Showing results for "Opera" in Arts & Entertainment

Opera is the fastest growing of all the performing arts, attracting audiences of all ages who are enthralled by the gorgeous music, vivid drama, and magnificent production values. If you've decided that the time has finally come to learn about opera and discover for yourself what it is about opera that sends your normally reserved friends into states of ecstatic abandon, this is the book for you.

To watch any opera lover listen to a favorite work, eyes clenched tight in concentration and passion, often betraying a tear, is to be almost envious. What must it be like, you might think, to love a piece of music so much?And now one of music's most gifted teachers is offering you the opportunity to answer that very question, in a spellbinding series of 32 lectures that will introduce you to the transcendentally beautiful performing art that has enthralled audiences for more than 400 years.

Here is the colorful story of sometimes temperamental composers and even more temperamental singers working in an art form which has produced some of man's noblest artistic creations. This absorbing history is illustrated by over 100 musical examples by Naxos artists as well as some of the greatest singers of the 20th century, including Enrico Caruso and Fyodor Chaliapin.

Read by the author, acclaimed conductor Jane Glover. 'You don’t have to be able to hum Mozart to find this book utterly engrossing . . . I couldn’t put it down' - Joanna Lumley An expertly researched and vividly written account of Mozart’s formative trips to Italy. At thirteen years old...

When Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died in 1791 at the age of just 35, he nonetheless left behind the defining composition in every available musical genre of his time: symphony, chamber music, masses, and above all - opera. Opera was the prestige genre of the era, and the thought of it, Mozart wrote, made him, "beside myself at once." It was a form he loved dearly, depending on it heavily for personal, professional, artistic, and financial reasons of the greatest weight.

Known as opera’s “disrupter-in-residence,” director Yuval Sharon has never adhered to the art form’s conventions. In his many productions in both the United States and Europe, he constantly challenges the perception of opera as aloof by urging, among other things: performing operas in “non-places,” such as parking lots; encouraging the use of amplification; and shuffling the traditional structure of classic works, like performing Puccini’s La bohème in reverse order, ending not with the tubercular heroine Mimi’s death but with her first falling in love.

For anyone who has been intimidated, overwhelmed, or just plain confused by what they think opera is, Who’s Afraid of Opera? offers a lively, easy-to-follow guide to what author Michael Walsh describes as “the greatest art form yet invented by humankind.” From opera’s origins in Renaissance Italy to the Who’s rock odyssey “Tommy”, and Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods”, Walsh explores what opera is and what it’s not, what makes a great singer, and why it takes Tristan so long to die.

Through a deft compilation of primary sources—letters, memoirs, and personal accounts from composers, librettists, and performers—Michael Rose re-creates for his readers the circumstances that gave rise to fifteen operatic milestones. From Monteverdi and Mozart to Puccini and Berg, each chapter focuses on a well-known opera and tells the story that lies behind its creation.

Blunt, irreverent, and at times wittily subversive, Opera Wars spotlights opera’s colorful and sometimes warring personalities, increasingly fierce controversies over content, and the battles being waged for its economic future. Drawing on interviews with dozens of opera insiders—as well as...

This audio-biography sets out to explain the timeless popularity of the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan: a colorful partnership of the most successful writers in the history of light music. It highlights Gilbert’s mastery of language - his wit, his turn of phrase, his brilliant lyrics (alternately very funny and deeply moving) - and the special melodic gift which enabled Arthur Sullivan to write music of such beauty and style. While each was a master of his craft, it was the combination that created magic sparks.

Take a captivating journey into the world of opera—from its dramatic origins and legendary voices to its grand spectacles and modern reinventions. Whether you're a lifelong aficionado or a curious newcomer, this six-part series hits every high note.For more fascinating and engaging podcasts, visit: https://www.quietperiodplease.com/Click here to browse handpicked Amazon finds inspired by this podcast series! https://amzn.to/4iH8F6y

Rigoletto gilt als das erste Meisterwerk von Giuseppe Verdi und begründet seinen Weltruhm. Bereits bei der Uraufführung, im Jahr 1851 am Teatro La Fenice in Venedig, feierte sie einen überwältigenden Erfolg und wurde in den folgenden Jahren in ganz Europa aufgeführt. Das Libretto stammt von Francesco Maria Piave und beruht auf dem Melodrama Le roi s’amuse von Victor Hugo. Die Oper steht bis heute im Programm zahlreicher Opernhäuser und ist nach wie vor eine der meistgespielten italienischen Opern.

Step into the shadows of an enchanting theatre, now under new management. Witness a diva who believes she has the voice to captivate, a young ingenue with undeniable talent, and a mysterious masked figure whose wrath knows no bounds when his desires go unmet. With a backdrop of secrets, intrigues, and the peril of falling chandeliers, the legend of the Phantom of the Opera unfolds before your very ears! (Summary by Karen Savage)

The Beggar's Opera by John Gay is a satirical ballad opera that cleverly critiques 18th-century politics, society, and corruption. Set in a criminal underworld mirroring upper-class behavior, it follows the story of the roguish highwayman Macheath, who is caught in a web of betrayal, love, and deceit. With humorous commentary on greed, hypocrisy, and power, the play uses popular tunes of the time to parody traditional opera. This groundbreaking work remains a sharp, entertaining critique of human nature and societal structures - Summary by Dream AudioBooks

In this podcast, young singers Emma Steiner and Cara Ellman attempt to bring modern voices to the world of opera. In each episode, they highlight an opera and synopsize it to make it more relatable, fun, or at the very least, understandable.

Explore the thrilling world of opera and its component parts in our series of podcasts, produced as part of the DARE partnership between Opera North and the University of Leeds.

La Traviata owes its enduring popularity to a superb story of young love and fatal sacrifice, set to music by Italy’s master melodist at the peak of his powers. Interest and poignancy are added by the fact that this is a true story - the baritone ‘heavy’ is Alexander Dumas who wrote The Count of Monte Cristo. But it is the central figure, the heroine Violetta, the archetypal ‘whore with the heart of gold’ who dominates the piece. It is her opera and we love her for it.

“Opera Essence: 100% freshly squeezed opera juice” is an Opera a colori podcast giving you everything you need to know to help you enjoy the world’s finest Operas! For each opera there are two episodes where you will discover the plot in a clear and abridged version and 5 fun facts where you will hear a few anecdotes, which other than giving you a bit more background, can be used in conversation in the theatre foyer or at dinner, making you sound like a connoisseur of opera even if it’s the first time you have ever seen one!Instagram: @opera_a_colori

Wagner’s Ring cycle is the most ambitious work in the history of music: four operas that combine to tell a single epic story. Based in legend, it has become a legend in its own right: a supreme challenge for conductors, singers, opera producers, and indeed for audiences. But for all its grandeur and complexity, The Ring is far more accessible than many music lovers think.

The World of Opera is your gateway to the most celebrated operatic masterpieces from around the globe. Each episode dives deep into a different opera, unraveling its story, music, and historical context in a way that both seasoned opera lovers and newcomers will enjoy. With a fresh, engaging tone, we explore the fascinating world of composers, divas, and timeless arias that have shaped the opera stage. Join us as we take you behind the curtains of grand opera houses and bring the beauty and drama of these great works to life. Whether you’re a longtime fan or just beginning your operatic ...