Editing Isidore de Lara (section)

==Works==
De Lara was a moderately prolific composer, producing a total of 13 operas, 67 vocal art songs, and a small amount of [[chamber music]]. His musical style was highly eclectic, although the influences of [[Jules Massenet]] and [[Camille Saint-Saëns]] are readily apparent within his operas. [[Musicologist]] Nigel Burton wrote, "His style may be said to have developed, but it never really settled down."<ref name="Grove"/> The somewhat erratic side to his writing was a weakness and a strength. The fluctuating musical vocabulary in his writing enabled him to create any attitude, emotion, or impression at a moment's notice, but at times the musical effects seem out of place or without cause; a criticism also made of [[Giacomo Meyerbeer]]. Critics have also commented on de Lara's tendency towards over sentimentality. As one critic said, "at the moments when the music should attempt to rise to dramatic greatness, it degenerates into synthetic posturings."<ref name="Grove"/> However, de Lara by all accounts had a wonderful musical ear and at his best he is a fine composer. Perhaps de Lara's strongest area was his skill at [[orchestration]] which was both tasteful and highly creative at the same time.<ref name="Grove"/>

===Selected operas===
* ''The Royal Word'' (1883) 
* ''Wrong Notes'' (1883) 
* ''Minna, or The Fall from the Cliff'' (1886) 
* ''La luce dell'Asia'' (''The Light of Asia'') (1892, Covent Garden)
* ''Amy Robsart'' (1893, Covent Garden)
* ''Moïna'' (1897, Monte Carlo)
* ''[[Messaline]]'' (1899, Monte Carlo)
* ''Soléa'' (1907)
* ''Naïl'' (abt. 1910)
* ''Les trois mousquetaires'' (abt. 1920)