Edward Greenfield (1928–2015)

One of my favourite possessions.

Obviously the fact that this book was written in 1993 is its biggest flaw. Three decades of additional recordings exist, including many operas that didn't have a recording at the time - since the '90s, an entire cottage industry of rare live performances and bootlegs has gone mainstream, so you can often hear one of the great stars of yesteryear singing the same role five times with different conductors and co-stars. (How marvellous a second edition would be.) Additionally, CDs were only just entering their heyday. Many existing recordings hadn't been transferred from vinyl yet; for example, Beverly Sills warrants few mentions because many of her recordings hadn't (I assume) come to CD yet. (Not that the reviewers seem to have a high opinion of her as it is.)

In passing, it's fun sometimes to be reminded that the past was the past. Time and again the reviewers are either exhilarated or frustrated by the track listings on the CD, by their quantity or lack thereof or placement; the kind of thing that would only merit comment by people for whom the technology was a novelty. To those of us born firmly in the CD era, it's quite adorable.

Still, the recordings highlighted still exist and deserve the praise (or opprobrium) herein. The writing is sharp, fluid, subjective but always within reason, and the useful plot synopses and commentary on artists makes this a very useful addition to any opera-lover's collection. The only comparable guide to this one seems to be the series of Gramophone classical music guides, which died out in 2012, but those tend to only pick the best couple of recordings for a given opera, rather than attempting to present a survey as here. (Penguin, if you're listening, I'm available for that long-awaited second edition...)

It's love.… (meer)