The Metropolitan Opera: Stories of the Great Operas

by John W. Freeman

Book Overview

Here at last is the definitive opera story collection, the only one now authorized by the Metropolitan Opera. Written by the associate editor of Opera News magazine, the volume includes the complete plots of 150 different operas, biographical information on all of the 72 composers represented, easy access to the stories through both a table of contents and an index, and a foreword by Peter Allen.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393018881
• ISBN13: 9780393018882
• Release Date: November 1984
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 584 Pages
• Weight: 2.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.9" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Quick Reads... Questionable Cost

John W. Freeman's two volume set represents the best "plots only" collection of opera synopses available. All the operas are summarized in sparing, unambiguous language. Some operas are summarized so succinctly that too much mystery remains. Freeman provides helpful biographical material on each composer represented. Describing this collection as a two-volume set is somewhat misleading. It is, in effect, a book and its sequel. Volume 2 was published several years after the first to fill in some holes. For this reason, operas from one composer may be divided disproportionately between both volumes, and neither volume indexes the contents of the other. Consolidating both volumes would enhance navigation and presumably reduce the cost, which is without question the least desirable feature of this competent set.