Historians of French politics, art, philosophy and literature have long known the tensions and fascinations of Louis XV's reign, the 1750s in particular. David Charlton's study comprehensively re-examines this period, from Rameau to Gluck and elucidates the long-term issues surrounding opera. Taking Rousseau's Le Devin du Village as one narrative centrepiece, Charlton investigates this opera's origins and influences in the 1740s and goes on to use past and present research to create a new structural model that explains the elements of reform in Gluck's tragedies for Paris. Charlton's book...

This collection of essays has been written by thirteen scholars, from five countries. It focuses on the musical activities of Hector Berlioz, viewed as a European phenomenon. The first part of the book discusses Berlioz s journeys to Breslau (1846), to Moscow and St Petersburg (1847 and 1867-68), and to London (especially in 1847 and 1853). In particular, the reception of Berlioz s music is placed under scrutiny. The second part of the book starts with a new history of the recitatives that Berlioz wrote for Weber s Der Freischutz, as they were used in Paris (1841, 1850), Berlin (1849),...