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Verdi Shakespeare Men of the Theater Garry Wills Books

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Verdi Shakespeare Men of the Theater Garry Wills Books

Numerous operas have been based on plays of Shakespeare. Giuseppe Verdi composed three: "Macbeth", "Otello", and "Falstaff". Curiously, they are, by today's standards, the most successful and most performed operas of Shakespeare plays (along with Benjamin Britten's "A Midsummer Night's Dream".) In VERDI'S SHAKESPEARE, Garry Wills writes about those three pairings of Shakespeare and Verdi.

In his first chapter, Wills discusses the "comparative dramaturgies" of Shakespeare and Verdi. Among his points is that both were "men of the theater" and engaged to an unusual extent in the production of their works and the coaching of the actors/singers. In some instances, both "wrote" characters with certain performers in mind. Wills then turns, seriatim, to "Macbeth", "Otello" (Shakespeare's "Othello"), and "Falstaff" (which is based primarily on Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor"). In each discussion, Wills offers some interpretive or critical commentary of both the play and the opera. Overall, he pays more attention to Verdi's renditions than Shakespeare's. With each, the matter that interested me the most was how Verdi and his librettist (Arrigo Boito in the case of "Otello" and "Falstaff") went about streamlining and otherwise modifying the Shakespeare plays.

I have seen only one of the three Verdi operas ("Falstaff") and that was long ago, so from that perspective I have little basis for evaluating how insightful Wills is. I have read all three Shakespeare plays relatively recently, and while Wills did provide some insights, I do not agree with several of his interpretations or readings.

My principal complaint, though, is that VERDI'S SHAKESPEARE is oddly unfocused. It seems likely to me that Wills had a few scattered notions or opinions about Verdi's treatment of the three Shakespeare plays, and then went about trying to make an entire book out of them. The product not only is somewhat scattershot, it is a rather slight book. And, at times (especially the analysis of Verdi's "Macbeth" and the account of the casting of "Otello"), a boring one. It probably would be of moderate interest to enthusiastic devotees of Verdi and the three operas in question, but I can't conceive other readers finding it particularly rewarding.


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Verdi Shakespeare Men of the Theater Garry Wills Books Reviews

Ver interesting analysis of Verdi's Shakespeare operas, with insghts into how both Verdi and SHakespear worte their works with the strenghts and weaknesses of the initial performers in mind. This has dispelled my belief that playwrites and composers write "for the ages." Instead they write with an eye on immediate needs of performance. This makes the universal appeal of their works all the more astounding.
Well, I'm kind of surprised in retrospect that it took me this long to get to this. I love Verdi. I love Shakespeare. I love the other Wills books I've read. I'm not surprised that I love this, too.

This is pretty much what it says it is a look at Verdi's Shakespeare operas in the context of the plays themselves and the theater at the time each man was working. It is particularly edifying when discussing the framework and limitations of times, conventions and physical realities they had to deal with. We, and by "we" I mean "I", tend to forget that what we / I think of as timeless works of art were created in very specific times and the men who created them wrote them with very specific audiences and casts in mind. We / I forget that Shakespeare wrote his plays for a specific theatre troop and that he wrote to their strengths and away from their weaknesses. He wasn't writing for a dream cast - he wrote for the cast at hand. And so did Verdi, who at least had more sway and say in who would sing his work, but still had to tailor parts to the available voices and acting talents.

Among other things.

In short, this is a terrific little volume, more for the Verdi fan, of course, than the Shakespeare. It is a great companion to the operas themselves, Wills' previous book on MacbethWitches and Jesuits Shakespeare's Macbeth (Oxford Paperbacks), and my favorite Verdi biographyVerdi A Biography. It also mentions and cites some recordings / performances of the three operas that I'd like hear.

My only real complaint, if that's what it is, is that I wish there were more the book. I could've read on and on.
Lovers of Verdi or Shakespeare or -- one hopes -- both should revel in Wills's discussion of these men who were creatures of the theaters of their time. He describes the conditions under which playwrights worked in Elizabethan times and opera composers worked in 19th century Italy, and then he concentrates on the three plays made into operas by Verdi "Macbeth," "Othello," and "The Merry Wives of Windsor." He offers original insights into the plays themselves and then into the operas, with particular attention to the subtle ways in which emphasis and even meaning changed when Verdi and his librettists adapted them. Wills's style is lucid and uncluttered, and the reader needs no technical knowledge of poetry or music to follow his arguments. This is a book to be savored by anyone who loves these works.

Incidentally, the description Willis gives of Elizabethan theater practice puts one more spike into the arguments of those who tell us Shakespeare didn't write his plays. Wills shows that no one not up to his elbows in the workings of a theater on a daily basis could have written them, and men who also had full time positions in society couldn't have managed it.
Professionally, I'm a classical music historian. Knowing Verdi's life and music quite well, I wanted further perspective on how his Shakespearean-themed operas compared to the original plays. I could have just re-read the plays in question, but was also interested in having them in the context of the times in which they were written. Wills' book proved to be exactly what I was seeking. Finding that Wills' comments on musical issues were accurate, I therefore have faith that his Shakespeare-related observations are equally good. Moreover, it's written in a nicely readable style - neither overly academic nor annoyingly low-brow.
Numerous operas have been based on plays of Shakespeare. Giuseppe Verdi composed three "Macbeth", "Otello", and "Falstaff". Curiously, they are, by today's standards, the most successful and most performed operas of Shakespeare plays (along with Benjamin Britten's "A Midsummer Night's Dream".) In VERDI'S SHAKESPEARE, Garry Wills writes about those three pairings of Shakespeare and Verdi.

In his first chapter, Wills discusses the "comparative dramaturgies" of Shakespeare and Verdi. Among his points is that both were "men of the theater" and engaged to an unusual extent in the production of their works and the coaching of the actors/singers. In some instances, both "wrote" characters with certain performers in mind. Wills then turns, seriatim, to "Macbeth", "Otello" (Shakespeare's "Othello"), and "Falstaff" (which is based primarily on Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor"). In each discussion, Wills offers some interpretive or critical commentary of both the play and the opera. Overall, he pays more attention to Verdi's renditions than Shakespeare's. With each, the matter that interested me the most was how Verdi and his librettist (Arrigo Boito in the case of "Otello" and "Falstaff") went about streamlining and otherwise modifying the Shakespeare plays.

I have seen only one of the three Verdi operas ("Falstaff") and that was long ago, so from that perspective I have little basis for evaluating how insightful Wills is. I have read all three Shakespeare plays relatively recently, and while Wills did provide some insights, I do not agree with several of his interpretations or readings.

My principal complaint, though, is that VERDI'S SHAKESPEARE is oddly unfocused. It seems likely to me that Wills had a few scattered notions or opinions about Verdi's treatment of the three Shakespeare plays, and then went about trying to make an entire book out of them. The product not only is somewhat scattershot, it is a rather slight book. And, at times (especially the analysis of Verdi's "Macbeth" and the account of the casting of "Otello"), a boring one. It probably would be of moderate interest to enthusiastic devotees of Verdi and the three operas in question, but I can't conceive other readers finding it particularly rewarding.