Customer Reviews

History Through the Opera Glass: From the Rise of Caesar to the Fall of Napoleon

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This book is a treasure trove of connections, perspectives and yes, real history that is directly related to the world of Opera. So often Opera is seen as some rarified gallery of pretentious invented characters that seemingly interact only in the most insane of plot contrivances. Mr Jellinek's book firmly resists this outlook and reaffirms one of the best kept secrets of the world of Opera and that is that Opera composers and to some extant their librettists, were simply trying to retell the stories of private lives that inhabit the history that belongs to us all. The book is not an easy read and not one you must read cover to cover. It is a highly useful terrifically engaging reference for every level of Opera goer, from the "only curious" to the student of music, to every board member of every Opera house in the world. Thank you George!

I thought this book was a dry gloss of 2 subjects that deserve to be more interesting - history and opera. I thought the author did justice to neither by attempting to cover both too broadly. I had high hopes for finding more historical insight and perspective into the operas I love - but found more of a dry recitation of names, dates, titles, incidents. The people did not come alive for me. Am also reading a social history of early modern Germany called "Flesh and Spirit" - it's a much more interesting treatment of social history and, ironically, brings me much closer to the characters of operas written and/or set in that period.