Here at last is the definitive opera story collection, the only one now authorized by the Metropolitan Opera. Written by the associate editor of Opera News magazine, the volume includes the complete plots of 150 different operas, biographical information on all of the 72 composers represented, easy access to the stories through both a table of contents and an index, and a foreword by Peter Allen.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Even with the advent of surtitles and Met titles, intelligent operagoers have an idea of what's going to transpire on stage before they attend a performance. The Metropolitan Opera: Stories of the Great Operas, by veteran Opera News writer-critic-editor John W. Freeman, is a good way to pick up such knowledge. Freeman offers brief composer biographies (72 of them), relevant background, and the basics on who's who and what happens in each of 150 operas. His writing is unambiguous, succinct, and informative. The Metropolitan Opera will prove useful to both operatic newcomers and experienced opera attendees.
Review
The first volume broadens our understanding of opera. The second is even more important, since it deals with works that were premiered or rediscovered in the century now coming to a close. -- Placido Domingo
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quick Reads... Questionable Cost,
By Florestan "Florestan" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Metropolitan Opera Stories of the Great Operas (Hardcover)
John W. Freeman's two volume set represents the best "plots only" collection of opera synopses available. All the operas are summarized in sparing, unambiguous language. Some operas are summarized so succinctly that too much mystery remains. Freeman provides helpful biographical material on each composer represented.
Describing this collection as a two-volume set is somewhat misleading. It is, in effect, a book and its sequel. Volume 2 was published several years after the first to fill in some holes. For this reason, operas from one composer may be divided disproportionately between both volumes, and neither volume indexes the contents of the other. Consolidating both volumes would enhance navigation and presumably reduce the cost, which is without question the least desirable feature of this competent set.
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointed,
By Chicken Eddie "Emiliano Zapata" (LEBANON, PA, US) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Metropolitan Opera Stories of the Great Operas (v. 1) (Hardcover)
The book did not come with a dust cover, but the picture showed it did.
The picture was misleading. The book itself is OK, but if I could get the dust cover to match my other editions I would then be satisfied.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
An American composer with more than ten performed operas to his credit is something of a curiosity, but the description fits Dominick Argento. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Pier Francesco, World War, Baby Doe, Giuseppe Verdi, Mother Marie, Don Giovanni, Richard Strauss, Academy of Music, Gaetano Donizetti, New Orleans, Dyer's Wife, Frau Fluth, Paris Opera, United States, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, King Fisher, Arrigo Boito, Benjamin Britten, Boris Godunov, Die Meistersinger, Fata Morgana, Frau Reich, Don Pasquale, Jules Massenet New!
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
An American composer with more than ten performed operas to his credit is something of a curiosity, but the description fits Dominick Argento. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Pier Francesco, World War, Baby Doe, Giuseppe Verdi, Mother Marie, Don Giovanni, Richard Strauss, Academy of Music, Gaetano Donizetti, New Orleans, Dyer's Wife, Frau Fluth, Paris Opera, United States, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, King Fisher, Arrigo Boito, Benjamin Britten, Boris Godunov, Die Meistersinger, Fata Morgana, Frau Reich, Don Pasquale, Jules Massenet New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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- Don Carlo (Ma Non Troppograndes Compositores) (Spanish Edition) by Verdi Giuseppe on 5 pages
- Boris Godunov by Alexander Pushkin on 4 pages
- Boris Godunov in Full Score (Rimsky-Korsakov Version) by Modest Petrovich Moussorgsky on page 92, page 286, and page 287
- Don Carlos: Vocal Score by Walter Ducloux on page 231, page 450, and page 483
- Cavalleria Rusticana (Opera Journeys Libretto Series) by Burton D. Fisher on page 182, page 203, and page 207
See all 100 books this book cites
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