Emblems of eloquence opera and women's voices in seventeenth-century Venice - Heller, Wendy (University of California Press, 2003)
Includes bibliographical references and index
The emblematic woman -- Bizzarrie femminile : opera and the Accademia degli incogniti -- Didone and the voice of chastity -- 'Disprezzata regina' : woman and empire -- The nymph Calisto and the myth of female pleasure -- Semiramide and the conventions of musical transvestism -- Messalina la meretrice : envoicing the courtesan
Drawing upon a complex web of early modern sources and ancient texts, this engaging study is a comprehensive treatment of women, gender, and sexuality in 17th-century opera