Opera Outside the Box: Notions of Opera in Nineteenth-Century Britain addresses operatic “experiences” outside the opera houses of Britain during the nineteenth century. The essays adopt a variety of perspectives exploring the processes through which opera and ideas about opera were cultivated and disseminated, by examining opera-related matters in publication and performance, in both musical and non-musical genres, outside the traditional approaches to transmission of operatic works and associated concepts. As a group, they exemplify the broad array of questions to be grappled with in seeking to identify commonalities that might shed light in new and imaginative ways on the experiences and manifestations of opera and notions of opera in Victorian Britain. In unpacking the significance, relevance, uses, and impacts of opera within British society, the collection seeks to enhance understanding of a few of the manifold ways in which the population learned about and experienced opera, how audiences and the broader public understood the genre and the aesthetics surrounding it, how familiarity with opera played out in British culture, and how British customs, values, and principles affected the genre of opera and perceptions of it.

The Amato Opera Company has delighted music lovers throughout the years, establishing an extraordinary artistic tradition in New York City. -- Bill Clinton The Amato Opera theatre is a truly extraordinary New York cultural institution and it is a priceless addition to our great Citys music industry. -- Rudolph W. Giuliani Author Anthony (Tony) Amato produced full-staged grand opera in New York City for 61 years. Now Tony tells his storyfrom his earliest childhood in Minori, Italy; immigration to the U.S.; his early career in restaurant kitchens and as a butcher; and the courtship of his beloved wife Sally when they were both young, working singers. The book goes on to describe how Tony and Sally created The Smallest Grand Opera in the World, gaining international critical acclaim in the process. The Smallest Grand Opera in the World is a story of the extraordinary will and effort of two people in an uncommon marriage and partnership. It is a joyous story in which Tony willingly shares the secrets of why The Amato Opera was a success. It is a how-to book for the aspiring theatre professional as well as an inspiration for all who have ever dreamed of being a part of the miraculous world of opera.

This book details original case studies that represent five different social positions or characterisations of opera: namely, opera as social showcase from Bayreuth (1748), social distinction from Ljubljana (1887), social conflict from Brno (1920), social status from Mantua (1999) and social manifest from Belgrade (2005). These positions, which indicate opera’s social diversity in local, regional, provincial, and peripheral terms, as well as its social mutuality in international, transnational, global, or metropolitan terms, generally promote the idea of opera as a social venue, cultural practice, theatrical scene, lyrical site, musical place, artistic experience, or transgenerational phenomenon through which people not only produce and consume the art of music, theatre, and spectacle, but also show off their lifestyle as well as economic, social, cultural and symbolic determination, identification, and structuration. The selected case studies of peripheral opera worlds are different in terms of the chosen places, times, and problems they tackle, but they all have something meaningful in common. They convincingly address the idea that opera peripheries produce compellingly powerful meanings and messages of their different social worlds. Through its analysis, this book creates a fruitful interpretative encounter of the academic domains of opera studies, historical sociology, cultural sociology and social and cultural anthropology.

Looking at four very different opera houses, this book tells the tales of the eccentric talents that made them immortal. An entertaining history of the four big opera houses - Milan, Vienna, the New York Met and Covent Garden - that illuminates major developments in opera both musically and in terms of stage interpretation. From the post-war reconstruction of opera houses to the influence of colourful personalities such as Karajan and Visconti, Callas as media-devil-cum-idol, Solti, Domingo, Pavarotti, Price and Sutherland, and finally the wide accessibility and popularity of opera today and the increasing financial pressures it faces. Susan Gilbert introduces enthralling personalities, and through them the scandals, the money, the media skirmishes and the drama that provide fascinating insights into the world of opera behind the scenes.

Collection of commentaries on twenty-one of the most popular operas in the current repertoire.