Foreign Opera at the London Playhouses

From Mozart to Bellini

Christina Fuhrmann author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:24th Sep '15

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

This hardback is available in another edition too:

Foreign Opera at the London Playhouses cover

London operatic adaptations have been maligned, but this comprehensive study demonstrates their importance to theatre, opera and canon formation.

In the early nineteenth century over forty operas by foreign composers, including Mozart, Rossini, Weber and Bellini, were adapted for London playhouses. This is the first comprehensive study of these adaptations. Christina Fuhrmann reveals how integral these operas are to our understanding of early nineteenth-century theatre, opera and canon formation.In the early nineteenth century over forty operas by foreign composers, including Mozart, Rossini, Weber and Bellini, were adapted for London playhouses, often appearing in drastically altered form. Such changes have been denigrated as 'mutilations'. The operas were translated into English, fitted with spoken dialogue, divested of much of their music, augmented with interpolations and frequently set to altered libretti. By the end of the period, the radical changes of earlier adaptations gave way to more faithful versions. In the first comprehensive study of these adaptations, Christina Fuhrmann shows how integral they are to our understanding of early nineteenth-century opera and the transformation of London's theatrical and musical life. This book reveals how these operas accelerated repertoire shifts in the London theatrical world, fostered significant changes in musical taste, revealed the ambiguities and inadequacies of copyright law and sparked intense debate about fidelity to the original work.

ISBN: 9781107022218

Dimensions: 253mm x 182mm x 18mm

Weight: 720g

272 pages