The majority of these collected essays date from 1992 onwards, three of them having been specially expanded for this volume. Drawing on recent archival research

A major re-orientation in understanding opera, exploring musical comedies with spoken dialogue previously excluded from historical accounts.

Closely examining five French operas, this book reveals how and why grand opera sought to bring the past alive.

Why, in the dying days of the Napoleonic Empire, did half of Paris turn out for the funeral of a composer? The death of André Ernest Modeste Grétry in 1813 wa

How did composers and performers use the lost art of pantomime to explore and promote the Enlightenment ideals of free expression?