This is the first in-depth study of its kind to look at the contemporary culture phenomenon of Opera Cinema, providing much needed and highly nuanced insights into its production, reception and position within the global screen industries. Combining both historical and contemporary perspectives, Attard provides a holistic and rigorous 'state-of-the-field' analysis.

Sarah Atkinson, Professor of Screen Media, King's College London, UK

The surprising emergence and growth of live transmission of opera to the cinema has been nothing if not paradoxical. With a global reach and often sold-out cinemas, the transmissions seem to offer a blueprint for opera companies eager to broaden their reach and secure a future in a digital media environment. Yet, well into their second decade the transmissions still lack an agreed name, critics often seem unsure what to make of them, and scholars have yet to give them anything like the attention they deserve. Joseph Attard addresses these contradictions, confronting the crucial question of the identity of the transmissions as a medium, interrogating some of the key critical and scholarly responses to date and, crucially, initiating the important work of understanding audience expectation and reaction. Nuanced and critically astute, Opera Cinema: A New Cultural Experience addresses a gap in scholarship in ways that will appeal to readers from a range of disciplinary backgrounds, as well as those simply curious about one of the more intriguing and unexpected developments in opera, and in cinema, in recent years.

Christopher Morris, Professor of Music, National University of Ireland Maynooth and Associate Editor, The Opera Quarterly