Italian Opera in the 18th and 19th centuries was an experience unequaled anywhere else in the world. The unique emotion, flavor, and passion that existed have yet to be attained in any other country. Opera houses in Italy are the birthplace of this great art form. They represent its beauty and richness. More than just concrete, stone, glass, and wood, they are alive, each with a character and history of its own. This work recreates the social, political, architectural, and performance histories of each house by including eyewitness accounts from Italian newspapers, journals, and books of the time. It covers more than 50 Italian opera houses and festivals, organized by their city of origin and geographic region. Each chapter is a journey back in time, beginning with the first theaters and performances in the city and concluding with an architectural description of the principal theater and a practical information guide for visitors (including hotel recommendations). The operatic activities of the main theater, including inaugurations, important performances, and world premieres, are also covered. A photospread, along with brief descriptions of opera-related sites, including the birthplaces, dwellings, and museums of Italy's greatest composers, give an even more complete portrait of the art.

Opera in Italy Today offers a panorama of Italy's dynamic operatic scene. Descriptive text and evocative illustrations recreate not only Italy's historic major houses - including La Scala, the San Carlo, and La Fenice - but also her most important regional theaters. Ten of Italy's most famous opera festivals, including the Puccini, the Bellini, the Donizetti, and the Rossini, are discussed in detail as well, and more than twenty others are listed with address, season, and ticket information. A brief history of each opera house and venue, along with cartelloni of recent seasons, lets the opera lover know who has conducted and performed there in the past. For the armchair fan, discographies and bibliographies are provided. The book also includes a chapter on the La Scala Theatrical Museum, a chapter on children's opera, and a concluding chapter, "Opportunities for Young Singers", rich in information on Italian workshops, programs, and contests for aspiring young vocalists. Finally, lucky visitors to Italy will find the glossary of Italian words and phrases most useful during their travels.

This book is the first structured and complete research work undertaken on opera theatres across the entire Middle East and North Africa. Until now, no single study has looked at every theatrical and musical institute in these countries. Many of the opera theatres that are examined here have had very little written about them at all. This work fills this void in order to provide scholars and practitioners in the sector with the first reference work on the subject that will help our understanding of the evolutionary process that has led—and continues to lead—all the countries in the MENA region to equip themselves with an opera theatre.

First published in 1988. Italy, the birthplace of opera in the late sixteenth century, has in recent decades seen remarkable and vital musical growth, with composers as diverse as Luciano Berio and Nino Rota, Luigi Nono and Sylvano Bussotti, Giacomo Manzoni, Bruno Maderna and Salvatore Sciarrino. The musical theatre has figured prominently in the work of Italian composers during this period, ranging from operas conceived in a traditional mode to works of a Music Theatre variety, and in style from popular to avant-garde. In this book Raymond Fearn surveys this Italian musico-theatrical phenomenon in the period since the Second World War, examining a wide range of works such as Nono's Intolleranza and Al Gran Sole Carico d'Amore, Berio's Passaggio and Un re in ascolto, Manzoni's Atomtod and La Sentenza and Castiglioni's Oberon and The King's Masque, and places these developments within a cultural and theatrical context