5 comments about The Rough Guide to Opera (3rd Edition).

1. Put a group of opera lovers together in the same room, and if they survive, and the key word is "if," you'll have quite a group. You'll find some who believe that opera is superior to all other art forms and since they love opera, they're superior too. You'll have your Wagnerians and you may not trust them--fearing they'll begin quoting Nietzsche and hoping the conversation doesn't turn to politics. Then there are those who champion one singer and have unhealthy fixations about the performer. Usually Maria Callas fans fall in this category. There will be those who see opera as a religion and the minimalists who believe sets and stars take away from the beauty and purity of the music. As you're in the midst of these eccentrics, you're glad to find the only sane person in the crowd--the one who listens to the Met broadcasts on Saturday afternoons during the winter and the ball game on the afternoons the Met is on hiatus. Chances are this person is a Verdian. Giuseppe Verdi is the unifying composer and his fans are unifiers. Like Wagner, Verdi had genius but never lost the common touch. He could be as theatrical as Puccini who came a bit later, and when he wanted he could create a spectacle like the Russian epics or a pop like tune in the style of Gounod. Now as diverse as this crowd can be, there's one thing each has in common. Each loves opera but also knows why. They know all the composers, plots, ideal casts, and just about anything else you'd need to know.
   
   Most opera lovers have collections of books too: books about the art form, the composers, the operas and the plots, the staging, and in some cases, the books on which the operas are based. I always find used bookstores to be the best place to find these books since most are no longer published. Also in many opera lovers' libraries are quick reference guides which give basic information about a composer or work. These books are indispensable. THE ROUGH GUIDE TO OPERA is one of the best one volume commentaries I have found. It's perfect for a person beginning to enjoy this musical art form. It has concise biographies of the composers, summaries of the major works, and it's organized in a way that puts the composer in the broad perspective of the day and age in which the composer lived. Seasoned opera buffs will appreciate this volume too. The book also contains information about lesser known composers and works as well as articles that help in understanding opera in general. It also includes recording guides and information about opera's great performers past and present.
   
   While parts of my review may be a bit tongue in cheek, and perhaps irreverent though I would argue accurate, I have been a certified opera lover since I started his school nearly thirty years ago. The music is exciting, the stories intriguing, and the singing can make me feel an emotional high. I always encourage people to explore this great musical form and now I'm going to suggest this volume as well for a better understanding and appreciation of opera.



2. As a newcomer to opera, I found this book to be very helpful. It had a little bit of everything- background on composers, plot descriptions of their operas, bios of singers and conductors, a glossary of opera terms (a nice touch), and cd recommendations. I wanted a general guide to opera and this was exactly what I wanted.



3. Influenced by the self-deprecating style now in vogue ("The Idiot's Book of ..."), this book carries the title "The Rough Guide to Opera." It is neither "rough" nor for "idiots." Actually, this is one of the finer books on opera I have encountered.
   The book is both a textbook and an encyclopedia, though as an encyclopedia the organization is largely historical. One of the things I find most appealing is that composers are largely grouped by musical style/school. This provides significant insights into how (say) the verismo style is related to romanticism, nationalism or modernism.
   
   The chapter titled "Opera since WW II" left me a little ashamed at the number of contemporary and more recent composers I had little or no knowledge of. This raises a couple of questions. First: Where is opera going? Is it possible by analyzing historical trends to predict the future of opera?
   
   Unfortunately the book does not go into this at length, but it is certainly possible to see some trends: more minimalist music; greater use of electronic instruments and synthesizers; a shift away from classical subjects toward themes dealing with "the underclass" or the fantastic. In view of this, a second question arises: Is the implied definition of "opera" as used in this book too limited? Should, for example, such works as "Phantom of the Opera," "Tommy," or "Jesus Christ Superstar" have been included?
   
   One more small criticism: I did not find a reference to Reznicek's "Donna Diana," nor to Dargomyzhsky's "Stone Guest." But all in all this is a tremendously informative and educational book!



4. I shall review this 3rd edition, but as I write this, the 4th edition is getting ready for release in a week or so. Just be aware of that, and you might want to go for that revised edition.
   
   I find this mid-weight (750ppg) guide a rather handy little book. I refer frequently to it for information regarding recordings that I both do and do not have in my collection. I am always trying to become more aware of what others think and say about various recordings, plus, I am constantly searching for recordings that I do not have, or know little about.
   
   In this respect I find this book quite handy. But, I agree with others, that there are some flaws in it, which, perhaps could easily sneek through, depending on the editor(s) and others. I fully realize just how complex putting something together like this is. (I am currently trying to write a database for cross-referencing my entire music collection, so I KNOW complexity!). I could be critical and give it 3.5 or 4 stars, but in truth, I use it enough to call it "valuable". I consider it a useful enough tool to have already preordered edition 4, mentioned above.
   
   If you are knowledgable about opera, and recordings/artists/composers, you should certainly find you will put this book to very good use. If you are a novice with opera and recordings, etc., you will CERTAINLY find this book very valuable. I do highly recommend it. ~operabruin
   
   ***Please note that Edition 4 is now out, so you should check/consider it, instead, as it is updated, and greatly expanded.



5. Has lots of good information - on the Germans and the Italians. Mozart, Wagner, Verdi (thank goodness!), Puccini and Strauss get the usual praise, because they are, no doubt, "artistically respectable".
   
   Where it comes to the French, however, good old Anglo-Saxon prejudice rears its ugly head. The only French composers the authors think are at all good are Bizet (CARMEN's obviously too popular to sneer at) and Debussy (which tells you pretty much all you need to know). Meyerbeer (one of the greatest composers of all time) is treated with the usual scorn, and the authors get most of their information wrong. Halevy is a talented composer, but boring (LA JUIVE boring?); Berlioz (BERLIOZ!) is singularly undramatic, more suited to writing oratorios than operas, isn't "whole composed" (typical Wagnerian snobbery - Gesamtkunstwerk and all that jazz), and is like a stained glass window with bits missing; and Gounod, Massenet and Delibes wrote sentimental nonsense for the Paris bourgeoisie. Rubbish! What about giving these great composers the chance they deserve?

No comments about The Odyssey, Books 1-12 (Oxford Classical Texts: Homeri Opera, Vol. 3).

2 comments about The Magic Flute Unveiled: Esoteric Symbolism in Mozart's Masonic Opera.

1. Prof. Chailley's examination of one of Mozart's masterpieces is scarcely recent news: the book has been around for decades. It is none the less a seminal work for all of its longevity.
   
   Particularly as an "outsider"--Chailley was not a Freemason--the author writes with clarity, insight, and years of familiarity with his musical subject, and clear understanding of his fraternal one. The result is a book that is both readable and informative. With even-handed thoughtfulness, Chailley provides important information for anyone who wants to understand The Magic Flute--an otherwise enigmatic work.
   
   This is an important book. In fact, it is a landmark of music scholarship. There are, of course, other books and articles dealing with this subject, but none supersedes this one, and some should be consigned to the benighted trash pile of conspiracist ravings.
   
   Chailley's work should be in the library of any serious Mozart student.
   
   While Chailley is more a scholar of music than of esoterica, it should find its way into libraries of students of Freemasonry as well. In fact, it might encourage some Masons to take Mozart a bit more seriously than many do.



2. The tenet of this book is that the Magic Flute is not some fairy tale with farcical elements but a symbolic depiction of the Battle of the Sexes (and the elevation of Woman) in the guise of Tamino's (and Pamina's) initiation rites into the Masonic order.
   
   The book is divided into three parts, the first dealing with the relation between Mozart and Freemasonry in general and the circumstances of the writing of the Magic Flute in particular. The second part details the Masonic beliefs and practices in the Viennese lodges at around 1800, one of which counted Mozart as a member. The third part is a detailed, scene by scene analysis of the entire opera on the basis of the original libretto, both musically as well as theatrically, applying the insights from the first two parts. Since I am a musical illiterate I cannot comment on the musical aspect.
   
   I have a DVD of the opera and it was great fun to compare it with the analysis in the book. From the start there were serious discrepancies. The Magic Flute was not painted gold, Tamino was not an arrowless archer in Japanese dress and the Three Ladies forgot to put on their veils. (Gold is the colour of the Sun, symbol of Male superiority. Tamino without arrows signifies that as an uninitiated he lacks penetrating insights, his Japanese dress indicating he comes from the Orient, where the Sun rises. The veils are a symbol of feminine ignorance, the Ladies' flirtations over an unconscious Tamino representing an inferior kind of love, analogous to Monostatos' lusting after Pamina).
   
   I still remember how flabbergasted I was when I first saw the opera, shocked by what seemed to me its nonsensical story. This book offers an explanation. Whether you accept it or not depends on how convincing the middle part is. Not being a Freemason the author had to reconstruct Masonic beliefs and initiation rites out of independent sources. Nevertheless the book is a stimulating read and I therefore recommend it wholeheartedly.

No comments about Stanislavski On Opera.

No comments about Kurt Weill: The Threepenny Opera (Cambridge Opera Handbooks).

1 comments about Boris Godunov: English National Opera Guide 11 (English National Opera Guides).

1. Of course, I loved the book. It's well paced, entertaining, and insightful to a moment in russian history. Pushkin's charm as an dramatist is as well done as shakespeare. There aren't as many quotable lines, but that only makes it more fluent to read. The poetry is also nothing shy of great and the characters are well written, notably boris and the impostor. It's always tough to find russian literiture that doesn't bore a person, but pushkin's drama has enough romance (i.e. Romantic era), action, jokes, and touching speeches to move the reader to bite their nails, laugh out loud, and cry.

2 comments about Puccini: His Life and Works (Master Musicians Series).

1. Having read nearly all of the books on Puccini, I feel at least competent to evaluate them. The one that moved Puccini to the level of "worth a book" was Mosco Carner's 1959 book, Puccini, a Critical Biography. The information given was fairly accurate for what was known then. The main fault was the continuing"character analyisis" of the composer. In the 60's Wm. Ashbrook wrote a book on the operas. It too is accurate in presenting many new and interesting facts as well as fasitnating interpretations.In addition it is very well written. Since then there have been a number of other books on the composer and his operas. Of the latest two; Budden and Matz, I must choose Budden. Before discussing Budden's merits, I should say that Matz's book is an excellent chronicle of Puccini's life and filled with anecdotes and interesting facts.It is an entertaining read. The basic problem,for me, is it pretty well leaves the music alone. While Puccini's life is certainly interesting, his music is what is most important, at least for me. Budden's book does a fine job of combining Puccini's life and discussing the music. He writes most effectively about the operas. Their creation struggles. Their multipule revisions. The facts are accurate and presented clearly. He writes with a clarity about music that is both refreshing and rare. There is one other book on Puccini I would like to mention and that is a very expensive one [why??] published by Chicago University and written by Michael Girardi. It presents a most original view of the operas but it is not easy to read. It is stimulating. I hope this helps you decide.
   Thanks;
   Paul Zappa



2. Julian Budden has already written an indispensible three volume work on the operas of Verdi. He has now done opera lovers a huge favor by writing about Puccini. Unfortunately Puccini died too young leaving far too few operas , however these are some of the most beloved & often performed works in the repertoire. (Manon Lescaut, La Boheme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Turandot to name the most popular.) Budden was able to write about all of Puccini's operas and also about Puccini's life in just one volume. This book is EXCELLENT. Budden is a gifted writer who gives technical information but does not present it in a way that is off-putting to non-music scholars. The book is thoroughly enjoyable and extremely informative. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about Puccini, the man, and his music. Anyone who loves Verdi should also not hesitate to purchase the three volume Verdi books.

No comments about Madama Butterfly.

1 comments about Annees de Pelerinage, Complete.

1. The title of this work translates to 'Years Of Pilgrimage', and it is broken down into 3 books:

   Book one, Switzerland ; Book Two, Italy; Book Three

   There are also various other pieces and variants of pieces that are in the main three books.

   This is all in one volume, a tremendous amount of music for the price. The pieces range from fairly simple to incredibly complex. In one volume, the artistry and genius of Liszt is showcased.

   The printing is good, the book lies flat on the piano. If you want an inexpensive but excellent introduction to the piano music of Liszt, then this volume is for you. Recommended.

No comments about Otello: English National Opera Guide 7 (English National Opera Guides).