WHAT OPERA MEANS

This book mounts a searching enquiry into the elusive character of opera. The author argues that any work of art can be grasped prim arily through its constellation of Platonic ideas, or 'categories', several of which he explores in light of a new definition of the art-form. He elaborates each category with case-studies rooted in the time, place and circumstance of an opera's origin: most of th ese are adaptations of previously-published essays, though some draw on talks for universities, opera houses and the BBC. Although h e looks ...[Read more]