English National Opera Guide
10 primary works
Book 2
English National Opera Guides are ideal companions to the opera. They provide stimulating introductory articles together with the complete text of each opera in English and the original. "Aida" is, for most of us, the quintessence of Ancient Egypt but it is certainly not just for archaeologists! Michael Rose points out that it is really about patriotism--an issue of burning importance to Verdi and his contemporaries. Music critic William Mann reflects that even a short look at the score reveals subtleties that repay careful listening. And Verdi's own letters show the germs of the opera grow from suggestion to creation.
Book 5
Traviata, La
by Giuseppe Verdi, Francesco Maria Piave, Edmund Tracey, and Alexandre Dumas
Published 1 January 1981
English National Opera Guides are ideal companions to the opera. They provide stimulating introductory articles together with the complete text of each opera in English and the original. In this Guide, Julian Budden reviews the difficulties that faced the management that had commissioned La Traviata and how, in some previously unpublished letters, Verdi fought their views on casting the leading lady. Denis Arnold contributes a musical commentary. April FitzLyon discusses the social background of the "lady of the camellias" in fact, fiction and on the stage, and Nicholas John compares the libretto with the play to show how skilfully it was adapted to for the operatic stage.
Book 10
Falstaff: Lyrical Comedy in Three Acts (Classic Reprint)
by Giuseppe Verdi
Published 1 February 1989
"A lyric comedy unlike any other", wrote Verdi about his last opera. That the last work of a composer who was almost notorious for his preference for tragic and gloomy subjects should be a brilliant human comedy was and remains one of the wonders of music. Michael Rose considers its status in Italian comic opera tradition. Davis Cairns pours his enthusiasm for the piece into a detailed and illuminating musical analysis. Andrew Porter, whose translation almost matches Boito's original libretto for elegance and wit, explains the challenges and risks of the undertaking in his fascinating introduction.
Contents: Introduction, Nicholas John; 'A Lyric Comedy Unlike Any Other', Michael Rose; 'Full of Nimble, Fiery and Delectable Shapes', David Cairns; Translating 'Falstaff', Andrew Porter; Falstaff: Libretto by Arrigo Boito; Falstaff: English Translation by Andrew Porter
Contents: Introduction, Nicholas John; 'A Lyric Comedy Unlike Any Other', Michael Rose; 'Full of Nimble, Fiery and Delectable Shapes', David Cairns; Translating 'Falstaff', Andrew Porter; Falstaff: Libretto by Arrigo Boito; Falstaff: English Translation by Andrew Porter
Book 15
Rigoletto was first produced at the Teatro La Fenice, Venice, in 1851, and is generally seen as marking the beginning of Giuseppe Verdi's extraordinary middle period. It was followed in quick succession by Il trovatore and La traviata, and even after the great success of these two works Verdi regarded it as his 'best opera' up to that time. Based on Victor Hugo's play Le Roi s'amuse, which was banned after its premiere in Paris in 1832, the opera faced considerable difficulties with local censors before performance was permitted. In the story of the hunchbacked court jester and his beloved daughter, Verdi believed he had found "the greatest subject and perhaps the greatest drama of modern times".
The guide contains articles on the place of Rigoletto in Verdi's oeuvre and the background to its composition, a detailed examination of its musical structure and a survey of its performance history including discussions of some of its most distinguished interpreters. A further article highlights aspects of the opera's particularly Italian character. The guide also includes the full Italian libretto with English translation, sixteen pages of illustrations, a musical thematic guide, a bibliography and discography, and DVD and website guides.
Contains:
The Making of Rigoletto, Jonathan Keates
The Music of Rigoletto, Roger Parker
A Selective Performance History, George Hall
Rigoletto: Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave after Victor Hugo's play Le Roi s'amuse
Rigoletto: English Translation by William Weaver
The guide contains articles on the place of Rigoletto in Verdi's oeuvre and the background to its composition, a detailed examination of its musical structure and a survey of its performance history including discussions of some of its most distinguished interpreters. A further article highlights aspects of the opera's particularly Italian character. The guide also includes the full Italian libretto with English translation, sixteen pages of illustrations, a musical thematic guide, a bibliography and discography, and DVD and website guides.
Contains:
The Making of Rigoletto, Jonathan Keates
The Music of Rigoletto, Roger Parker
A Selective Performance History, George Hall
Rigoletto: Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave after Victor Hugo's play Le Roi s'amuse
Rigoletto: English Translation by William Weaver
Book 20
English National Opera Guides are ideal companions to the opera. They provide stimulating introductory articles together with the complete text of each opera in English and the original. "If I were not afraid of being called Utopian, I should be tempted to say that to reach perfection in a musical work a single mind should create the verses and the music" - not Wagner, but Cammarano to Verdi as he worked on the libretto of Il Trovatore. Marcello Conati of the Institute for Verdi Studies points out that, although audiences have always adored it, critics are only now coming to see that it represents a step forward, and by no means a step back, from the revolutionary drama of Rigoletto, completed a year before. Professor D.R.B. Kimbell, an expert on Verdi's music, clarifies the story and takes us through the score, while Professor Donald Shaw examines the unusual symbolism of the Spanish Romantic movement. Il Trovatore may cry out to be approached just as a theatrical experience, but these essays give brief and valuable insights into the type of drama it is, and the way it works.
Book 23
Force of Destiny
by Giuseppe Verdi, Francesco Maria Piave, Andrew Porter, and Angel De Saavedra Rivas
Published 1 February 1989
The English National Opera Guides were originally conceived in partnership with the English National Opera and edited by Nicholas John, the ENO's dramaturg, who died tragically in an accident in the Alps. Most of the guides are devoted to a single opera, which is described in detail--with many articles that cover its history and information about the composer and his times. The complete libretto is included in both the original language and in a modern singing translation--except where the opera was written in English. Each has a thematic guide to the most important musical themes in musical notation and each guide is lavishly illustrated. They also contain a bibliography and a discography which is updated at each reprint. The ENO guides are widely regarded as the best series of their kind and excellent value.
Book 32
Simon Boccanegra: Melodramma in un Prologo e Tre Atti (Classic Reprint)
by Giuseppe Verdi
Published 1 February 1989
Verdi's Simon Boccanegra exists in two versions: that of the 1857 original and that of the 1881 revision. The texts of the libretto of both versions are included in this guide, with a number of essays which focus on the differences between the two. Rodolfo Celleti provides the story's historical context, setting the events of the real life of Simon Boccanegra against the unification of Italy, which formed the political backdrop to the composition of both versions of Verdi's opera. James A. Hepokoski gives a detailed synopsis of the 1881 score, and indicates the ways in which Verdi radically revised the original and reworked it to fit his late style. Lastly, Desmond Shawe-Taylor discusses Verdi's attitude to his singers, and the critical reception that performances of both versions of the opera received.
This edition contains over twenty illustrations, a thematic guide and the texts of the libretti in the original with literal translations. There is also a bibilography, discography and DVD guide, together with a list of websites that will allow the reader to explore the opera further.
Contents: An Historical Perspective, Rodolfo Celletti; An Introduction to the 1881 Score, James Hepokoski; Verdi and his Singers, Desmond Shawe-Taylor; Simon Boccanegra: Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave with additions by Giuseppe Montanelli and additions and alterations by Arrigo Boito; Simon Boccanegra: English translation by James Fenton
This edition contains over twenty illustrations, a thematic guide and the texts of the libretti in the original with literal translations. There is also a bibilography, discography and DVD guide, together with a list of websites that will allow the reader to explore the opera further.
Contents: An Historical Perspective, Rodolfo Celletti; An Introduction to the 1881 Score, James Hepokoski; Verdi and his Singers, Desmond Shawe-Taylor; Simon Boccanegra: Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave with additions by Giuseppe Montanelli and additions and alterations by Arrigo Boito; Simon Boccanegra: English translation by James Fenton
Book 40
Book 41
Verdi had a special fondness for Macbeth, and the first version of his opera based on Shakespeare's play is arguably the most important work of his formative years. But dissatisfied with the work of his librettist, Francesco Maria Piave, Verdi reworked the text himself and lavished the score with particular attention. The premiere in Florence in 1847 was a great success, but for the Paris premiere in 1865, Verdi made substantial changes, adding dances and an entirely new aria, duet, chorus, and death scene. Clearly, he intended that Macbeth II supersede the earlier version, and today the Paris version is the one generally performed.
Published in three volumes, this critical edition of Macbeth is the only one based entirely on autograph sources. Containing the later version as the principal score, it is the first edition to consult the composer's manuscripts of the revised pieces, preserved at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. An appendix contains the earlier movements, and David Lawton provides a wide-ranging introduction to the opera's complex history. This critical edition of Macbeth includes here for the first time Verdi's preferred text--the version he set to music--as well as his own stage directions and thus offers the most vivid and dramatic reading to date.
Book 46
It used to be thought that Verdi miscalculated with this attempt at a "grand opera" in the French style. This guide demonstrates that Don Carlos was - and remains - an extraordinary achievement in melding two opposing visions of opera: the spectacular public aspect of the French tradition with the dramatic concision of the Italian. And because of the variety of versions which Verdi sanctioned, this debate is open-ended.
Contents: A Grand Opera with a Difference, Julian Budden; Off the Beaten Track, Gilles de Van; "A Family Portrait in a Royal Household": 'Don Carlos' from Schiller to Verdi, F.J. Lamport; Stendhal's 'Don Carlos': "The most moving opera ever written", by Nicholas Cronk; Don Carlos: Grand Opera in Five Acts by Joseph Mery and Camille du Locle; Don Carlo: Italian translation by Achille de Lauzieres and Angelo Zanardini with additional material translated by Piero Faggioni; Don Carlos: English translation by Andrew Porter; Introduction by Jennifer Batchelor
Contents: A Grand Opera with a Difference, Julian Budden; Off the Beaten Track, Gilles de Van; "A Family Portrait in a Royal Household": 'Don Carlos' from Schiller to Verdi, F.J. Lamport; Stendhal's 'Don Carlos': "The most moving opera ever written", by Nicholas Cronk; Don Carlos: Grand Opera in Five Acts by Joseph Mery and Camille du Locle; Don Carlo: Italian translation by Achille de Lauzieres and Angelo Zanardini with additional material translated by Piero Faggioni; Don Carlos: English translation by Andrew Porter; Introduction by Jennifer Batchelor