Customer Reviews

The Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia of Opera

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Opera is one of the most popular cultural forms of entertainment, and The Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Opera is the perfect introduction to this world, exploring the history of opera's development from ancient Greece to modern times. No dry treatise, each chapter provides lively cultural and period insights and color illustration to provide a fine background on how the music and production developed. Also notable: a 'key composer' series of entries with major biographies of the main composers of each era, timelines of opera compositions, and outlines of themes which highlight other opera developments, from the building of special opera theatres to the fostering of opera companies around the world. Simply a 'must' for any who would absorb the music and structure of the opera world The Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Opera is a distinquished work of operatic history and information.

This publication serves well as a coffee-table book but less well as an encyclopedia. Its organization requires a knowledge of opera history and its tiny-print, spotty index is not easy for the information seeker to use. The few errors I have found make me distrustful of the content as a whole. The subjective content, such as recommended recordings, goes beyond the purpose of an encyclopedia.

You don't really hate opera, you don't like it either. That's where I was with it for the past 60 years. I just had no knowledge of it - history, purpose, styles, etc. To me it was a stage of over made-up faces and strange costumes with screechy voices. Now I know better. This book won't teach you everything - that takes personal involvement like trying out a live performance or two. It will take one through the history, from the Greeks to present - yes, operas are still being written. It covers a wide range of information. Composers, the politics of the time; everything that helps one understand the the major operas including a synopsis. In short, this book is prerequisite to having any appreciation for opera. Really, opera isn't so bad - once you know the whats and whyfores. Expand your horizons! KHF