Wilson is one of a few truly innovative Puccini scholars writing today. In this fascinating new book she explains how — against many odds and contrary to the expectations of early critics — La bohème became the work that still speaks to all of us, across generations and regardless of national, social and cultural boundaries. Her book is peppered with fascinating responses to Puccini's opera, from directors, critics and audiences. If we are
to understand the success of Puccini's language, we have to look beyond conventional ideas of operatic italianità. Wilson's book shows us how to do this.
Alexandra Wilson is Professor of Music and Cultural History at Oxford Brookes University. Her research focuses on opera and operatic culture from the nineteenth century to the present. Her publications include the award-winning The Puccini Problem: Opera, Nationalism, and Modernity and a monograph on Opera in the Jazz Age: Cultural Politics in 1920s Britain (OUP, 2019), and she regularly works with the UK's leading opera
companies.
