TY - BOOK AU - Abbate,Carolyn AU - Parker,Roger TI - A history of opera SN - 9780393057218 (hbk.) AV - ML1700 .A22 2012 U1 - 782.1 23 PY - 2012/// CY - New York, NY PB - W.W. Norton KW - Opera N1 - Includes bibliographical references (p. 568-578) and index; Opera's first centennial -- Opera seria -- Discipline -- Opera buffa and Mozart's line of beauty -- Singing and speaking before 1800 -- The German problem -- Rossini and transition -- The tenor comes of age -- Young Verdi -- Grand opera -- Young Wagner -- Opeƌra comique, the crucible -- Old Wagner -- Verdi : older still -- Realism and clamour -- Turning point -- Modern speech -- We are alone in the forest N2 - A bold, engaging exploration of opera's fundamental nature and enduring appeal, from the sixteenth century to the present. There are lively discussions of opera's social, political, and literary backgrounds, its economic circumstances, and the almost continual polemics that have accompanied its development through the centuries. The authors examine the problems that opera has faced in the last half century, when new works-- once opera's lifeblood-- have shrunk to a tiny minority and have largely failed to find a permanent place in the repertoire. Yet opera as an art form remains extraordinarily buoyant and challenging ER -