When Divas Confess. What really is opera? Why are we so captivated by opera’s stars? What are the protean forces and human archetypes that give rise to great opera? And how does an opera singer internalize these elements, mold them, and then emerge from behind the curtain as a fully developed character? These are the questions that enticed veteran photographer and opera enthusiast Marcia Lieberman to take her camera to the world’s great opera houses to compile this remarkable collection of images and vignettes.
Granted access to the dressing rooms of some of the world’s most revered opera performers, including Placido Domingo, Marilyn Horne, Renee Fleming, Frederica von Stade, and Thomas Moser, Lieberman seeks images that shed light on the mystique’ and on the process of transformation of an operatic performer. Drawing on the great recurring archetypes among them the Tyrant, the Magician, the Hero, and the Deceiver, Lieberman invites each opera star to expound on the notions of character and transformation, posing for her camera in full costume and makeup, during stolen moments between acts or just before the curtain goes up at actual performances. In doing this, Lieberman beautifully evokes the energy and sensations of a major opera at its best.
Accompanying Lieberman’s compelling photographs are insightful and engaging texts by renowned music historian Paul Griffiths, who explores the origins of these operatic characters and the different types of musical sensibilities that inform them. Opera now enjoys the fastest growing audience of all the performing arts, and When Divas Confess provides opera lovers and photography enthusiasts alike with an unprecedented visual chronicle of this revered and ever-popular mode of expression.
Marcia Lieberman is a San Francisco based photographer whose work has appeared in Vogue, Esquire, Time, and Mirabella magazines.
Paul Griffiths is a music writer, historian, and critic with numerous books to his credit, including Modern Music and After (Oxford University Press). He was a chief music critic of the London Times for ten years before joining The New York Times.
160 pages
8 1/2 x 11 inches
Paperback
100-150 color illustrations
ISBN: 0789302594
May 1999