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From the jacket copy:
Opera, maintains the author of this comprehensive and provocative volume, finds itself in an artistic predicament that goes beyond previous generational disruptions and “is our own, and special.” Arguing that we cannot solve the problem unless we recognize and define it, and that we cannot hope to envision the artform’s future unless we first come to terms with its past, he examines all elements of recent operatic practice as revealed in performance—“Performance,” he declares, “is our text.” He asserts that with renewal of the repertory long at a virtual standstill, we have tried to substitute auteurial production methods and cultural revisionism in its place, with disastrous results.
Accordingly, Opera as Opera draws on performances encountered over an eighteen-year period to first analyze styles and techniques of production (direction and design), and then to trace, in copious detail, the developments in the performing disciplines of conducting, singing, and acting that have loosened our connection to the canon. “The masterworks,” it flatly states, “are not before us.” In a central section, it also surveys the more general cultural background of this situation, in particular the influence of modern and postmodern philosophy and literary criticism, and the turn away from the master narrative which in the author’s view was the principal generating force behind opera’s greatest era.
Whether the reader’s primary interest is musical or theatrical, whether it lies with intellectual and aesthetic matters or with into-the-weeds discussion of the work of the performers who bring opera to life, he or she will find much that will stimulate and challenge in this deeply informed, incisively written book.
'Opera as Opera' - already just the title, but also the book - captures the hope and frustration felt by so many of us who are convinced of the form's present and future value, yet unconvinced by the currents of thought guiding it lately. Opera as opera is what we want: opera is its own thing, needful of being grasped whole, ill-served alike by nostalgia for its glorious past, competitive separation of its constituent elements, and anxious reaching after some other thing. No previous author has addressed these issues from the level of sheer competence CLO brings to both the musical and theatrical sides. That makes the book unique; his wide reading, revelatory sense of historical connections, and keen observations on live performance make it essential for every opera-lover who cares 'what comes next.' That it is also frequently entertaining, even hilarious, doesn't hurt a bit. Can't remember ever learning more from a book about my own field.
At last—a book on opera by one of the most informed and keenest minds ever to address the subject. There is virtually no aspect of this most complex and richly textured art form left unexplored and closely examined in Conrad L. Osborne's brilliantly written study. Osborne brings a scholar's knowledge of opera's 500-year history of changing styles and the intricately woven artistic disciplines that bring opera to life. He also speaks with a life-time of practical experience as a trained singer, actor, pedagogue, and hands-on music critic. Over all is a passionate belief in the integrity of the original creative vision that animates every opera...no one will come away without a deeper knowledge and more sharpened appreciation of how voices, music, theater, and human ingenuity can blend to make magic.
Conrad L. Osborne's book could only have been written by Conrad L. Osborne. Nobody else has a prose style like this: learned, witty, challenging, fun, and conversational on a level we should all be so lucky to have conversations on. Beyond that is his knowledge, and the thing that makes his knowledge so charged with meaning for all of us, which is his passion. He puts us in touch with the fact that opera is much more than one of the most decorative of the things that can bejewel our lives. He puts us in touch with the thought that it's essential to us, with the ways in which our lives would be robbed of an essential richness if opera did not exists, and -- central to his concerns in this wonderful book -- if opera were allowed to wither in any way. I think anybody could enjoy, be entertained, and be moved by this book.
...on singing, the best that America has produced since W. J. Henderson.