Understanding Italian Opera by Tim Carter

Opera, "an exotic and irrational entertainment", was born in Italy, and grew up and died there.  The author takes a microscope to Italian opera in this book, which is really for serious students of the art form.

What is the art form?  It is verse and music made by a team, a librettist and a composer, used to create either musical drama or musical comedy for the stage.  All the arts of stage entertainment are used to create the emotion that is opera:  music, staging, costumes, choreography, singers, lyrics.

Fascinatingly, the author points out that early opera was an attempt to recreate the entertainments of Ancient Greece during a Humanist revival era in Florence, Italy.  The Ancient Greeks combined recitation and music on stage, so the earliest operas were recited verse delivered by actors accompanied by music.

The author covers a history that spans Monteverdi's Orfeo (1607) to Puccini's La Boheme (1896).  These are the chapters of the book:

1  - What is Opera

2  - Giovanni Francesco Busenello and Claudio Monteverdi

3  - Nicola Francesco Haym and George Frideric Handel

4  - Lorenzo da Ponte and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

5  - Francesco maria Piave and Giuseppe Verdi

6  - Giuseppe Giacosa, Luigi Illica and Giacomo Puccini

Operatic love stories, with their seriously flawed characters and exotic settings were high poetical drama set to music.  While the music changed over time from early Baroque declamation to late Romantic lyricism, the words were Italian poetry.  The librettist was always a poet, using meter, rhyme and form, because the words in opera are poetical, not prose.

The standard subjects were historical, mythological, pastoral, sacred lives of saints, buffa domestic comedy, or based on popular plays.  The author offers a close reading of five operas.  (The Italian texts are translated for the reader, but a fluency in the language of music would be helpful.)

2 Baroque operas:

• Incoronazione di Poppea by Busenello and Monteverdi 1643
• Giulio Cesare in Egitto 1724 by Haym and Handel

1 Classical opera:

• Le Nozze di Figaro 1786 by da Ponte and Mozart

2 Romantic operas

• Rigoletto 1851 by Piave and Verdi
• La Boheme 1896 by Giacosa and Puccini

The dissection of the operas are done to discover the basic workings of opera, such as the subjects, how to stage then, and to learn to look at opera as drama.  The author looks at the cast, the history, a summary of the plot, early performances, and the lyrics for each.

Meter, rhyme, and form are studied in detail for various examples from the operas, including folksongs, prayer songs, toasts, and intro songs (I-songs for the protagonist to introduce him/herself to the audience).

There may be a bit more than most readers would want to know in this book.  I found that the dissection of the operas destroyed something, as dissection always does.  You come to understand the operas technically which can lessen the emotional impact of the beauty of the performance. 

This is a book for aficionados, and would-be librettist and composers, and for serious students of the art form.  At times it read like a talk to a university class or an opera club.  There is an extensive Further Reading section for those who wish to continue their study of opera.

I can't post a review of a book about opera without including a video clip from an opera!  Here is Placido Domingo singing (with subtitles in English) a scene from Rigoletto.

From the book's description:

Opera is often regarded as the pinnacle of high art. A "Western" genre with global reach, it is where music and drama come together in unique ways, supported by stellar singers and spectacular scenic effects. Yet it is also patently absurd -- why should anyone break into song on the dramatic stage? -- and shrouded in mystique. In this engaging and entertaining guide, renowned music scholar Tim Carter unravels its many layers to offer a thorough introduction to Italian opera from the seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries.

Eschewing the technical musical detail that all too often dominates writing on opera, Carter begins instead where the composers themselves did: with the text. Walking readers through the relationship between music and poetry that lies at the heart of any opera, Carter then offers explorations of five of the most enduring and emblematic Italian operas: Monteverdi's The Coronation of Poppea; Handel's Julius Caesar in Egypt; Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro; Verdi's Rigoletto; and Puccini's La Bohème. Shedding light on the creative collusions and collisions involved in bringing opera to the stage, the various, and varying, demands of the text and music, and the nature of its musical drama, Carter also shows how Italian opera has developed over the course of music history. Complete with synopses, cast lists, and suggested further reading for each work discussed, Understanding Italian Opera is a must-read for anyone with an interest in and love for this glorious art.

Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com:

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, the author of the crime-romance novel THE HAGUE, the romance novel ROSE AND SINGING BAGELS, a traditional murder mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.

Voices in the Dark by Lindsay Townsend

This romantic suspense novel draws on Italy's World War II past to explain some mysteries in the present.  The two main protagonists, the man and woman who come to find they are a perfect match, are opera singers:  a bass, and a mezzo-soprano.

There are other interesting characters, all in Italy, where the woman goes to compete in a voice competition that she hopes will launch her career.  Florence and Milan play major parts in the story, one being where the woman's ancestors live, and the latter being where the man lives near his family.

The book is written in British-English and the female protagonist is Anglo-Italian.  There are some scanning errors that are sure to be weeded out soon, as the e-book was created from the print edition that was first released in 1995.  The narrative voice is 3rd person limited, putting us in the head of only one character per section.

The story moves back and forth between 1944 and 1995 with ease and skill.  And the author expertly weaves together the various strands of the story, and all her characters, to unravel a mystery from the past, that helps bring two lonely people together in the present. There is one heated sex scene, but nothing explicit.

This is a romantic suspense novel, so expect an investigation of a mystery, danger and romance.  There are bad guys and good guys, and it is not really clear until the end which are which.  The Italian characters and Italian setting should appeal to Italophiles, and both ring true.  

From the book's description:

There has always been a mystery in Julia Rochfort's family.  Who killed her grandfather Guy, a member of the Italian resistance movement in World War Two?  When Julia travels to Florence to compete in a singing competition, she meets Roberto Padovano, already an established opera star, and they discover that they have a lot more in common than simple attraction.

Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com:

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, the author of the crime-romance novel THE HAGUE, a traditional murder mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.

A Song for Bellafortuna by Vincent LoCoco

The subtitle of this book is An Inspirational Italian Historical Fiction Novel, and it is that, as well as being a clean fiction coming-of-age novel suitable for tweens, teens and adults.  It is also a celebration of Italian opera.

In 1898, the world of opera was at its height of glory with new operas written regularly.

The story pauses at times to provide the reader with small histories of operas that appear in the book.  Even some of the librettos are reproduced for the reader.  And a choral work plays an important part in the story, just as it did in Italy's history.

The story begins in Sicily in 1897 and follows a young man along his life's path that is filled with love for his village, his father, and for opera.

Giuseppe's early years were filled with music, love and happiness.  He enjoyed a carefree life living in Bellafortuna raised by a loving family:  his father, Antonio, and his grandmother, Mamma Lucia.

Like all good coming-of-age novels, the protagonist, Giuseppe, discovers love and life and makes a momentous decision that changes his life forever, but in this novel Giuseppe does it all to a subtle accompaniment of operatic music.

The author brings to life a time when opera was part of every Italian's daily life.  As the author says:

Musica, and especially opera, can touch a person's soul in a way that nothing else can.  ...  It can bind the listening audience together.

The author paints a picture of the era before motorcars, when agriculture provided the most employment.  One gets the feeling of the slower pace of life.  Journeys take longer.  Distances feel greater.

Giuseppe's father, Antonio, treats his son to many trips, having the boy join him on business trips all over Italy, to places like Milan, Florence, Rome, Palermo.

...father and son would make their way back home to Sicily.  Giuseppe would be filled with the sights and sounds of Italy and his father's wisdom, and Antonio's wine store filled with the purchases he made while away.

Through his journeys Giuseppe gets an education that is greater than the other villagers.  He sees a bigger world where things change or are better than where he lives.  This inspires him to try to help his fellow villagers.

The author has a stylized voice, giving the book a fairytale feeling.  He uses very formal dialog, perhaps trying to better convey the era to the reader.  There are Italian words in the text to remind the reader that everything they are reading is actually happening in Italy and in Italian.

There is a strong moral message in the book.

Never be afraid to stand up to the powerful.  The alternative is fear and degradation.

The only thing I missed was an Afterword to explain what in the novel was history and what was invention.  Some of this was explained in the book itself, but a little more at the end would have been lovely.

This is a gentle coming-of-age story with a happy ending.  A young boy grows up to be an inspiration to his friends and family, and even his enemies.  He discovers love and a purpose for his life.  This is a clean novel suitable for tweens, teens and adults.  If you enjoy Italian opera, or are curious about it, this book will have a special appeal for you. 

From the book's description:

SHORT LIST FINALIST IN THE WILLIAM FAULKNER-WILLIAM WISDOM WRITING COMPETITION

A Song for Bellafortuna is an inspirational Italian Historical Fiction novel concerning a young man’s desire to free his Sicilian village from the domination of one family’s long reign.

For years, the beautiful, yet secluded, hilltop village of Bellafortuna, Sicily, was a great producer of wine and olive oil. The entire village prospered. However, after the arrival of the Vasaio family, production dwindles and the villagers soon find themselves in crushing debt to the Vasaios.

Only one family in the village remains outside the control of the Vasaios, but the reason haunts Antonio Sanguinetti every day of his life. Antonio is determined to erase this legacy by offering financial and emotional support to his fellow villagers.

He introduces them to the choral song from Verdi’s opera, Nabucco, which becomes the rallying cry for the villagers and offers them hope for a better life.

When Antonio’s only son, Giuseppe, discovers his family’s past, he becomes determined to take on the Vasaios and remove them from power. Led by the young Giuseppe, a plan is hatched that could result in either complete freedom for the villagers, or if it fails, forever solidifying the Vasaios’ control.

Find out what happens in A Song for Bellafortuna, a sweeping epic historical fiction tale of love, drama, sacrifice, and redemption, set among the beautiful landscape of Sicily.

The book's trailer:

Here are links to the book and to another novel by this author (reviewed on this site) at Amazon.com:

  

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, the author of the crime-romance novel THE HAGUE, a traditional murder mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.

The Figaro Murders by Laura Lebow

The Figaro Murders is a traditional cozy murder mystery novel set in the past, Vienna in 1786, featuring fictionalized versions of historical people:  Lorenzo Da Ponte, Mozart, Saleri, Emperor Joseph II...  The author tries to stay as close to the truth about theses people and the events they were involved in at that time.  In the Author's Notes section of the book, we learn:

Many of the scenes in the book are based on actual occurrences.

In the case of Lorenzo Da Ponte, the Italian-Venetian protagonist of this book, of which this is the first in a new series, there are his many writings to mine for facts, personality traits, trivia, etc.  The author makes good use of these things to bring her main character to life. 

The Italian poet is rich with quirks, an interesting past (seen in remembrances by the character), and a fascinating present.  And like any decent Italian, he misses his Italian food, resorting to frequenting a secret Italian trattoria run by a Neapolitan.

...who ran a small trattoria in the shop's back room, open only to special customers.  There he served delicacies from all over Italy...

Like all good amateur detective novels, the protagonist is drawn into an investigation.  The first investigation is for a friend, but that is quickly overtaken by a more serious investigation Da Ponte must conduct by order of the authorities.

The book begins the story in 1786 in Vienna, and we spend the whole time in and around Vienna until 1787 with Da Ponte.  Da Ponte had been living in Vienna for five years when we join him.  Vienna at the time of The Figaro Murders is the busy, hectic capital of an Empire. 

The author works hard to bring a strong sense of place to the story, naming streets and squares, and routes through the city, and describing the architecture lining the streets, with the book taking on the tone of a travel guide at times.  The author admits:

All of the streets I have Da Ponte travel still exist today, and I have placed both librettist and composer in the homes it is known they lived in while writing Figaro.

Because Da Ponte was a poet and librettist for operas, we are immersed in the opera community, given a ring-side-seat as Mozart and others create and stage an opera.  The opera featured in the book is Mozart and Da Ponte's Marriage of Figaro. 

For opera fans, especially Mozart fans, there is much in the book to enjoy:  characters, trivia, history...  Mozart is presented as a likeable character, if a bit emotional and unconventional. But Da Ponte already feels neglected as the librettist to such a well-known composers.

"...if an opera is a smash, the libretto is considered, as best, as a frame surrounding a beautiful painting.  The composer receives all the credit.  The words are unimportant.  But if the opera is not well received, why, then the words become paramount--in fact, so very important that they can cause the failure of the work all by themselves!"

The author even provides a Bibliography for readers who are interested in reading more about Lorenzo Da Ponte, Figaro, Opera, and Mozart.  The next book in the series will feature the opera Don Giovanni.

But it is Da Ponte who is the star of the novel.  We get to know this neurotic, complex man very well in the course of the story.  He has a lisp, is good-hearted, loyal, sensitive, practical.  He also needs Figaro to be a success, he believes, so he can keep his job as official state poet.  The author states in the Notes section:

All of Da Ponte's character traits, habits, past experiences, and passions described in the book are factual.

Often the thoughts we read Da Ponte expressing, through the first person narration, seem to come straight from the real Da Ponte's autobiographies.  For example, this quote about his time in Vienna:

I was tired of all the intrigues.  I wanted to go home to Venice...

The book is well-written, well-edited and nicely presented.  I received it as a review-copy.  For readers who love historical novels, there is much about the time and place to enjoy and edify.  There is great appeal for lovers of opera, too.  And for lovers of mysteries, there is a well-plotted murder-mystery for the amateur detective to unravel. 

There is some violence that happens before the reader about 1/4 of a way in, and a bit later, too, manly perpetrated against the amateur detective, which I found distasteful reading, and out of place in a traditional cozy mystery, in which the violence normally takes place off-scene. 

But on the whole, I thought the book was very entertaining, and I wouldn't mind reading the next in the series, which features Mozart's and Da Ponte's work on the opera Don Giovanni.

From the book's description:

In 1786 Vienna, Lorenzo Da Ponte is the court librettist for the Italian Theatre during the height of the enlightened reign of Emperor Joseph II. This exalted position doesn’t mean he’s particularly well paid, or even out of reach of the endless intrigues of the opera world. In fact, far from it.

One morning, Da Ponte stops off at his barber, only to find the man being taken away to debtor’s prison. Da Ponte impetuously agrees to carry a message to his barber’s fiancée and try to help her set him free, even though he’s facing pressures of his own. He’s got one week to finish the libretto for The Marriage of Figaro for Mozart before the opera is premiered for the Emperor himself.

Da Ponte visits the house where the barber’s fiancée works—the home of a nobleman, high in the Vienna’s diplomatic circles—and then returns to his own apartments, only to be dragged from his rooms in the middle of the night. It seems the young protégé of the diplomat was killed right about the time Da Ponte was visiting, and he happens to be their main suspect. Now he’s given a choice—go undercover into the household and uncover the murderer, or be hanged for the crime himself.

Brilliantly recreating the cultural world of late 18th century Vienna, the epicenter of the Enlightenment, Lebow brings to life some of the most famous figures of music, theatre, and politics.

Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com:

Please visit the author's website.

If you are interested in knowing more about the real Lorenzo Da Ponte, here are two interesting links:

 Wikipedia Page for Lorenzo Da Ponte

An article about Lorenzo Da Ponte at The New Yorker magazine, which talks mostly about how Da Ponte introduced opera to The United States.

Direct link to the article at The New Yorker website

Petrarch's love poetry to Laura plays a small part in the book.  I have the book of poems for free at my Italian culture website:  Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site.

Direct link to the Petrarch page

Tempesta's Dream by Vincent B. "Chip" LoCoco

The subtitle of Tempesta's Dream is A Story of Love, Friendship and Opera.  The Tempesta of the title is Giovanni Tempesta, a twenty-five-year-old Italian man living in 1979 in Milan, Italy.  Giovanni dreams of becoming a world-class opera tenor, but he earns a living as a clerk by day, and an opera-café singer by night.

The Prologue explains how Giovanni came to discover opera:  through his father, a consummate romantic and opera aficionado.  Franco Tempesta explains to his young son how opera is romance and raw emotion put to poetry and music.  Opera also touches how the man teaches his son about love.

When you fall in love, Giovanni, always respect that trust the girl places in you.  You would only expect the same from her.  For it is from trust, that true love finds its roots.  And love is what gives our life poetry.

 Puccini is Giovanni Tempesta's favorite composer, so I will feature images of Puccini opera posters with the review .

Without realizing it, Franco rears his son to be something of a throwback to an earlier idea of male-female relations.  That formal, respectful attitude to women, love, and relationships was out of place even in 1979.  It reminded me a bit of the 1999 film Blast from the Past, which was about a young man who grew up since the 1960s with his mother and father in a bomb shelter, and only entered the world in 1999. 

Giovanni has the same sweetness and intensity about him, so that we can almost forgive his following his love-at-first-sight woman home.  Giovanni is, as the author says:

...a passionate romantic living in a very unromantic world.

And when Giovanni serenades the woman:

He was a throwback to a lady's old romantic notion of how a man should act.

Falling in love pushes Giovanni to pursue his dream with more conviction.  With ups and downs, lessons and sudden lesions, successes and failures, we follow Giovanni's progress to his ultimate success.  The satisfying, joyous ending has a truly operatic feel to it, musically, situationally and emotionally.  It is a big-opera finish.

A few years back there was a novel written for young adults that had a father teaching his daughter about the history of philosophy.  Many adults read the book for the easy-to-grasp explanations.  Tempesta's Dream has the same feel to it, but for a history of opera.  The book's coyness about sex makes it a suitable book for both adults and young-adults.  The opera history and entertaining anecdotes that Giovanni's teacher, Alfredo, shares with his eager student make learning easy for the reader, too. 

The author brings opera to life on the page, which he achieves through the use of the libretto texts, and rich descriptions of the music and of the emotions the music creates.  What I would love to see is a Spotify playlist created by the author to accompany the book.  When reading the book and a piece of music is mentioned in the text, one could then click on a music player and hear the music.  It would be a lovely accompaniment to the text, which is about the music, after all.

Perhaps after reading the book and listening to the music, the readers will be like Giovanni:

Giovanni always had music running through his head.  Moments he experienced in life recalled for him scenes from operas.

A small part of the story takes place in the city of New Orleans, in the southern U.S. state of Louisiana, the author's hometown.  The flavor of the unique city comes through in the locations, food, history, people and music included in the story.  

The large Italian-American (Sicilian-American) community in New Orleans may be a surprise to some readers.  The immigrants richly contributed to the local culture.  It was just one of the reasons I accepted a review-copy of this book.

Here is the book's trailer:

Italian culture and Italian-American culture are often intertwined with a Catholic up-bringing.  I applaud the author for including Giovanni's faith in the book, and treating it as an aspect of his character.  Too many authors are afraid that if they allow their character's faith to appear in a book, the book will be labeled a "Christian Novel". 

Giovanni believes in God and in destiny.  Destiny for Giovanni is not un-Catholic "fate".  Destiny for Giovanni is what happens when we use to the utmost all the gifts God has given us.  Giovanni feels that God has given him a voice that moves people, so he feels compelled to develop that gift to its utmost.  It is one of the things that fuels Giovanni's ambition.

The book is attractively presented, well-edited, and offered in various formats, including an audio book.  The omniscient narrative prose is not always the smoothest it could be, and the dialog can be stilted at times, but the directness of the prose suits direct and single-minded Giovanni Tempesta, and in the end, this is Giovanni's story. 

True to the opera it honors, the book is full of strong emotions, heart, tears, love, ambition, friendship and an underlying decency.  I enjoyed it and it had me turning to my opera recordings, which is always a good thing!

From the book's description (some spoilers):

Tempesta's Dream is a novel by New Orleans writer, Vincent B. "Chip" LoCoco.  It is the story of an aspiring opera singer coming of age in Milan; a tender and moving love story; a testament to the bonds of friendship; and, at its core, a tribute to the beauty, majesty and miracle of opera.

Giovanni Tempesta always dreamed of becoming an opera tenor and one day singing from the stage of the La Scala Opera House in his hometown of Milan, Italy.  But with no real training, his dream has little chance for fulfillment . . .  One day, he meets and immediately falls in love with Isabella Monterone, a dark-haired beauty, whose father, a very rich and powerful Milanese Judge, refuses to allow his daughter to date a penniless musician . . .  At the lowest part of his life, Giovanni comes upon the Casa di Riposo, a rest home for musicians established by the great opera composer, Giuseppe Verdi . . .  It is at the Casa Verdi that Giovanni meets Alfredo del Monte, a blind, retired opera singer with a secretive past who gradually becomes his mentor . . .  Could Alfredo be the one person who could assist Giovanni in finding the break he needs? Or is Giovanni destined to be on the cusp of reaching his life long dream, only to find failure? . . .  Tempesta's Dream, at its core, is an Italian opera love story.  The author tells the story simply and swiftly with an ending that is both an emotional and poignant moment of both "amicizia e amore" (friendship and love.)

Here are direct links to the book at Amazon.com as paperback, e-book and audiobook:

Here is the book's audiobook trailer, which includes a sample of the audiobook:

 

Please visit the author's website and Facebook page,

I can't end a review of a book about opera without one opera video, so here is a music video of a piece that plays an important roll in the book, sung by someone who plays an even more important role.

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, and the author of the cozy-murder-mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.

Interrupted Aria by Beverle Graves Myers

 

Interrupted Aria is the first book in a series of historical mysteries set in mid-late 1700s Venice, Italy, featuring an opera singer as the amateur detective.  Tito Amato is no ordinary opera singer.  He is a castrato, a male soprano, created by a surgeon's knife.  His multi-octave voice has a power that female sopranos can only envy.  The price?  He can never marry in a Catholic ceremony, nor can he father children.

He is from evocative Venice, Italy, and returns there in the first book after his voice training in Naples, Italy.  Here is a quote from the beginning of the book:

Bad luck that my first glimpse of Venice was marred by an insult.

"Capons, worthless twittering trash," wafted half-whispered toward us from a group of young merchants gathered at the rail of the small ship nearing the Porto di Lido.  ...

Felice and I kept our eyes carefully lowered to the sparkling green water of the lagoon.  It was not as though we hadn't had our share of sneers and remarks since leaving Naples, but they still rankled.

My friend and I were castrato singers.  As young boys, we had been gelded for the sake our beautiful, soprano voices which had then been trained to the pinnacle of technical brilliance by the most exacting voice maestros in Italy.

Tito Amato Series Books in order of publication:

1. Interrupted Aria
2. Painted Veil
3. Cruel Music
4. The Iron Tongue of Midnight
5. Her Deadly Mischief
6. Whispers of Vivaldi 

I have read the first five books in this series and I recommend them highly. The author is a wonderful writer who manages to create vivid characters set in an era long ago that comes to life in the writer's capable and erudite hands.  Her wonderful imagination is a joy to behold.  I look forward to reading the latest book in the series, Whispers of Vivaldi, which is to be the last book in the series.

While at times the mysteries are not so mysterious, I've read each book to the end, if only to enjoy the characters, setting, and delightful writing.  Some of the books end on very somber notes, which I didn't enjoy, but the journey getting there was always entertaining.

I especially respect the writer for writing the books in the 1st-person-narrative style, as if we were reading her character Tito Amato's memoirs about his amateur detective cases.  So many writers these days use the 3rd-person-limited style (the "I"  turned to "he"), that it is refreshing to read a book in an undisguised 1st-person-narrative style.  It brings us closer to her unique protagonist.

My favorite book in the series is the one published in 2009, Her Deadly Mischief.  Here is a book teaser/trailer made for the release of that book.

From the book's description:

The dazzling city on the lagoon is sailing toward the ruin of her maritime empire, determined to go down in a maelstrom of pleasure, music, and masquerade....

Venice, 1731. Opera is the popular entertainment of the day and the castrati are its reigning divas. Tito Amato, mutilated as a boy to preserve his enchanting soprano voice, returns to the city of his birth with his friend Felice, a castrato whose voice has failed.

Disaster strikes Tito’s opera premier when the singer loses one beloved friend to poison and another to unjust accusation and arrest. Alarmed that the merchant--aristocrat who owns the theater is pressing the authorities to close the case, Tito races the executioner to find the real killer. The possible suspects could people the cast of one of his operas: a libertine nobleman and his spurned wife, a jealous soprano, an ambitious composer, and a patrician family bent on the theater’s ruin.

With carnival gaiety swirling around him and rousing Venetian passions to an ominous crescendo, Tito finds that the most astonishing secrets lurk behind the masks of his own family and friends.

Here are direct links to the books in the series, available at Amazon.com:

Visit the author's website for information on all the books, the author's blog, and information on a new series she is writing.


Never been to timeless Venice?  Here is a two minute video postcard to show you the setting for the Tito Amato books:

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, and the author of the cozy-murder-mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.