Written by a well-known authority, this book consists of 175 entries that set some of the most popular operas within the context of their composer's career, outline the plot, discuss the music, and more.
This little known mystery will surprise and delight Christie fans. Written in 1934, the story concerns a physicist named Sir Claude Amory who has come up with a formula for an atom bomb. In the first act, Sir Claude is poisoned (in his coffee, naturally) and Hercule Poirot is called in to solve the case. He does so after many wonderful twists and turns in true Christie fashion.
The Importance of Being Earnest shows a full measure of Oscar Wilde's legendary wit, and embodies more than any of his other plays, his decency and warmth. This edition contains substantial excerpts from the original four-act version which was never produced, as well as the full text of the final three-act version, selections from Wilde's correspondence, and commentary by George Bernard Shaw, Max Beerbohm, St. John Hankin, and James Agate.
Michael Starkwedder crashes his car and, after finding a dead man and a woman with a smoking gun in the nearest house while searching for help, discovers that not everything is as it seems.--
Clarissa's efforts to dispose of the corpse in her drawing room before her husband arrives with an important foreign dignitary are threatened by the arrival of a police officer who has come in response to an anonymous tip about a murder.
CAE PRACTICE TESTS - offers in all five Papers of the CAE exam- eight complete practice tests cover a wide rangy of typical Cae topics areas- Essential tips in Tests 1, 2 and 3 explain how best apporach each task type and give guidance on typical exam questions; Language banks offer students useful language for the Speaking Paper; A detailed Glossary at the back of the book includes helpful definitions for the key language items in the texts; A complete writing bank gives students valuable information about tasks in the writing papers,along with complete mode answers and useful phrases. Completely updated for the new exam 2008 exam specifications.
Wagner's operas can be counted among the most important works of art of the nineteenth century. But Wagner was a composer around whom violent artistic, political, and literary controversies raged during his lifetime. Even today, Wagner's music seems to arouse either adulation or antipathy. In The Complete Operas of Richard Wagner, as in the first four volumes of his famous series on the great opera composers, Charles Osborne first describes the composer's life at the time he wrote each opera, thus providing a biographical thread which runs through the book; follows it with a thorough examination of the libretto and its sources; and lastly tells the story of the opera, which he links to the major musical features.This book is, in effect, a musical biography of Wagner, tracing his development from his first complete opera, Die Feen, to his last, Parsifal. It serves as an invaluable guide to the often perplexing Wagner oeuvre both for the regular opera-goer and the armchair listener.
The major operas of Mozart—Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute, Cosìfan Tutte—are well known to music listeners everywhere, having secured a permanent place in the repertoire of companies throughout the world. But how much do you know about La Clemenza di Tito, Idomeneo, L'Oca del Cairo, Zaide? Charles Osborne here provides detailed descriptions of all of these and fourteen others in a volume that serves both a first-rate biography and an exhaustive critical guide to the Mozart oeuvre. Charles Osborne is obviously in command of the literature: He quotes copiously from the mountain of letters, contemporary journals, and the most recent scholarship dealing with the period. His fourfold approach—linking biography with musical, textual, and dramatic analysis—is uniquely satisfying for those seeking an integrated understanding of opera's many dimensions. With a plot summary and character listings of each work, The Completes Operas of Mozart can be read in one sitting for a panoramic sweep of Mozart's operatic genius or for reliable reference by the phonograph or radio.
Suitable for CAE examination, this title features 2 fully-guided tests with useful tips; 6 tests; information on the exam; guide on how to use the book; section on the Speaking Paper in full colour that includes additional helpful phrases and expressions; and, Separate Writing Bank with fully written out model compositions.
While Puccini wrote only twelve operas during a long life—three of them one-acters designed to be performed together—he has to be ranked today as the world's most popular composer of opera. His La Bohème and Tosca are more frequently performed in the major opera houses than works by other composers, and Madame Butterfly and Manon Lescaut rank not far behind. What is the explanation for Puccini's enormous success? How do his operas work as music and drama? What was he like to contemporaries such as Verdi, Toscanini, and Caruso? Charles Osborne, author of highly successful Complete Operas of Verdi and Complete Operas of Mozart, here analyzes the entire Puccini oeuvre—from Tosca and Turandot to the less-often performed Edgar, La Fanciulla del West, and La Rondine. His fourfold approach—linking biography with musical, textual, and dramatic analysis—is especially valuable for Puccini, who revealed many of his personal contradictions in his music and whose sense of detail can be appreciated by close study of the scores and characters. For the legions of Puccini lovers everywhere, this guide to his life and work can serve as an ideal reference source and opera companion.
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