The Politics of Opera takes readers on a fascinating journey into the entwined development of opera and politics, from the Renaissance through the turn of the 19th century. 

What political backdrops have shaped opera? How has opera conveyed the political ideas of its times? 

Delving into European history and thought and music by such greats as Monteverdi, Lully, Rameau, and Mozart, Mitchell Cohen reveals how politics — through storylines, symbols, harmonies, and musical motifs — has played an operatic role both robust and sotto voce. This is an engrossing book that will interest all who love opera and are intrigued by politics, says a review on the Princeton University Press website.

“This subtly insightful book helps readers experience these timeless masterpieces anew,” says Andrew Moravcsik from the Foreign Affairs magazine. “The Politics of Opera . . . has boldly placed Machiavelli and early modern political theory at the center of the early history of opera,” says Larry Wolff in New York Review of Books.