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Rating: 
Summary: Essential Reference
Review: This 112 page book is number 43 in the English National Operaseries of opera guides. Unlike most of in the series, this guidecovers two operas -- the two large scale vocal/stage works of IgorStravinsky. The Rake's Progress is generally regarded as one of the few 20th century operas that has found its way into the standard repertory. As in the other guides in this series, this book is a compilation of essays and writings by several different people and the reader's general familiarity with the works under consideration is assumed. There is no straightforward synopsis of either of the works discussed in this volume although some of the essays provide at least a partial plot synopsis. Rather, in addition to the complete libretto and English translation of the libretto, the essays discuss historical or analytical features of the works. The major piece on Oedipus Rex is an essay by David Rice titled "The Person of Fate and the Fate of the Person: Stravinsky's 'Oedipus Rex.'" Also included is an appreciation of the work by the composer Judith Weir, a personal history of the work by Jean Cocteau, the librettist, and a thematic catalogue. For The Rake's Progress, two major essays are included: one discussing the historical events that led to the writing of the libretto; and, the second discussing the opera's use of classical forms and gestures. The complete libretto is included as well as a verse prologue written by the librettists, W.H.Auden and Chester Kallman, for a 1958 television broadcast of the opera's last five scenes. A bibliography and selected discography is included for both operas. END
Rating:
Summary: Essential Reference
Review: This 112 page book is number 43 in the English National Operaseries of opera guides. Unlike most of in the series, this guidecovers two operas -- the two large scale vocal/stage works of IgorStravinsky. The Rake's Progress is generally regarded as one of the few 20th century operas that has found its way into the standard repertory. As in the other guides in this series, this book is a compilation of essays and writings by several different people and the reader's general familiarity with the works under consideration is assumed. There is no straightforward synopsis of either of the works discussed in this volume although some of the essays provide at least a partial plot synopsis. Rather, in addition to the complete libretto and English translation of the libretto, the essays discuss historical or analytical features of the works. The major piece on Oedipus Rex is an essay by David Rice titled "The Person of Fate and the Fate of the Person: Stravinsky's 'Oedipus Rex.'" Also included is an appreciation of the work by the composer Judith Weir, a personal history of the work by Jean Cocteau, the librettist, and a thematic catalogue. For The Rake's Progress, two major essays are included: one discussing the historical events that led to the writing of the libretto; and, the second discussing the opera's use of classical forms and gestures. The complete libretto is included as well as a verse prologue written by the librettists, W.H.Auden and Chester Kallman, for a 1958 television broadcast of the opera's last five scenes. A bibliography and selected discography is included for both operas. END
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