Opera and Its Symbols: The Unity of Words, Music, and Staging

Donington, Robert

ISBN 10: 0300056613 / ISBN 13: 9780300056617

Published by Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 1992

About this Item

Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day. A copy that has been read but remains in clean condition. All of the pages are intact and the cover is intact and the spine may show signs of wear. The book may have minor markings which are not specifically mentioned.

Seller Inventory # wbs9412601494

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Opera and Its Symbols: The Unity of Words, Music, and Staging
• Publisher: Yale University Press, New Haven & London
• Publication Date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300056613
• ISBN 13: 9780300056617
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Good
• Weight: 204.1 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Robert Donington, the noted musicologist, performer, and writer, is famous for his influential and provocative book Wagner’s “Ring” and Its Symbols, and for his indispensable reference work The Interpretation of Early Music. In this book he discusses the workings of symbolism in opera and the importance of staging opera in keeping with the composer’s intentions. Only in this way, says Donington, can we be faithful to the conscious or unconscious symbolism invested in the work by the composer and librettist.

 

Starting form Carlyle's premise that "it is through symbols that man, consciously or  unconsciously, lives, works and has his being," Donington interprets scenes and characters from operas by Monteverdi, Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, Bizet, Puccini, Debussy, Strauss, Stravinsky, Berg, Britten, Tippett, and other composers. Time and again Donington sheds new light on operatic situations that are problematic or have become over-familiar. His lively and wide-ranging work reveals a deep knowledge and love of opera, combined with a rare insight into hidden meanings to be found in music, words, and action.