BAROQUE OPERA- 17th century opera

Opera in 17th Century Venice: The Creation of a Genre (Centennial Books)  

This is a landmark study of how opera first came into being. With 91 examples of music and 28 illustrations Ellen Rosand, professor of music at Yale, this book will be essential reading for students of opeara and of European cultural history both amateur and professional. Opera was a new genre in the 17th century and the author examines for the first time the mass of documentation left by the Venetian composers (notably Monteverdi and Cavalli), librettists,impresarios,singers and designers of the period and puts together a fascinating picture of the origins of the opera.

Make Sweet the Minds of Men: Early Opera and Tragic Catharsis  

In this book John Deaderick examines the operatic genre from its inception, and particularly how Classical Athenian tragedy influenced its early writers.This book takes a look at the musical aims of early opera, the development of monody,recitative and basso continuo and the philosophy behind opera which could affect human emotions and which led to the Baroque revolution in music.

The Baroque Libretto: Italian Operas and Oratorios in the Thomas Fisher Library at the University of Toronto (Toronto Italian Studies)  

An important collection of librettos is housed at the Thomas Fisher Library in Toronto and this book catalogues the Baroque Italian operas ad oratorios therein. French and English operatic works of the Baroque period are also listed in the appendices.Comprehensive discussion on text, historical and biographical detail and literary history as well as the theatrical aspects of each libretto can be found in this volume which will appeal to anyone interested in the operatic genre in the cultural, historical,social and economic context of Europe in the 17th and early 18th century.