The Cambridge Companion to Operetta

Description

Those whose thoughts of musical theatre are dominated by the Broadway musical will find this book a revelation. From the 1850s to the early 1930s, when urban theatres sought to mount glamorous musical entertainment, it was to operetta that they turned. It was a form of musical theatre that crossed national borders with ease and was adored by audiences around the world. This collection of essays by an array of international scholars examines the key figures in operetta in many different countries. It offers a critical and historical study of the widespread production of operetta and of the enthusiasm with which it was welcomed. Furthermore, it challenges nationalistic views of music and approaches operetta as a cosmopolitan genre. This Cambridge Companion contributes to a widening appreciation of the music of operetta and a deepening knowledge of the cultural importance of operetta around the world.

Anastasia Belina is Senior Research Fellow at the University of Leeds. She is author and editor of A Musician Divided (2013), Die tagliche Muhe ein Mensch zu sein (2013), Wagner in Russia, Poland and the Czech Lands (2013, co-edited edition), and The Business of Opera (edited with Derek B. Scott, 2015). Between 2014 and 2019 she researched the reception of German operetta in Warsaw as part of a European Research Council funded project. She is currently working on the BBC and Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) project Forgotten Female Composers for which she is researching the life and work of Augusta Holmes. Derek B. Scott is Professor of Critical Musicology at the University of Leeds. His books include Sounds of the Metropolis (2008), and Musical Style and Social Meaning (2010). His musical compositions include two symphonies for brass band and an operetta, Wilberforce. He has also worked professionally as a singer, actor and pianist in radio, TV, concert hall and theatre. In 2014, he was awarded an Advanced Grant by the European Research Council to fund a five-year project researching the twentieth-century reception of operettas from the German stage on Broadway and in the West End.

'... finally, a collection of essays published by Cambridge University Press makes some of these new debates [about operetta] available to an English speaking audience ... a great overview of many new trends in scholarship ... attractively packaged and priced.' Kevin Clarke, Operetta Research Center '... the editors can be congratulated on the breadth and variety of the contents. Aimed at varying levels of knowledge as the chapters are, the book should provide informative reading for operetta students of a wide range of knowledge ...' Andrew Lamb, www.zarzuela.net 'I defy you not to learn something and expand your knowledge by reading this Companion. It is also the sort of book to return to again and again to look up a reference, or to find information in one of the many bibliographies. In short, a veritable mine of information and well worth the small price asked ... Highly recommended!' John Groves, Operetta Research Center '[This book] deserves to take its place ... on the short (but growing) bookshelf of every operetta lover.' Richard Bratby, Gramophone 'The 18 essays in this excellent compendium look at the origin, development, and distinct national characteristics of various types of light musical dramatic types that came to be known collectively as operetta ... this book will interest scholars of Jewish studies as well as scholars of music and drama. The bibliography is excellent, as are lists of books and films ... Highly recommended.' W. E. Grim, Choice