Italian Opera

Italy was the birthplace of opera. In this authoritative and accessible account of Italian opera, David Kimbell introduces the composers and dramatists, the singers and audiences who, over three hundred years, have created not only a national tradition but the central tradition from which others have drawn their inspiration. He traces the history of Italian opera from its origins in the humanism of the Renaissance to Puccini in the early twentieth century, drawing attention not only to musical issues but also to the social, literary, and philosophical ideas that have shaped modern Italian civilisation. Each part is illustrated by a detailed critical discussion of a key work.

List of illustrations; Preface; A note on Italian prosody; Map; Introduction: the Italianness of Italian opera; Part I. The Origins of Opera: 1. The Renaissance intermedi; 2. The elements of early opera; 3. The beginnings of opera; 4. Monteverdi's Orfeo; Part II. The Venetian Hegemony: 5. Opera in seventeenth-century Rome; 6. Opera comes to Venice; 7. The nature of Venetian opera; 8. The development of the musical language; 9. Cesti's L'Orontea; Part III. Opera Seria: 10. The dramma per musica; 11. 'Perfection and public favour'; 12. The performance of opera seria; 13. The collapse of the Metastasian ideal; 14. Opera seria in an age of ferment; 15. A half-century of L'Olimpiade; Part IV. The Tragedy of Comedy: 16. The commedia dell'arte; 17. Contrascene and intermezzi; 18. The flowering of comic opera in Naples and Venice; 19. Apogee and decline; 20. Il barbiere di Siviglia: Paisiello's and Rossini's settings; Part V. Romantic Opera: 21. Italian Romanticism; 22. Dramatic themes: the libretto; 23. The life of the theatre; 24. The musical language of Italian Romantic opera; 25. Rossini in Naples; 26. A franker Romanticism; 27. The young Verdi; 28. Bellini's Norma; Part VI. Cosmopolitanism and Decadence: 29. Italian grand opera; 30. Scapigliati and bohemians; 31. Verdi and Boito; 32. Verismo; Personalia; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

David Kimbell traces the history of Italian opera from its origins in the humanism of the Renaissance to Puccini in the early twentieth century. He draws attention not only to musical issues but also to the social, literary, and philosophical ideas that have shaped modern Italian civilisation.