Description"I thought: opera, how hard can it be? Songs. Pretty girls dancing. Nice scenery. Lots of people handing over cash. Got to be better than the cut-throat world of yoghurt, I thought. Now, everywhere I go, there's..." Death, to be precise. And plenty of it. In unpleasant variations. This isn't real life. This isn't even cheese mongering. It's opera - where the music matters, and where an opera house is being terrorised by a man in evening dress with a white mask, lurking in the shadows, occasionally killing people, and, most worryingly, sending little notes, writing maniacal laughter with five exclamation marks. Opera can do that to a man. In such circumstances, life has obviously reached that desperate point where the wrong thing to do has to be the right thing to do.
DescriptionCarmen es mas conocida en la version operatica y es una de las obras mas populares del genero, pero lo cierto es que la novela es un profundo retrato de una mujer que busca ante todo ser libre, sin ataduras, algo que era incompresible en el siglo XIX, cuando se hizo su creacion. Carmen is better known in the operatic version Bizet made of this novel, but the truth is that this book is a profound study of a woman who wants her freedom above of all.
DescriptionOpera, said Moliére, is the most expensive noise known to man. From its beginnings in the 16th Century, through to today when there are as many musical styles as there are composers, opera has fascinated, infuriated, delighted, been censored, been banned, excited riots, even won a nation its freedom. Here is the colorful story of sometimes temperamental composers and even more temperamental singers working in an art form which has produced some of man's noblest artistic creations. This absorbing history is illustrated by over 100 musical examples by Naxos artists as well as some of the greatest singers of the 20th century including Enrico Caruso and Fyodor Chaliapin.
DescriptionGaston Leroux's phenomenal novel, which inspired the hit Broadway musical, remains one of the most original suspense stories ever written. Erik, a brilliant but hideously disfigured musical genius, lives in the basement of Paris's National Academy of Music, where he haunts the opera crowd in his mask and fancy clothes. The Phantom falls in love with Christine Daaé, a beautiful soprano, and gives her music lessons by magically throwing his voice. But Erik is stunned to learn that Christine loves Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny, who disappears around the same time his brother, Count Phillippe, is found dead outside the Academy. A haunting tale of obsession, a touching story about internal beauty, and a top-notch detective drama, The Phantom of the Opera is a remarkable novel.
DescriptionThis invaluable primer will introduce the uninitiated to the mysteries of opera and help more experienced fans to expand their understanding and deepen their appreciation of the art form. An Invitation to the Opera provides an accessible and completely comprehensive look at opera's rich heritage and includes information such as: a retelling of opera's history, from its roots in Greek tragedy up to the modern period; a look at operatic production over the centuries, including the evolution of scenery, lightning, and stage design; an in-depth discussion of the crucial role of the conductor; biographical sketches of the 100 greatest voices of all time, from the castrati of the 17th century to present-day superstars such as Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti; and descriptions of the 50 operas of the standard repertory.
DescriptionWith dashing Scotland Yard Inspector Alec Fletcher at her side, Daisy is enjoying a delightful performance of Verdi's Requiem, featuring her neighbor Muriel Westlea's celebrated sister, Bettina. But when all that emerges from the doomed diva's vocal chords is a dying gasp, Daisy soon discovers that the notoriously difficult opera star had her share of adversaries; among them a smugly philandering tenor, a burly Russian bass, and even her own vocal coach husband, with whom she shared a hardly harmonious marriage. Did one of them fatally poison the acclaimed mezzo? Or is someone else determined to see that Daisy's investigation ends on as bitter a note as Bettina's fateful last performance?
