The Chronicle of Opera

The perfect guide to and celebration of opera and its rich musical history Opera has never been more popular than it is now. Four centuries after a group of Florentine intellectuals and musicians set out to revive the musical drama of Classical Greece, opera's intrinsic appeal has been greatly strengthened by the vast range and quality of recordings available, as well as by a new, young, passionate audience. A year-by-year and sometimes month-by-month guide, The Chronicle of Opera unfolds the great eras of opera. Stile recitativo, arias, choruses, instrumental introductions, and interludes were all developed early; with Monteverdi, who wrote his first opera in 1607, this new style of musical drama achieved definitive form. During the seventeenth century comic opera found a separate existence, apart from tragic and serious opera. National styles began to emerge in France, Germany, Spain, and England, although Italian opera maintained its hold as an international style. The operatic masterpieces of the next three hundred years--by Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, Wagner, Richard Strauss, Moussorgsky, Berg, Britten, Gershwin, and many others--shared the essential strengths of the basic form, despite changes in musical styles. The text is accompanied by hundreds of wonderful, creatively researched illustrations, many as dramatic as their subject matter. Special features highlight important events and performances, from opera in eighteenth-century America to the opening of La Scala in Milan, from Maria Callas to the Three Tenors. A comprehensive reference section includes biographies, a time line, opera house openings and premieres, a glossary, a checklist of recordings, and further reading.

Michael Raeburn is the editor of Heritage of Music, published in eleven volumes and translated into many languages.