# Books about opera



## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

It will be useful and informative, I believe, to post blurbs/recommendations regarding books about opera we've read or plan to read. I'll start.

I just got this history of Bel Canto; I have read the first chapter and found it interesting: 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0198166419/ref=oss_product

I enjoyed this book with several interviews of leading singers, conductors, and stage directors, although some of these interviews are a little repetitive since the author is prone to asking the same type of questions over and over. 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195381386/ref=oss_product 
But this does add to the fun at times, in terms of comparing different answers to similar questions, and noticing for example how much smarter and more articulate Renée Fleming is when compared to some of her peers.

This is one that I got but haven't had the time to read yet: 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300056613/ref=oss_product

Same with this one, I got it but haven't read it yet, so, if someone has read this one and the above and wants to say something about them, it's appreciated.
http://www.amazon.com/Song-Love-Dea...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1285514672&sr=1-1

Although this book has been subject to heavy criticism from musicians and philosophers (it was written by a History professor, not a music scholar), I had enormous fun reading it (it is really entertaining, regardless of the fact that the points being made are controversial), and also enjoyed its continuation entitled "Opera, Sex, and other vital matters" - domestic cats being among the other vital matters.







Both links below:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801494281/ref=oss_product

http://www.amazon.com/Opera-Sex-Oth...r_1_1?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285514783&sr=8-1

This book, I don't recommend (at least, not to someone like me). It is extremely boring and not very informative, since it is written in the dry style of a doctoral dissertation (which it originally was) and goes on and on about technical points and details that are not very relevant to opera fans who are not music scholars (my case). http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/2702012914/ref=oss_product

This is an interesting account of the life of trainees at the Lyric Opera of Chicago training program, I really enjoyed this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Fortissimo-Ba...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1285514154&sr=1-1

This one is priceless for anybody willing to learn about the innards of a major opera house. While the writing style is dry, the information is precious:
http://www.amazon.com/Toughest-Show...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1285514265&sr=1-1

I have heard of the the books in the following links but haven't purchased them, does anybody know them?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0486228576 
The author has two others about Verdi and Mozart. I don't know whether these are for beginners, or have useful information for more seasoned fans.

Here's Peter Gay's biography of Mozart
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0753810735

This one is not about opera but must be interesting - Bernstein's take on Western Music:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0674920015

What else, folks?


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## marmaluot_45 (Sep 17, 2010)

Perhaps you made a mistake.
The book by me advised is called in italian " Storia del bel Canto" di Rodolfo Celletti

It can be that the american version is different by the original italian, i don't know.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

marmaluot_45 said:


> Perhaps you made a mistake.
> The book by me advised is called in italian " Storia del bel Canto" di Rodolfo Celletti
> 
> It can be that the american version is different by the original italian, i don't know.


I believe it's the same one, just, this is the translation into English. Some of the paragraphs you have quoted in the original Italian are exactly the same, so, I believe it is the right book.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

:tiphat:

Wow what a fantastic selection. Ones to add to my wish list which currently include.

The real Traviata

Letters of Giuseppe Verdi

Puccini - his life and works

Opera as drama

Life of Bellini

Rossini - the reluctant hero

Currently re-reading this: Verdi his music life and times

also reading this: Callas - Her life loves and music


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

sospiro said:


> :tiphat:
> 
> Wow what a fantastic selection. Ones to add to my wish list which currently include.
> 
> ...


Thanks, some very enticing books you've listed. It looks like the spending spree will continue...


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I'm very much enjoying The Tristan Chord - Wagner and Philosophy. It got panned in a review I read but the joy of it is that it's written in clear - but not simplistic - prose and I find it quite enlightening.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Don't miss "Ring Resounding" by the late Decca record producer John Culshaw, who produced so many great recordings for that label. It's the absorbing story of how the famous Solti Ring with the Vienna Philharmonic and such great Wagner singers as Nillson,Flagstad, Hotter and others was recorded over a period of about eight years, and all the difficulties and odd occarrances,as well as memorable music making which went into the whole enterprise. 
This was the first complete Ring produced in studio form, and it's chock full of juicy tidbits about the foibles of all the great singers involved, the Decca administration, and the recording team. I think it may still be available at amazon.com and some other sites.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

superhorn said:


> Don't miss "Ring Resounding" by the late Decca record producer John Culshaw, who produced so many great recordings for that label. It's the absorbing story of how the famous Solti Ring with the Vienna Philharmonic and such great Wagner singers as Nillson,Flagstad, Hotter and others was recorded over a period of about eight years, and all the difficulties and odd occarrances,as well as memorable music making which went into the whole enterprise.
> This was the first complete Ring produced in studio form, and it's chock full of juicy tidbits about the foibles of all the great singers involved, the Decca administration, and the recording team. I think it may still be available at amazon.com and some other sites.


Thanks, superhorn. I have ordered it. Only used copies were available at Amazon.com, it looks like it is out of print. They ranged in price from $40 to $120, but strangely there was one copy left said to be in "good" condition for $12, and I snatched it with prime shipping, so, it will be here by the weekend.


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

superhorn said:


> Don't miss "Ring Resounding" by the late Decca record producer John Culshaw, who produced so many great recordings for that label.


My favourite of all opera books, read and re-read many times over the years (even though for most of those years I didn't actually own a Solti _Ring_). It's what Helene Hanff would have called an 'I was there' book.

A poster on another forum pointed out something interesting though. At the end of the book, Culshaw reports scathingly (_really_ scathingly) on a Bayreuth production he attended in 1965. I'd never paid much attention to this myself, but as this poster points out, that production was the one conducted by Bohm (with Nilsson and Windgassen), the recording of which has been regarded as one of the very finest for the last 40 years. Puzzling.


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

I am reviving this thread from seven years ago and make no apology for doing so! Herein are some great book recommendations that deserve to remain in the light. I am sure there are many posters, like myself, who have joined this august forum since 2010, and for whom such information would be valuable.

I am also on the lookout for some new books, which is why I started to search old posts. Here is what I have currently, not mentioned above:

Handel's Operas: A vast, two-volume set with a complete history and analysis of 40+ Handel operas (includes only the true operas), with discussions of historical context and performance practice etc.
https://www.amazon.de/dp/1843835258 Volume I
https://www.amazon.de/dp/1843832682 Volume II

Wagner's Ring: A companion guide to the cycle, including a full translation of the libretti.
https://www.amazon.de/dp/0500281947

The Wagner Operas: An exposition of the ten most-performed of Wagner's operas, contextual analysis, his developing style, and literary sources.
https://www.amazon.de/dp/0691027161

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera: The ultimate guide to everything, but with a steep entry price.
https://www.amazon.de/dp/0333485521

I am planning to buy the following:
The Operas of Verdi: Three-volume set, similar in scope to the Handel mentioned above.
https://www.amazon.de/dp/0198162618 Volume I
https://www.amazon.de/dp/0198162626 Volume II
https://www.amazon.de/dp/0198162634 Volume III

Are there other works of similar scope to the Handel or Verdi surveys mentioned above, covering other prolific composers of opera ... the 'bel cantos' or Massenet, for example? I would be particularly interested in a book on the operatic works of Richard Strauss.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

> I am planning to buy the following:
> The Operas of Verdi: Three-volume set, similar in scope to the Handel mentioned above.
> https://www.amazon.de/dp/0198162618 Volume I
> https://www.amazon.de/dp/0198162626 Volume II
> https://www.amazon.de/dp/0198162634 Volume III


 I do have these on my radar for quiet a while, bit expensive. 
( even with free shipping)


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Taplow said:


> I am reviving this thread from seven years ago and make no apology for doing so! Herein are some great book recommendations that deserve to remain in the light. I am sure there are many posters, like myself, who have joined this august forum since 2010, and for whom such information would be valuable.
> 
> I am also on the lookout for some new books, which is why I started to search old posts. Here is what I have currently, not mentioned above:
> 
> ...


The two books I'd recommend about Richard Strauss are Charles Osborne's guide to the operas and Michael Kennedy's book about Strauss for the _Master Musicians_ series.

Massenet: James Harding (1970); Demar Irvine (1994). If you read French, I can recommend more.

Bel canto composers...

Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti: Charles Osborne
Donizetti: William Ashbrook
Rossini: Richard Osborne


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I guess my all time favorite are the Boito-Verdi letters. It gives such insight into the humans themselves. In Boito I detected a worshipping, brilliant, aiming-to-please the Maestro attitude, while I also discovered an egotistical, sometimes unkindly streak in the genius himself.
I just ordered the new Harvey Sachs' _Toscanini- Musician of Conscience_ just out and am looking forward to it. It has gotten excellent reviews.
Lately, I have submerged myself into a Callas history so strong that I feel that I know that woman and all her talents and foibles and what commands her inner being.


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

nina foresti said:


> Lately, I have submerged myself into a Callas history so strong that I feel that I know that woman and all her talents and foibles and what commands her inner being.


Sounds interesting. Care to share the details?


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Taplow said:


> Sounds interesting. Care to share the details?


Have you got a couple of years? 
She's had a complicated life that all started from a mother who was so vain and loveless that Mary (Maria was called Mary through her formative years and beyond), yearned for attention and affection and rarely ever got it till the applause started to sound which enveloped her. By then it was too late and success for an individual who once was incredibly shy and standoffish with little to no friends growing up -- fat, pimply and frank to an obnoxious degree, coupled with a basic lack of caring by most everyone (save de Hidalgo her teacher), can make for a very complicated and troubled person only really ever looking for the required mother love to fill the hole. Suddenly she grew into a charismatic swan with a huge ego problem to compensate for her self-consciousness and insecurity. 
But through it all she never was much of a happy person in her life except when she spend some time with her bittersweet lover Ari.
There! That's my thumbnail assessment. You can rumple it up and throw it in the trash if you'd like.


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

nina foresti said:


> Have you got a couple of years?
> She's had a complicated life that all started from a mother who was so vain and loveless that Mary (Maria was called Mary through her formative years and beyond), yearned for attention and affection and rarely ever got it till the applause started to sound which enveloped her. By then it was too late and success for an individual who once was incredibly shy and standoffish with little to no friends growing up -- fat, pimply and frank to an obnoxious degree, coupled with a basic lack of caring by most everyone (save de Hidalgo her teacher), can make for a very complicated and troubled person only really ever looking for the required mother love to fill the hole. Suddenly she grew into a charismatic swan with a huge ego problem to compensate for her self-consciousness and insecurity.
> But through it all she never was much of a happy person in her life except when she spend some time with her bittersweet lover Ari.
> There! That's my thumbnail assessment. You can rumple it up and throw it in the trash if you'd like.


Haha, thanks!  ... I was actually asking for the book title/author so I could hunt it down myself. But the synopsis was fun, too. :tiphat:


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Greek Fire: Nicolas Gage
Unknown Callas;The Greek Yearsetsalis-Diomidis
Callas: Ardoin/Fitzgerald
Maria Callas Remembered: Nadia Stancioff

There are many others but these re my favorite ones.


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