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The Castrato: Reflections on Natures and Kinds
Martha Feldman
€ 59.16
€ 46.48
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Description for The Castrato: Reflections on Natures and Kinds
Hardback. An exploration of why innumerable boys were castrated for singing between the mid-sixteenth and late-nineteenth centuries. This book shows that the entire foundation of Western classical singing, culminating in bel canto, was birthed from an unlikely and historically set of desires, public and private, aesthetic, economic, and political. Series: Ernest Bloch Lectures. Num Pages: 496 pages, 45 musical examples, 75 b/w photos. BIC Classification: AVGC. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 238 x 163 x 38. Weight in Grams: 812.
The Castrato is a nuanced exploration of why innumerable boys were castrated for singing between the mid-sixteenth and late-nineteenth centuries. It shows that the entire foundation of Western classical singing, culminating in bel canto, was birthed from an unlikely and historically unique set of desires, public and private, aesthetic, economic, and political. In Italy, castration for singing was understood through the lens of Catholic blood sacrifice as expressed in idioms of offering and renunciation and, paradoxically, in satire, verbal abuse, and even the symbolism of the castrato's comic cousin Pulcinella. Sacrifice in turn was inseparable from the system of ... Read more
The Castrato is a nuanced exploration of why innumerable boys were castrated for singing between the mid-sixteenth and late-nineteenth centuries. It shows that the entire foundation of Western classical singing, culminating in bel canto, was birthed from an unlikely and historically unique set of desires, public and private, aesthetic, economic, and political. In Italy, castration for singing was understood through the lens of Catholic blood sacrifice as expressed in idioms of offering and renunciation and, paradoxically, in satire, verbal abuse, and even the symbolism of the castrato's comic cousin Pulcinella. Sacrifice in turn was inseparable from the system of ... Read more
Product Details
Format
Hardback
Publication date
2015
Publisher
University of California Press
Condition
New
Series
Ernest Bloch Lectures
Number of Pages
496
Place of Publication
Berkerley, United States
ISBN
9780520279490
SKU
V9780520279490
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 7 to 11 working days
Ref
99-1
About Martha Feldman
Martha Feldman is Mabel Green Myers Professor of Music, Romance Languages, and Literatures and the Humanities at the University of Chicago. She is the author of City Culture and the Madrigal at Venice and Opera and Sovereignty: Transforming Myths in Eighteenth-Century Italy and coeditor of The Courtesan's Arts.
Reviews for The Castrato: Reflections on Natures and Kinds
"Rich in scholarship and filled with subtle analysis."
Colm Toibin London Review of Books "This is a remarkable book... An impressive achievement."
Nicholas Clapton Early Music "Meticulously researched, beautifully written and richly illustrated ... In this book, as erudite as it is gripping, there is little to criticize." Cultural History "?Feldman's high-mindedness? ... ?allows her to investigate this ... Read more
Colm Toibin London Review of Books "This is a remarkable book... An impressive achievement."
Nicholas Clapton Early Music "Meticulously researched, beautifully written and richly illustrated ... In this book, as erudite as it is gripping, there is little to criticize." Cultural History "?Feldman's high-mindedness? ... ?allows her to investigate this ... Read more