The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera (Oxford Paperback Reference) [Paperback]

John Warrack (Author), Ewan West (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 23, 1996 | Series: Oxford Paperback Reference

Derived from the full Oxford Dictionary of Opera, this is the most authoritative and up-to-date dictionary of opera available in paperback. Fully revised for this new edition, with over 3,500 entries, it is designed to be accessible to all those who enjoy opera, whether at the opera-house or at home. Here opera buffs will have at their fingertips opera synopses and first performance details, bibliographies of works about opera, entries on singers (including their debuts and career highlights, with notes on voice type, style, and reputation), definitions and discussions of technical terms and operatic styles, and surveys of the history of opera worldwide. Included also are plot summaries and separate entries for well-know roles, arias, and choruses.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera provides a huge amount of information and learning packed conveniently in a single volume with helpful cross-references. It will be invaluable to all opera-goers, to those professionally concerned with opera, and to anyone needing reliable information on this fascinating subject.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This is a handy, portable guide to opera: composers, artists, national trends. The authors have done a good job of ferreting out information and putting it together. If you just need to check which opera has a prima donna called Isabella (Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri) or the definition of a covered tone, this is a good book to grab.

Review

Praise for The Oxford Dictionary of Opera:

"The most authoritative single-volume work of its kind."--Indpendent on Sunday (London)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 3 edition (May 23, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192800280
• ISBN-13: 978-0192800282
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,544,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Would you trust it?, August 10, 2004

By 

J. Lanigan-O'Keeffe (Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera (Oxford Paperback Reference) (Paperback)

Would this give you confidence?

On the first reading I had close to 147 objections by the end of letter C and most of these were factual errors. I wrote to OUP and received what I perceived as smug replies.

Eight basses (De Vries p190, Krivchenya p386, Piragov p557, Reysen p597, Rossi-Lemeni p612, Shalyapin p655, Gustav Siehr p658 and David Ward p758) are credited with Mozart's Don Basilio in their repertoires while the lyric tenor Lemeshev is credited with "Mozart's Count Almaviva".

The entry "chorus" states "Verdi's Nabucco (1842) where the opposing factions of Egypt and Israel" Wrong country, wrong continent.

Check the musical ranges under "soprano", "mezzo-soprano", "contralto" , "tenor", "baritone" and "bass" against the score and you will find it a laborious chore. It is possible that Messrs Warrack and West found similarly because the ranges given are not always correct. In a profession where the difference of a semitone can make a role possible or impossible, we read that Dandini and the Count in Capriccio range from c to a flat', when Dandini is actually G to f', a fourth out at the bottom and a minor third at the top. The Count in Capriccio is from A flat on page 159 of the score to g' on page 120.

Jupiter in Orphee aux Enfers is credited with the bass range from the Amateur Operatic Society Version of the score instead of the baritone range in the professional. Perhaps the authors could go to Offenbach's various professional versions and correct me here.

On pages 12, 16, and 230 we read about "vocal chords" instead of "vocal cords", a common mistake, a chord being two notes sounded together and vocal cords being the vibrating strips of flesh which produce speech and song.
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Under "Balzac" a list of obscure operas is provided but there is no entry for Oscar Wilde.

According to ODO the action of The Fiery Angel starts in Cologne and goes to Cologne.

Page 1 "Abigaille. Nabucco's daughter". The plot hinges on the fact she isn't.

Page2 "Abul Hassan ...(bar), the eponymous Barber of Bagdad" He's a heavy bass , just llok at his opening phrase in the score.

Page 4. "Nixon's visit to China in 1972, the first by a Western leader" Australia's Gough Whitlam beat him there.

Page 5 "Addio fiorito asil. Pinkerton's (ten) aria in Act II of Puccini's Madama Butterfly" It's in Act III in my score.

"Adelaide. City in South Australia. The first opera staged was La Muette de Portici in 1840" No, Rob Roy. "followed by an Italina season in 1865" Sorry 1856. There are several errors following in this entry.

Nevertheless, the book makes an excellent doorstopper.