English National Opera Guide
10 primary works
Book 6
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. "A Landmark in Musical History" is John Luke Rose's title for the introduction to this extraordinary piece of theatre. It belongs to the German tradition of mystical writing and a short note on the poem itself by Martin Swales and Timothy McFarland elucidates some of Wagner's literary techniques. Anthony Negus, who assisted Reginald Goodall on the WNO production of this opera, has contributed a penetrating analysis of the musical structure of the opera, while Patrick Carnegy assesses the remarkable solutions to staging an opera which some argue is best experienced with your back to the performers! In association with English National Opera.
Book 12
An extraordinary marriage of music and words in a popularly priced package: a book which provides the history of this famous opera and its composer, plus the complete libretto in its original German and an English translation with annotated commentary. Inside the front and back cover of the book are 2 music CDs containing a top performance of the opera. The Flying Dutchman, a dark myth of a cursed sailor and his eventual liberation from eternal suffering, was one of Wagner's early operas. In it, we see the beginnings of the composer's groundbreaking style, embedded in powerful music and haunting poetry. * Complete multi-media guide to understanding & appreciating the opera: - the complete opera on two CDs - the complete libretto with annotations - - a critical historical commentary - photographs of historic performances - * CDs feature performances by Alfred Muff, Ingrid Haubold, Erich Knodt, Peter Seiffert, Jorge Hering and Marga Schiml. * Biographical/background information.
Book 19
The Mastersingers of Nuremberg
by Richard Wagner, Klindworth Karl, and Jameson Fredric Trl
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. "Die Meistersinger" was enthusiastically received at its premiere in 1868, and was judged to be Wagner's most immediately appealing work. Eduard Hanslick wrote after the premiere: "Dazzling scenes of colour and splendour, ensembles full of life and character unfold before the spectator's eyes, hardly allowing him the leisure to weigh how much and how little of these effects is of musical origin."
Book 21
Book 28
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. Wagner wanted Siegfried, the third music drama in "The Ring of the Nibelung," to be the most popular of the cycle. Despite its many beautiful and dramatic scenes and its vital part in the drama, it has not fulfilled its composer's aspiration: Professor Ulrich Weisstein examines why. Professor Anthony Newcomb contributes a detailed analysis of Wagner's use of leitmotifs, identifying the different purposes they fulfill. Derrick Puffett takes up the extraordinary fact that Wagner composed "Tristan and Isolde" and "The Mastersingers of Nuremberg" in the eight-year hiatus between his beginning and completion of Siegfried's second act; Puffett explores the subsequent changes in Wagner's musical imagination that enabled the composer to complete his enormous task. The thematic guide compliments those found in the other Opera Guides to "The Ring Cycle."
Book 31
Book 34
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 35
The Rhinegold: Prelude to the Trilogy, the Ring of the Niblung (Classic Reprint)
by Richard Wagner
Published 1 December 1985
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. The opening evening of Wagner's four-part cycle, "The Ring of Nibelung," stands apart as more naive and picturesque than the others. But it immediately establishes the huge scale of the overall work, and the extraordinary musical language that will be displayed throughout. It is a miracle of musical history that Wagner's 1850 conception could be brought to completion, in an organic whole, some 25 years later. Stewart Spencer discusses the way in which Wagner fuses genuine mythology with his own invention and John Deathridge places "The Rhinegold" in the context of "The Ring" and its century.
Book 39
What can explain Wagner's obsession with Tannhauser, which he first conceived in 1845 and still considered unfinished at his death in 1883? Describing of the struggle of a man torn between erotic love and spiritual fulfilment, the opera contains the kernels of all his later works: man's need for love and artistic satisfaction, his desire for an existence beyond death, the operation of memory and the nature of madness. The essays in this volume examine the legends which Wagner chose to weave into his text, while Carolyn Abbate also considers the effect of his many revisions upon the score, pointing out that the initial idea already involved a contrast of musical language to focus the conflict.
Contents: 'Tannhauser' - an Obsession, Mike Ashman; Tanhusaere, Danheuser and Tannhauser, Stewart Spencer; Wagner's Most Medieval Opera, Timothy McFarland; Orpheus and the Underworld: The Music of Wagner's 'Tannhauser', Carolyn Abbate; Tannhauser: Poem by Richard Wagner; Tannhauser: English translation by Rodney Blumer
Contents: 'Tannhauser' - an Obsession, Mike Ashman; Tanhusaere, Danheuser and Tannhauser, Stewart Spencer; Wagner's Most Medieval Opera, Timothy McFarland; Orpheus and the Underworld: The Music of Wagner's 'Tannhauser', Carolyn Abbate; Tannhauser: Poem by Richard Wagner; Tannhauser: English translation by Rodney Blumer
Book 47
The legend of the Swan Knight who rescues a princess from the forces of pagan evil is one of Christian Europe's foundation myths. Lohengrin transformed Wagner into an international figure almost overnight, and it remained his most popular work throughout the nineteenth century. Thomas Grey proposes that this was because it offered a "cautious taste" of his later works, while preserving some of the familiar traditions of French grand opera. John Deathridge asks why Wagner denied its Christian symbolism, and Janet Nelson argues that his vision of the Christian Middle Ages prefigured a modern historical approach. The English translation is by Amanda Holden.
Contents: Wagner's 'Alter Ego', John Deathridge; Wagner's 'Lohengrin': between Grand Opera and Musikdrama, Thomas S. Grey; History, Women's History and beyond History in 'Lohengrin', Janet L. Nelson; Lohengrin in Brabant, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm; Lohengrin: Poem by Richard Wagner; Lohengrin: English Translation by Amanda Holden
Contents: Wagner's 'Alter Ego', John Deathridge; Wagner's 'Lohengrin': between Grand Opera and Musikdrama, Thomas S. Grey; History, Women's History and beyond History in 'Lohengrin', Janet L. Nelson; Lohengrin in Brabant, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm; Lohengrin: Poem by Richard Wagner; Lohengrin: English Translation by Amanda Holden