Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini [Paperback]

Charles Osborne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1996

The author treats each of Rossini's 39 operas, Donizetti's 66, and Bellini's 10, discussing the libretto and the circumstances of each opera's first performance, outlining the plot, and ending with an analysis of the music.

Product Details

• Paperback: 378 pages
• Publisher: Amadeus Press (1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0931340845
• ISBN-13: 978-0931340840
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,005,116 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive but superficial, April 26, 2000

By 

Stuart Bloom - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini (Paperback)

In this book, Osborne covers the entire operatic oeuvres of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini -- both the well-known standards and the rarely performed works. For each opera, the author provides a brief history of its composition, a bare-bones plot summary, and a very short (usually just a paragraph) critical evaluation. The entries are somewhat longer for the standard repertory pieces. For the rarities, Osborne also lists significant performances through 1992. There's a recommended discography, helpful though by now somewhat dated.

If you're looking for in-depth musical analysis, this will disappoint you. It's more of a Kobbe's for bel canto.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat useful Lists, June 6, 2000

By 

John Cragg (Delta(greater Vancouver), B.C Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini (Paperback)

This work contains a complete listing of the operas of Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini. They are presented in chronological order by composer, unnumbered to make reference to the discography more difficult. The latter is fairly useless. In most cases, only one version is listed, often one no longer available, with absolutely no discussion of the merits of the recording, either in absolute terms or relative to others. The text is very long on trivia connected with the first production with no analysis of what effect any of this had on the composition, and virtually no discussion of subsequent revisions and changes. In the case of the more obsure opera, there may be some trivia about performances in the twentieth century as well. Analysis where it occurs at all is usually superficial. One gets no idea of the composer's development, or the development of bel canto writing. Most of the few connections drawn among the various composers comes through rather snide comments that one piece or another reminds the author of someone else.