# Book review - Life in Opera



## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

An interview-style book that has 3-10 pages of questions and answers per person by what's basically a Who's Who in opera. With a couple notable exceptions (no James Levine, Bryn Terfel, or Cecilia Bartoli) if they're a big name, they're in here along with many others. Really interesting insights into the art of singing and performing, the various factors that they each feel are important (Dessay says that singing is only 30% of an opera singers job!), and the views of opera from conductors, stage designers, administrators, and of course the singers. Really fun and entertaining read. Plus, one of the longer interviews is with the fabulous Diana Damrau, who I'm kind of in love with.

Anyway, very interesting read and I highly recommend it.


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Sounds interesting. Is this the one?










Has anyone got this?


----------



## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

That's the correct book, yes 
Haven't read the other book.


----------



## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Thanks for the recommendations - my local library has both of these.

Anyone else got any must reads on opera?


----------



## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

"Molto Agitato" is one I'm sure will interest you, Natalie. It's about the history and the goings on at the Met. It's not only about the singers, but also the politics, the orchestra, how it was and is run and much more. But also lots of stuff about the singers of course, including the Domingo/Pavarotti rivalry, the well known Kathleen Battle stories and so on. And plenty of info about (who else?) James Levine. A very interesting read.


----------



## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Thanks Gaston - looks very interesting and pitch full of lovely gossip. And it's also in the library.

I'm going away to an internet free zone next week and need a fix of opera reading!


----------



## The Student (Jul 4, 2010)

What about a "beginner" opera book? Any suggestions?


----------



## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

The Student said:


> What about a "beginner" opera book? Any suggestions?


Try this one....


----------



## The Student (Jul 4, 2010)

Sounds like a plan. I will do thanks.


----------



## OperaSaz (Feb 12, 2010)

Glad someone started this thread!

Would anyone recommend The Oxford Illustrated History of Opera as a good intro guide to opera and its history?

Also looking for a good book on Carmen and Bizet, an suggestions?

Saz


----------



## Grosse Fugue (Mar 3, 2010)

jhar26 said:


> Try this one....


I can recommend this as well


----------



## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I'm most of the way "Living Opera" and I can definitely recommend it - I found it more enlightening than "Life in Opera". The interview questions in "Life in opera" were pretty generic - repeated over and over again; whereas in "Living opera" the interviewer skilfully picked up on interesting comments and probed and pursued to get to the core of the meaning. He also seemed to be well-prepared for each interviewee, so able to be very specific.










I would really recommend "Molto agitato" mainly to Met aficionados - or people who want the behind-the-scenes manoeuvring forall the operas on Met Player. There's a lot about the board and administration and politics and not quite as much as I would have liked about productions and singers


----------



## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> I'm most of the way "Living Opera" and I can definitely recommend it - I found it more enlightening than "Life in Opera".
> I would really recommend "Molto agitato" mainly to Met aficionados


I've been reading parts of Living Opera, and like it a lot.
Molto Agitato has been strongly criticized as inaccurate and prone to fantasy.


----------



## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

I've just ordered this one...


----------



## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

There's something that Renata said in that book that might interest Almaviva in particular since he's said several times that singers of the past were on average better than those of today. Here's what Tebaldi said about it when asked towards the end of her life....

"Yes, today truly great voices are rare, but I'm convinced that the fault lies in the intonation of the orchestra. It is the diapason which creates the upset. We are witnessing the phenomenon that nothing is sung in the original key any longer. Orchestras today are tuned to such a high tonality that the tone no longer corresponds to the original score. In the 19th century the diapason was between 333 and 334. When I started to sing it was at 440. Since Von Karajan orchestras have been tuned to 443 and 444. So, now it's said that there are no more true contralti, mezzosoprani, baritones or basses. The last true mezzosoprani in Italy were Fedora Barbieri and Fiorenza Cossotto. These were the true mezzo voices, the others are halfway between soprano and mezzo. Those true voices can not disappear so quickly without a reason. I am convinced that if we allowed the voices today to sing in the original key of the composer, all those voices which seem to have disappeared would emerge again. Singing in a higher intonation causes the voice to be strangled because the throat closes as one forces to produce a higher note. On the other hand, the more open the throat remains, the more freely the sound emerges.

Singing incorrect repertory can also drastically shorten one's career. Roles must be suitable for the individual voice. It seems that it is fashionable these days to show that one can sing anything. That can be very harmful to the voice."


----------



## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

jhar26 said:


> There's something that Renata said in that book that might interest Almaviva in particular since he's said several times that singers of the past were on average better than those of today. Here's what Tebaldi said about it when asked towards the end of her life....
> 
> "Yes, today truly great voices are rare, but I'm convinced that the fault lies in the intonation of the orchestra. It is the diapason which creates the upset. We are witnessing the phenomenon that nothing is sung in the original key any longer. Orchestras today are tuned to such a high tonality that the tone no longer corresponds to the original score. In the 19th century the diapason was between 333 and 334. When I started to sing it was at 440. Since Von Karajan orchestras have been tuned to 443 and 444. So, now it's said that there are no more true contralti, mezzosoprani, baritones or basses. The last true mezzosoprani in Italy were Fedora Barbieri and Fiorenza Cossotto. These were the true mezzo voices, the others are halfway between soprano and mezzo. Those true voices can not disappear so quickly without a reason. I am convinced that if we allowed the voices today to sing in the original key of the composer, all those voices which seem to have disappeared would emerge again. Singing in a higher intonation causes the voice to be strangled because the throat closes as one forces to produce a higher note. On the other hand, the more open the throat remains, the more freely the sound emerges.
> 
> Singing incorrect repertory can also drastically shorten one's career. Roles must be suitable for the individual voice. It seems that it is fashionable these days to show that one can sing anything. That can be very harmful to the voice."


Thanks, very interesting indeed, and it matches what one of the conductors in this other book that is being commented upon here - Living Opera (which I finished reading last week) - said. I don't remember which one, but one of the interviewed conductors also complained that the diapason is in the mid 440's now and this is wrong and impacts on the singing. It was probably William Christie because his baroque specialization would naturally lead him to complain about this.

About Renata's second point, I'm worried for my Anna who is being thrown into too much coloratura in the Bel Canto repertoire which is not ideal for her. But those are the sexy heroines so the public demands Anna. Next time we meet to make sweet love, I'll give her some advice.


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

I couldn't find a non-specific thread about 'Books on Opera' (maybe the mods could change the title of this thread if nobody objects) so I'll post this on here.

*
The Gilded Stage: A Social History of Opera, by Daniel Snowman*

review

Looks quite interesting - I'll order it from my library


----------

