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Don Basilio
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« on: 22:12:27, 27-04-2008 » |
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I came across Kobbe in my local library when I was a teenager - I see now that it reflected delightfully the view of opera of the pre-WW1 Met. And that is still there for all the Handel, Janacek and early Verdi that my lord of Harewood adds to it in subsequent additions.
Over ten years ago I was given the Viking Book of Opera for Christmas by my parents. Although less chatty, it strikes me as far more comprehensive, but I never see it referred to here.
Its recording recommendations will be out of date, but there is still a lot there.
Anyone else know it and have any comments?
What is your preferred reference book?
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To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh: a time to mourn, and a time to dance
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perfect wagnerite
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« Reply #1 on: 23:13:03, 27-04-2008 » |
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Still Kobbe for me - I have the 1987 edition, which includes The Mask of Orpheus and Akhnaten, but there is a 1997 edition by Lord Harewood and Andrew Peattie which I haven't seen. It claims to be the most comprehensive revision ever, with 46 new composers featured and works including Gawain and Powder Her Face. I'm not familiar with the Viking guide but I like the authority and range of Kobbe.
For Wagner, I still have a soft spot for Newman's Wagner Nights, which is terribly dated but tells the stories in an unadorned way and contains quite a lot of historical background (although there are others here much better qualified than me to judge how good this is). And it is I think now out of print; for Wagner the ENO guides are extremely useful.
For Verdi, the three volumes of Julian Budden's The Operas of Verdi are pretty indispensable; his single volume in the Master Musicians series is pretty good too. But the book(s) that taught me more about Verdi than any other are the two volumes of Vincent Godefroy's The Dramatic Genius of Verdi, also inevitably out of print, but written with an understanding of Verdi as a dramatist that constantly throws light on the oeuvre.
I'd be very interested in hearing any comments about Winton Dean's big recent book on Handel's Operas - largely because I read his Handel and the Opera Seria years ago and thought it was an uninformative mess.
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At every one of these [classical] concerts in England you will find rows of weary people who are there, not because they really like classical music, but because they think they ought to like it. (Shaw, Don Juan in Hell)
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harpy128
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« Reply #2 on: 23:31:02, 27-04-2008 » |
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I have got a few books about individual operas but the only general one I use is Grove Online, which I can access free courtesy of the local public library - I expect most of the UK people can.
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Il Grande Inquisitor
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« Reply #3 on: 23:41:31, 27-04-2008 » |
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I have the 1997 Kobbé’s which I've found incredibly useful and pretty comprehensive. I wonder if a new ediiton is due?
I'd echo pw's recommendation of Julian Budden's three volume The Operas of Verdi, as well as Vincent Godefroy's The Dramatic Genius of Verdi - I got the second volume when I was a student (for the chapter on Philip II) and only recently bought Volume I when I tracked down a copy online. Fascinating stuff on Verdi's work on King Lear in Volume II.
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Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency
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Stanley Stewart
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« Reply #4 on: 00:42:22, 28-04-2008 » |
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Apart from the usual suspects listed above, a quick shufti of my shelves reveal:
The Grand Tradition - 70 Years of Singing on Record: 1900-1970
J B Steane (Duckworth) 1978
Opera on Record: Vols 1, 2 & 3 Edited by Alan Blyth
Song on Record Vol 1 Alan Blyth
Choral Singing " 2 " "
Two Centuries of Opera at Covent Garden
Harold Rosenthal
Saturday Afternoons at the Old Met (1931 - 50)
A mine of information and useful, too, for collectors of Naxos Historical
Recordings
The Metropolitan Guide to Recorded Opera: Edited by Paul Gruber
Thames & Hudson 1993
A Guide to Opera Recordings; Ethan Mordden
OUP 1987
Opera on Film: Richard Fawkes Duckworth 2000
My only caveat is the lost number of hours once any of these is removed from the shelves; nevertheless, my constant companions.
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time_is_now
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« Reply #5 on: 00:52:35, 28-04-2008 » |
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I like all of the ENO guides that I've seen. (They're usually one per opera, but e.g. Tippett's first four get a volume between them, including - very usefully indeed - all the libretti.)
I must have consulted Kobbé a few times in my old university library - I can remember the look and feel of the volume - but don't remember whether I found it particularly good or not.
My flatmate has a copy of Amanda Holden's (ed.) Penguin Opera Guide which I've glanced at occasionally - I've just looked at it a bit more closely, and it seems excellent. Not least importantly, there's no obvious falling-off in the standard of the entries on recent works, which is often a sticking point for such books. The entries on Stockhausen and Judith Weir, for instance, are accurate and also quite insightful (not just facts).
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The city is a process which always veers away from the form envisaged and desired, ... whose revenge upon its architects and planners undoes every dream of mastery. It is [also] one of the sites where Dasein is assigned the impossible task of putting right what can never be put right. - Rob Lapsley
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Sydney Grew
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« Reply #6 on: 12:24:56, 28-04-2008 » |
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We do not listen to opera much - we do not care for the unmusicality of the female voice - but we do enjoy reading The Good Wagner Opera Guide by Denis Forman. It is written throughout in a most unusual flippant but amusing style, but the reader is aware that at bottom Mr. Forman knows the operas very well indeed, and all the information one could possibly wish to have is there, in a form with which one can easily agree. Indeed he writes so well that we wonder whether "Denis Forman" could in fact be one of the excellent Mr. Lebrecht's noms de plume.
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richard barrett
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« Reply #7 on: 13:08:29, 28-04-2008 » |
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we wonder whether "Denis Forman" could in fact be one of the excellent Mr. Lebrecht's noms de plume.
... along with T.F.Gumby.  |
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Don Basilio
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« Reply #8 on: 14:07:36, 28-04-2008 » |
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My flatmate has a copy of Amanda Holden's (ed.) Penguin Opera Guide which I've glanced at occasionally - I've just looked at it a bit more closely, and it seems excellent. Not least importantly, there's no obvious falling-off in the standard of the entries on recent works, which is often a sticking point for such books. The entries on Stockhausen and Judith Weir, for instance, are accurate and also quite insightful (not just facts).
I'm pretty certain that is the Viking Book which I refer to. I was able to get the background to Punch and Judy, plus the information that Birtwhistle was due to write a work about King Kong. The old bits of Kobbe are full of the "I remember so well that December night when she first sang Lucia. The snow was thick in Fifth Avenue and her cab horse had thrown a shoe, but by the time she finished her cadenza..." sort of stuff. |
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To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh: a time to mourn, and a time to dance
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Ron Dough
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« Reply #9 on: 14:17:06, 28-04-2008 » |
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- we do not care for the unmusicality of the female voice -
Could that be a subjective statement couched in the hope of making itself appear objective, Mr G? Whilst it might be possible to comprehend a personal antipathy towards the sound of a female voice (though certainly not a situation that obtains in my case), I must admit myself to be at a loss as to understand how exactly you might be able to support this assertion of unmusicality. Indeed, of the four major ranges of the human voice (and with due deference to Soundwave) is it not reportedly tenors who habitually commit the gravest sins in this respect? |
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Stanley Stewart
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« Reply #10 on: 17:07:56, 28-04-2008 » |
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# 1 #8 Yes, DB, I can confirm that The Viking Opera Guide (1993) allocated 6 pages to Birtwistle. At £60, it was a bit pricey for me on publication, but over many years, I knew a dealer on Newport Court (behind Leic. Sq. underground) who dealt mainly in rock and pop but who also handled minority interest books and recordings which had "just" fallen off the back of a lorry, on busy Charing X Road. The Viking O. G. was mine for £20+, after my usual ploy of 'I don't really know whether I want this' over the £30 asking price. I note that it was edited by Amanda Holden with Nicholas Kenyon and Stephen Walsh. Strictly out of the closet, I see that it also features the compositions of Vincent Youmans and we could have some fun bandying the lyrics of 'Tea for Two ('No! No' Nanette) on another thread! DSCH also had some fun in his arrangement which he did for a bet.
I am also grateful for the extensive glossary of musical terms as I now feel less crestfallen when I read some of the technical terminology on these MBs.
'Basler Trommel, see Paradetrommel' - I do, I do!
The same dealer provided the hefty LP sets of The Record of Singing, Vols 1 & 2, and the indispensable two volume hardback by Michael Scott. Later, I got Vols 4 on CD (EMI then Testament); this is always combined with a scamble for biographies as I listen, or read Scott's notes.
Can I also add a recommendation for 'Glyndebourne Recorded - 1934-1994)' as it also lists the full casting, recording venues and dates; this also includes the video recordings, radio broadcasts and TV transmissions.
Paul Campion & Rosy Runciman; Julia MacRae Books (1994)
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ernani
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« Reply #11 on: 17:56:11, 28-04-2008 » |
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The Metropolitan Opera Guide to Recorded Opera - good on less mainstream recordings, if a bit batty in places.
Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung edited by Stewart Spencer- interesting contextual essays and a good translation of the libretto.
The Bel Canto Operas by Charles Osbourne - useful and comprehensive on Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti.
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old1
Posts: 12
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« Reply #12 on: 21:39:40, 28-04-2008 » |
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Opera published by Konemann covers a lot of avant garde composers and is full of good pictures. Power House by Lime Tree is also well illustrated. Could anyone suggest any other books with good pictures of interesting productions.
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oliver sudden
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« Reply #13 on: 22:57:44, 28-04-2008 » |
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'Basler Trommel, see Paradetrommel' - I do, I do! (Or even better, go to Basel for Fasnacht. I had the great pleasure once of walking alongside a band consisting of nothing but Basler Trommeln. Over 100 of them. A deeply physical experience and the rhythms are bewilderingly and exhilaratingly complex. We now return you to the advertised programme.  ) |
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opilec
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« Reply #14 on: 23:08:36, 28-04-2008 » |
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I have to put my hand up and admit that I played a small part in The Viking/Penguin Opera Guide, as I subbed all the 19th- and 20th-century entries, as well as contributing a modest few myself. And I still find it useful when having to mug up on a particular composer or work. Yes, the recording recommendations quickly date, but most seem to have stood the test of time (perhaps less so in the Baroque categories).
Most of the contributors are authorities in their particular field -- e.g. Cairns on Berlioz, Beaumont on Busoni and Zemlinsky, Talbot on Vivaldi, Deathridge on Wagner. And many were also simultaneously working on the far larger (and more expensive!) New Grove Dictionary of Opera.
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