History Through the Opera Glass: From the Rise of Caesar to the Fall of Napoleon [Paperback]

George Jellinek (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2004

This first-of-its-kind, highly entertaining, and carefully researched account reveals how nearly 200 operas by leading composers and librettists have portrayed the major events and personalities of more than 2000 years of history. In a continuous and absorbing narrative, the book sweeps from Roman times to 1820, with a cast of characters that includes Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Attila, Charlemagne, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Catherine the Great, Napoleon - and hundreds more. All are seen as the figures historians generally perceive them to have been and as their on-stage counterparts, created and re-imagined by some of opera's greatest artists.

Product Details

• Paperback: 405 pages
• Publisher: Limelight Editions; New edition edition (August 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879102845
• ISBN-13: 978-0879102845
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,475,458 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do not miss this ...., April 18, 2010

By 

Thomas Hampson (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: History Through the Opera Glass: From the Rise of Caesar to the Fall of Napoleon (Paperback)

This book is a treasure trove of connections, perspectives and yes, real history that is directly related to the world of Opera. So often Opera is seen as some rarified gallery of pretentious invented characters that seemingly interact only in the most insane of plot contrivances. Mr Jellinek's book firmly resists this outlook and reaffirms one of the best kept secrets of the world of Opera and that is that Opera composers and to some extant their librettists, were simply trying to retell the stories of private lives that inhabit the history that belongs to us all. The book is not an easy read and not one you must read cover to cover. It is a highly useful terrifically engaging reference for every level of Opera goer, from the "only curious" to the student of music, to every board member of every Opera house in the world. Thank you George!

10 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars too high level, May 8, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: History Through the Opera Glass: From the Rise of Caesar to the Fall of Napoleon (Paperback)

I thought this book was a dry gloss of 2 subjects that deserve to be more interesting - history and opera. I thought the author did justice to neither by attempting to cover both too broadly. I had high hopes for finding more historical insight and perspective into the operas I love - but found more of a dry recitation of names, dates, titles, incidents. The people did not come alive for me. Am also reading a social history of early modern Germany called "Flesh and Spirit" - it's a much more interesting treatment of social history and, ironically, brings me much closer to the characters of operas written and/or set in that period.