edited by Lorenzo Frassà, x+394 pp., Brepols 2011, (Speculum Musicae, 15), ISBN 978-2-503-52781-9.
This volume presents sixteen essays, ranging from the reception of the genre’s foremost masterworks to the artistic productions of its protagonists, and finally to strictly aesthetic and musical issues.
The book’s central goal is to illustrate the foremost traits of this form of musical theatre (which is also an institution) and so to allow the reader (especially the general reader) to appreciate its richness and complexity of traditions, expressions and practices.
They form a landscape that is extremely elusive, yet exceptionally lively and vibrant.
