PELTZ (Mary Ellis) — MILI (Gjon). The Magic of the Opera. A - Lot 226

PELTZ (Mary Ellis) — MILI (Gjon). The Magic of the Opera. A Picture Memoir of the Metropolitan. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, in collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera Association, 1960. Large quarto, publisher’s hardcover, with an illustrated photographic dust jacket; 172 pp., numerous illustrations and photographs in black-and-white and color. Contemporary photographs by Gjon Mili; text by Mary Ellis Peltz; layout by Tina S. Fredericks. First edition of this remarkable album dedicated to the Metropolitan Opera in New York, published with the institution’s own support. The book traces, through images, the history and, above all, the life of the Metropolitan: major productions, singers, sets, audiences, backstage scenes, rehearsals, and the behind-the-scenes roles of the opera world. In addition to the extensive historical imagery, the book features a series specially created by Gjon Mili, which constitutes the most interesting part of the book for photography collectors. A source dedicated to the book lists 72 of Mili’s photographs and notes that this was his first work published in book form. A photographer for *Life* magazine and one of the leading figures in 20th-century American photography, Mili offers here a truly immersive photographic journey behind the scenes at the Met: artists on and off stage, stagehands, the prompter, preparations for performances, and striking views of the theater’s architecture. The quality of the layout—alternating between black backgrounds, full-page photographs, and color reproductions—makes this more than just a simple institutional history of the opera: it is a true Gjon Mili photobook. Featured are, among others, Maria Callas, Birgit Nilsson, Rudolf Bing, Dimitri Mitropoulos, and many other great figures of opera, as well as productions of *Tosca*, *Tristan*, *Aida*, *La Bohème*, *Don Giovanni*, *Parsifal*, *Salomé*, and more. Complete copy with its original dust jacket. The interior appears clean and well-preserved. The dust jacket is quite worn, with scuffing, creases, tears, and small losses mainly on the top and bottom flaps, corners, and edges; the spine of the dust jacket is scuffed.

Stima:€20

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