The Faber Book of Opera

London: Faber & Faber, 2001. Book. New. Hardcover. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. London: Faber & Faber, 2001. First Edition. Hardcover binding, 402 pp. Opera has always generated strong views and opinions. What did Berlioz write about Weber's Der Freischütz in 1841? What was the idea behind Gluck's Reform operas? How did Mozart himself view his collaboration with the librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte? What is the legacy of Maria Callas? These are among the myriad questions that are addressed in this collection of writings about opera-in theory, in practice, in review, and in fiction-all drawn from primary sources by Tom Sutcliffe. From Gustave Flaubert's description of a performance of Lucia di Lammermoor in Madame Bovary, to Voltaire's exploration of the difficulties of conveying true tragedy within the operatic form, to Virginia Woolf's views on Wagner's Parsifal, which seemed to her to have been "poured out in a smooth stream at white heat," this is a collection that covers, in some 75 carefully chosen excerpts, just what it is that makes opera so extraordinary. New in slightly soiled dustjacket, protective mylar cover..