tion. Cui wrote his own, anonymous, review: that one was favorable. The
study of that opera takes up most of the article, but there are 20 pages about
Angelo,which also failed. Cui’s attempts at Kuchkist opera were then aban-
doned, and he wrote number operas after that, only to have them poorly
received as well. With 151 footnotes as a guide to the whole relevant literature.Nicolas Dalayrac (1753–1809)
Nina ou la folle par amourand Léon ou le château de Monténéroare in FO,v.70.
719.Nicolas Dalayrac: Musicien murétain, homme des lumières. Muret: Société
Nicolas Dalayrac, 1991. 112p. ISBN 2-909302-00-8.ML410 .D13 N63.
Papers from a 1990 colloquium held in Dalayrac’s home city, Muret. Includes
biographical material and two substantial contributions about the operas:
Malou Haine, “Les opéras-comiques de Nicolas Dalayrac représentés au
théâtre de Liège entre 1786 et 1835,” and Dietmar Fricke, “Réception de
l’opéra-comique de Nicolas Dalayrac en Allemagne: Le cas des Deux petits
savoyards.” Indexed by name and topic, no bibliography.- Pendle, Karin. “A Working Friendship: Marsollier and Dalayrac.” M&L 64
(1983): 44–57.
Benoît-Joseph Marsoller (1750–1817) was Dalayrac’s librettist for 25 years
and 20 operas, beginning with the successful Ninain 1786. Their collabora-
tion was popular even during the Revolution, in which they were able to “rep-
resent the kind of continuity that made possible France’s return to normal.” - Charlton, David. “Motif and Recollection in Four Operas of Dalayrac.”
Soundings (Cardiff), 1978: 38–62.
Dalayrac made “a distinct contribution to the developing technique of motivic
organization in opera.” Analysis and musical examples are presented in sup-
port of this view. Variety is demonstrated in the motifs: they are sometimes
reminiscent of a character’s earlier appearance, and other times they unite sim-
ilar situations or indicate unspoken thoughts.
Luigi Dallapiccola (1904–1975)
- Dallapiccola, Luigi. Selected Writings: V.1, Dallapiccola on Opera.Ed. and
trans. Rudy Shackelford. Musicians on Music, 4. London: Toccata Press, - 291p. ISBN 0-907689-10-8. ML410 .C138 M17.
Autobiographical material and views on his work are blended in this fascinat-
ing volume. The composer lived through World War II and embodied its sad
themes in such operas as Il prigonero. He talks about war, myth, Verdi, and
Monteverdi (from whom he derived his own libretto for Ulisse,his best-
known opera). Indexed. - Venuti, Massimo. Il teatro di Dallapiccola. Milan: Suvini Zerboni, 1985. ix,
151p. No ISBN. ML410 .D18 V46.
Good technical studies, with extended consideration of Volo di notte, Job,
Ulisse, and Marsia. Discussion of Dallapiccola’s aesthetics and theatrical
Luigi Dallapiccola 149