Opera

Image of Wandering through Life: A Memoir
Author(s):
Donna Leon
Genre(s):
Biography, Autobiography & Memoir, Music, Opera, Travel Writing

Wandering through Life: A Memoir

September 18, 2023
Reviewed by: 
John M. Clum

In her introduction to this memoir, Donna Leon confesses, “I have never planned more than the first step in anything I’ve done.” Perhaps that is why Wandering through Life is a series of s

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Image of "Don Giovanni" Captured: Performance, Media, Myth (Opera Lab: Explorations in History, Technology, and Performance)
Author(s):
Richard Will
Genre(s):
Opera, Music, Music

"Don Giovanni" Captured: Performance, Media, Myth (Opera Lab: Explorations in History, Technology, and Performance)

June 13, 2022
Reviewed by: 
John M. Clum

“For those of us who care about opera, Don Giovanni Captured is a fascinating book.”

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Image of The Real Traviata: The Song of Marie Duplessis
Author(s):
Rene Weis
Genre(s):
Biography, Autobiography & Memoir, Historical, Opera, French

The Real Traviata: The Song of Marie Duplessis

March 31, 2019
Reviewed by: 
John M. Clum

“Weis’ book is particularly fascinating in offering a detailed picture of the place of the courtesan in 19th century Parisian social life.”

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Image of Carmen and the Staging of Spain: Recasting Bizet's Opera in the Belle Epoque (Currents in Latin American and Iberian Music)
Author(s):
Michael Christoforidis
Genre(s):
Music, Opera

Carmen and the Staging of Spain: Recasting Bizet's Opera in the Belle Epoque (Currents in Latin American and Iberian Music)

January 17, 2019
Reviewed by: 
John M. Clum

“There are detailed descriptions of performances of the opera and adaptations it inspired and the book is richly illustrated.

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Image of Opera in the Jazz Age: Cultural Politics in 1920s Britain
Author(s):
Alexandra Wilson
Genre(s):
Music, Opera

Opera in the Jazz Age: Cultural Politics in 1920s Britain

January 7, 2019
Reviewed by: 
John M. Clum

English opera in the 1920s may seem to some an odd topic. What we now know as the Royal Opera did not begin until after World War II.

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Image of A Mad Love: An Introduction to Opera
Author(s):
Vivien Schweitzer
Genre(s):
Music, Opera

A Mad Love: An Introduction to Opera

September 24, 2018
Reviewed by: 
Grace Lichtenstein

“a valuable and blessedly concise addition to the literature.”

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Image of Verdi: The Man Revealed
Author(s):
John Suchet
Genre(s):
Biography, Autobiography & Memoir, Musicians, Music, Opera

Verdi: The Man Revealed

July 10, 2018
Reviewed by: 
Lew Whittington

Verdi’s life was the stuff operas are made of: sex scandals, political turmoil, creative pitfalls, testy divas, and meddling producers, but nothing stopped him from becoming the most famous opera c

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Image of Being Wagner: The Story of the Most Provocative Composer Who Ever Lived
Author(s):
Simon Callow
Genre(s):
Biography, Autobiography & Memoir, Musicians, Music, Opera

Being Wagner: The Story of the Most Provocative Composer Who Ever Lived

April 30, 2018
Reviewed by: 
John M. Clum

Actor-writer Simon Callow has published books on larger-than-life figures Oscar Wilde, Charles Laughton, and Orson Welles.

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Image of The Real Traviata: The Song of Marie Duplessis
Author(s):
Rene Weis
Genre(s):
Biography, Autobiography & Memoir, Historical, Opera, French

The Real Traviata: The Song of Marie Duplessis

January 23, 2016
Reviewed by: 
Michelle Martinez

Fans of Verdi's opera La Traviata and readers who enjoy biographies of courtesans won't want to miss this gem by Rene Weis, a regular contributor to the Royal Opera House programs.

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