name of the play or poem that inspired them, with full bibliographic detail,
performance information, and library locations as appropriate; v.4 has indexes
of titles, composers, editors, arrangers, and actual Shakespeare lines that were
set to music, and v.5 is a classified bibliography, with full data, of 3,232 entries.
225.NGDO4, 318–347, “Shakespeare,” by Christopher B. Wilson, offers a list
of about 270 operas, entered under each play.The Tempesthas 48, leading all
the rest.- Hotaling, Edward. Shakespeare and the Musical Stage: A Guide to Sources,
Studies, and First Performances. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1990. xxv, 517p. ISBN
0-8161-9070-4. ML128 .O4 H68.
Deals with “any composition which anyone had proposed as being based on
Shakespeare and any work whose title suggested that it might be based on
Shakespeare,” excluding only what might be called generic tales, like those of
Julius Caesar or Cleopatra. For each of the 600 or so works listed, in composer
order, there are bibliographic descriptions, with premiere information, casts,
and comments. Indexes by title, city, date of premiere (covering 1611–1981),
text authors, and the Shakespeare plays. - Schmidgall, Gary. Shakespeare and Opera. New York: Oxford U.P., 1990.
394p. ISBN 0-19-506450-X. ML3858 .S373.
Consists of 12 essays: an introduction, and discussions of 11 plays in their
operatic manifestations. Similarities between 19th-century Italian opera and
Shakespearian drama include aria/soliloquy, each preceded by a duet or
ensemble, and more generally that both are “aural experiences,” made for lis-
tening, with sound and spectacle supreme over sense. Verdi gets the most
emphasis among composers cited. - Giraud, Yves F.-A.La fable de Daphné. Histoire des idées et critique litteraire,
- Geneva: Droz, 1968. 574p. NX652 .D21 G52.
An absorbing, scholarly exploration of the Dafne myth in literature and the
arts through the 17th century. About 500 works are noted. Operas by Peri,
Marco da Gagliano, Cavalli, Schütz, Bontempi, and Richard Strauss are dis-
cussed. With bibliography and index of names and titles. - Lühning, Helga. “Titus-Vertonungen im 18. Jahrhundert: Untersuchungen zur
Tradition der Opera seria von Hasse bis Mozart,” Analecta musicologica 20
(1983): 1–530.
Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito(1791) is the most renowned opera based on
Pietro Metastasio’s text, which told of the benevolent Roman emperor Titus
Vespasianus (reigned 78–81). But many other works stemmed from that
source, which is described in detail to begin this volume. The Mozart libretto,
by Caterino Tommaso Mazzolà, is analyzed, and other setting are discussed in
depth. Among the composers included are Hasse, Gluck, Anfossi, Wagenseil,
Galuppi, and Jommelli. Chronology of the settings, composer index, sources
and bibliography (about 250 items) but without index.
On Tasso, see Balsano (#2450). Other works on libretto matters are in Chapter XIII.
54 Opera