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Mozart and His Operas

David Cairns–winner of the Whitbread Biography Award and the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction–has spent his life immersed in Mozart’s music, both as a performer and as a listener. This intimate biography sheds new and important light on the composer by placing his operas in the context of his life and his complete musical output. Mozart’s unusual childhood as a musical prodigy touring Europe as a performer from an early age is well known. But even more remarkable is that the genius grew up to produce works of increasing maturity and originality. Cairns unravels the many myths surrounding Mozart to reveal the opinionated, passionate, and exceptionally intelligent man behind the legend.
Cairns shows that familiarity with the operas can transform our perception of Mozart’s art. He demonstrates that the composer’s approach to composition was that of a consummate dramatist. Using the operas as his guide, he traces the steady deepening of Mozart’s musical style from his beginnings as a child prodigy, through his coming of age with, in Cairns’s opinion, the most Romantic and forward-looking of all Mozart’s operas, Idomeneo. He discusses Mozart’s later genius as displayed in the three comic operas The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte, and in The Magic Flute, the final and greatest triumph of his career.

Rating: (out of 3 reviews)

List Price: $ 32.95
Price: $ 19.00

Mozart and His Operas Reviews

Review by dougiefresh2006:

Cairns does a great job revealing all sorts of detail about each opera while developing some very compelling themes across operas. He is a very accessible and interesting writer, who combines research, the music, and the biographical tidbits all very well. I really recommend this book.

Review by ALFRED H. Harris:

Excellent book up to Cairns usual high standards. Not just a dry doctoral thesis. Very useful in preparing a Mozart program.

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Mozart’s Operas (A Centennial Book)

Renowned Mozart scholar Daniel Heartz brings his deep knowledge of social history, theater, and art to a study of the last and great decade of Mozart’s operas. Mozart specialists will recognize some of Heartz’s best-known essays here; but six pieces are new for the collection, and others have been revised and updated with little-known documents on the librettist’s, composer’s, and stage director’s craft. All lovers of opera will value the elegance and wit of Professor Heartz’s writing, enhanced by thirty-seven illustrations, many from his private collection. The volume includes Heartz’s classic essay on Idomeneo (1781), the work that continued to inspire and sustain Mozart through his next, and final, six operas. Thomas Bauman brings his special expertise to a discussion of Die Entfhrung aus dem Serail (1782). The ten central chapters are devoted to the three great operas composed to librettos by Lorenzo da PonteLe nozze di Figaro (l786), Don Giovanni (l787), and Cos fan tutte (l790). The reader is treated to fresh insights on da Ponte’s role as Mozart’s astute and stage-wise collaborator, on the singers whose gifts helped shape each opera, and on the musical connections among the three works. Parallels are drawn with some of the greatest creative artists in other fields, such as Molire, Watteau, and Fragonard. The world of the dance, one of Heartz’s specialties, lends an illuminating perspective as well. Finally, the authors discuss the deep spirituality of Mozart’s last two operas, Die Zauberflte and La Clemenza di Tito (both l79l). They discuss the pertinence of opera outside Vienna at the end of the century, the fortunes and aspirations of Freemasonry in Austria, and the relation of Mozart’s overtures to the dramaturgy of the operas.

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List Price: $ 26.95
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Mozart’s Operas (A Centennial Book) Reviews

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Mozart Opera Arias: Mezzo-Soprano (Universal JV Classical)

An essential new edition for every singer and voice studio! This is the most comprehensive multi-volume collection of Mozart opera arias ever published, with 31 to 41 arias per volume. Includes historical and plot notes about each opera and aria, and English translations for study. The most familiar arias, of course, are found in the collections, along with many masterful, vocally gratifying, but less familiar selections. Operas represented: Apollo et Hyacinthus; Ascanio in Alba; Bastien und Bastienne; La Clemenza di Tito; Cosi fan tutte; Don Giovanni; Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail; La finta giardiniera; La finta semplice; Idomeneo; Lucio Silla; Mitridate, re di Ponto; Le nozze di Figaro; L’oca del cairo; Il re pastore; Der Schauspieldirektor; Il sogno di Scipione, Zaide, Die Zauberflote.

• 262 Pages
• Published by Ricordi

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Price: $ 12.24

Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro) in Full Score

Mozart’s beloved comic romp, reprinted from a late (C. F. Peters, 1941) but beautifully engraved and highly regarded edition that preserves Mozart’s autograph manuscript and early translations of the libretto, and includes passages that are often cut in other editions.
Nobody could make voices and instruments work so perfectly together as Mozart, and it’s fascinating to read through a full orchestral score to see how he did it. Like all of Dover’s scores, this one is a reprint of another publishing house’s work. This particular house, C.F. Peters of Leipzig, gives the text in the original Italian — and in a German translation from 1941 that’s still sung in Germany and Austria today.

• Full Score
• By Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Format Full Score

Rating: (out of 8 reviews)

List Price: $ 27.95
Price: $ 15.70

Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro) in Full Score Reviews

Review by T. J. Anderson:

Full score is clear and reasonably accurate and easy to read. Words for vocal parts don’t always line up clearly, and the choice to place German on top, with Italian below and italicized was a poor one. Reading the original language musically is thus a challenge, and non-German or Italian speakers won’t have a meaningful translation close at hand either as there is no english through the score.

Review by Seng Liang:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s comic masterpiece “The Marriage of Figaro” has always been one of the best loved and studied operas today. With a bubbling plot and beautiful music, this opera is sure to delight classical and opera music lovers whether you are just a beginner or a die hard classical fan. However, full orchestral scores, particularly opera scores, have always hard to come by and when they do, the price is often too steep. Now Dover publications makes available the COMPLETE orchestral score of this fabulous opera with an affordable price. As with other Dover scores, this one is a reprint of an older publishing house, Carl Frederich Peters of Leipzig, which means that other than the contents, which Dover translated into English, everything in this score is German and /or Italian ( libretto and stage directions ). However, the beautiful, neat and clear engraving of the score more than makes up for this. The full score would probably be too bulky for opera singers, but it is an indispensable tool for classical music enthusiasts to study and appreciate all the aspects that make up this wonderful comic opera. Buy it! It will make your listening experience all the more enjoyable.

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The New Grove Guide to Mozart and His Operas (New Grove Operas)

Each entry in this New Grove series of composers and their operas is based on articles in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, that feature information on the lives of individual composers, their works, their librettists and interpreters, and the places where they performed. These unique books compile the meticulously researched articles into organized narratives, designed to make finding information as easy as possible without sacrificing readability. Each volume is completely up-to-date, and includes a suggested listening guide and an eight-page glossy insert containing relevant illustrations. Each volume is a must-own for lovers of opera and classical music.
One of the best known and most admired figures in European music was Wolfgang Amadè Mozart. His short but colorful life is of enduring interest, and his works remain central to the repertories of classical music. This book gives a concise and scholarly account of Mozart’s activities as a composer of operas. It includes a concise biography, orientated towards the operas; an essay on Mozart’s operatic contribution and style, and the antecedents to his operas; a separate synopsis and historical account of each opera; and three essays which bind into narrative form the dictionary entries on librettists, interpreters, and venues. There is a new introduction, a glossary of relevant terms, a list of operatic roles, and a guide to listening.

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The Mozart-Da Ponte Operas: The Cultural and Musical Background to Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte (Clarendon Paperbacks)

Mozart’s collaborations with the librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte led to the composition of three of the great masterpieces of opera. This book, designed to guide the reader to a deeper understanding and appreciation of these enigmatic works, charts the musical, cultural, and social context in which they were written–the tastes and expectations of the contemporary opera audience, Mozart’s intentions and aspirations in a period of rapid intellectual and political change, Da Ponte’s views of opera, and the practical logistics of opera production at the time. Together, these strands provide illuminating insights into Mozart’s creative process and the functions of eighteenth-century opera.

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The Mozart-Da Ponte Operas: The Cultural and Musical Background to Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte (Clarendon Paperbacks) Reviews

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The Complete Operas Of Mozart (Da Capo Paperback)

Charles Osborne provides detailed descriptions of the major operas by Mozart in a volume that serves as both a biography and a critical guide to the composer’s oeuvre.

List Price: $ 17.95
Price: $ 5.01

Don Giovanni (Dover Opera Libretto Series) (Italian and English Edition)

Standard Italian libretto, with complete English translation. Convenient and thoroughly portable—an ideal companion for reading along with a recording or the performance itself. Introduction. List of Characters. Plot Summary.

• Book
• By Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Format Book

Rating: (out of 2 reviews)

List Price: $ 4.95
Price: $ 2.33

Don Giovanni (Dover Opera Libretto Series) (Italian and English Edition) Reviews

Review by Jennet Sullivan:

Don Giovanni is a simply wonderful opera, but for this single-language speaking gal I was at a loss for understanding. I looked high and low for a good translation, finally deciding on this which has side-by-side readings of the opera in itallian and english.

It’s easy to read. It has a good introduction and great footnotes that give you a little extra information to take with you as you read. Unlike other companions, it includes every word spoken, so you don’t get lost when they repeat themselves!

There’s really not much to say about it — simple, straightfoward, and worth the money.

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Understanding the Women of Mozart’s Operas (Simpson Book in the Humanities)

Is The Marriage of Figaro just about Figaro? Is Don Giovanni’s story the only one–or even the most interesting one–in the opera that bears his name? For generations of critics, historians, and directors, it’s Mozart’s men who have mattered most. Too often, the female characters have been understood from the male protagonist’s point of view or simply reduced on stage (and in print) to paper cutouts from the age of the powdered wig and the tightly cinched corset. It’s time to give Mozart’s women–and Mozart’s multi-dimensional portrayals of feminine character–their due. In this lively book, Kristi Brown-Montesano offers a detailed exploration of the female roles in Mozart’s four most frequently performed operas, Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, and Die Zauberflöte. Each chapter takes a close look at the music, libretto text, literary sources, and historical factors that give shape to a character, re-evaluating common assumptions and proposing fresh interpretations.
Brown-Montesano views each character as the subject of a story, not merely the object of a hero’s narrative or the stock figure of convention. From amiable Zerlina, to the awesome Queen of the Night, to calculating Despina, all of Mozart’s women have something unique to say. These readings also tackle provocative social, political, and cultural issues, which are used in the operas to define positive and negative images of femininity: revenge, power, seduction, resistance, autonomy, sacrifice, faithfulness, class, maternity, and sisterhood. Keenly aware of the historical gap between the origins of these works and contemporary culture, Brown-Montesano discusses how attitudes about such concepts–past and current–influence our appreciation of these fascinating representations of women.

List Price: $ 45.00
Price: $ 33.76

Mozart’s The Magic Flute: Opera Classics Library Series (Opera Classics Library)

A comprehensive guide to Mozart’s immortal THE MAGIC FLUTE (Die Zauberflote), featuring insightful Commentary and Analysis, complete Story Synopsis with 30 Music Examples, a COMPLETE NEWLY TRANSLATED LIBRETTO with Music Examples, Discography, Videography, and a Dictionary of Opera and Musical Terms.

List Price: $ 19.95
Price: $ 19.95