Prima Donna : A History (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A guide to opera's greatest female singers over the last 300 years. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 367 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult (1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670804827
• ISBN-13: 978-0670804825
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,218,496 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, at times insightful history, June 5, 2005

By	klavierspiel "klavierspiel" (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

There have been countless books written about the specialized musician known as the opera singer, and quite a few about female opera singers in particular; still, Rupert Christiansen's effort from the 1980s holds up well. As is logical, his discussion is basically chronological, starting with the rise of the female singer in the later Baroque period (as the previously dominant castrati waned in favor), proceeding through the heyday of the adored prima donna in the nineteenth century and concluding with a look at the scene in modern times (the book now, of course, is dated, stopping with the 1970s). Christiansen's chapters, however, are not only devoted to differing vocal types and their evolution (the coloratura "nightingale," the Wagnerian singer), but also different national schools and influential geographic centers, such as New York and Vienna. These shifting foci lend the book additional perspectives and interest, though occasionally the organization necessitates some backtracking as far as pure chronology is concerned. In a fairly compact volume overall only a few individual singers can be discussed in any great detail, and Christiansen's zeal for summarizing leads him to make some questionable assertions; lumping Callas, Sutherland and Horne together as singers with "enormous" voices, for example. Still, he has a definite gift for sketching complete musical personalities in relatively few words that makes this volume a consistently enjoyable and informative read. Incidentally, it is worth seeking out the Viking hardback, as the photographs included are different, more numerous and interesting than in my Penguin paperback reprint.