The Bluffer's Guide® to Opera; Bluff Your Way® in Opera

by Peter Gammond

• ISBN13: 9781902825540
• ISBN10: 1902825543
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2000-06-28
• Publisher: Oval Books

Summary

A snappy little book containing facts, jargon, and inside information--all that readers need to know to hold their own among the experts.

Author Biography

Peter Gammond's first introduction to opera came when he bought a small 7" disc with a red label in Woolworth's in 1930. It was entitled 'Ding-dong-ding-dong-ding-dong' from an operetta called Les Cloches de Corneville. He never really managed to overcome its effects and has continued to have bad taste. At school he appeared in opera in almost minuscularly minor roles; at university he wrote an operetta Love and Learning produced with a scintillating cast of later cabinet ministers, which was turned down by several leading London impresarios on the entirely justifiable grounds that it was no good. From that point his operatic career has proceeded in leaps and even more leaps, most of them in the wrong direction. Author of several well-illustrated books on opera which sell because of the pictures, and a number of serious works on music, both classical and popular ­ some 40 books in all ­ he is still slightly taken aback, when being introduced, by the instant enquiry 'Not the Gammond who wrote the Bluffer's Guide to Music?' He will never admit that he is.

Table of Contents

Some Basic Definitions	p. 7
The Beginnings of Opera	p. 9
Further History	p. 10
The Operatic World	p. 13
Critics and Historians	p. 15
Audiences and Opera Lovers	p. 16
Singers	p. 18
Gestures	p. 18
Props	p. 20
Voices	p. 20
A Few Good Phrases	p. 24
Voices of the Past	p. 26
Opera Plots	p. 28
Useful Operas	p. 30
Operetta	p. 34
Modern Stuff	p. 35
Composers	p. 37
Mozart	p. 37
Verdi	p. 38
Wagner	p. 42
The Inis and the Ettis	p. 44
Puccini	p. 44
Donizetti	p. 45
Bellini	p. 46
Rossini	p. 47
Beethoven	p. 48
Bizet	p. 48
Boito	p. 49
Borodin	p. 49
Britten	p. 50
Cimarosa	p. 50
Debussy	p. 50
Giordano	p. 50
Gluck	p. 51
Gounod	p. 51
Handel	p. 52
Humperdinck	p. 52
Janacek	p. 53
Leoncavallo	p. 53
Mascagni	p. 53
Massenet	p. 53
Menotti	p. 53
Meyerbeer	p. 54
Monteverdi	p. 54
Nicolai	p. 55
Offenbach	p. 55
Paisiello	p. 55
Ponchielli	p. 56
Salieri	p. 56
Smetana	p. 57
Strauss	p. 57
Thomas	p. 58
Thomson	p. 58
Death Notes	p. 59
Some Good Quotes	p. 60
Glossary	p. 61
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

Native tongue
The true opera buff is staunchly for opera in the original language, knowing full well that it is likely to be twice as tedious to know what is going on as not to know.

Opera repertoire
The names of operas should generally be spoken in the original language unless it is too obvious what they mean and familiarity has bred suitable contempt - e.g. The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro and The Barber of Seville. It shows a true familiarity with the opera repertoire if you abbreviate these to The Flute, The Marriage and The Barber.

Plot
It is fairly safe to make up bits of an opera plot as nobody is likely to challenge its validity. A fair number of them are just as intelligible after reading the synopsis as before.

Acting ability
Opera singers have their fair share of genius, namely the ability to sing and execute a trill or two. The problem is they are required to act as well.

Libretto
The opera plot is generally referred to as the libretto from the Italian meaning 'little book' - i.e. 'small', 'insignificant' and 'hardly worth reading'.

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Excerpted from The Bluffer's Guide to Opera: Bluff Your Way in Opera by Peter Gammond
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.