Review by Booklist Review
Opera, Gioia (Poetry as Enchantment, 2023) writes, "is the most intense form of poetic drama," and who better than a poet and librettist to explore the relationship between music and text? In this elegant and expansive book, he offers a poet's perspective, noting that "all poetry was originally sung or chanted . . . poetry and song were one art." Gioia imbues with his knowledge and love of opera and poetry two dozen chapters in which he traces the history of the opera libretto, pays tribute to some of the greatest librettists, critiques opera lyrics, comments on the state of opera today, and recounts his own introduction to opera and experience as a librettist. Opera purists might clutch their pearls when they read the chapter "Operatic Sondheim," in which he proclaims that "Sweeney Todd isn't just an opera. With Porgy and Bess, it is one of the two best operas in American music," while those who want opera to thrive will applaud. This impassioned and insightful book will delight opera fans and intrigue anyone interested in poetry and the performing arts.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
With this idiosyncratic and impassioned ode to the libretto, poet Gioia (Meet Me at the Lighthouse) aims to upend the "assumption that in opera words hardly matter." On the contrary, he argues, opera's compressed narrative structure means that lyrics function as a "driving force," drawing out "peak moments of human emotion" and allowing for "emotional transference" between performers and audience. Exploring the relationship between text and music, Gioia argues that seamless collaboration between composers and librettists has produced some of opera's most spectacular works, from Wolfgang Mozart and Venetian poet Lorenzo Da Ponte's Don Giovanni (Da Ponte contributed "a comic sophistication and thematic complexity" that elevated the opera "beyond earlier theatrical works") to Ira and George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. Gioia's at his most convincing when he's affectionately analyzing the form's particularities, including the unabashed emotion with which it captures the "extremes of human existence" ("No one suffers silently in opera"). Other sections find him lost in the weeds, as when he spends several pages chiding critics who question the "operatic status" of Steven Sondheim's Sweeney Todd. Still, opera aficionados will find plenty to appreciate. (Dec.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
California poet laureate Gioia (99 Poems) asserts that words and the storyline matter in opera as essential partners to song, music, and visual effects. In this personal, rhapsodic reflection on the art form (Gioia's early passion for which distinguished him from other kids), he elevates the reputation of the libretto, a compressed, unsubtle narrative poem written to inspire musical composition. Operas are essentially interdisciplinary, and it benefits when different people on a team write the libretto and music, Gioia argues. He posits that the 1983 invention of opera surtitles reinforced the significance of a libretto's words. The book also explains what operas, operettas, and musicals share and provides synopses of lesser-known productions. Gioia also has a case to make about the (often money-losing) business of opera: a select few audience-favorites dominate the grandest stages like the Metropolitan Opera, but big opera companies should develop their brands by commissioning more new works; he hopes for greater gender diversity among composers and that, with support, more American operas live beyond their premieres. VERDICT There is much for general readers to absorb in this long walk through an art form that has been evolving for 500 years.--Frederick J. Augustyn Jr.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A vigorous case for the humble opera libretto as poetic drama. Gioia, a poet and former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, turns his attention to the "extravagant and alluring art of opera" and the power of words because the "libretto is not a shabby coat rack on which the magnificent vestments of music are hung." The "text exists in a state of potentiality; music will transform its meaning and merit." Surprisingly, the 100 most frequently performed operas were written by only seven poets, including Richard Wagner, who wrote all his own libretti. Gioia notes that the only operatic partnership for which the writers get top billing are Gilbert and Sullivan. When Lorenzo Da Ponte wrote for Mozart, his operas became much better, culminating inDon Giovanni. Gioia recollects coming to love opera as a young boy: "I wanted to surrender to an ecstasy beyond my control." The collaborations of Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Richard Strauss "rank among the most surprising and successful experiments in modern opera." He discusses how opera strives for emotional intensity, "explores the extremes of human experience, especially the outmost limits of suffering." At the NEA, he helped fund dozens of operatic world premieres and revivals. Nevertheless, he worries about the shrinking numbers of Americans who attend operas--"America is no operatic superpower." Gioia laments that many historically important American operas are rarely performed. As a young student, he went to Vienna as a composer and left as an opera-loving poet. After incisive chapters on Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim--"American opera has no better libretto" thanSweeney Todd--he wraps up this smart, lively book describing his rewarding experiences writing librettos. A poet shares his joyful exuberance for opera. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
