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Opera in Theory and Practice, Image and Myth.

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Opera in Theory and Practice, Image and Myth. Edited by Lorenzo Bianconi and Giorgio Pestelli. Translated by Kenneth Chalmers and Mary Whitall. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. [xiv, 456 p. ISBN 0-226-04592-7. $70.] Music examples, illustrations, index.

Originally published in 1988 in Italian as volume 6 of the Storia dell'opera italiana, this welcome and useful book is the second from the original series to appear in English translation. The other, Opera Production and its Resources, was published in Italian in 1987 and in English in 1998. These two selections from the original series seem to represent a decision to provide translations of items of interest to academics, students, and others attracted to substantive writing about opera where Italian scholarship provides insight not readily available in English. Although variable in quality, these essays will appeal to all serious students of Italian opera.

Written by different authors, each of the six chapters does not center on a single, easily articulated theme. Indeed the title of the book fails to provide a coherent notion of its contents. They combine, however, to form a reasonably unified collection of essays addressing various aspects of the aesthetics, meaning, reception, and diffusion of Italian opera primarily within its native culture. These aspects are essential to understanding Italian opera fully, yet they can be rather difficult to access by those who were not raised in an Italian context, let alone those who struggle with the language.

The first half of the volume includes three chapters, the first on treatises and other writings on opera, the second on dramaturgy, and the third on poetic structures and their relationships to musical composition. These topics form the most useful and closely united part of the book. The editors have included bibliographic notes at the end of each of these chapters that guide the user into more detailed writings. The essays coupled with the notes serve as excellent introductions to the individual topics....

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