Operas and contrasts

Widely recognized for its presentations of operatic works, Avant-Scène Opéra has published a number of monographic guides to the greatest opera composers. The latest is dedicated to the protean Rossini, a man of conquering vitality who abandoned the stage in mid-life, full of humor but having endured the pains of chronic illness and depression. Renowned for his buffo repertoire, some of whose titles have remained on the bill without eclipse, he devoted himself more and more to seria before ending his career with a great French opera, William Tell. Over time, most of these witnesses to a pivotal period in lyric art and the apotheosis of bel canto fell into oblivion, and have only been rediscovered in recent decades. Under the expert pen of Chantal Cazaux, the various chapters, adorned with beautiful iconography, set out different biographical aspects of the child of Pesaro, offering studies of his work, notes on some of his representative interpreters from the past to the present day, as well as a selection of discography, videography and bibliography. The centerpiece of this volume is a description of 18 works, including their genesis and circumstances of creation, their place in the output of Rossini and his time, a summary of their action, the character of the characters and a listening guide.

With the same publisher, the catalog of notebooks devoted more specifically to an opera is regularly enriched, as recently with Britten's last score for the stage, the crepuscular and dreamlike Death in Venicebased on Thomas Mann's short story of the same name, which reflects Britten's own preoccupations: reflection on the sources of inspiration, fascination with beauty as a symbol of the perfection of artistic creation, and the imminence of death - the composer's health being seriously impaired. The fight between Eros and Thanatos, the conflict between Apollonian and Dionysian, the antagonism between the mind and the senses, the tug-of-war between the idealization of pure beauty and the desire born of the contemplation of its incarnation, the opposition between an ominous climate underlined by ascetic music that often verges on silence (the inner drama of the main protagonist's tortured psyche, certain secondary roles portraying his fate and death, the threatening epidemic of cholera) and the almost surreal luminosity of delicate gamelan-inspired sonorities: This opera, rich in contrasts, is analyzed in detail, its libretto and translation reproduced in extenso, and a number of interesting essays on and around the work deepen our understanding and broaden our knowledge.

Chantal Cazaux: Rossini, mode d'emploi, 240 p., € 28.00, Avant-Scène Opéra, Paris 2020, ISBN 978-2-84385-497-2

Benjamin Britten: Death in Venice, 144 p., € 28.00, Avant-Scène Opéra, Paris 2021, ISBN 978-2-84385-373-9