The Metropolitan Opera Stories of the Great Operas, Volume 2 - Hardcover

Freeman, John W.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393040518 ISBN 13: 9780393040517

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997

Synopsis

“Explores a large area of repertory that lies beyond the basic, with considerable attention paid to American opera, but includes also the less familiar operas of Rossini, Verdi, Massenet, and Wagner. Freeman has organized his material in fastidious though not excessive detail and presents it in a down-to-earth, conversational manner. His highly informative essays on the composers are particularly valuable.” ―George Jellinek

The opera-goer's indispensable guide. About to see Rossini’s William Tell, Verdi’s I Lombardi, Gluck’s Alceste, Philzner’s Palestrina, Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream? The stories of these operas and 120 others are told, clearly and concisely, in this companion volume to the highly successful Metropolitan Open Stories of the Great Operas. Opera News associate editor John W. Freeman untangles and summarizes the often complicated plots and provides, in addition, an informative biographical sketch of each composer, world and U.S. premiere dates, lists of characters, and other background information. The works included here are selected from the repertory of European and American opera companies. They span more than three and one-half centuries, from Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria (1640) to Philip Glass’s The Voyage (1992), and are set in venues as diverse as the legendary Palace of Time (Lully’s Atys) and twentieth-century Manhattan (Anthony Davis’s X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X). The operas are arranged alphabetically by composer and indexed by all the usual versions of the title (e.g., Der Zigeunerbaron, The Gypsy Baron). Published jointly by the Metropolitan Opera Guild and W. W. Norton, the book is not only a most valuable resource but also, as Beverly Sills notes in her foreword, immense fun just to read.

About this title

Review:

This companion to the first volume of The Metropolitan Opera: Stories of the Great Operas, published 13 years after its mate, offers a guide to 125 more operas. Most of these are early and Baroque operas that have been rediscovered (Monteverdi's Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria, Handel's Semele). Also included are modern operas (Glass's The Voyage), some of which have even enjoyed several productions; obscurities by standard repertory composers (Verdi's Attila), usually exhumed at the behest of opera stars seeking star vehicles; assorted miscellaneous oddities; and titles left over from the first book. The writing is clear and concise, and the story summaries are detailed enough to be of real assistance. Freeman's first book of opera story lines is a standard in the field; his second is a worthy extension and addition.

From the Back Cover:

In this book the stories of over 120 operas are told, clearly and concisely. Opera News associate editor, John W. Freeman untangles and summarizes the often complicated plots and provides an informative biographical sketch of each composer, world and U.S. premiere dates, lists of characters, and other background information.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0393040518
• ISBN 13: 9780393040517
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 500