Geschichte der Oper in vier Bänden

Opera, which has been declared dead countless times with regret or triumph, is as alive today as it was centuries ago. And it is more present than ever: operas from all four centuries cavort on the stages of our time, albeit with varying frequency. Claudio Monteverdi, Francesco Cavalli and George Frideric Handel have established themselves in the repertoire as the greats of baroque opera; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner, George Bizet and Giacomo Puccini dominate the repertoire worldwide.Contemporary composers such as Hans-Werner Henze and Helmut Lachenmann, Philip Glass and Salvatore Sciarrino leave no doubt that opera also has a future with the musical means of the present. It is therefore worthwhile not only for the historically interested reader but also for the opera-goer today to perceive the history of opera in all its breadth. Starting with the pioneers of opera in the 15th and 16th centuries, the history of opera spans a wide arc to the musico-dramatic experiments of the immediate present. It tells the story of an art form that has produced an astonishing variety of genres and styles and has always been a mirror of social events. The four volumes of this edition present the history of opera in all its vitality, all its high points and crises, and all its lines of development in a detail that is unparalleled on the book market. Volume 1 Opera in the 17th century By Silke Leopold Volume 2 Opera in the 18th century Herbert Schneider/Reinhard Wiesend (eds.) Volume 3 Opera in the 19th century Agnes Bohnert/Siegfried Mauser (eds.) Volume 4 Music theatre in the 20th century Siegfried Mauser (ed.).