This is the first book in English about Domenico Cimarosa, his more than 65 operas and his sacred and secular vocal music, his keyboard music, and his various works for solo instruments and ensembles. This is also the first authoritative book on Cimarosa since an Italian biography published in 1939. Since that earlier tome was published, many important discoveries have come to light. The authors completed most of their research work at the library of the Conservatorio di musica S Pietro a Majella in Naples. Their efforts have uncovered new information on the composer's marriages, wives, children, actual performance locations, dates of first performances of his operas, and his professional appointments and contacts. The first half of the book is devoted to a chronological description of Cimarosa's life and provides background material on the customs of the times and contemporary descriptions of the music conservatories in Naples where Cimarosa studied, as well as those in Venice where he was appointed Maestro. The second part presents an alphabetical listing of Cimarosa's more than 65 operas, including alternate names for those that were produced on different stages under different names. Included with each opera is a simple outline of the plot, the cast of characters and their voice ranges, and basic information about the structure of the music itself.

The Cimarosa Affair is a collection of essays written by Simone Perugini and translated by Elizabeth Thomson. With his latest studies, Simone Perugini sheds new light on the life of the Italian composer, Domenico Cimarosa, one of the greatest exponents of the Neapolitan School in the second half of the 18th century. Using contemporary documentary sources discovered recently in various state archives in Italy, and analysing the scores and the librettos of Cimarosa’s operas, Simone Perugini retraces aspects of Cimarosa’s personal and professional life which were either unknown, or incorrectly reported, before this detailed study.

Offering comprehensive coverage of classical music, this guide surveys more than eleven thousand albums and presents biographies of five hundred composers and eight hundred performers, as well as twenty-three essays on forms, eras, and genres of classical music. Original.

The music of early modern Naples and its renowned artistic traditions remain a fruitful area for scholars in eighteenth-century studies. Contemporary social, political, and artistic conditions had stimulated a significant growth of music, musicians and culture in the Kingdom of Naples from the beginning of the seventeenth century. Although eighteenth-century Neapolitan opera is well documented in scholarship, historians have paid much less attention to the simultaneous cultivation of instrumental genres. Yet the culture of instrumental music grew steadily and by its end became an exclusive area of focus for the royal court, a remarkable departure from past norms of patronage. By bridging this gap, Anthony R. DelDonna brings together diverse fields, including historical musicology, music theory, Neapolitan and European history. His book investigates the wide-ranging role of instrumental genres within late eighteenth-century Neapolitan culture and introduces readers to new material, including recently discovered instrumental works of Paisiello, Cimarosa and Pleyel.

When first published in 1947, A Short History of Opera immediately achieved international status as a classic in the field. Now, more than five decades later, this thoroughly revised and expanded fourth edition informs and entertains opera lovers just as its predecessors have. The fourth edition incorporates new scholarship that traces the most important developments in the evolution of musical drama. After surveying anticipations of the operatic form in the lyric theater of the Greeks, medieval dramatic music, and other forerunners, the book reveals the genre's beginnings in the seventeenth century and follows its progress to the present day. A Short History of Opera examines not only the standard performance repertoire, but also works considered important for the genre's development. Its expanded scope investigates opera from Eastern European countries and Finland. The section on twentieth-century opera has been reorganized around national operatic traditions including a chapter devoted solely to opera in the United States, which incorporates material on the American musical and ties between classical opera and popular musical theater. A separate section on Chinese opera is also included. With an extensive multilanguage bibliography, more than one hundred musical examples, and stage illustrations, this authoritative one-volume survey will be invaluable to students and serious opera buffs. New fans will also find it highly accessible and informative. Extremely thorough in its coverage, A Short History of Opera is now more than ever the book to turn to for anyone who wants to know about the history of this art form.