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Mozart's Operas: A Companion. By Mary Hunter. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008. [xiii, 269 p. ISBN-13: 9780300118339. $35.] Illustrations, appendices, bibliography, index.
Mary Hunter has written extensively about the operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Her latest book, Mozart's Operas: A Companion, is a stunning achievement. This monograph moves away from being a standard "companion" to being a study of the operas, not only in their musical context, but also in their dramaturgical and social contexts. Hunter has written not just for the musicologist, but for students and scholars in related disciplines. She avoids lengthy technical discussions of the music, and clearly explains musical terms when first introduced. At the same time, her writing never speaks down to the reader while presenting both basic needed information as well as scholarly essays on specific aspects of the operas.
In her introduction, Hunter divides the book into two large sections: the first discusses the individual operas arranged chronologically by genre; the second is a series of three essays addressing different aspects of the operas. Throughout Hunter is concerned with questions of performance and with preparing readers for viewing a performance, either live or on video. An appendix lists full information on the "screened productions" cited in the text.
After a brief introductory chapter, the book presents a basic introduction to the various elements of the Mozart operas, "The Musical Anatomy of Mozart's Operas." Geared to those unfamiliar with opera, this chapter presents important basic information on the construction of the operas (i.e., their anatomy), recitative, various aspects of arias, types of ensembles, and basic information on the orchestral resources needed and the orchestra's various uses. The operas are then discussed individually in separate chapters by type or genre. Each genre is introduced by one or more shorter sections discussing various factors that define that type. For example, the chapter on the opera seria opens with...