The Complete Operas of Puccini: A Critical Guide

Charles Osborne

ISBN 10: 0689111843 / ISBN 13: 9780689111846

Published by Antheneum, 1981

About this Item

This is a tight and remarkably clean copy of the 1981 first printing of the first edition of this acclaimed book. Slight signs of soiling on a small section of the top of the pages, otherwise pristine.

Seller Inventory # GMBC2B8

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Complete Operas of Puccini: A Critical Guide
• Publisher: Antheneum
• Publication Date: 1981
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0689111843
• ISBN 13: 9780689111846
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine

About this title

Synopsis

While Puccini wrote only twelve operas during a long life—three of them one-acters designed to be performed together—he has to be ranked today as the worldâ s most popular composer of opera. His La Bohème and Tosca are more frequently performed in the major opera houses than works by other composers, and Madame Butterfly and Manon Lescaut rank not far behind. What is the explanation for Puccini's enormous success? How do his operas work as music and drama? What was he like to contemporaries such as Verdi, Toscanini, and Caruso? Charles Osborne, author of highly successful Complete Operas of Verdi and Complete Operas of Mozart, here analyzes the entire Puccini oeuvre—from Tosca and Turandot to the less-often performed Edgar, La Fanciulla del West, and La Rondine. His fourfold approach—linking biography with musical, textual, and dramatic analysis—is especially valuable for Puccini, who revealed many of his personal contradictions in his music and whose sense of detail can be appreciated by close study of the scores and characters. For the legions of Puccini lovers everywhere, this guide to his life and work can serve as an ideal reference source and opera companion.

From the Back Cover

While Puccini wrote only twelve operas during a long life--three of them one-acters designed to be performed together--he has to be ranked today as the world's most popular composer of opera. For the legions of Puccini lovers everywhere, this guide to his life and work can serve as an ideal reference source and opera companion.