David Charlton - The Cambridge Companion to Grand Opera

In this fascinating and accessible exploration of the world of grand opera, a team of operatic scholars and writers examines those important Romantic operas which embraced the Shakespearean sweep of tragedy, history, love in time of conflict, and the struggle for national self-determination. Rival nations, rival religions and violent resolutions are common elements, with various social or political groups represented in the form of operatic choruses. The book traces the origins and development of a style created during an increasingly technical age, which exploited the world-renowned skills of Parisian stage-designers, artists and dancers, as well as singers. It analyses in detail the grand operas of Rossini, Auber, Meyerbeer and Halvy, and discusses Wagner, grand opera in Russia, the Czech lands, Italy, Britain and the Americas. It also includes an essay by the renowned opera director David Pountney.

David Charlton is Professor of Music History at Royal Holloway, University of London. He has published Grtry and the Growth of Opra-Comique (Cambridge, 1986), E. T. A. Hoffmanns Musical Writings: Kreisleriana; The Poet and the Composer; Music Criticism (Cambridge, 1989) and, most recently, French Opera, 17301830 (2000).

For a list of titles published in the series, please see .