The Standard Operas: Their Plots, Their Music, and Their Composers: (12th Edition)

This is the essential companion for anyone who has ever sat in an opera house bewildered by plot summaries in the program, or who has wanted to appreciate the sweep of the operatic tradition without wading through academic treatises. George P. Upton, writing in the late nineteenth century, compiled a remarkably readable handbook covering the operas that defined his era's repertoire: the works of Auber, Bellini, Donizetti, Gounod, Meyerbeer, Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Wagner, and others. Each entry offers a composer's biography, a detailed plot synopsis, notes on the most memorable musical moments, and context about the work's initial reception and original cast. What makes this book remarkable is its democratic purpose: Upton explicitly wrote for music lovers without formal training, proving that sophisticated musical appreciation need not require scholarly credentials. The book captures a particular moment in operatic history, when the standard repertoire was still being established and these works were living, breathing pieces performed regularly. Reading it now offers both practical guidance for approaching these works and a fascinating window into how nineteenth-century audiences understood the operatic tradition they had inherited and were actively shaping.