1853 in Music - 1853 Operas, 1853 Songs, La Traviata, Il Trovatore, the Battle Hymn of the Republic, Gernikako Arbola, My Old Kentucky Home (Paperback)

Chapters: 1853 Operas, 1853 Songs, La Traviata, Il Trovatore, the Battle Hymn of the Republic, Gernikako Arbola, My Old Kentucky Home, P'tit Quinquin, le Nabab, Les Noces de Jeannette. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 54. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camelias (1852), a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title "La traviata" means literally The Woman Gone Astray, or perhaps more figuratively, The Fallen Woman. It was originally entitled Violetta, after the main character. Piave and Verdi wanted to follow Dumas in giving the opera a contemporary setting, but the authorities at La Fenice insisted that it be set in the past, "c. 1700." It was not until the 1880s that the composer and librettist's original wishes were carried out and "realistic" productions were staged. The first performance of the opera, on 6 March 1853 in Venice's La Fenice, was an utter failure. The day after, Verdi wrote to his friend Muzio in what has now become perhaps his most famous letter: "La Traviata last night a failure. My fault or the singers'? Time will tell." This letter not only implies what Verdi already knewthat the singers, particularly the obese soprano who could never convincingly play a dying consumptive, had failed to "understand his music.." But more importantly, this letter captures Verdi's faith that the public ultimately knows what is and is not good art and will pronounce its judgment in good time. After some revisions between 1853 and May 1854, mostly affecting Acts 2 and 3, the opera was presented again in Venice, this time at the Teatro San Benedetto. On 24 May 1856 the revised version was presented at Her Majesty's Theatre in Lon...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=3790