Download or read book Verdi's Theater written by Gilles de Van and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1998-09-15 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: But in the musical drama reality begins to blur, the musical forms lose their excessively neat patterns, and doubt and ambiguity undermine characters and situations, reflecting the crisis of character typical of modernity. Indeed, much of the interest and originality of Verdi's operas lie in his adherence to both these contradictory systems, allowing the composer/dramatist to be simultaneously classical and modern, traditionalist and innovator.