Verdi in the Age of Italian Romanticism

Contents

• Preface;
• Part I . The Setting:
• 1. Verdi's Italy;
• 2. Theatrical censorship;
• 3. The operatic experience;
• 4. Dramatic principles and musical form in early ottocento opera;
• Part II . A Documentary History of the Early Operas:
• 5. Launching a career;
• 6. The genesis of an opera - Ernani;
• 7. Two overcrowded years;
• 8. Verdi the idealist - the Florence Macbeth;
• 9. Opera as a business;
• 10. Collaboration with Cammarano;
• 11. Bouts with the censor;
• 12. Giuseppina's operas - Il Trovatore and La Traviata;
• Part III . The Development of Verdi's Musical Language:
• 13. The first operas - Oberto and Un Giorno di Regno;
• 14. Italian grand opera - Nabucco and I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata;
• 15. The early 'galley' operas - Ernani to Attila;
• 16. Macbeth and its satellites;
• 17. Verdi a la parisienne - Jerusalem and La Battaglia di Legnano;
• 18. Luisa Miller and Stiffelio;
• 19. 'The popular trilogy' - Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, La Traviata;
• Part IV . The Operas:
• 20. Nabucco, a risorgimento opera;
• 21. Verdi and French Romanticism - Ernani;
• 22. Byronismo - I Due Foscari and Il Corsaro;
• 23. The impact of Shakespeare - the Florence Macbeth;
• 24. La Battaglia di Legnano - the opera of the revolution;
• 25. Essays with Schiller;
• 26. The originality of Rigoletto;
• 27. Verdi and 'realism' - La Traviata; Notes; Bibliography; Index.