Author Description

In this companion, a team of scholars and writers on opera examine those important Romantic operas that embraced the Shakespearean sweep of tragedy, history, love in time of conflict, and the struggle for national self-determination. Rival nations, rival religions, and violent resolutions are common elements, with various social or political groups represented in the form of operatic choruses. The book traces the origins and development of a style created during an increasingly technical age, which exploited the world-renowned skills of Parisian stage-designers, artists, and dancers as well as singers. It analyses in detail the grand operas by Rossini, Auber, Meyerbeer and Halevy, and discusses grand opera in Russia,Germany, the Czech lands, Italy, Britain, and the Americas.