Georges Bizet: Carmen (Cambridge Opera Handbooks) - Hardcover

McClary, Susan

3.89

55 ratings by Goodreads

9780521393010: Georges Bizet: Carmen (Cambridge Opera Handbooks)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521393019 ISBN 13: 9780521393010

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1992

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Bizet's Carmen is probably the best known opera of the standard repertoire, yet its very familiarity often prevents us from approaching it with the seriousness it deserves. This Handbook explores the opera in a number of contexts, bringing to the surface the controversies over gender, race, class and musical propriety. After a study of M�rim�e's story Carmen by Peter Robinson, Susan McClary examines the social tensions in nineteenth-century France that inform both that story and the opera, and traces the opera through its genesis and reception. The Handbook concludes with discussions of four films based on the opera. The volume contains a bibliography, music examples, and a synopsis and will be of interest to students, scholars, and operagoers.

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Book Description:

Beginning with a study of M�rim�e's story of Carmen by Peter Robinson and an examination of the social tensions in nineteenth-century France, this analysis traces the opera through its genesis and reception.

From Library Journal:

These small-format volumes devoted to individual operas are the first in a projected 200-volume series (with approximately four titles to be added each month). An expansion of the "Opera Journeys Mini Guide" series that the publisher launched last year, they include a brief synopsis, a story narrative with very brief music examples, commentary and analysis, a libretto, a discography, a videography, and a dictionary of opera and musical terms. Students and opera goers may find them attractive because of their reasonable price, their e-book availability on netLibrary, and the insightful commentary and analysis by Fisher (lecturer, Florida Intl. Univ.). A list of source materials, however, would have been useful; in portions of the Butterfly and Boh?me volumes, for example, Fisher seems to have relied to some extent on Julian Budden's articles in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Also, the discographies are rife with problems. Neither record labels nor formats are given, the editing is sloppy, names are misspelled ("Tuckers" for Tucker), many dates are incorrect, and some recordings are listed twice with different dates. In one case, a recording made in 1912 with singers who are surely deceased is dated 2001. An entry for a recording of Carmen reverses the women's roles, listing Gheorghiu as Carmen and Larmore as Michaela. Attractive format and engaging commentary aside, these volumes are compromised by their inaccuracies. Not recommended. [The ISBNs for the e-books are the same as those for the print versions. Ed.] Kate McCaffrey, Onondaga Cty. P.L., Syracuse, N.
- Kate McCaffrey, Onondaga Cty. P.L., Syracuse, NY
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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