Harewood

Still the pinnacle of that 20th century staple, the descriptive opera book. Mostly rendered redundant in the 21st century by the combination of Wikipedia, TV and internet broadcast, and in-theatre supertitles, but there's a wonderful joy, a combination of nostalgia and curiosity, in finding something new within. I think the 1997 edition of this was the last (understandably so) but it really does pack in 400 years' worth of opera, with lengthy synopses, occasional musical extracts, and usefully information about productions on occasion. Worth it for anyone attempting to get into the artform, and pleasing still for those of us well-versed in it.… (meer)

This is, from what I've read, the definitive book on opera. As the flyleaf says, "Kobbe is to opera what Bartlett is to quotations." At least in whatever is the latest edition--I admit this one is somewhat dated, having been published in 1987. It covers the standard repertoire as well as some rarities from the first opera, Claudio Monteverdi's La Favola d'Orfeo in 1600 to that of composers still living at the time of publication: Birtwistle, Einem, Ginastera, Glass, Henze, Knussen, Ligeti, Penderecki, Reimann, Thomson, Menotti, Sallinen, Tippett, Wingrave. What I like so much about this book is not just that each opera has a discussion of the music and a synopsis of the story, but landmark productions are noted, so you'd know that up to 1987 at least, that famous singers in the title role of La Traviata include Patti, Melba, Tetrazzini, Ponselle, Schwarzkopf, Callas, Freni, etc.… (meer)