Orpheus und Medusa

Written using the figures of Orpheus and Medusa as symbols, this book highlights contrasting theories on the poetry of Italian opera over three centuries. In addition to theoretical texts, it examines above all the poetic qualities of librettos, plus the music and singing techniques of different eras. Its underlying aim is to study the various historical concepts of opera as a communicative art form, predominantly from a textual perspective. The works it addresses range from operas about Orpheus from 1600 to D’Annunzio’s draft of a dramatic theory on the head of Medusa in his novel Il fuoco of 1900.