The Politics of Opera in Handel's Britain

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Music, Music Styles, Classical & Opera, Opera
Cover of the book The Politics of Opera in Handel's Britain by Thomas McGeary, Cambridge University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Thomas McGeary ISBN: 9781139610179
Publisher: Cambridge University Press Publication: April 25, 2013
Imprint: Cambridge University Press Language: English
Author: Thomas McGeary
ISBN: 9781139610179
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication: April 25, 2013
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Language: English

The Politics of Opera in Handel's Britain examines the involvement of Italian opera in British partisan politics in the first half of the eighteenth century, which saw Sir Robert Walpole's rise to power and George Frideric Handel's greatest period of opera production. McGeary argues that the conventional way of applying Italian opera to contemporary political events and persons by means of allegory and allusion in individual operas is mistaken; nor did partisan politics intrude into the management of the Royal Academy of Music and the Opera of the Nobility. This book shows instead how Senesino, Faustina, Cuzzoni and events at the Haymarket Theatre were used in political allegories in satirical essays directed against the Walpole ministry. Since most operas were based on ancient historical events, the librettos - like traditional histories - could be sources of examples of vice, virtue, and political precepts and wisdom that could be applied to contemporary politics.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The Politics of Opera in Handel's Britain examines the involvement of Italian opera in British partisan politics in the first half of the eighteenth century, which saw Sir Robert Walpole's rise to power and George Frideric Handel's greatest period of opera production. McGeary argues that the conventional way of applying Italian opera to contemporary political events and persons by means of allegory and allusion in individual operas is mistaken; nor did partisan politics intrude into the management of the Royal Academy of Music and the Opera of the Nobility. This book shows instead how Senesino, Faustina, Cuzzoni and events at the Haymarket Theatre were used in political allegories in satirical essays directed against the Walpole ministry. Since most operas were based on ancient historical events, the librettos - like traditional histories - could be sources of examples of vice, virtue, and political precepts and wisdom that could be applied to contemporary politics.

More books from Cambridge University Press

Cover of the book Civil Society in Europe by Thomas McGeary
Cover of the book The Sounds of Korean by Thomas McGeary
Cover of the book The Power of Legality by Thomas McGeary
Cover of the book Science and Spirituality by Thomas McGeary
Cover of the book Religious Deviance in the Roman World by Thomas McGeary
Cover of the book Play, Playfulness, Creativity and Innovation by Thomas McGeary
Cover of the book Law and Authority in British Legal History, 1200–1900 by Thomas McGeary
Cover of the book The Conscience Wars by Thomas McGeary
Cover of the book Claudian and the Roman Epic Tradition by Thomas McGeary
Cover of the book Group Theory by Thomas McGeary
Cover of the book Charles Dickens and 'Boz' by Thomas McGeary
Cover of the book Russia and Courtly Europe by Thomas McGeary
Cover of the book Magnetohydrodynamics of Laboratory and Astrophysical Plasmas by Thomas McGeary
Cover of the book Consciousness and the Self by Thomas McGeary
Cover of the book Building Professional Nursing Communication by Thomas McGeary
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy