Opera is often regarded as the pinnacle of high art. A "Western" genre with global reach, it is where music and drama come together in unique ways, supported by stellar singers and spectacular scenic effects. Yet it is also patently absurd -- why should anyone break into song on the dramatic stage? -- and shrouded in mystique. In this engaging and entertaining guide, renowned music scholar Tim Carter unravels its many layers to offer a thorough introduction to Italian opera from the seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries.Eschewing the technical musical detail that all too often dominates writing on opera, Carter begins instead where the composers themselves did: with the text. Walking readers through the relationship between music and poetry that lies at the heart of any opera, Carter then offers explorations of five of the most enduring and emblematic Italian operas: Monteverdi's The Coronation of Poppea; Handel's Julius Caesar in Egypt; Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro; Verdi's Rigoletto; and Puccini's La Bohème. Shedding light on the creative collusions and collisions involved in bringing opera to the stage, the various, and varying, demands of the text and music, and the nature of its musical drama, Carter also shows how Italian opera has developed over the course of music history. Complete with synopses, cast lists, and suggested further reading for each work discussed, Understanding Italian Opera is a must-read for anyone with an interest in and love for this glorious art.

Preface1: What is Opera?Some definitionsIn praise of librettistsItalian versificationPoetic structures and musical consequencesTwo examples from MozartAn "exotic and irrational entertainment"?2: Giovanni Francesco Busenello and Claudio MonteverdiL'incoronazione di Poppea (Venice, 1643)Monteverdi in VeniceThe first operas"But here the matter is represented differently""Speaking" and "singing"Seductive PoppeaSeneca's deathOttavia in exileEcstasies of love3: Nicola Francesco Haym and George Frideric HandelGiulio Cesare in Egitto (London, 1724)Arcadian reformsAdapting BussaniRecitatives and ariasSome alternatives"Fly, my heart, to the sweet enchantment"Taming CleopatraCesare returnsAll's well...4: Lorenzo da Ponte and Wolfgang Amadeus MozartLe nozze di Figaro (Vienna, 1786)... these Italian gentlemen are very civil to your faceTranslating BeaumarchaisAria formsA duet, a trio, and a sextetFinalesReadings and messages5: Francesco Maria Piave and Giuseppe VerdiRigoletto (Venice, 1851)"Le Roi s'amuse"Cantabiles and cabalettasDuetsArias and monologuesA quartet ... a storm ... and a death6: Giuseppe Giacosa, Luigi Illica, and Giacomo PucciniLa Bohème (Turin, 1896)Bohemian rhapsodiesA publisher, two librettists, and a rivalA missing actVerse and musicFormless forms?Operatic realismsMimì dies7: Afterthoughts