This book is concerned not so much with the 'prima donna' as with prime donne: a group of working artists (sometimes famous but more often relatively unknown and now long forgotten) and the circumstances of their professional lives. It attempts to locate these singers within a broader history, including not only the specificities of operatic stage practice but the life beyond the opera house - the social, cultural and political framing that shaped individual experience, artistic endeavour and audience reception. Rutherford addresses questions such as the multiple discourses on the image of the singer and their impact on the changing profile of the professional artist from figlia dell'arte at the beginning of the era to middle-class woman at the end; the aspect of the 'stage mother' and patronage; issues of vocal training and tuition; professional life in the operatic market-place; and performance (both vocal and dramatic) conventions and practices.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Impressively well researched, the book provides a fascinating account of the lives of established and aspiring singers and of the social and cultural forces that shaped them." --Choice
"A comprehensive and articulate study, intelligently constructed and stylishly written." --BBC Music Magazine
"The Prima Donna and Opera presents a fascinating social and historical narrative built on the written words of prime donne and those who knew them. Rutherford weaves together vibrant anecdotes from the period to form a powerfully suggestive - even gripping - narrative, one that is impressive not only for its wide-ranging assemblage of information, but also for the complex relations it exposes between opera and women." - Sean M. Parr, Current Musicology
"A comprehensive and articulate study, intelligently constructed and stylishly written." --BBC Music Magazine
"The Prima Donna and Opera presents a fascinating social and historical narrative built on the written words of prime donne and those who knew them. Rutherford weaves together vibrant anecdotes from the period to form a powerfully suggestive - even gripping - narrative, one that is impressive not only for its wide-ranging assemblage of information, but also for the complex relations it exposes between opera and women." - Sean M. Parr, Current Musicology
Book Description
Examining both famous and unknown artists, this book offers a reappraisal of the female operatic singer during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It attempts to locate these singers within a broader history, including not only the specificities of operatic stage practice but the life beyond the opera house.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
In 1844, the Strenna teatrale europea published an article by Benedetto Bermani entitled 'The life, death and transmigration of the Prima Donna assoluta'. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Pauline Viardot, Covent Garden, Giuditta Pasta, Amanda Norton, Clara Louise Kellogg, Emma Eames, Florence Mayer, Lilli Lehmann, Maria Malibran, Anna Bishop, Isabella Colbran, Lillian Nordica, Maggie Teyte, Manuel Garcia, Mary Garden, Mathilde Marchesi, Nellie Melba, Queen Victoria, Viola Tree, Adelina Patti, Christine Nilsson, Erminia Frezzolini, Frances Alda, Henrietta Sontag New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
In 1844, the Strenna teatrale europea published an article by Benedetto Bermani entitled 'The life, death and transmigration of the Prima Donna assoluta'. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Pauline Viardot, Covent Garden, Giuditta Pasta, Amanda Norton, Clara Louise Kellogg, Emma Eames, Florence Mayer, Lilli Lehmann, Maria Malibran, Anna Bishop, Isabella Colbran, Lillian Nordica, Maggie Teyte, Manuel Garcia, Mary Garden, Mathilde Marchesi, Nellie Melba, Queen Victoria, Viola Tree, Adelina Patti, Christine Nilsson, Erminia Frezzolini, Frances Alda, Henrietta Sontag New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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- The last prima donnas by Lanfranco Rasponi on 10 pages
- Men, Women And Tenors (Music Book Index) by Frances Alda on 9 pages
- Painted Veils by James Huneker on 5 pages
- Music in London by Bernard Shaw on 5 pages
- War and Peace (Penguin Classics) by Leo Tolstoy on 4 pages
See all 100 books this book cites
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