The Opera Lover's Companion

Yale University Press

Contents

Preface.............................................................................................xiDANIEL-FRAN��OIS-ESPRIT AUBER........................................................................1Fra Diavolo, ou L'h��tellerie de Terracine...........................................................1SAMUEL BARBER.......................................................................................3Vanessa.............................................................................................3B��LA BART��K.........................................................................................4Duke Bluebeard's Castle.............................................................................4LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN................................................................................6Fidelio.............................................................................................6VINCENZO BELLINI....................................................................................11I Capuleti e i Montecchi............................................................................11La sonnambula.......................................................................................14Norma...............................................................................................18I puritani..........................................................................................23ALBAN BERG..........................................................................................27Wozzeck.............................................................................................27Lulu................................................................................................31HECTOR BERLIOZ......................................................................................35Benvenuto Cellini...................................................................................35B��atrice et B��n��dict................................................................................38Les Troyens.........................................................................................40GEORGES BIZET.......................................................................................45Les P��cheurs de perles..............................................................................45Carmen..............................................................................................47ALEXANDR BORODIN....................................................................................53Prince Igor.........................................................................................53BENJAMIN BRITTEN....................................................................................56Peter Grimes........................................................................................56The Rape of Lucretia................................................................................61Albert Herring......................................................................................63Billy Budd..........................................................................................65Gloriana............................................................................................69The Turn of the Screw...............................................................................72A Midsummer Night's Dream...........................................................................75Death in Venice.....................................................................................79FERRUCCIO BUSONI....................................................................................82Doktor Faust........................................................................................82EMANUEL CHABRIER....................................................................................85L'��toile............................................................................................85GUSTAVE CHARPENTIER.................................................................................86Louise..............................................................................................86FRANCESCO CILEA.....................................................................................88Adriana Lecouvreur..................................................................................88DOMENICO CIMAROSA...................................................................................90Il matrimonio segreto...............................................................................90LUIGI DALLAPICCOLA..................................................................................92Il prigioniero......................................................................................92CLAUDE DEBUSSY......................................................................................93Pell��as et M��lisande................................................................................93L��O DELIBES.........................................................................................97Lakm��...............................................................................................97GAETANO DONIZETTI...................................................................................101Anna Bolena.........................................................................................101L'elisir d'amore....................................................................................104Lucrezia Borgia.....................................................................................107Maria Stuarda.......................................................................................109Lucia di Lammermoor.................................................................................112La Fille du regiment................................................................................116Don Pasquale........................................................................................119ANTONIN DVOR��K......................................................................................122Rusalka.............................................................................................122FRIEDRICH VON FLOTOW................................................................................125Martha, oder der Markt von Richmond.................................................................125JOHN GAY............................................................................................129The Beggar's Opera..................................................................................129GEORGE GERSHWIN.....................................................................................132Porgy and Bess......................................................................................132UMBERTO GIORDANO....................................................................................136Andrea Ch��nier......................................................................................136Fedora..............................................................................................140MIKHAIL GLINKA......................................................................................143A Life for the Tsar.................................................................................143Ruslan i Lyudmila...................................................................................145CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK...........................................................................147Orfeo ed Euridice...................................................................................147Alceste.............................................................................................150Iphig��nie en Aulide.................................................................................152Iphig��nie en Tauride................................................................................154CHARLES FRAN��OIS GOUNOD.............................................................................156Faust...............................................................................................156Rom��o et Juliette...................................................................................160FROMENTAL HAL��VY....................................................................................163La Juive............................................................................................163GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL..............................................................................165Giulio Cesare in Egitto.............................................................................165Ariodante...........................................................................................169Alcina..............................................................................................171Serse...............................................................................................173Semele..............................................................................................175HANS WERNER HENZE...................................................................................177Boulevard Solitude..................................................................................177PAUL HINDEMITH......................................................................................179Cardillac...........................................................................................179Mathis der Maler 181ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK...............................................................................182H��nsel und Gretel...................................................................................182K��nigskinder........................................................................................185LEOS JAN��CEK........................................................................................186Jenufa..............................................................................................186Katya Kabanova......................................................................................190The Cunning Little Vixen............................................................................193The Makropulos Affair...............................................................................196From the House of the Dead..........................................................................199RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO.................................................................................202Pagliacci...........................................................................................202PIETRO MASCAGNI.....................................................................................205Cavalleria rusticana................................................................................205L'amico Fritz.......................................................................................207JULES MASSENET......................................................................................209Manon...............................................................................................209Werther.............................................................................................214Cendrillon..........................................................................................219Don Quichotte.......................................................................................221GIAN CARLO MENOTTI..................................................................................225The Medium..........................................................................................225The Telephone.......................................................................................226The Consul..........................................................................................226Amahl and the Night Visitors........................................................................227GAICOMO MEYERBEER...................................................................................228Les Huguenots.......................................................................................228Le Proph��te.........................................................................................232L'Africaine.........................................................................................234CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI..................................................................................237Orfeo...............................................................................................237Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria.......................................................................240L'incoronazione di Poppea...........................................................................244DOUGLAS S. MOORE....................................................................................248The Ballad of Baby Doe..............................................................................248WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART.............................................................................250Mitridate, r�� di Ponto..............................................................................250Lucio Silla.........................................................................................254La finta giardiniera................................................................................257Idomeneo, r�� di Creta...............................................................................258Die Entf��hrung aus dem Serail.......................................................................263Le nozze di Figaro..................................................................................266Don Giovanni........................................................................................273Cos�� fan tutte......................................................................................279La clemenza di Tito.................................................................................284Die Zauberfl��te.....................................................................................287MODEST MUSSORGSKY...................................................................................292Boris Godunov.......................................................................................292Khovanshchina.......................................................................................296Sorochintsy Fair....................................................................................299JACQUES OFFENBACH...................................................................................300Les Contes d'Hoffmann...............................................................................300HANS PFITZNER.......................................................................................304Palestrina..........................................................................................304AMILCARE PONCHIELLI.................................................................................306La Gioconda.........................................................................................306FRANCIS POULENC.....................................................................................310Dialogues des carm��lites............................................................................310SERGEI PROKOFIEV....................................................................................313The Love for Three Oranges..........................................................................313The Fiery Angel.....................................................................................316War and Peace.......................................................................................319GIACOMO PUCCINI.....................................................................................322Manon Lescaut.......................................................................................322La Boh��me...........................................................................................326Tosca...............................................................................................330Madama Butterfly....................................................................................334La fanciulla del West...............................................................................338Il trittico: Il tabarro; Suor Angelica; Gianni Schicchi.............................................342Turandot............................................................................................348HENRY PURCELL.......................................................................................352Dido and Aeneas.....................................................................................352MAURICE RAVEL.......................................................................................355L'Heure espagnole...................................................................................355L'Enfant et les sortileges..........................................................................357NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV.............................................................................360The Golden Cockerel.................................................................................360GIOACHINO ROSSINI...................................................................................363Tancredi............................................................................................363L'italiana in Algeri................................................................................365Il turco in Italia..................................................................................368Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra....................................................................371Il barbiere di Siviglia.............................................................................373La Cenerentola......................................................................................378La gazza ladra......................................................................................381Mos�� in Egitto......................................................................................383La donna del lago...................................................................................386Semiramide..........................................................................................388Le Comte Ory........................................................................................391Guillaume Tell......................................................................................393CAMILLE SAINT-SA��NS.................................................................................397Samson et Dalila....................................................................................397ARNOLD SCHOENBERG...................................................................................399Moses und Aron......................................................................................399DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH.................................................................................402The Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.........................................................................402BEDRICH SMETANA.....................................................................................405The Bartered Bride..................................................................................406Dalibor.............................................................................................408JOHANN STRAUSS II...................................................................................410Die Fledermaus......................................................................................410Der Zigeunerbaron...................................................................................414RICHARD STRAUSS.....................................................................................416Salome..............................................................................................416Elektra.............................................................................................420Der Rosenkavalier...................................................................................424Ariadne auf Naxos...................................................................................428Die Frau ohne Schatten..............................................................................432Intermezzo..........................................................................................437Arabella............................................................................................440Daphne..............................................................................................445Capriccio...........................................................................................447IGOR STRAVINSKY.....................................................................................450Oedipus rex.........................................................................................450The Rake's Progress.................................................................................453KAROL SZYMANOWSKI...................................................................................456King Roger..........................................................................................456PETER ILITSCH TCHAIKOVSKY...........................................................................457Eugene Onegin.......................................................................................457The Queen of Spades.................................................................................460MICHAEL TIPPETT.....................................................................................464The Midsummer Marriage..............................................................................464King Priam..........................................................................................467GIUSEPPE VERDI......................................................................................469Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio......................................................................469Nabucco.............................................................................................471I lombardi alla prima crociata......................................................................475Ernani..............................................................................................478Attila..............................................................................................481Macbeth.............................................................................................483I masnadieri........................................................................................487Luisa Miller........................................................................................489Stiffelio...........................................................................................492Rigoletto...........................................................................................494Il trovatore........................................................................................499La traviata.........................................................................................503Les V��pres siciliennes..............................................................................506Simon Boccanegra....................................................................................509Un ballo in maschera................................................................................513La forza del destino................................................................................518Don Carlos..........................................................................................524Aida................................................................................................529Otello..............................................................................................534Falstaff............................................................................................538RICHARD WAGNER......................................................................................543Rienzi..............................................................................................543Der fliegende Holl��nder.............................................................................546Tannh��user..........................................................................................550Lohengrin...........................................................................................555Tristan und Isolde..................................................................................561Die Meistersinger von N��rnberg......................................................................567Der Ring des Nibelungen: Das Rheingold; Die Walk��re; Siegfried; G��tterd��mmerung.....................573Parsifal............................................................................................589CARL MARIA VON WEBER................................................................................594Der Freisch��tz......................................................................................594Oberon..............................................................................................597KURT WEILL..........................................................................................600Die Dreigroschenoper................................................................................600Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny...............................................................603BERND ALOIS ZIMMERMANN..............................................................................605Die Soldaten........................................................................................605Index of Titles.....................................................................................609General Index.......................................................................................612

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Excerpted from The Opera Lover's Companionby CHARLES OSBORNE Copyright © 2004 by Charles Osborne. Excerpted by permission.
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