"Looking at opera from the standpoint of its texts, as only a gifted poet and librettist can do, Dana Gioia examines why a surprisingly small number of operas h
Two decades of indispensable work by a great American writer. Thirty-five years after her first collection of essays, Sontag has chosen more than 40 longer and
Vincenzo Bellini's Norma, first produced at La Scala, Milan, in 1831, is widely regarded as the greatest achievement of the bel canto era. Its title role, sung
"Icouldn't imagine a finer or livelier guide through the world of opera. . . . [Levine] distills a lifetime of passion and insight into this immenselyenjoyable
A lively introduction to opera, from the Renaissance to the twenty-first century There are few art forms as visceral and emotional as opera -- and few that are