HANDEL'S BESTIARY: IN SERACH OF ANIMALS IN HANDEL'S OPERA. [SIGNED]

LEON, Donna, Alan Curtis.

ISBN 10: 0434021520 / ISBN 13: 9780434021529

Published by William Heinemann, London, 2011

About this Item

8vo. pp 139. Original publisher's colour illustrated paper covered boards, lettered white at spine and front. CD at rear. Colour illustrations throughout. Signed by the author at title page.ISBN: 9780434021529 About fine.

Seller Inventory # C66727

Bibliographic Details

• Title: HANDEL'S BESTIARY: IN SERACH OF ANIMALS IN HANDEL'S OPERA. [SIGNED]
• Publisher: William Heinemann, London
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0434021520
• ISBN 13: 9780434021529
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

When Donna Leon, the acclaimed author of the best-selling Commissario Guido Brunetti series, is not conjuring up tales of crime and corruption in Venice, she is listening to opera. Over the years, Leon has noticed that her favourite composer, George Frideric Handel, filled his operas with arias that make reference to animals; rich in symbolism, the perceived virtues and vices of the lion, bee, nightingale, snake, elephant, and tiger, among others, resonate in his works. In Handel's Bestiary, Leon draws on her love of Handel and her expertise in medieval bestiaries-illustrated collections of animal stories-to assemble a bestiary of her own. Twelve chapters trace twelve animals through history, mythology, and the arias. Each is joined by whimsical original illustrations by German painter Michael Sowa. The accompanying CD includes each aria, expertly recorded by Il Complesso Barocco, Karina Gauvin, Ann Hallenberg, Paul Agnew, and Anicio Zorzi, with Alan Curtis conducting. Fascinating and utterly original, Handel's Bestiary springs to life with Leon's knowledge and wit.

About the Author

Donna Leon was named by The Times as one of the 50 Greatest Crime Writers. She is an award-winning crime novelist, celebrated for the bestselling Brunetti series. Donna has lived in Venice for thirty years and previously lived in Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Iran and China, where she worked as a teacher. Donna's books have been translated into 35 languages and have been published around the world. Her previous novels featuring Commissario Brunetti have all been highly acclaimed; including Friends in High Places, which won the CWA Macallan Silver Dagger for Fiction, Fatal Remedies, Doctored Evidence, A Sea of Troubles and Beastly Things.