Opera and the Built Environment

Opera and the Built Environment - Paperback

$51.30
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Opera and the Built Environment
  • Opera and the Built Environment
Opera and the Built Environment - Paperback

Opera and the Built Environment - Paperback

by Laura Vasilyeva
$51.30
$51.30

Book Overview

by Laura Vasilyeva (Author)

The first book to examine the classic Italian opera house in a global context.

In Opera and the Built Environment, music scholar Laura Vasilyeva considers the remarkable mass construction of opera houses around the world since the 1800s and the no-less-remarkable bids to standardize the architectural features of their interiors across this vast theatrical infrastructure. Now known as the teatro all'italiana, this style of architecture--made most famous by Milan's Teatro alla Scala--is characterized by auditoria with tiers of stacked boxes and a dominant red hue.

With attention to the sensuous dimensions of their auditoria, from their surfaces to their atmospheres to their acoustics and thresholds, Vasilyeva reveals the calculated reasons these theaters took on the form they did. The result is a book that reveals unknown associations between the Italian opera house and matters of environmental destruction, empire, and belonging, showing us new and unexpected patterns in how opera connects to the world we know.

Author Biography

Laura Vasilyeva is associate professor of musicology at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Her work has appeared in a range of journals, from the Cambridge Opera Journal to The Opera Quarterly. This is her first book.

Number of Pages: 192
Dimensions: 0.42 x 9 x 6 IN
Illustrated: Yes
Publication Date: November 19, 2025
ISBN9780226844466
Author Laura Vasilyeva
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press
GenreDesign and History
FormatPaperback
PublishedNovember 2025
LanguageENG- English
Pages192
Weight1.0 lb
Target AudienceAdults
Print SizeStandard Print

Related Subjects

Architecture History Music Nonfiction

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More by Laura Vasilyeva

Opera and the Built Environment

Opera and the Built Environment - Paperback

Opera and the Built Environment - Paperback

By Laura Vasilyeva

About Laura Vasilyeva

Laura Vasilyeva is associate professor of musicology at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Her work has appeared in a range of journals, from the Cambridge Opera Journal to The Opera Quarterly. This is her first book.

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