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BURGESS, A. J : The Notary in Opera. PRESENTATION COPY FROM THE AUTHOR

1995

Jardine Press, Hadleigh / Suffolk. 1995. First edition. DW. SIGNED PRESENTATION COPY FROM THE AUTHOR. "For Thelma With all best wishes A. J. Burgess." Large 4to. 229 + (2) pages. Illustrated with colour and b/w photographs and illustrations from original sources. Pen drawings by Andrew Dodds. A clean and fresh copy in a very slightly shelf-worn wrapper, The Notary in Opera is an account of the notary's role in some generally accessible eighteen operas. There is a full examination of the character of the notary and the part played by him in the story of the various operas in which he appears. The illustrations are aimed at showing how the notary is conceived in operas composed over a period of two hundred years and in productions in opera houses in three continents right up to the present date. Besides emphasizing the points made in the written account, the illustrations also have their own inherent historical and sociological interest. Contents: 1). Il Barbiere di Siviglia: corruption? 2). La Sonnambula: serenity. 3). L'elisir d'amore: marginalization. 4). La fille du regiment: a sad contract. 5). Rienzi: heroic actions. 6). Don Pasquale: an impostor. 7). Beatrice et Benedict: a twofold duty. 8). La Perichole: tipsiness. 9). Die Fledermaus: sweet revenge. 10). Fortunio: cuckoldry. 11). Der Graf von Luxenburg: untoward instructions and anagnorisis. 12). Kleider machen Leute: bourgeois attitudes. 13). Der Rosenkavalier: obsequiousness. 14). Die Csardasfürstin: a seedy absurdity. 15). Gianni Schicchi: a counterfeit testator. 16). Intermezzo: professionalism. 17). Così fan tutte: charms and success. Appendix A: Two operatic scriveners. B: As to the qualifications of a notary. C: Select discography.

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