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Democracy at the Opera
Music, Theater, and Culture in New York City, 1815-60
Karen Ahlquist
Cloth978-0-252-02272-2
$37.00
| Pub Date: | 1997 |
| Pages: | 272 pages |
"Richly documented, subtly argued, very readable. . . . Should help put to rest once and for all the crude old stereotype of the simple struggle between an 'elitist' art form and a democratic culture." -- John Dizikes, author of Opera in America: A Cultural History
"This is the new musicology at its best." -- Michael Broyles, author of Music of the Highest Class: Elitism and Populism in Antebellum Boston
In exploring the nature of New York City opera from 1815 to 1860, Karen Ahlquist describes the social, cultural, economic, and esthetic factors that led to the assimilation of Italian opera--a complex, expensive genre of elitist reputation--into the city's business-oriented community with its English cultural heritage and sacred republican traditions.
In her lively description of opera as few today can imagine it, Ahlquist considers Jacksonian-era efforts to create a polite social setting, the influence of a socially based clash between "respectability" and broad public access, and the role of music in shaping, not just reflecting, social and cultural life.
A volume in the series Music in American Life
Publication of this book was supported by grants from the Henry and Edna Binkele Classical Music Fund, the George Washington University, and the Sonneck Society.
Awards:
A CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title, 1998.
Links:
Visit the Google Book Search page for this title
Series:
Music in American Life
Subjects:
Music / History, Am.: 19th C. / History, State & Local / Popular Culture
