Seeking the Sublime Cache: Opera Articles Selected and Written by William Berger

by William Berger, Jamie Barton (Foreword)

This is a collection of articles and presentations by William Berger, author, lecturer, and radio commentator for the Metropolitan Opera. The individual articles were written for a wide variety of major institutions, opera companies, and universities over the last 12 years, up to the present. Going far beyond summations, each chapter looks at the importance of the works under consideration and questions why they hold a place in the public “What’s the thing about each of these?” The goal in each case is to place opera itself squarely within the actual world, including interpersonal and global politics. The book is aimed equally at the opera-insider and the opera-outsider, with engaging ideas for both. Each chapter is framed by a new introduction, sometimes quite substantial, in which the author explains the original circumstances of its writing. There is often additional new commentary that could not have been written in the original publication. The result is a collection of new thoughts and insights about very old stories, uncompromising and sometimes provocative in addressing today’s volatile world of political strife and ideas in conflict.

247 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 8, 2021

About the author

William Berger was born in California and studied Romance languages and music at the University of California at Santa Cruz. He worked for five years at the San Francisco Opera Company, where he acquired for the company’s recorded music collection. He is the author of Wagner Without Fear: Learning to Love–and Even Enjoy–Opera’s Most Demanding Genius and Verdi With a Vengeance: An Energetic Guide to the Life and Complete Works of the King of Opera. He is a frequent lecturer and radio commentator and has recently been a regular host for New York Public Radio’s Overnight Music. He has written libretti, performance pieces, and articles on a wide variety of topics including architecture, religion, and, of course, music. He is a music host for WNYC radio and lives in New York.