Blunt and at times wittily subversive, Opera Wars spotlights opera culture-it's colorful and sometimes warring personalities, increasingly fierce controversies over content, and the battles being waged for its economic future.
Drawing on interviews with dozens of opera insiders-as well as her own experience as an award-winning librettist, vocalist, opera company director, and arts commentator-Caitlin Vincent deftly unravels clichés and presumptions, exposing such debates as how much fidelity is owed to long-dead opera composers whose plots often stir debates over race and gender, whether there's any cure for typecasting that leaves talented performers out of work and other performers chained to the same roles, and what explains the bizarre kowtowing of opera companies to the demands of traditionalist patrons.
Vincent never shrinks from depicting the opera industry's top-to-bottom messiness and its stubborn resistance to change. Yet, like a lover who can't quite break away, she always comes back to her veneration for the art form and in these pages stirringly evokes those moments on stage that can be counted on to make ardent fans of the most skeptical.
| ISBN: | 9781668084076 |
| Publication date: | 25th February 2027 |
| Author: | Caitlin Vincent |
| Publisher: | Scribner |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 304 pages |
| Genres: |
Music reviews and criticism Music: styles and genres Cultural and media studies |
Blunt and at times wittily subversive, Opera Wars spotlights opera culture-it's colorful and sometimes warring personalities, increasingly fierce controversies over content, and the battles being waged for its economic future.Drawing on interviews with dozens of opera insiders-as well as her own experience as an award-winning librettist, vocalist, opera company director, and arts commentator-Caitlin Vincent deftly unravels clichés and presumptions, exposing such debates as how much fidelity is owed to long-dead opera composers whose plots often stir debates over race and gender, whether there's any cure for typecasting that leaves talented performers out of work and other performers chained to the same roles, and what explains the bizarre kowtowing of opera companies to the demands of traditionalist patrons. Vincent never shrinks from depicting the opera industry's top-to-bottom messiness and its stubborn resistance to change.
Opera Wars features in the following genres: Music reviews and criticism, Music: styles and genres, Cultural and media studies
Paperback, Hardback. £9.89, down from the £10.99 cover price. Pre-order. 25th February 2027.
Opera Wars was written by Caitlin Vincent and published by Scribner
Opera Wars has 304 pages
£9.89, reduced from £10.99. Pre-order. 25th February 2027.