Pagodas in play : China on the eighteenth-century Italian opera stage / Ward, Adrienne

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Setting the stage. Eighteenth-century exoticism and China -- China's journey from page to stage -- Playing with dynasty : China in opera seria. China in early opere serie (1700-1725) -- The enlightened imperial subject : Pietro Metastasio, L'eroe cinese (1752) -- Playing with reform : China in comic opera. Islands of opportunity : Carlo Goldoni, L'isola disabitata (1757) -- Rejecting false idols : Giambattista Lorenzi, L'idolo cinese (1767) -- Women traveling in new lands : Giovanni Bertati, L'inimico delle donne (1771).