FALL-WINTER 2025-26 PICK
“What a wonderful way to explore the global stage of Italian Opera and how it shaped the world.”
Opera and the Built Environment by Laura Vasilyeva
Publisher Description: 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.
How to present this to library customers: Delve into the fascinating intersection of music and design with the first book to explore the classic Italian opera house in a global context. This volume will captivate opera buffs and architecture lovers alike by revealing the hidden environmental and social forces that shaped these iconic, red-hued theaters around the world.
Audience Key:
NOVICE:
A patron who does not know about the arts but is looking for new interests. These items are for public collections that call for you to introduce the arts to patrons and ignite their interests. They often know much more about popular culture than what’s happening in the arts.
EXPLORER:
These items are for customers who have some knowledge of the arts and want to learn more. Oftentimes these patrons stream music from your music streaming service, take out music and art biographies and they may attend music and art programming at your library.
AFICIONADO:
Ordering for aficionados requires knowledge about their habits when consuming the arts. These patrons are aware of the arts through museums, classical music, jazz and more. Oftentimes, these patrons attend music and art programming at your library, are professionals in the arts world with thorough knowledge of visual and/or performing arts.