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Ryan Edwards Biography |
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| Geoffrey Edwards Biography |
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Opera Photo Gallery |
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| The Verdi Baritone |
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Verdi & Puccini Heroines |
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| A.K.A.: DOC |
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"In VERDI AND PUCCINI HEROINES: DRAMATIC CHARACTERIZATION IN GREAT SOPRANO ROLES, Geoffrey Edwards and Ryan Edwards trace the evolution of a new type of soprano through seven operas: IL TROVATORE, LA FORZA DEL DESTINO, AIDA, LA BOHEME, TOSCA, MADAMA BUTTERFLY, and TURANDOT. By studying characterization through the interaction of text, music, and staging, the authors provide insight into these specific female roles and illustrate the dramatic importance of the new operatic persona in general. |
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"In effortless prose, as fluid as a Verdi or Puccini melody, the authors outline character development from literary conception, through the composers' thoughts on the characters, to the final dramatic effect. Using libretto source, score, authorial correspondence, reviews, and prompt books from nineteenth-century European productions as their guide, the authors carefully plot the character's psychological state. Each chapter focuses on one opera, and each begins with an examination of the work's general themes and dilemmas encountered by the characters. The authors point out the psychological significance of the opera's events--with special attention paid to the character's arias--as indicated by the music. Excerpts from the libretto, with an English translation, are correlated to a study of the music. A useful aspect of the Edwards study is the examination of the significance of both the heroine's presence in a scene and the dramatic reason for her silence or absence. Analysis teems with passages from critiques and staging directions from early performances. A single appendix supplies a plot synopsis of the opera and a concise explanation of how the dramatic character in the opera's literary basis differs from that of the opera. The endnotes are detailed and thorough, and an extensive bibliography underlines the well researched nature of the volume.
"The authors draw upon their experience from both sides of the stage lights. Geoffrey Edwards is a stage director who earned a PhD in Theatre and Drama from Northwestern University. His father, Ryan Edwards, is a leading baritone with the Metropolitan Opera. Their collaborative volume offers new perspectives on these significant female characters and insight into the dramatic intent of Verdi and Puccini." JOURNAL OF SINGING Listed in "Bibliografia essenziale su Giacomo Puccini e MADAMA BUTTERFLY," Teatro alla Scala, Milan. |
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