Opera Buffa in Mozart's Vienna

by Mary Hunter, James Webster

Overview

This collection of essays, presented by an internationally known team of scholars, explores the world of Vienna and the development of opera buffa in the second half of the eighteenth century. Among the topics explored are the relationship of Viennese opera buffa to French theater; Mozart and eighteenth century comedy; gender, nature and bourgeois society on Mozart's buffa stage; as well as close examinations of key works such as Don Giovanni and Figaro.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521572392
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/27/1997
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Opera
Pages:	472
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.29(h) x 1.22(d)

Table of Contents

Notes on contributors; Acknowledgements; Introduction Mary Hunter and James Webster; Part I. Historical and Literary Contexts: 1. Goldoni, opera buffa, and Mozart's advent in Vienna Daniel Heartz; 2. Lo specchio francese: Viennese opera buffa and the legacy of French theatre Bruce Alan Brown; 3. Il re alla caccia and Le roi et le fermier: Italian and French treatments of class and gender Marvin Carlson; 4. Mozart and eighteenth-century comedy Paolo Gallarati; Part II. Social and Generic Meanings: 5. The sentimental muse of opera buffa Edmund J. Goehring; 6. The biology lessons of opera buffa: gender, nature, and Bourgeois society on Mozart's buffa stage Tia Denora; 7. Bourgeois values and Opera Buffa in 1780's Vienna Mary Hunter; 8. Opera seria? Opera buffa? Genre and style as sign Marita P. McLymonds; 9. Figaro as misogynist: on aria types and aria rhetoric Ronald J. Rabin; 10. The alternative endings of Mozart's Don Giovanni Michael F. Robinson; 11. Don Giovanni: recognition denied Jessica Waldoff; Part III. Analytical and Methodological Issues: 12. Analysis and dramaturgy: reflections towards a theory of Opera Sergio Durante; 13. Understanding opera buffa: analysis = interpretation James Webster; 14. Operatic ensembles and the problem of the Don Giovanni sextet John Platoff; 15. Buffo roles in Mozart's Vienna: tessitura and tonality as signs of characterization Julian Rushton; List of works cited; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Highly involved, with countless details , the book is a superb in-depth look into a fascinating period of music history. Highly recommended...." American Record Guide

"...a clear picture of the bifurcation of 18th-century opera...graduate students through faculty and the occasional ambitious undergraduate." Choice

"Together, the essays in this volume, expertly written by all contributors, help to explain the lasting success of the Mozart/da Ponte collaborations..." Henry Bloch, Journal of the Conductors Guild

"...a thoughtful critical evaluation of the various analytical and methodological approaches encountered in the book..." E. Thomas Glasow, Opera Quarterly

From the Publisher