters. This book, the first layperson's guide to Monteverdi, seeks to stimulate appreciation for his operas by examining them not as musicological relics but as the vital theatrical experiences they are. Ringer places Monteverdi's operatic works within the musical and theatrical framework of his era, offering a brief sketch of the composer's early years and detailing the complex forces that led to the emergence of opera in late sixteenth-century Florence. Opera's First Master enables opera lovers to see and hear Monteverdi's masterpieces anew, while opening new channels of inquiry into how Monteverdean opera "works" in the theater. HARDCOVER.

Contents:

Introduction : Living with Monteverdi's operas

Monteverdi and the path to L'Orfeo : polyphony, madrigal, and Monteverdi's early years

"Lend me a castrato" : opera comes to Mantua

"So that memory of his glory may live" : L'Orfeo

The first lost opera and other works for Mantua

"Contraries to move the mind" : Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda and the journey toward the Venetian operas

"Tempests are kind, and salt waves fresh in love" : Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria

"Nothing human is alien to me" : L'incoronazione di Poppea.

Contents of compact disc: L'Orfeo. Toccata ; La Musica, Prologue ; Possente spirito ; Ritornello, Orfeo son io

Il ballo delle ingrate. Ballo

Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria. Di misera regina ; O dolor! ; Illustratevi, o cieli

L'incoronazione di Poppea. Amici, è giunta l'ora ; Or che Seneca è morto ; Poppea and Arnalta's "lullaby" scene ; Addio Roma ; Pur ti miro. [The final excerpt now believed to be from Pastor regio by Ferrari.]

Notes:

Includes discography (pages [311]-313), bibliographical references (pages [315]-326), and index.

Contains:

Monteverdi, Claudio, 1567-1643. Orfeo. Selections

Monteverdi, Claudio, 1567-1643. Madrigals, book 8. Ballo delle ingrate. Selections

Monteverdi, Claudio, 1567-1643. Ritorno d'Ulisse in patria. Selections

Monteverdi, Claudio, 1567-1643. Incoronazione di Poppea. Selections

Ferrari, Benedetto, approximately 1603-1681. Pastor regio. Pur ti miro, pur ti godo

ISBN:

1574671103

OCLC:

64486333

Publisher Number:

9781574671100