Reviews for Singing, acting, and movement in opera

The average rating for Singing, acting, and movement in opera based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-11-10 00:00:00 Michelle Dees Okay as a brief reference.... and that's about all. The "book" reads like an outline of something that could be worth reading. There is no meat to it what-so-ever. Most of the text consists of quotes and excerpts from other people and books. Extremely basic exercises are explained in a very tedious manner and many of the exercises are not practical outside of an opera workshop setting. I'm an absolute beginner... and learned very little from this book.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-05-22 00:00:00 Rodney Bennett Joseph Kerman advocates a serious search for dramatic values in Opera in this classic work. Readable and not too technical, at least for the opera lovers, this book discusses the history and theory of opera from Monteverdi to Stravinsky and beyond. I enjoyed his discussion of the impact of Shakespeare on Verdi's opera with a chapter on Otello. The different forms of opera whether neoclassic, singspiel, symphonic or grand are analyzed with useful examples. Kerman knows how to think about music and critic the compositions with elegant style. I enjoyed this excursion into words about the drama of some of the music I love and cherish.