The Virginia Opera Booklist 2013-2014
The Virginia Opera, founded in Norfolk in 1974, is the Official Opera Company of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The company produces five mainstage productions including at the Edythe C. and Stanley L. Harrison Opera House in Norfolk, and in Richmond and Fairfax. Virginia Opera is the only opera company to perform a full season of opera in three separate mainstage venues and to reach more than 150,000 students and community members each year through its innovative Education and Community Outreach Program.
The 2013-2014 season runs September 2013 until May 2014. Seasoned operagoers often do a little preparation to become more familiar with an opera before attending. Even when sung in English or with English supertitles, learning a little more will make it all the more enjoyable. So that you are more familiar with the music and stories before attending, this list includes a selection of music CDs, DVDs, scores, and books in NPL’s collections of and about this season’s Virginia Opera performances. Descriptions are from the company’s website and the NPL online catalog.
For more selections for other special events and cultural heritage months, see prior years’ booklists on the Library’s webpage under the “Books & More” dropdown menu, click on “Reading Recommendations,” and on “Bibliographies.”
Falstaff by Giuseppe Verde He’s rotund, old, lecherous and broke, yet Falstaff is one of the most endearing characters in literature. William Shakespeare’s aging knight comes to life in this effervescent Verdi gem, as his scheme to get rich by simultaneously wooing two wealthy married women backfires…badly. In a hysterical twist, Falstaff finds himself the victim of his own tomfoolery, and at the mercy of those he tormented. But there are still a few tricks to be played, and the prince of rascality always has the last laugh!
2013-2014 Opera Bibliography
Falstaff - DVD The spectacular opening production of London’s newly restored Royal Opera House, first broadcast live on BBC television in December 1999, brings a riot of color to Verdi’s great Shakespearean masterpiece. Bryn Terfel as Sir John Falstaff and Barbara Frittoli as Alice Ford lead a star cast with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House under the direction of Bernard Haitink.
Falstaff – Music CD This performance stars Renato Bruson, Katia Ricciarelli, Leo Nucci, Barbara Hendricks, Dalmacio Gonzalez, and Lucia Valentini Terrani in a performance with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini, conductor.
Falstaff – Music Score Verdi’s last great work and his first and only comedy. Complete unabridged score from original Ricordi edition.
The Merry Wives of Windsor (William Shakespeare; edited by David Crane) Falstaff: drunkard, sloth, and...paramour? Read the original play by Shakespeare. This edition includes a look at Shakespeare’s free and vigorous use of different linguistic worlds within 2 the play.
The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Join the dashing Prince Tamino in his quest for truth, honor, and a beautiful damsel in distress, who—true to fairytale form—he falls madly in love with, despite having never met. Mozart’s fantastical tale draws you into a world of magic-realism, complete with a giant serpent, moody monarchs, a secret brotherhood, and one very lovesick bird catcher.
Die Zauberflöte für Kinder This children’s version of Mozart’s The Magic Flute was performed in the Felsenreitschule in Salzburg, James Levine, conductor. No adults were admitted to the performance unless they were accompanied by two children. Christian Boesch as Papageno plays the narrator who explains both the plot and why there is such a thing as opera where words are sung rather than spoken.
2013-2014 Opera Bibliography
Von Winter: Das Labyrinth (Part Two of the Magic Flute) -- DVD In 1798, Peter von Winter was commissioned to write a score for a text that Emanuel Schikaneder, the librettist for The Magic Flute, had written as a sequel to Mozart’s 1791 masterpiece. This revival from the 2012 Salzburg Festival offers a rare opportunity to experience an unusual work that will likely fascinate opera fans
The Magic Flute - DVD This 2006 movie adaptation, directed by Kenneth Branagh, takes place on the eve of the First World War where a magical drama unfolds as Tamino sets forth on a perilous journey in pursuit of love, light and peace in a world afflicted by darkness, death and destruction. An eerie quiet descends over a landscape still untouched by conflict as Tamino waits anxiously with his fellow recruits for the command to go into battle. What ensues is a spectacular musical adventure in which the blossoming love between Tamino and Pamina, the beautiful daughter of the Queen of the Night, may help determine the fate of a nation and the destiny of millions.
The Magic Flute 3 (Retold by Anne Gatti; illustrated by Peter Malone) Enter a magical world of monster serpents, mysterious ladies, and flying machines where giant flowers and butterflies the size of birds abound. This book retells the story of the Mozart opera in which the noble Prince Tamino seeks the fair Pamina against a backdrop of the battle between darkness and light.
Seven Mozart Librettos: A Verse Translation (J.D. McClatchy) A poet and editor of the Yale Review translates seven of Mozart’s major librettos, including The Magic Flute, into lush and sparkling verse. This lavish book features dramatic recaps, a history of the opera and character lists.
2013-2014 Opera Bibliography
Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss It’s party time! Vienna’s most lavish aristocrat is throwing the biggest bash of the season. Two groups of performers—a burlesque troupe and an opera company—are set to provide the entertainment, but when dinner runs late, the host orders both groups to perform together, creating a head-on collision between low humor and high art. When saucy flirt Zerbinetta, start of the burlesque troupe, tells Ariadne, the opera’s suicidal, lovelorn star, to ‘get over it’ and find another man, tragic opera suddenly becomes romantic comedy.
Ariadne auf Naxos – DVD Filmed live in Baden-Baden by the veteran director Brian Large, Renée Fleming makes her debut in the role of Ariadne together with fellow key Strauss interpreters Sophie Koch and Christian Thielemann, following on from their Rosenkavalier triumph.
Ariadne auf Naxos – Music CD 4 At the height of her career, Jessye Norman is part of this sonorous ensemble as Kurt Masur conducts the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig in this triumphant recording of the 1988 Leipzig performance.
Carmen by Georges Bizet When she’s not making cigarettes at the factory in Seville, Carmen is busy making trouble. This gypsy should come with a warning label! Unfortunately, naïve army corporal, Don José, is out of the loop. Boy meets girl and becomes so besotted that he wrecks his career and his life for her. When she drops him for the next man to come along—a dashing Toreador—her fancy decides her fate. Bizet’s masterpiece is the perfect combination of passion and drama, featuring the most seductive score in opera!
2013-2014 Opera Bibliography
Carmen - DVD The Metropolitan Opera presents this Great Performances presentation filmed 2010: described as the “sexiest Carmen yet.” Sung by Elīna Garanča, Roberto Alagna, Barbara Frittoli, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and concocted by Peter Gelb with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chorus, and Ballet.
Carmen (Prosper Mérimée) Read the original 1845 novella that inspired Bizet’s opera.
Bizet’s Carmen – Music Score This score includes the complete French libretto alongside English translation and alternate opening of Act Four with translation, plot summary, and an informative introduction.
Sweeney Todd by Stephen Sondheim 5 The cautionary tale of Sweeney Todd—a barber unjustly imprisoned by a corrupt judge—is gleefully dark entertainment. Todd returns to London, mad with revenge after his incarceration, and promptly slits the throats of the unlucky customers who enter his barbershop. But what to do with those pesky bodies? Enter Mrs. Lovett—his neighbor with a very secret recipe. Their gruesome plan seems to work... until things take a turn for the domestic and the Demon Barber’s past catches up to him.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street There are several movie adaptations of Sweeney Todd. This 2007 production stars Johnny Depp. The 1982 edition stars Angela Lansbury, George Hearn, and the original Broadway cast on a national tour.
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street: A Musical Thriller – Music Score (Stephen Sondheim) The library has several musical scores of Sweeney Todd including a vocal/piano adaptation.
2013-2014 Opera Bibliography
Adult The following is a selected list of books about opera in general. We also have the popular book Opera for Dummies.
How to Listen to and Understand Opera – Audiobook on CD With this audiobook lecture series from The Teaching Company, you’ll learn to understand and appreciate, or appreciate even more, the unique art form and power of opera.
Opera (Alan Riding & Leslie Dunton-Downer) Spanning 400 years of musical drama, from the late Renaissance and including such classical masters as Verdi, Puccini, and Bizet, this DK Eyewitness Companions guide is the complete visual guidebook to the great operas, their composers and performance history.
Juvenile and Young Adult The following is a selected list of books about opera for young people.
6 The Barefoot Book of Stories from the Opera (Shahrukh Husain) With exciting, accessible and action-packed stories from operas by seven great composers, this book provides a wonderful way for children to explore this magnificent performing art.
Carmen: An Urban Adaptation of the Opera -- Young Adult (Walter Dean Myers) In this retelling, a policeman’s obsessive love for a tempestuous wig factory worker ends in tragedy in this updated and sizzling version of Bizet’s Carmen, set in Spanish Harlem, and told in screenplay format
Encore, Opera Cat! (Tess Weaver; Andréa Wesson, ill.) Talented singer and lover of opera, Alma the cat enjoys performing for her appreciative owner, and when Madame SoSo convinces her to share her special gift with the world, Alma’s fears are quickly put to rest once she hears the wild applause from the crowd.
2013-2014 Opera Bibliography
The Haunted Opera: A Marie-Grace Mystery (Sarah Masters Buckey) In this American Girl book, Marie-Grace is excited that a well-known English opera company will perform at the very theater where she takes singing lessons from Aunt Océane, but as she and her friend Cécile help out backstage, the make disturbing discoveries.
Usborne Learn to Play Opera Tunes – Music Score Well illustrated historical material accompanies simple yet faithful piano arrangements of well-known opera tunes for students learning to play the piano.
Websites The following is a short list of websites related to Opera in Virginia and beyond.
The Virginia Opera http://www.vaopera.org/ Learn more about the above listed operas performed this season in Virginia.
Lyric Opera Virginia 7 http://www.lyricoperavirginia.org/ Information about the operas and musical theatrical works performed this season in Virginia. The 2013-2012 season includes Viva Verdi!, Broadway and Beyond, La Vie de Bohème, and Master Class.
The Metropolitan Opera http://www.metoperafamily.org/ Learn more about the operas performed this season on stage in New York and broadcast live by radio, online, and to movie theaters. Includes print and audio interviews. Also links to the Metropolitan Opera Guild and Opera News.
World of Opera http://www.worldofopera.org/ World of Opera with host Lisa Simeone is a weekly radio program that brings listeners compelling performances from top American and international opera companies. World of Opera encompasses the seminal operas of centuries past as well as today’s masterpieces. The website includes a media player to listen to episodes.