Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Note to the Reader ix
4. Introduction. “The Tragedies and Comedies Recited by the Zanni” 1
5. Chapter one. The Commedia dell’Arte as Theater 19
6. Chapter two. “Ma meglio di tutti Arianna comediante” 51
7. Chapter three. The Serious Elements of Early Comic Opera 92
8. Chapter four. Penelope and Poppea as Stock Figures of the Commedia dell’Arte 130
9. Conclusion. Seventeenth- Century Opera and the Sound of the Commedia dell’Arte 165
10. Acknowledgments 181
11. Notes 185
12. Selected Bibliography 209
13. Index 225