{"product_id":"a-history-of-opera-9780393348958","title":"A History of Opera","description":"Why has opera transfixed and fascinated audiences for centuries? Carolyn Abbate and Roger Parker answer this question in their \"effervescent, witty\" (\u003cem\u003eDie Welt\u003c\/em\u003e, Germany) retelling of the history of opera, examining its development, the musical and dramatic means by which it communicates, and its role in society. Now with an expanded examination of opera as an institution in the twenty-first century, this \"lucid and sweeping\" (\u003cem\u003eBoston Globe\u003c\/em\u003e) narrative explores the tensions that have sustained opera over four hundred years: between words and music, character and singer, inattention and absorption. Abbate and Parker argue that, though the genre's most popular and enduring works were almost all written in a distant European past, opera continues to change the viewer-- physically, emotionally, intellectually--with its enduring power.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAbbate, Carolyn:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eCarolyn Abbate\u003c\/strong\u003e, professor of music at Harvard University, is the author of \u003cem\u003eUnsung Voices\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eIn Search of Opera\u003c\/em\u003e. She writes on film, philosophy, and opera and has also worked as a translator and dramaturge. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey.\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eParker, Roger:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eRoger Parker\u003c\/strong\u003e, professor of music at King's College London, writes on opera and music in London. He is the author of \u003cem\u003eLeonora's Last Act\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eRemaking the Song\u003c\/em\u003e and was a founding coeditor of the \u003cem\u003eCambridge Opera Journal\u003c\/em\u003e. He lives in Hampshire.","brand":"W. W. Norton \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50514117427474,"sku":"9780393348958","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_38bc5ee2-72c0-44dd-b983-385b11600e86.jpg?v=1730973480","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/a-history-of-opera-9780393348958","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}