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Title: The Rough Guide Opera: 100 Essential Cds (Rough Guides) by Matthew Boyden ISBN: 1-85828-451-1 Publisher: Rough Guides Pub. Date: November, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Essential?
Comment: The value of this book depends on your interests and knowledge in opera. I agree with the previous reviewer on the books' strenghts so let me just emphasize the reasons why I din't like it: 1 - The authors defend their choices by stating that they do not know how to define the 100 best operas so they just pick the 100 essential ones. That seems silly to me. One could have objectively decided what are the 100 most performed or recorded operas and recomend their best recordings. That, I think, would have been a useful introductory text. 2 - Quite aside from the actual choices of operas the chosen recordings are, at times, quite idiosyncratic, just like in the original, full size, rough guide to the opera book. They seem to compensate the choices of modern operas for the "essential" repertoire by picking many old recordings for several of them. For these reasons I can not think of any group of people (begginers/experts/occasional collectors etc..) to whom I would recommend this book.
Rating: 5
Summary: The Essential Opera Guide
Comment: If you are new to the area and are going to buy only one book on Opera, this is the one. Essentially it is a book of recommendations - 100 CDs to buy and listen to: Fundamentally it is a well-written introduction to the music, the composers, librettos and performers. 100 Opera recordings have been selected, not for being the best, but for being "key works by seminal figures." The composers are arranged alphabetically (from Adam to Weill) and the works listed chronologically under each composer. The earliest opera listed is Monteverdi's, 'L'Orfeo', the most recent, Birtwistle's, 'Gawain'. Each recording is reviewed in approximately 500 words. This includes a listing of performers, a cover photograph (useful when searching in a shop, as I found out) and the most recent (almost) catalogue number. The reviews follow the formula of: Introduction, plot, significant points about the music/text and an assessment of the recommended performance. This works well: Context is given to the individual Opera (e.g. Britten is quoted on Tosca; you also find out which Opera was "too tough for the teeth of the Viennese" and who was called an "old crank") and some guide as to what to listen out for in the music (the "darting around" and "shimmering orchestral textures" of Ligeti; the "exhilarating" role of Canio in 'I Pagliacci' requiring "stamina, flexibility and power"; the strings imitating the breezes, the bassoon used for comedy/ horn for more serious episodes in Mozart's 'Cosi fan tutti' - credited with being "the most perfect ensemble opera ever written"). The recordings are selected intelligently to give as wide a range of performers and performing styles as possible whilst preserving the quality of both performance and recording. They really are benchmarks against which other recordings and live performances can be measured! All 100 should remain in the catalogues of both Europe and North America for a long time (although the selection criteria mean the listed performances are frequently top price). I already own a number of the recordings (some on records) and agreed with what was said about them. As a test of the book, I slipped a copy into my trouser pocket (it is that small), went off to the only decent music store in Moscow (Melodyia) and selected two recordings I would not normally have considered buying - both turned out to be absolute gems! A word of warning - one of the recordings has already changed its cover (the book warns this can happen) but the listings were detailed enough for me to identify it without any problem. I am really impressed by the range of selection, the clarity of the writing, the handy, well-made format - and the price - of this book. It will be an essential guide (not dictator) to my purchasing over the next few years (and the Rough Guide to 100 Classical CDs is almost as good).
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Title: The Rough Guide Soul: 100 Essential Cds by Peter Shapiro, Rough Guides ISBN: 1858285623 Publisher: Rough Guides Pub. Date: 23 November, 2000 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
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Title: The Rough Guide World: 100 Essential Cds by Simon Broughton, Rough Guides ISBN: 1858285984 Publisher: Rough Guides Pub. Date: 23 November, 2000 List Price(USD): $5.00 |
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Title: The Rough Guide Classical Music: 100 Essential Cds (Rough Guides) by Joe Staines, Rough Guides ISBN: 1858284899 Publisher: Rough Guides Pub. Date: November, 1999 List Price(USD): $5.00 |
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Title: The Rough Guide Country: 100 Essential Cds by Kurt Wolff ISBN: 1858286026 Publisher: Rough Guides Pub. Date: 23 November, 2000 List Price(USD): $5.00 |
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Title: The Rough Guide Rock: 100 Essential Cds (Rough Guides) by Rough Guides, Al Spicer ISBN: 1858284902 Publisher: Rough Guides Pub. Date: November, 1999 List Price(USD): $5.00 |
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