History Through the Opera Glass

By George Jellinek

Book Overview

This first-of-its-kind, highly entertaining, and carefully researched account reveals how nearly 200 operas by leading composers and librettists have portrayed the major events and personalities of more than 2000 years of history. In a continuous and absorbing narrative, the book sweeps from Roman times to 1820, with a cast of characters that includes Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Attila, Charlemagne, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Catherine the Great, Napoleon - and hundreds more. All are seen as the figures historians generally perceive them to have been and as their on-stage counterparts, created and re-imagined by some of opera's greatest artists.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879102845
• ISBN13: 9780879102845
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: Limelight
• Length: 42 Pages
• Weight: 1.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Do not miss this ....

This book is a treasure trove of connections, perspectives and yes, real history that is directly related to the world of Opera. So often Opera is seen as some rarified gallery of pretentious invented characters that seemingly interact only in the most insane of plot contrivances. Mr Jellinek's book firmly resists this outlook and reaffirms one of the best kept secrets of the world of Opera and that is that Opera composers and to some extant their librettists, were simply trying to retell the stories of private lives that inhabit the history that belongs to us all. The book is not an easy read and not one you must read cover to cover. It is a highly useful terrifically engaging reference for every level of Opera goer, from the "only curious" to the student of music, to every board member of every Opera house in the world. Thank you George!