Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Audible membership
$14.95 a month
Buy for $6.29
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
People who bought this also bought...
-
Puccini: Turandot
- By: Thomson Smillie
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 1 hr and 19 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 18
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 14
Puccini’s swansong has a claim to being the last great popular opera. Its melodies have enchanted audiences since its posthumous premiere in 1926, two years after Puccini’s death. It involves a chilling story of love and cruelty, an intriguing cast of characters against the exotic backdrop of Imperial China, magnificent choruses and ensembles, and dazzling orchestration in an exotic score that comprises a string of remarkable arias - among which the great tenor aria "Nessun dorma" is the jewel. It is more than Puccini’s last opera: It is the last word, in every sense, on Italian opera.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fire and ice, hope and blood
- By Adeliese Baumann on 12-05-13
-
La Traviata
- By: Thomson Smillie
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 1 hr and 5 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 21
La Traviata owes its enduring popularity to a superb story of young love and fatal sacrifice, set to music by Italy’s master melodist at the peak of his powers. Interest and poignancy are added by the fact that this is a true story - the baritone ‘heavy’ is Alexander Dumas who wrote The Count of Monte Cristo. But it is the central figure, the heroine Violetta, the archetypal ‘whore with the heart of gold’ who dominates the piece. It is her opera and we love her for it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
interesting and educational look at the opera
- By EmilyK on 11-23-18
-
Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro
- By: Thomson Smillie
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 1 hr and 19 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 15
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 13
Many opera-lovers would name The Marriage of Figaro as their favorite opera. It appeals to the most intellectual listener, but also to music-lovers seeking great melodies and ensembles (while it remains accessible through its fascinating plot and memorable characters) and to those seeking only entertainment. One of three operas by Mozart to libretti by Lorenzo da Ponte, it represents one of the pinnacles not just of operatic but of human achievement.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Not the audio that it promised.
- By Chelsea on 01-22-16
-
Verdi: Rigoletto
- By: Thomson Smillie
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 1 hr and 19 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 12
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 11
Rigoletto is simply wonderful entertainment with superb music. It is also much more - a daring (for its time) attack on aristocratic privilege, a tender love story, and an impassioned appeal on behalf of the disadvantaged, all set to music of such wealth and beauty that, with its sister operas La traviata and Il trovatore, it has defined Italian opera for 150 years. Overcoming initial trouble with the censors, Verdi's Rigoletto was a smash hit at its premiere and has not been out of the repertoire since. It’s not hard to see why.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fun intro (or recap) of the opera
- By EmilyK on 05-24-18
-
La sonnambula
- By: Thomson Smillie
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 1 hr and 16 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5
La sonnambula was written by Bellini as a vehicle for two of the supreme singers of his age and accordingly is a fine example of the school we call bel canto, where beauty of voice and the virtuosity of the singers is integral to conveying the emotions in the soul of the composer. The fact that Bellini was one of the great melodists, writing long, beautiful vocal lines, that he was a master orchestrator and that he could write stirringly for the chorus all conspire to make La sonnambula extremely enjoyable.
-
Fidelio
- By: Thomson Smillie
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 1 hr and 19 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 7
Fidelio is a work like no other. Beethoven’s only opera is about the joy of married love - by a man who never knew that pleasure. It is about heroism by a man who was often mean and petty in his human relations; it is about freedom by a man who was a prisoner of his own deafness; and ultimately it is about joy by a man who experienced precious little of it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beethoven's only opera in all its glory
- By Adeliese Baumann on 04-20-13
-
Puccini: Turandot
- By: Thomson Smillie
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 1 hr and 19 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 18
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 14
Puccini’s swansong has a claim to being the last great popular opera. Its melodies have enchanted audiences since its posthumous premiere in 1926, two years after Puccini’s death. It involves a chilling story of love and cruelty, an intriguing cast of characters against the exotic backdrop of Imperial China, magnificent choruses and ensembles, and dazzling orchestration in an exotic score that comprises a string of remarkable arias - among which the great tenor aria "Nessun dorma" is the jewel. It is more than Puccini’s last opera: It is the last word, in every sense, on Italian opera.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fire and ice, hope and blood
- By Adeliese Baumann on 12-05-13
-
La Traviata
- By: Thomson Smillie
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 1 hr and 5 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 21
La Traviata owes its enduring popularity to a superb story of young love and fatal sacrifice, set to music by Italy’s master melodist at the peak of his powers. Interest and poignancy are added by the fact that this is a true story - the baritone ‘heavy’ is Alexander Dumas who wrote The Count of Monte Cristo. But it is the central figure, the heroine Violetta, the archetypal ‘whore with the heart of gold’ who dominates the piece. It is her opera and we love her for it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
interesting and educational look at the opera
- By EmilyK on 11-23-18
-
Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro
- By: Thomson Smillie
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 1 hr and 19 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 15
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 13
Many opera-lovers would name The Marriage of Figaro as their favorite opera. It appeals to the most intellectual listener, but also to music-lovers seeking great melodies and ensembles (while it remains accessible through its fascinating plot and memorable characters) and to those seeking only entertainment. One of three operas by Mozart to libretti by Lorenzo da Ponte, it represents one of the pinnacles not just of operatic but of human achievement.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Not the audio that it promised.
- By Chelsea on 01-22-16
-
Verdi: Rigoletto
- By: Thomson Smillie
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 1 hr and 19 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 12
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 11
Rigoletto is simply wonderful entertainment with superb music. It is also much more - a daring (for its time) attack on aristocratic privilege, a tender love story, and an impassioned appeal on behalf of the disadvantaged, all set to music of such wealth and beauty that, with its sister operas La traviata and Il trovatore, it has defined Italian opera for 150 years. Overcoming initial trouble with the censors, Verdi's Rigoletto was a smash hit at its premiere and has not been out of the repertoire since. It’s not hard to see why.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fun intro (or recap) of the opera
- By EmilyK on 05-24-18
-
La sonnambula
- By: Thomson Smillie
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 1 hr and 16 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5
La sonnambula was written by Bellini as a vehicle for two of the supreme singers of his age and accordingly is a fine example of the school we call bel canto, where beauty of voice and the virtuosity of the singers is integral to conveying the emotions in the soul of the composer. The fact that Bellini was one of the great melodists, writing long, beautiful vocal lines, that he was a master orchestrator and that he could write stirringly for the chorus all conspire to make La sonnambula extremely enjoyable.
-
Fidelio
- By: Thomson Smillie
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 1 hr and 19 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 7
Fidelio is a work like no other. Beethoven’s only opera is about the joy of married love - by a man who never knew that pleasure. It is about heroism by a man who was often mean and petty in his human relations; it is about freedom by a man who was a prisoner of his own deafness; and ultimately it is about joy by a man who experienced precious little of it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beethoven's only opera in all its glory
- By Adeliese Baumann on 04-20-13
-
The Life and Operas of Verdi
- By: Robert Greenberg, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Robert Greenberg
- Length: 24 hrs and 18 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 183
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 163
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 160
The Italians have a word for the sense of dazzling beauty produced by effortless mastery: sprezzatura. And perhaps no cultural form associated with Italy is as steeped in the love of sprezzatura as opera, a genre the Italians invented. No composer has embodied the ideal of sprezzatura as magnificently as Giuseppe Verdi, the gruff, self-described "farmer" from the Po Valley who gave us 28 operas and remains to this day the most popular composer in the genre's 400-year-old history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Viva Verdi!
- By Paul on 01-30-15
-
Dante's Divine Comedy
- By: The Great Courses, Ronald B. Herzman, William R. Cook
- Narrated by: Ronald B. Herzman, William R. Cook
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 670
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 609
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 607
Professors Cook and Herzman provide you with an illuminating introduction to one of the greatest works ever written. One of the most profound and satisfying of all poems, The Divine Comedy (or Commedia) of Dante Alighieri is a book for life. In a brilliantly constructed narrative of his imaginary guided pilgrimage through the three realms of the Christian afterlife, Dante accomplished a literary task of astonishing complexity. In these twenty-four lectures, as you follow Dante on his journey, you'll learn how medieval literature offers insights into fundamental questions.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The Commedia for Modern Readers
- By Patti on 08-25-13
-
Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition, 3rd Edition
- By: The Great Courses, Alan Charles Kors, Darren Staloff, and others
- Narrated by: Alan Charles Kors, Darren Staloff, Dennis Dalton, and others
- Length: 43 hrs and 41 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 723
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 627
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 607
For 3,000 years, mankind has grappled with fundamental questions about life. What is real? Who or what is God? When is it legitimate for one person to have power over others? What is justice? Beauty? This 84-lecture, 12-professor tour of Western philosophical tradition covers more than 60 of history's greatest minds and brings you a comprehensive survey of the history of Western philosophy from its origins in classical Greece to the present.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic overview
- By Robin on 08-25-13
-
How to Listen to and Understand Opera
- By: Robert Greenberg, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Robert Greenberg
- Length: 24 hrs and 25 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 648
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 589
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 580
To watch any opera lover listen to a favorite work, eyes clenched tight in concentration and passion, often betraying a tear, is to be almost envious. What must it be like, you might think, to love a piece of music so much?And now one of music's most gifted teachers is offering you the opportunity to answer that very question, in a spellbinding series of 32 lectures that will introduce you to the transcendentally beautiful performing art that has enthralled audiences for more than 400 years.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Professor Robert Greenberg does it again!
- By Kristi R. on 09-18-15
-
The 30 Greatest Orchestral Works
- By: Robert Greenberg, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Robert Greenberg
- Length: 24 hrs and 53 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,123
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,017
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 996
Over the centuries, orchestral music has given us a category of works that stand apart as transcendent expressions of the human spirit. What are these "greatest of the greats"? Find out in these 32 richly detailed lectures that take you on a sumptuous grand tour of the symphonic pieces that continue to live at the center of our musical culture.These 30 masterworks form an essential foundation for any music collection and a focal point for understanding the orchestral medium and deepening your insight into the communicative power of music.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
If they cut off both hands, I will compose music..
- By Kristi R. on 02-01-15
-
Die Fledermaus
- By: Thomson Smillie
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 1 hr and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 8
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 7
Die Fledermaus is one of the few operatic works to which the phrase "never a dull moment" can be truthfully applied. From the explosive opening of the famous overture - reminiscent of a volley of champagne corks - through the surging energy of the "Fledermaus Waltz" and the many comic numbers, of which the accelerando trio is the finest, up to such huge concerted numbers as the "Duidu" finale to Act II, this is an operetta which almost incarnates nostalgia. Thomson Smillie and David Timson infuse their exploration of Die Fledermaus with as much life as the operetta itself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Revenge of the bat
- By Adeliese Baumann on 12-08-13
-
Elements of Jazz: From Cakewalks to Fusion
- By: Bill Messenger, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Bill Messenger
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 493
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 437
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 433
Jazz is a uniquely American art form, one of America's great contributions to not only musical culture, but world culture, with each generation of musicians applying new levels of creativity that take the music in unexpected directions that defy definition, category, and stagnation. Now you can learn the basics and history of this intoxicating genre in an eight-lecture series that is as free-flowing and original as the art form itself.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
A Disappointingly Distorted, Myopic View Of Jazz
- By Parallax View on 08-18-13
-
How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition
- By: Robert Greenberg, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Robert Greenberg
- Length: 36 hrs and 34 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,802
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,548
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,498
Great music is a language unto its own, a means of communication of unmatched beauty and genius. And it has an undeniable power to move us in ways that enrich our lives-provided it is understood.If you have ever longed to appreciate great concert music, to learn its glorious language and share in its sublime pleasures, the way is now open to you, through this series of 48 wonderful lectures designed to make music accessible to everyone who yearns to know it, regardless of prior training or knowledge.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Beginning to a Delinquent Education
- By Ark1836 on 06-18-15
-
The Decameron
- By: Giovanni Boccaccio
- Narrated by: Simon Russell Beale, Gunnar Cauthery, Alison Pettitt, and others
- Length: 28 hrs and 5 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 80
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 81
The Decameron is one of the greatest literary works of the Middle Ages. Ten young people have fled the terrible effects of the Black Death in Florence and, in an idyllic setting, tell a series of brilliant stories, by turns humorous, bawdy, tragic and provocative. This celebration of physical and sexual vitality is Boccaccio's answer to the sublime other-worldliness of Dante's Divine Comedy.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not Up to the Usual Naxos Standard
- By John on 11-15-17
-
Great Music of the 20th Century
- By: The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Professor Robert Greenberg PhD
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 89
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 79
The 20th century was a hotbed of musical exploration, innovation, and transformation unlike any other epoch in history. Ranging across the century in its entirety, these 24 lectures present a musical cornucopia of astounding dimensions - a major presentation and exploration of the incredible brilliance and diversity of musical art across a turbulent century. Far more than simply a series of lectures, the program comprises a huge and many-sided resource for discovering the endless riches of 20th-century concert music across the globe.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Disappointment
- By MAdison on 03-11-18
-
Greek Tragedy
- By: Elizabeth Vandiver, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Vandiver
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 276
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 252
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 251
Greek tragedy was a dramatic form that flourished for less than a full century. And yet it remains vibrant, alive, and productive today. And the form's masterpieces help us-as perhaps they helped their original audiences-grasp a fuller sense of the terror and wonder of life. Professor Vandiver has designed these 24 rich and rewarding lectures to give you a full overview of Greek tragedy, both in its original setting and as a lasting contribution to the artistic exploration of the human condition.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Theatre History Done Right!
- By Joshua on 10-19-13
-
The Theory of Everything: The Quest to Explain All Reality
- By: Don Lincoln, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Don Lincoln
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,068
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 963
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 961
At the end of his career, Albert Einstein was pursuing a dream far more ambitious than the theory of relativity. He was trying to find an equation that explained all physical reality - a theory of everything. Experimental physicist and award-winning educator Dr. Don Lincoln takes you on this exciting journey in The Theory of Everything: The Quest to Explain All Reality. Suitable for the intellectually curious at all levels and assuming no background beyond basic high-school math, these 24 half-hour lectures cover recent developments at the forefront of particle physics and cosmology.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Not an audiobook...
- By J.C. on 06-14-19
Publisher's Summary
La Bohème is one of the three operas - the others are Carmen and Aida - believed to be the most popular ever written. In the case of La Bohème the reason is that it virtually defines the term "romantic". The poignant story of Mimì and Rodolfo is told in music of such tender beauty, allied, as always, to Puccini’s intuition of what works in the theatre. The result is an opera that readily appeals to our emotions and senses.
"Che gelida manina - Your tiny hand is frozen..." The moment when Mimì and Rodolfo meet and first touch is one of the very great moments of opera - created by the master hand of Giacomo Puccini, who unerringly trod the fine line between romance and sentimentality.
Thomson Smillie outlines the background to the opera, explaining how painstakingly the composer worked to achieve this effect. An absorbing introduction both for those approaching La Bohème for the first time and for those wanting to know a bit more than just the big arias.