Ryan Edwards – författare

One of the most significant developments in 19th-century Italian opera was the genesis of the Verdi baritone. The authors argue that the composer's baritone characters embody "a quintessential humanity, expressing needs and temptations, confusions and understandings, griefs and joys that transcend the particulars of time and place." The Verdi Baritone explores seven of the most fascinating roles in the repertory, revealing how they were conceived and executed. This eloquent book opens with a discussion of Verdi's early triumph, Nabucco; proceeds with Ernani, Macbeth, Rigoletto, La Traviata, and Simon Boccanegra; and concludes with his final great tragedy, Otello. Voice students, professional performers, their teachers and coaches, and opera lovers, will gain insight into Verdi's masterful use of text, music, and staging to portray each character's inner self.

New in paperback! This book comes at a time when opera-lovers, singers, directors, and critics alike are taking a new look at the dramatic soprano heroines created by Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini, endeavoring to delve beyond inherited scholarly interpretation and gain a richer understanding of these compelling female characters. Artistically limited by the bel canto musical tradition popular at the time, Verdi launched a new style dramma per musica which also demanded a new soprano archetype. This book illustrates the musical evolution of the Verdi and Puccini soprano while illuminating the dramatic scope and power of these great heroines. Avoiding critical reductionism, Verdi and Puccini Heroines provides an unprecedented and probing discussion of how these great soprano roles were conceived and executed. Accordingly, the authors take a three-dimensional look at these heroines, examining seven operas: Il Trovatore, La Forza del Destino, Aida, La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot. The chapters, which are fully self-contained analyses, contain translations, illustrative musical examples, supplementary notes, and references to each opera's literary sources. The musical analysis, while thorough, is descriptive and accessible to all levels of readers.