On opera [[electronic resource] /] / Bernard Williams

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910785637903321
• Autore: Williams Bernard Arthur Owen
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: New Haven [Conn.], : Yale University Press, c2006
• ISBN: 0-300-14228-5
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource
• Altri autori (Persone): TannerMichael
• Disciplina: 782.1
• Soggetti: Opera
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: The nature of opera : entry for The New Grove Dictionary of Opera -- Mozart's comedies and the sense of an ending -- Mozart's Figaro : a question of class? -- Don Giovanni as an idea -- Passion and cynicism : remarks on Così fan tutte -- Rather red than black : Verdi, Don Carlos and the passion for freedom -- Tristan and time -- The elusiveness of pessimism : responding to the Ring -- Wagner and the transcendence of politics -- L'envers des destinées : remarks on Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande -- Manifest artifice : the ingenuity of Puccini -- Comments on Opera and ideas : from Mozart to Strauss / by Paul Robinson -- The Marriage and the Flute : Tippett and Mozart -- Janáček's modernism : doing less with more in music and philosophy -- Authenticity and re-creation : musicology, performance and production -- Naïve and sentimental opera lovers.
• Sommario/riassunto: Bernard Williams, who died in 2003, was one of the most influential moral philosophers of his generation. A lifelong opera lover, his articles and essays, talks for the BBC, contributions to the Grove Dictionary of Opera, and program notes for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and the English National Opera, generated a devoted following. This elegant volume brings together these widely scattered and largely unobtainable pieces, including two that have not been previously published. It covers an engaging range of topics from Mozart to Wagner, including sparkling essays on specific operas by those composers as well as Verdi, Puccini, Strauss, Debussy, Janacek, and Tippett. Reflecting Williams's brilliance, passion, and clarity of mind, these essays engage with, and illustrate, the enduring appeal of opera ; as an art form.