Wow! eBook
The Gilded Stage: A Social History of Opera Main Edition
Author(s): Daniel Snowman (Author)
- Publisher: Atlantic Books
- Publication Date: 1 Nov. 2009
- Edition: Main
- Language: English
- Print length: 496 pages
- ISBN-10: 1843544660
- ISBN-13: 9781843544661
Book Description
From opera’s beginnings in the courts of northern Italy, to its spread across Europe and the world, The Gilded Stage explores the world of opera houses and impresarios, monarchs and money makers, artists and audiences. On this operatic Grand Tour, Daniel Snowman leads us through Renaissance Florence and Mantua, the Paris of Louis XIV, Handel’s London and the Vienna of the Emperor Joseph II and Mozart. By the nineteenth century, opera was no longer a European monopoly and Daniel Snowman follows Mozart’s librettist and Rossini’s first Count Almaviva to New York and beyond, catching glimpses of performances alongside the bravado and bawdiness of the American and Australian frontiers, where Gold Rush millionaires flaunted their flamboyant claims to high culture. Towards the end of the century a WASP patron of New York’s Metropolitan Opera could watch a French work sung by a Czech, Polish and Italian cast led by a German conductor. Twenty years later, Caruso sang Puccini in Havana and Toscanini performed Wagner in Buenos Aires. Neverthless, even Caruso and Toscanini could scarcely have imagined the global reach of opera in our own times. More opera is performed, financed, seen, heard, filmed and broadcast than ever before, and the world’s leading performers are worshipped and paid like pop stars. Yet the art form is widely derided as ‘elitist’ and parts of the classical recording business appear close to bankruptcy. However, as Daniel Snowman reveals , the world of opera has always known crisis and uncertainty – and the resulting struggles have often proved every bit as dramatic as those portrayed onstage.
Editorial Reviews
Review
‘A tremendous achievement. With its eye for detail, always enlivening prose and great good sense, The Gilded Stage covers the entire history of opera, giving as never before a balanced but comprehensive view of the way the genre has adapted to different times and places. A wonderful book for any music lover, The Gilded Stage is an excellent, and most enjoyable, contribution to the world of opera.’ –Professor Roger Parker, Thurston Dart Professor of Music, King’s College, London
`Consistently entertaining and stimulating… Snowman writes with real insight and understanding… This book is a mighty achievement, by far and away the best history of opera available.’ –Tim Blanning, Literary Review
‘This book is a mighty achievement, by far and away the best history of opera available.’ –Tim Blanning, Literary Review
‘Marvellous… An ideal present for birthday or un-birthday, Christmas or without seasonal excuse, for friend, family or (after all why not?) oneself.’ — John Steane, Gramophone
‘Note perfect… Not just good opera history, or good social history, but very solid historical writing… A racingly good read.’ — Brian Morton, Sunday Herald
About the Author
Daniel Snowman was born in London. A Lecturer at Sussex University in his twenties, he went on to work at the BBC where he was responsible for a wide variety of radio series on cultural and historical topics. A long-time member of the London Philharmonic Choir, and currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research (University of London), his books include critical portraits of the Amadeus Quartet and Plácido Domingo and, more recently, Historians and a study of the cultural impact of The Hitler Emigrés.
