Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera by Caplan, Lucy
Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera by Caplan, Lucy

Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera

A revelatory new account of Black innovation in American opera, showing how composers, performers, and critics redefined...
$113.26 AUD
$113.26 AUD
SKU: 9780674268517
Product Type: Books
Please hurry! Only 0 left in stock
Author: Lucy Caplan
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Subtotal: $113.26
Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera by Caplan, Lucy

Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera

$113.26
Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera by Caplan, Lucy

Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera

$113.26
Author: Lucy Caplan
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Description

A revelatory new account of Black innovation in American opera, showing how composers, performers, and critics redefined the genre both aesthetically and politically in the early twentieth century.

The inauguration of a "golden age" in Black opera is often dated to 1955, when Marian Anderson became the first Black singer to perform in a leading role at New York's Metropolitan Opera. Yet Anderson's debut was actually preceded by a rich Black operatic tradition that developed in the first half of the twentieth century. Lucy Caplan tells the stories of the Black composers, performers, critics, teachers, and students who created this vibrant opera culture, even as they were excluded from the genre's most prominent institutions. Their movement, which flourished alongside the Harlem Renaissance, redefined opera as a wellspring of aesthetic innovation, sociality, and antiracist activism.

Caplan argues that Black opera in the early twentieth century had decidedly countercultural ambitions. In opera's sonic grandeur and dramatic maximalism, artists found creative resources for expressing the complexity of Black life. The protagonists of this story include composers Harry Lawrence Freeman and Shirley Graham, whose operas boldly interpreted Black diasporic history; performers Caterina Jarboro and Florence Cole-Talbert, who both starred in the racially fraught role of Aida; and critics Sylvester Russell and Nora Holt, who wrote imaginatively about the genre in the Black press. Yet Caplan also focuses on the many Black students, amateurs, opera house staff, and listeners who contributed indelibly to opera's meanings.

With the creation of new companies, choruses, and audiences, opera not only circulated in the Black public sphere but itself became a public sphere with radical potential.

Author: Lucy Caplan
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 02/04/2025
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.51lbs
Size: 9.25h x 6.13w x 0.94d
ISBN: 9780674268517


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 12/01/2024 pg. 91
Kirkus Reviews 12/15/2024
Shipping & Return

Returns Policy

You may return most new, unopened items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. We'll also pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item, etc.).

You should expect to receive your refund within four weeks of giving your package to the return shipper, however, in many cases you will receive a refund more quickly. This time period includes the transit time for us to receive your return from the shipper (5 to 10 business days), the time it takes us to process your return once we receive it (3 to 5 business days), and the time it takes your bank to process our refund request (5 to 10 business days).

If you need to return an item, simply login to your account, view the order using the "Complete Orders" link under the My Account menu and click the Return Item(s) button. We'll notify you via e-mail of your refund once we've received and processed the returned item.

Shipping

We can ship to virtually any address in the world. Note that there are restrictions on some products, and some products cannot be shipped to international destinations.

When you place an order, we will estimate shipping and delivery dates for you based on the availability of your items and the shipping options you choose. Depending on the shipping provider you choose, shipping date estimates may appear on the shipping quotes page.

Please also note that the shipping rates for many items we sell are weight-based. The weight of any such item can be found on its detail page. To reflect the policies of the shipping companies we use, all weights will be rounded up to the next full pound.

Review