The Opera Lover’s Companion

Description

This engaging guide to the 175 most popular operas will enhance the experience of every opera lover. Written by a well-known authority, the book consists of entries that set each opera within the context of its composer’s career, outline the plot, discuss the music, and give relevant background information on the libretto, the staging, and the most famous and influential interpreters of the principal roles. In addition, the entries recount details of the first performance and subsequent performance history and provide guidance on the relative quality of available recordings. Aimed at opera lovers and committed newcomers rather than specialists, The Opera-Lover’s Companion does not set out to cover every opera but only those most frequently encountered in opera houses or on recordings. Although the book is dominated by the five great opera composers—Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, Puccini, and Strauss—fifty-eight other composers are also represented. It is always more pleasurable to go to the opera with a knowledgeable and experienced companion. If you can’t, you’ll want to take this book. Contents Preface DANIEL-FRANÇOIS-ESPRIT AUBER SAMUEL BARBER BÉLA BARTÓK LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN VINCENZO BELLINI ALBAN BERG HECTOR BERLIOZ GEORGES BIZET ALEXANDR BORODIN BENJAMIN BRITTEN FERRUCCIO BUSONI EMMANUEL CHABRIER GUSTAVE CHARPENTIER FRANCESCO CILEA DOMENICO CIMAROSA LUIGI DALLAPICCOLA CLAUDE DEBUSSY CLAUDE DEBUSSY GAETANO DONIZETTI ANTONIN DVOŘÁK FRIEDRICH VON FLOTOW JOHN GAY GEORGE GERSHWIN UMBERTO GIORDANO MIKHAIL GLINKA CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK CHARLES FRANÇOIS GOUNOD FROMENTAL HALÉVY GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL HANS WERNER HENZE PAUL HINDEMITH ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK LEOŠ JANŠÁČEK RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO PIETRO MASCAGNI PIETRO MASCAGNI GIAN CARLO MENOTTI GIACOMO MEYERBEER CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI DOUGLAS S.MOORE WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART MODEST MUSSORGSKY JACQUES OFFENBACH HANS PFITZNER AMILCARE PONCHIELLI FRANCIS POULENC SERGEI PROKOFIEV GIACOMO PUCCINI HENRY PURCELL MAURICE RAVEL NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV GIOACHINO ROSSINI CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS ARNOLD SCHOENBERG DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH BEDŘICH SMETANA JOHANN STRAUSS II RICHARD STRAUSS IGOR STRAVINSKY KAROL SZYMANOWSKI PETER ILITSCH TCHAIKOVSKY MICHAEL TIPPETT GIUSEPPE VERDI RICHARD WAGNER CARL MARIA VON WEBER KURT WEILL BERND ALOIS ZIMMERMANN Index of Titles General Index