Seven Mozart Librettos: A Verse Translation - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393066096 ISBN 13: 9780393066098

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010

Synopsis

"McClatchy's heroic labor is a remarkable achievement. . . . Mozart and Da Ponte will be smiling down on this volume."―Richard Wilbur

A landmark event in the world of music, Mozart's seven major librettos have finally been translated in verse with a sparkling poetic quality that matches the magnificence of the originals. Beginning this epic endeavor with his translation of The Magic Flute, first introduced at the Metropolitan Opera, McClatchy has now completed his translations of Idomeneo, The Abduction from the Seraglio, The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cosi Fan Tutte, and La Clemenza di Tito. The result is a brilliantly translated and handsomely designed volume that brings the lively wordplay and drama of the originals to life in a verse that matches the exuberance and lyricism of the original Da Ponte, Schikaneder, Varesco, Mazzola, and Stephanie librettos. With facing-page text and an illuminating introduction to each opera-including a dramatic recap, a history of the opera, and a list of characters-this book is a masterpiece, the likes of which has never been seen in English before. 8 black-and-white illustrations

About this title

About the Author

J. D. McClatchy is the author of six collections of poems, three books of prose, and thirteen original libretti performed around the world. The editor of the Yale Review, he lives in Stonington, Connecticut.

From Booklist

Poet and librettist McClatchy’s mission in translating the librettos for seven of Mozart’s magnificent operas (the “most enduring operas in the history of music”) was to “follow the original texts with both fidelity and imagination.” As McClatchy explains, Mozart didn’t write librettos, but he was “the dramatist of his operas,” revising each libretto to best express the inner life of his characters and make the language musical. From Idomeneo, Mozart’s “first triumph in the opera house,” to The Magic Flute, and including the work of Lorenzo Da Ponte, the poetic librettist for The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così Fan Tutte with whom Mozart worked closely, McClatchy’s translations are marvelously supple, lucid, and spirited. Not only does he break new ground by translating verse into verse, he is also attuned to the wit and profound loneliness and longing in Mozart, infusing each finely crafted line with emotion. Accompanied by scintillating and incisive commentary, each libretto is presented in both its original language and in English on facing pages, making for a unique and thrilling tour de force. --Donna Seaman

Edition details

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0393066096
• ISBN 13: 9780393066098
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 1184