Verdi in the Age of Italian Romanticism

by David R. B. Kimbell

Overview

Professor Kimbell's classic study illuminates the first fifteen years of Verdi's composing career, the era that culminated in his trio of masterpieces, Rigoletto, Il Trovatore and La Traviata. Verdi had become an acknowledged master of the peculiar brand of Romanticism that flourished in Italy in the 1830s and 40s; this background is examined in its political, social and literary light, and his consequent transformation of Italian operatic conventions is analysed. The four parts of Professor Kimbell's book range over biographical, documentary, literary and close-analytical ground. Attention is given to individual operas in order to show how Verdi assimilated and developed the Romantic tradition in his work.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521316781
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/01/1985
Series:	Cambridge Paperback Library
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	720
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 1.57(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; Part I. The Setting: 1. Verdi's Italy; 2. Theatrical censorship; 3. The operatic experience; 4. Dramatic principles and musical form in early ottocento opera; Part II. A Documentary History of the Early Operas: 5. Launching a career; 6. The genesis of an opera - Ernani; 7. Two overcrowded years; 8. Verdi the idealist - the Florence Macbeth; 9. Opera as a business; 10. Collaboration with Cammarano; 11. Bouts with the censor; 12. Giuseppina's operas - Il Trovatore and La Traviata; Part III. The Development of Verdi's Musical Language: 13. The first operas - Oberto and Un Giorno di Regno; 14. Italian grand opera - Nabucco and I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata; 15. The early 'galley' operas - Ernani to Attila; 16. Macbeth and its satellites; 17. Verdi a la parisienne - Jerusalem and La Battaglia di Legnano; 18. Luisa Miller and Stiffelio; 19. 'The popular trilogy' - Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, La Traviata; Part IV. The Operas: 20. Nabucco, a risorgimento opera; 21. Verdi and French Romanticism - Ernani; 22. Byronismo - I Due Foscari and Il Corsaro; 23. The impact of Shakespeare - the Florence Macbeth; 24. La Battaglia di Legnano - the opera of the revolution; 25. Essays with Schiller; 26. The originality of Rigoletto; 27. Verdi and 'realism' - La Traviata; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

'Professor Kimbell demonstrates that there is a great deal to be added to our knowledge of Verdi, his times, and his works.' Notes

' … it constantly stimulates thought, Kimbell utters many perceptive judgements, and few that are not supported by sound evidence and a fine critical discrimination.' Music and Letters

'… a magnificent exposition of this momentous operatic revolution.' Times Educational Supplement

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