{"product_id":"grand-illusion-phantasmagoria-in-nineteenth-century-opera-hardcover","title":"Grand Illusion: Phantasmagoria in Nineteenth-Century Opera - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eGabriela Cruz\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA new and groundbreaking approach to the history of grand opera, \u003cem\u003eGrand Illusion: Phantasmagoria in Nineteenth-Century Opera\u003c\/em\u003e explores the illusion and illumination behind the form's rise to cultural eminence. Renowned opera scholar Gabriela Cruz argues that grand opera worked to awaken memory and feeling in a way never before experienced in the opera house, asserting that the concept of \"spectacle\" was the defining cultural apparatus of the art form after the 1820s. Parisian audiences at the Académie Royale de Musique were struck by the novelty and power of grand opera upon the introduction of gaslight illumination, a technological innovation that quickly influenced productions across the Western operatic world. With this innovation, grand opera transformed into an audio-visual spectacle, delivering dream-like images and evoking the ghosts of its audiences' past. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThrough case studies of operas by Giacomo Meyerbeer, Richard Wagner, and Giuseppe Verdi, Cruz demonstrates how these works became an increasingly sophisticated medium by which audiences could conjure up the past and be transported away from the breakdown of modern life. A historically informed narrative that traverses far and wide, from dingy popular theatres in post-revolutionary Paris, to nautical shows in London, and finally to Egyptian mummies, \u003cem\u003eGrand Illusion\u003c\/em\u003e provides a fresh departure from previous scholarship, highlighting the often-neglected visual side of grand opera.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGabriela Cruz\u003c\/strong\u003e is a musicologist specializing in opera and musical theater in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She teaches courses on nineteenth-century music, opera, and the music of the Iberian peninsula at the University of Michigan.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 312\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.1 x 9.4 x 6.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 02, 2020\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42163221364871,"sku":"9780190915056","price":179.55,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/bdb15b869ec56e39981ad2a058b33190.webp?v=1733295690","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/grand-illusion-phantasmagoria-in-nineteenth-century-opera-hardcover","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}