Opera Performance - eBooks
16 Books foundOpera Performance
This category brings together libretti, opera stories, and treatises on singing that emphasize the literary and performative aspects of music. From John Gay’s satirical ballad opera The Beggar’s Opera to Gertrude Hall Brownell’s prose retellings of Wagner’s romances, these works treat opera as both text and spectacle. Included are historical accounts of operatic management, analyses of Russian opera, and guides for singers.
The works are united by their focus on opera as a dramatic and literary form. They include librettos, plot summaries, memoirs of impresarios, and vocal treatises. Represented periods range from the 18th century (Tosi’s singing treatise) to the early 20th century (Biancolli’s monographs). Authors include librettists, critics, and performers, with a strong emphasis on Western European opera from Monteverdi to Wagner.
Recommended Books
John Gay’s 1728 ballad opera satirizes Italian opera and social hypocrisy through a criminal underworld. Its use of popular tunes and prose dialogue makes it a landmark of musical theater.
Gertrude Hall Brownell retells Wagner’s opera libretti as prose narratives, emphasizing their literary value apart from the music. Her close paraphrase preserves dialogue and stage action.
Gladys Davidson compresses opera plots into short stories, focusing on dramatic incident and emotional climax. Her method preserves key dialogue and stage directions, offering accessible summaries.
Unlike the Music, Composers & Performance category, which focuses on historical and critical surveys, this category centers on the literary and performative texts of opera. It differs from Biography & Personal Testimony by emphasizing the works themselves rather than composers’ lives. Compared to Theory Instruction, it deals with dramatic content and performance rather than pedagogy.
Classification limitation note: This category includes both primary texts (libretti) and secondary retellings. Some works, like Physiology of the Opera, are satirical rather than factual. Readers seeking pure music history may find more focus in the music history category.
