Verdi in the Age of Italian Romanticism

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981. Paperback. Good+ (Ex-library with stamps and labels on spine, inside front and rear covers, ffep and block. Light shelfwear to wraps and block.). Green illustrated wraps with yellow and red lettering; ix, 703 pp. with several musical examples. A thorough study of the first 15 years of Verdi's career as a composer, mostly in Milan; includes the period when he wrote Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, and La Traviata. Written in four parts, this remains a major, substantial study on Verdi's life and music. Includes bibliographical references (pages 692-695) and index. Contents: Verdi's Italy -- Theatrical censorship -- The operatic experience -- Dramatic principles and musical form in early ottocento opera -- Launching a career -- The genesis of an opera : Ernani -- Two overcrowded years -- Verdi the idealist : the Florence Macbeth -- Opera as a business -- Collaboration with Cammarano -- Bouts with the censor -- Guseppina's operas : Il Trovatore and La Traviata -- The first operas : Oberto and Un Giorno di regno -- Italian grand opera : Nabucco and I Lombardi -- The early "galley" operas : Ernani to Attila -- Verdi à la parisienne : Jérusalem and La Battagalia di Legnano -- Luisa Miller and Stiffelio -- "The popular trilogy" : Rigloetto, Il Trovatore, La Traviata -- Nabucco : a risorgimento opera -- Verdi and French romanticism : Ernani -- Byronismo : I due Foscari and Il Corsaro -- The impact of Shakespeare : the Florence Macbeth -- La Battaglia di Legnano : the opera of the revolution -- Essays with Schiller -- The originality of Rigoletto -- Verdi and "realism" : La Traviata.