In the newly popularized genre of opera during the seventeenth century, the allegorical
prologue was commonly used as a preface from about 1600 to 1670, with
no fewer than 98 opera prologues composed throughout Venice during this period.
These prologues, often sung by allegories and/or characters from myth, set the
stage for the proceeding…[Read more]

During the rise of Italian immigration to the United States between 1870 and 1930, the sceneggiata, a musical theater genre popular in Naples, began its tenure in the theaters located within predominantly Italian neighborhoods of the United States. The sceneggiata revolved around specific Neapolitan songs and was one of the few types of…[Read more]

A detailed review of vol. 2 of Berlioz’s complete correspondence, with many corrections of errors in the edition. The article also prints, for the first time, eight letters of Berlioz, with translation and commentary.

Most previous writings on musical exoticism reflect the unspoken
assumption that a work is perceived by the listener as exotic only if it incorporates
distinctively foreign or otherwise highly unusual elements of
musical style. This “Exotic Style Only” Paradigm often proves revelatory,
especially for purely instrumental works. In operas and…[Read more]