J Aisenthal Jewish Gifts

<BODY BGCOLOR="BLACK" VLINK="BLUE"> <P KEYWORDS"> <FONT COLOR="BLACK">To </FONT><FONT SIZE="2"><FONT COLOR="BLACK">What themes can be discerned in the vast majority of operas composed over the last 400 years? Why do nearly all the variants boil down to one of three main subjects: religion, myth and, most potent of all, sex?</FONT></FONT></P> <P ALIGN=LEFT> <FONT SIZE="2"><FONT COLOR="BLACK">In this entertaining book, the result of a lifelong passion and much careful research, Michael Kreps explores the three themes in their many guises. In Part 1, he examines such characters as Rossini's Moses, Saint-Saens' Samson, Verdi's Nabucco, Donizetti's wicked Lucrezia, and Meyerbeer's devilish Robert. Among the diversions along the way are the revelation of the serious purpose behind the original Dance of the Seven Veils, and the story of Abelard's seduction of Heloise with its appalling consequences for him.</FONT></FONT></P> <P ALIGN=LEFT> <FONT SIZE="2"><FONT COLOR="BLACK">In Parts 2 and 3, the author delves into the universal appeal of the myths from which countless composers have derived inspiration. Orpheus, Oedipus and Orestes take on unforgettable operatic life in the hands of Gluck, Stravinsky and Strauss, among others, whilst the Norse legends are just as powerful in the grand design of Wagner.</FONT></FONT></P> <P ALIGN=LEFT> <FONT SIZE="2"><FONT COLOR="BLACK">Part 4 turns to the operatic treatment of one of the most basic human urges, Sex 'n' Seduction, about which Mozart has much to say. The book concludes with an examination of the poor deal women tend to get in opera-except in the comic variety, where they do rather well.</FONT></FONT></P> <P ALIGN=LEFT> <FONT SIZE="2"><FONT COLOR="BLACK">The numerous rivetting snippets of information that the author has discovered will delight opera enthusiasts wanting to deepen their knowledge of the subject, while the author's light touch makes this book a joy to read.</FONT></FONT></P> <P> <FONT COLOR="BLACK">the devil with opera, Opera, Moses, Salome, Seven veils, Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon, King Herod, Samson and Delilah, The Apocrypha, Auto da Fe, Faust, Castrati, Eunuchs, Idols, Melba, Caruso, Saints, Saint Cecilia, Borgia, Thais, Kobbe, Myths and legends, Abelard and Heloise, Trojan war, Cassandra, Agamemnon, Electra, Helen of Troy, Orpheus, Medea, Theseus, Oedipus, Tiresias, Dido and Aeneas, Cantors, Jan Peerce, Richard Tucker, Moshe Koussevitsky, Offenbach, The Magic Flute, Camembert cheese, Freemasons, Troilus and Cressid</FONT>a, The Ring, Tristan and Isolde, Lohengrin, Parsifal, Tenors and Sopranos, Don Juan, Casanova, Lorenzo da Ponte, Beaumarchais, Falstaff, Fidelio, Manon, Macbeth, Norma, Desdemona, Mae West, Verdi, Wagner, Rossini, Mozart, Pergolesi, Beethoven, Wagner, Bellini </BODY>