Encyclopedia of Opera on Screen: A Guide to More Than 100 Years of Opera Films, Videos, and DVDs - Hardcover

Wlaschin, Ken

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300102631 ISBN 13: 9780300102635

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2004

Synopsis

This bountiful book is a comprehensive guide to the thousands of films, DVDs, and videocassettes featuring operas and opera singers from 1896 to the present. From ABC Television to Franco Zeffirelli, the encyclopedia is a storehouse of fascinating information for film and opera aficionados and casual browsers alike. Find answers to such questions as:

* What were the first operas filmed?

* Why did they make silent films of operas?

* Why was a pseudo-opera written for Citizen Kane?

* What was the title of Maria Callas’s only film?
Organized alphabetically with more than 1,900 fully cross-referenced entries, the book casts a wide net that covers not only expected topics―operas, operettas, zarzuelas, composers, singers, conductors, writers, and film directors―but also the unexpected and offbeat―animated opera, first operas on film, puppet opera films, silent films about opera, and many other lesser-known topics. Encyclopedia of Opera on Screen illuminates the many intersections between opera and film as never before.

About this title

About the Author

Ken Wlaschin is director of Creative Affairs and vice chairman of the National Center for Film and Video Preservation at the American Film Institute. Previously he was director of the National Film Theatre and London Film Festival for the British Film Institute.

From the Back Cover

"An impressively researched book, providing extensive and authoritative coverage of its subject matter."-John Walker, editor of Halliwell's Film, Video and DVD Guide and Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies; "Ken Wlaschin's encyclopedia is comprehensive, informative, readable, and user-friendly-the ideal reference for the opera lover with a passion for movie-going and a serious interest in film history. Bravo!"-E. Thomas Glasow, editor of The Opera Quarterly; "This wondrous encyclopedia is an invaluable book to all movie and opera buffs. I shall be referring to it frequently to slake my curiosity and to settle bets."-Tom Lehrer

Reviews

The enjoyment of reviewing this book took a downward spiral after it was discovered that portions of the book were published earlier by the author in Opera on Screen (Sunburst, 1997), even though the introduction to the new volume states "There is no other guide like it."

Entries have been revised from the earlier title, and there are also new entries. The arrangement remains the same, with singers, cities, operas, halls, composers, etc., interfiled in a letter-by-letter alphabetization. Wlaschin also provides subjective entries, such as Best opera on video and Worst opera on film.

Within entries, films are listed chronologically, with a short summary, the cast, timing, format, and distributor included. The breadth of opera is illustrated in entries for Walt Disney and Maurice Sendak. A smattering of musicals, operettas, and even requiems are also mentioned. There are a few black-and-white photos interspersed in the text. Some typographical errors are annoying--Colin Davis (not David), Albert Coates also referred to as Eric Coates (another English composer).

The index cites only people and works. Consequently, one cannot find productions of small opera companies such as the Santa Fe Opera or the Glimmerglass Opera unless the name of the opera is known. A selective bibliography and addresses of DVD and VHS distributors complete the volume.

Academic and public libraries with a strong opera collection should consider this comprehensive, readable encyclopedia, although they may not want to purchase it if they own Opera on Screen. Christine Bulson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300102631
• ISBN 13: 9780300102635
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 896