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    Unavailable
    Verdi With a Vengeance: An Energetic Guide to the Life and Complete Works of the King of Opera
    Unavailable
    Verdi With a Vengeance: An Energetic Guide to the Life and Complete Works of the King of Opera
    Unavailable
    Verdi With a Vengeance: An Energetic Guide to the Life and Complete Works of the King of Opera
    Ebook611 pages9 hours

    Verdi With a Vengeance: An Energetic Guide to the Life and Complete Works of the King of Opera

    By William Berger

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Everything you could possibly know about Verdi and his operas, from the brilliant and humorous author of Wagner Without Fear.

    If you want to know why La traviata was actually a flop at its premiere in 1853, it's in here.  If you want to know why claiming to have heard Bjorling's Chicago performance of Il trovatore is the classic opera fan faux pas, it's in here.  Even if you just want to know how to pronounce Aida, or what the plot of Rigoletto is all about, this is the place to look.  From the composer's intense hatred of priests to synopses of the operas and a detailed discography of the best recordings to buy, it can all be found in Verdi with a Vengeance.  William Berger has given another improbable performance, serving up a book as thorough as it is funny and as original as it is astute, an utterly indispensable guide for novice and expert alike.    
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRandom House Publishing Group
    Release dateJun 23, 2010
    ISBN9780307756336
    Unavailable
    Verdi With a Vengeance: An Energetic Guide to the Life and Complete Works of the King of Opera
    Author

    William Berger

    William Berger is an American author, radio music host and commentator. Born in California on January 25th 1961, studied Romance languages and musicology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

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    Reviews for Verdi With a Vengeance

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      I saw "Falstaff" this weekend and I had wanted to read up on Verdi before I went. The intro to this book is very entertaining and the overview of Verdi's life has a lot of good information. His life was so bound up with Italian nationalism and I'd not read a good summary of the Risorgimento before. The section on Falstaff, the last opera Verdi wrote made me wish I had read it before I saw the opera. A lesson for next time.

      On the other hand, Berger goes on about what a bad rap Verdi got from the critics, and I have to admit I am not a Verdi fan, but his writing is amusing.

      I didn't actually read the whole book but I will put it on the READ shelf.