Oklahoma premiered on Broadway in 1943 under the auspices of the Theatre Guild, and today it is performed more frequently than any other Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. In this book Tim Carter offers the first fully documented history of the making of this celebrated American musical.
Drawing on research from rare theater archives, manuscripts, journalism, and other sources, Carter records every step in the development of Oklahoma The book is filled with rich and fascinating details about how Rodgers and Hammerstein first came together, the casting process,...

The transformation of Vienna and the Habsburg Empire at the end of the nineteenth century was accompanied by the development of a new musical genre, Viennese operetta, and no composer was better suited than Johann Strauss to express his native city's pride and anxiety during this period. Camille Crittenden provides an overview of Viennese operetta, then takes Strauss' works as a series of case studies in the interaction between stage works and audience. The book also examines Strauss' role as national icon during his lifetime and throughout the twentieth century.

German opera from its primitive origins up to Wagner is the subject of this wide-ranging history, the only one of its kind in any language. It traces the growth of the humble Singspiel into a vehicle for the genius of Mozart and Beethoven, together with the persistent attempts at German Grand Opera. The many operas studied are placed in their historical, social and theatrical context, and attention is paid to the literary, artistic and philosophical ideas that made them part of the country's intellectual history.

This book explores the cultural and commercial life of Italian opera in late eighteenth-century London. Through primary sources, many analyzed for the first time, Ian Woodfield examines such issues as finances, recruitment policy, handling of singers and composers, links with Paris and Italy, and the role of women in opera management. These key topics are also placed within the context of a dispute between two of the most important managers of the day, Frances Brooke and David Garrick, and the major venues of the time: the King's Theatre and its rivals Drury Lane and Covent Garden.

Paolo Fabbri's Monteverdi, first published in Italian, is the leading study of the greatest composer of late Renaissance and early Baroque Italy, rightly called the "father of modern music." A large number of contemporary documents, including some 130 of his own letters, offer rich insights into the composer and his times, also illuminating the many and varied contexts for music-making in the most important musical centers in Italy. This newly revised translation brings an indispensable text to a much broader readership.

German opera from its primitive origins up to Wagner is the subject of this wide-ranging history, the only one of its kind in any language. It traces the growth of the humble Singspiel into a vehicle for the genius of Mozart and Beethoven, together with the persistent attempts at German Grand Opera. The many operas studied are placed in their historical, social and theatrical context, and attention is paid to the literary, artistic and philosophical ideas that made them part of the country's intellectual history.

This handbook provides the reader with the first comprehensive guide to Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. Tim Carter discusses the composition of the opera and the social, cultural and musical context in which it was produced, its critical reception and performance history. He provides a full analytical synopsis, a chapter on the verse structure of the libretto and a discussion of Mozart's matching of music to drama. Other chapters also consider relevant topics, including the 'comic' possibilities of the Classical style, and Michael Robinson writes on opera buffa in the 1770s and 1780s.

Paolo Fabbri's Monteverdi, first published in Italian, is the leading study of the greatest composer of late Renaissance and early Baroque Italy, rightly called the "father of modern music." A large number of contemporary documents, including some 130 of his own letters, offer rich insights into the composer and his times, also illuminating the many and varied contexts for music-making in the most important musical centers in Italy. This newly revised translation brings an indispensable text to a much broader readership.

Contributors explore new aspects of composition and performance in this comprehensive examination of the repertory, institutions, performers, composers, and social and cultural world of one of the greatest moments in music history. They consider the cosmopolitan nature of music making; emergence of markets for musical activity; and development of new musical styles and gestures. The work also contains a separate chronology and dictionary-style entries on individuals, places and institutions.

Cosi fan tutte is widely regarded as Mozart's most enigmatic opera with Lorenzo Da Ponte's most erudite text. Edmund Goehring presents a new perspective on the relationships between text and tone in the opera, the tension between comedy and philosophy as well as its representation in stage works, and the pastoral mode. Goehring's argument is sustained by the detailed analysis of primary sources (many of which are little known), and is richly illustrated with musical examples.