| Modest Musorgsky and Boris Godunov: Myths, Realities, Reconsiderations Contributor(s): Emerson, Caryl (Author), Oldani, Robert William (Author) |
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ISBN: 0521361931 ISBN-13: 9780521361934 Publisher: Cambridge University Press OUR PRICE: $159.60 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: March 1994 Annotation: Caryl Emerson (a literary specialist) and Robert William Oldani (a music historian) take a new and comprehensive look at the most famous Russian opera, Modest Musorgsky's Boris Godunov. The result is both a historical study of a famous work and an interpretive piece of scholarship. The topics discussed include: the "Boris Tale" in history; Karamzin's history and Pushkin's drama as literary sources; Musorgsky's Innovations as a librettist and as a theorist of the sung Russian word; the strange story of the opera's composition and revision; its first productions at home and abroad; and an in-depth musical analysis. In the process, several often-met errors in Musorgsky scholarship are clarified and corrected. A final chapter speculates on the opera's themes of political murder, guilt, and legitimacy - so important to Russian literary and national identity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries - and the new role the "Boris plot" and its composer might come to play in more recent open phases of Russian cultural life. The volume contains a selection of classic texts in criticism, numerous production photographs, a bibliography and discography. The book will be of interest to scholars and students of opera, music history, and Russian literature and culture as well as to opera enthusiasts. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Music - Music | Genres & Styles - Opera |
| Dewey: 782.109 |
| LCCN: 93018164 |
| Series: Cambridge Opera Handbooks |
| Physical Information: 0.95" H x 6.21" W x 9.3" (1.40 lbs) 356 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Caryl Emerson, a literary specialist, and Robert William Oldani, a music historian, take a new and comprehensive look at the most famous Russian opera, Musorgsky's Boris Godunov. The result is both a historical study of a famous work and an interpretative piece of scholarship. The topics discussed include: the Boris Tale in history, the strange story of the opera's composition and revision, its first productions at home and abroad, and an in-depth musical analysis. In the process, several frequent errors in Musorgsky scholarship are clarified and corrected. The volume contains a selection of classic texts in criticism, numerous production photographs, a bibliography and discography. |