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The Rough Guide to Opera (Rough Guides Reference Titles)
 
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The Rough Guide to Opera (Rough Guides Reference Titles) (Paperback)

by Matthew Boyden (Author), Joe Staines (Editor)
3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 735 pages
  • Publisher: Rough Guides Ltd; 3rd Revised edition edition (27 Jun 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1858287499
  • ISBN-13: 978-1858287492
  • Product Dimensions: 23 x 16.8 x 3.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 316,105 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #62 in  Books > Reference > Consumer Guides > Music
    #83 in  Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Music > Scores, Songbooks & Lyrics > Opera
  • See Complete Table of Contents

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Product Description

Product Description
"The Rough Guide to Opera" is a handbook on the most thrilling of art forms, spanning four hundred years of music drama. Features include: lively biographical sketches of some 150 composers, from Claudio Monteverdi to Poul Ruders, detailing the main events of their careers and revealing their social and musical context; entertaining accounts of hundreds of operas, both the famous and neglected, each with a clear synopsis and a lively essay; CD reviews, covering the latest digital recordings as well as dozens of classic historical sets; and a who's who of the finest singers and conductors on record, from historical figures like Caruso, Callas and Toscanini to present-day stars like Bryn Terfel, Renee Fleming and Daniel Barenboim.

About the Author
Matthew Boyden is one of Britain's most hard-hitting music writers. He also makes regular appearances on television and radio.

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The Rough Guide to Opera (Rough Guides Reference Titles)
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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An essential book for building your opera collection, 26 Jul 2001
By A Customer
If you are new to opera, this book is essential. The rough guide goes through the opera from Monteverdi to the 20th century and gives you the summeries, commentaries and recommendations of various works in a very informative manner. I particularly enjoyed the explanation for why each of the recordings was recommended, and I found the choices much more sensible than say, in the Penguin Opera Guide. There are some controversial choices (I doubt you will find any other book recommending Te Kanawa's Boheme recording), and mistakes (Callas never sang Simon Boccanegra), but this is expected from a book with such a wide compass. Even for those of us who have been listening to opera for quite some time, this book can bring something new. For example, if you have been enjoying Berg and Britten, but would like to know more about the pieces written after their works, you will find wonderful discussions about Menotti, Adams or Cage. Particularly well covered are the recent British composers. Highly recommended!
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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A useful guide for the general opera-goer, 11 Dec 2001
By A Customer
The Rought Guide contains less historical and musical detail than Kobbe, but its synopses are easier to understand and it also provides a useful explanation of why and how the composer came to write the piece as he did. The CD performance reviews are practical and useful. Probably too superficial for the serious student but just right for the first-timer.
Tony B
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A real investment, 23 Mar 2004
This isn't a 'heavyweight' book, but for a casual admirer of opera such as myself, Boyden has pitched the level of detail just right. I have bought almost fifty sets on the strength of his first/second choice recommendations (I am not a fan of historic mono recordings, I am afraid) and have found little to quibble with.

You will find the text informative, reliable and -- over time -- indispensable. I have read mine to pieces, and look forward to a new edition if only so as not to have a flurry of pages falling on to my knees every time I open it (a sign of over-use rather than poor binding!)

Buy without hesitation.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars ROUGH and READY
This guide, with its ill-judged, hasty dismissal of certain great artists and excessive praise for lesser ones, will certainly not please any opera buff: the synopses and notes... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Nemo

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