Manuel Marquez-Sterling

Clio's Songs-History as Opera Manuel Marquez-Sterling

Clio's Songs-History as Opera is neither addressed to the expert musicologist nor to the professional historian. This book was written and put together as simply as possible. In it there are no academic or scholarly pretenses at all. Absolutely none! I aim it for conversational purposes with the legion of opera lovers and the cadres of history buffs who may be interested in knowing what kind of history we get in the opera house, and what can music possibly do for us in understanding an event, or a historical character. I am very hopeful that by reading this book, and by playing the selections suggested in each chapter, the reader will increase his/her enjoyment of both opera and history. What opera does to history, in the words of theater director Peter Sellars, is to "deepen meaning and often add an awareness that cold facts don't reveal." Contained in these pages are some of my favorites. I hope you enjoy.