The Metropolitan has stood among the grandest of opera companies since its birth in 1883. Tracing the offstage/onstage workings of this famed New York institution, Charles Affron and Mirella Jona Affron tell how the Met became and remains a powerful actor on the global cultural scene. In this first new history of the company in thirty years, each of the chronologically sequenced chapters surveys a composer or a slice of the repertoire and brings to life dominant personalities and memorable performances of the time. From the opening night Faust to the recent controversial production of Wagner’s "Ring," Grand Opera is a remarkable account of management and audience response to the push and pull of tradition and reinvention. Spanning the decades between the Gilded Age and the age of new media, this story of the Met concludes by tipping its hat to the hugely successful "Live in HD" simulcasts and other twenty-first-century innovations. Grand Opera’s appeal extends far beyond the large circle of opera enthusiasts. Drawing on unpublished documents from the Metropolitan Opera Archives, reviews, recordings, and much more, this richly detailed book looks at the Met in the broad context of national and international issues and events.

The Amato Opera Company has delighted music lovers throughout the years, establishing an extraordinary artistic tradition in New York City. -- Bill Clinton The Amato Opera theatre is a truly extraordinary New York cultural institution and it is a priceless addition to our great Citys music industry. -- Rudolph W. Giuliani Author Anthony (Tony) Amato produced full-staged grand opera in New York City for 61 years. Now Tony tells his storyfrom his earliest childhood in Minori, Italy; immigration to the U.S.; his early career in restaurant kitchens and as a butcher; and the courtship of his beloved wife Sally when they were both young, working singers. The book goes on to describe how Tony and Sally created The Smallest Grand Opera in the World, gaining international critical acclaim in the process. The Smallest Grand Opera in the World is a story of the extraordinary will and effort of two people in an uncommon marriage and partnership. It is a joyous story in which Tony willingly shares the secrets of why The Amato Opera was a success. It is a how-to book for the aspiring theatre professional as well as an inspiration for all who have ever dreamed of being a part of the miraculous world of opera.

This 2003 Companion is a fascinating and accessible exploration of the world of grand opera. Through this volume a team of scholars and writers on opera examine those important Romantic operas which embraced the Shakespearean sweep of tragedy, history, love in time of conflict, and the struggle for national self-determination. Rival nations, rival religions and violent resolutions are common elements, with various social or political groups represented in the form of operatic choruses. The book traces the origins and development of a style created during an increasingly technical age, which exploited the world-renowned skills of Parisian stage-designers, artists, and dancers as well as singers. It analyses in detail the grand operas by Rossini, Auber, Meyerbeer and Halévy, discusses grand opera in Russia and Germany, and also in the Czech lands, Italy, Britain and the Americas. The volume also includes an essay by the renowned opera director David Pountney.

Nineteenth-century French grand opera was a musical and cultural phenomenon with an important and widespread transnational presence in Europe. Primary attention in the major studies of the genre has so far been on the Parisian context for which the majority of the works were originally written. In contrast, this volume takes account of a larger geographical and historical context, bringing the Europe-wide impact of the genre into focus. The book presents case studies including analyses of grand opera in small-town Germany and Switzerland; grand operas adapted for Scandinavian capitals, a cockney audience in London, and a court audience in Weimar; and Portuguese and Russian grand operas after the French model. Its overarching aim is to reveal how grand operas were used – performed, transformed, enjoyed and criticised, emulated and parodied – and how they became part of musical, cultural and political life in various European settings. The picture that emerges is complex and diversified, yet it also testifies to the interrelated processes of cultural and political change as bourgeois audiences, at varying paces and with local variations, increased their influence, and as discourses on language, nation and nationalism influenced public debates in powerful ways.

THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER | WITH EXCLUSIVE NEW MATERIAL 'I want to be Sheila Hancock when I grow up' - Lorraine Kelly 'Wise, witty, kind and true' – Sunday Times 'A sparkling memoir as funny and insightful as it's moving' – Daily Mail 'A captivating memoir' – Mail on Sunday In 2016, Sheila Hancock sat down to write a book about a serene and fulfilled old age. This is not that book. In Old Rage, one of Britain's best-loved actors opens up about her tenth decade. Funny, feisty, honest, she makes for brilliant company as she talks about her life and takes an uncompromising look at a world so different from the one of her wartime childhood. And yet – despite age, despite rage – she finds there are always reasons for joy. 'The much-loved actor candidly shares the fear, joy and frustration she has found in her ninth decade' Guardian, Books of the Year 2022 'Sheila Hancock reflects upon her life and career with all the winning candour and warm-heartedness we have come to expect from the legendary actress' Waterstones

The show is a fund raiser put on by the Little Sisters of Hoboken to raise money to bury sisters accidently poisoned by the convent cook, Sister Julia (Child of God). -- Publisher's description.

"Book describes the world premiere of the American opera based on Melville's novel Moby-Dick, with the same name. Wallace describes the creative process of writing the music and libretto, the rehearsals and stage design, and the opening night in Dallas in May 2010."--ECIP Data View, Summary.

Employing a remarkable combination of expertise in music, opera, and psychological insight, Eric Plaut explores the great operas and their composers from the time of the French Revolution to the onset of the First World War. He sees opera as the preeminent medium for expressing human willfulness, its characters driven by emotions of passionate intensity. The great composers of opera were also governed by their feelings and heavily influenced by the life of their time. Weaving together these social, psychological, and historical strains, Dr. Plaut investigates the meaning behind eighteen of the greatest operas, including Tristan and Isolde, Madame Butterfly, Tosca, Die Fledermaus, The Barber of Seville, Aida, Tales of Hoffmann, Fidelio, Lucia di Lammermoor, Carmen, Boris Godounov, Otello, Salome, and Faust. At the same time he looks into the lives of their composers, seeking those experiences and characteristics which help to explain both the opera in question and the composer's larger body of works. The result is an unusually satisfying and perceptive view of grand opera, a book that will be essential for opera lovers and informative and entertaining for general readers.