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Book Review
Mar. 11th, 2011 08:43 pmMozart and His Operas
by David Cairns
This book looks at Mozart's life and compositional development through the lens of his operas. Cairns takes each opera and places it in the context of Mozart's life and relevant historical events. He then provides wonderful commentary and analysis on each work, concentrating on how Mozart uses musical means to support and shape the dramatic content. Although there were a couple dry spots in the first chapter covering Mozart's early, pre-Idomeneo operas, Cairns is overall a terrific writer: his prose flows beautifully and conveys warmth and love for Mozart's operas. It was a pleasure to read, and I gained a better understanding of how Mozart expanded and furthered the forms and conventions of late 18th century opera. I also had a lot of fun listening to each opera as I read about it.
by David Cairns
This book looks at Mozart's life and compositional development through the lens of his operas. Cairns takes each opera and places it in the context of Mozart's life and relevant historical events. He then provides wonderful commentary and analysis on each work, concentrating on how Mozart uses musical means to support and shape the dramatic content. Although there were a couple dry spots in the first chapter covering Mozart's early, pre-Idomeneo operas, Cairns is overall a terrific writer: his prose flows beautifully and conveys warmth and love for Mozart's operas. It was a pleasure to read, and I gained a better understanding of how Mozart expanded and furthered the forms and conventions of late 18th century opera. I also had a lot of fun listening to each opera as I read about it.
