- Hardcover: 464 pages
- Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (October 29, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0226035085
- ISBN-13: 978-0226035086
Without scenery, costumes, and stage
action, an opera would be little more than a concert. But in the
audience, we know little (and think less) about the enormous efforts of
those involved in bringing an opera to life—by the stagehands who shift
scenery, the scenic artists who create beautiful backdrops, the
electricians who focus the spotlights, and the stage manager who calls
them and the singers to their places during the performance. The first
comprehensive history of the behind-the-scenes world of opera production
and staging, From the Score to the Stage follows the evolution
of visual style and set design in continental Europe from its birth in
the seventeenth century up to today.
In clear,
witty prose, Evan Baker covers all the major players and pieces involved
in getting an opera onto the stage, from the stage director who creates
the artistic concept for the production and guides the singers’
interpretation of their roles to the blocking of singers and placement
of scenery. He concentrates on the people—composers, librettists,
designers, and technicians—as well as the theaters and events that
generated developments in opera production. Additional topics include
the many difficulties in performing an opera, the functions of
impresarios, and the business of music publishing. Delving into the
absorbing and often neglected history of stage directing, theater
architecture and technology, and scenic and lighting design, Baker
nimbly links these technical aspects of opera to actual performances and
performers, and the social context in which they appeared. Out of these
details arise illuminating discussions of individual productions that
cast new light on the operas of Wagner, Verdi, and others.
Packed with nearly two hundred color illustrations, From the Score to the Stage is a revealing, always entertaining look at what happens before the curtain goes up on opening night at the opera house.
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