The Complete Operas of Puccini

While Puccini wrote only twelve operas during a long lifethree of them one-acters designed to be performed togetherhe has to be ranked today as the worlds most popular composer of opera. His La Bohme and Tosca are more frequently performed in the major opera houses than works by other composers, and Madame Butterfly and Manon Lescaut rank not far behind. What is the explanation for Puccini's enormous success? How do his operas work as music and drama? What was he like to contemporaries such as Verdi, Toscanini, and Caruso? Charles Osborne, author of highly successful Complete Operas of Verdi and Complete Operas of Mozart, here analyzes the entire Puccini oeuvrefrom Tosca and Turandot to the less-often performed Edgar, La Fanciulla del West, and La Rondine. His fourfold approachlinking biography with musical, textual, and dramatic analysisis especially valuable for Puccini, who revealed many of his personal contradictions in his music and whose sense of detail can be appreciated by close study of the scores and characters. For the legions of Puccini lovers everywhere, this guide to his life and work can serve as an ideal reference source and opera companion.

ISBN 0306802007   Pages 288 ISBN13 9780306802003 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher The Perseus Books Group   Weight (grammes) 500 Imprint Da Capo Press Inc   Published in Cambridge, MA Format Paperback   Series title Da Capo Paperback Publication date 01 Aug 1983   Height (mm) 229 Library of Congress 83010142   Width (mm) 153 DEWEY 782.10924   Spine width (mm) 19 DEWEY edition DC21   Academic level General

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