Saint-Saëns and the Stage: Operas, Plays, Pageants, a Ballet and a Film

ISBN-13: 9781108426381 / Angielski / Twarda / 2019 / 446 str.

S Hugh MacDonald (Washington University

Opis

The stage works of Saint-Saens range from grand open-air pageants to one-act comic operas, and include the first composed film score. Yet, with the exception of Samson et Dalila, his twelve operas have lain in the shadows since the composer's death in 1921. Widely performed in his lifetime, they vanished from the repertory - never played, never recorded - until now. With four twenty-first-century revivals as a backdrop, this timely book is the first study of Saint-Saens's operas, demonstrating the presence of the same breadth and versatility as in his better known works. Hugh Macdonald's wide knowledge of French music in the nineteenth century gives a powerful understanding of the different conventions and expectations that governed French opera at the time. The interaction of Saint-Saens with his contemporaries is a colourful and important part of the story.

Recenzje

'… is Herculean in every sense … with heaps of insightful detail, gleaned from many sources but, in particular, through close and erudite examination of librettos and scores.' Clair Rowden, Fontes Astis Musicae

Spis treści

1. Preparations for opera, Le Duc de Parme; 2. Le Timbre d'argent; 3. Samson et Dalila; 4. La Princesse jaune; 5. Etienne Marcel; 6. Henry VIII; 7. Proserpine; 8. Ascanio; 9. La Crampe des écrivains, Phryné; 10. Antigone, Frédégonde; 11. Javotte, Déjanire; 12. Lola, Les Barbares; 13. Parysatis, Botriocéphale, Andromaque, Le Roi Apépi, Hélène; 14. L'Ancêtre, La Foi; 15. L'Assassinat du Duc de Guise, Déjanire, On ne badine pas avec l'amour; 16. Saint-Saëns the Dramatist.