This series offers an in-depth exploration of Giuseppe Verdi's operatic masterpieces, providing detailed analyses of each work. It delves into the dramatic and historical origins of every opera, offering critical evaluations of their significance. Readers will appreciate the wealth of musical illustrations that complement the engaging and informative text, making it an indispensable resource for opera enthusiasts.
This is a revised and updated edition of Julian Budden's monumental survey of the operas of Giuseppe Verdi. Hailed on publication for its extraordinary comprehensibility, it examines each of the operas in detail, giving a full account of its dramatic and historical origins and a critical evaluation. The text is supported by a wealth of musical illustrations.
The second part of a three-volume survey of the operas of Verdi, this study covers those works written during the decadence of the post-Rossinni period. It examines each opera in detail, with an account of its dramatic and historical origins and a critical evaluation.
From Don Carlos to Falstaff
Volume Three covers roughly a quarter of a century, a period which saw grand opera on the Parisian model established throughout Italy, the reform of the Conservatories, and the spread of cosmopolitan influences to an extent that convinced many that Italian music was losing its identity. Verdi produced his four last and greatest operas-- Don Carlos , Aida , Otello , and Falstaff --in this period, which ended with the advent of "verisimo", in which a new, recognizably Italian idiom was inaugurated.