Doña Flor: An Opera by Niccolò van Westerhout
By Leonardo Campanile & Tiziano Thomas Dossena

PUBLISHED BY: Idea Graphics LLC
IMPRINT: Idea Publications
PUBLISHING DATE:  April 2010
ISBN# 978-0-9825373-2-9
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS # 2010903412
PAPERBACK. PAGE COUNT: 210
LANGUAGE: English/Italian
DIMENSION: 6×9
PRICE: $24.99

Doña Flor is a volume in Italian with a facing English translation, which deals with the birth and the issues related to the first performance of Niccolò van Westerhout’s opera-masterpiece. Enriched with a foreword by the Maestro Vito Clemente, this book also contains the libretto, the biography of the librettist, Arturo Colautti (1851-1914), the genealogical tree of the van Westerhout family, from their first migration to Apulia to the composer’s birth and the biography of the composer Niccolò van Westerhout (1857-1898).

   The fascinating story of the birth of this opera in 1895, is complemented by an essay on the musical characteristics of this lyrical drama by Caterina Pesce.  It also includes an essay on the composer’s home town, Mola di Bari, and the theater named after him along with 24 black and white illustrations.

     The authors’ notes, moreover, allow the reader to learn of the events that brought about the discovery of van Westerhout’s tomb and the final return of his remains to his beloved hometown.