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Annotated Bibliography

Anderson, James. The Complete Dictionary of Opera & Operetta. New York: Wings Books,
1993.
The author of The Complete Dictionary of Opera & Operetta, James Anderson, was born
in England and educated at Oxford University. Anderson is well known as one of Britain’s
leading experts on contemporary Peruvian politics. He has contributed articles on music and on
international affairs to journals in Britain and in North and South America. His book is as exactly
described in the title; a complete dictionary of all things opera. AS is listed in alphabetical order,
Anderson addresses each opera, operetta, operatic term, composer, and crucial moment in the
history of opera by providing short informative excerpts for each. Included in the back of the
book there is a comprehensive chart of each great composer and opera produced in chronological
order by country.

Galatopoulos, Stelios. Italian Opera. London: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd, 1971.
This book introduces the subject to younger readers and also offers a comprehensive
background to operatic art for readers of all ages who may have seen or heard a few works
and would like to enlarge their knowledge of opera as a whole. Stelios Galatopoulos traces
opera’s development from the beginnings during the Renaissance to its progression into
the spectacular, dramatic, and intense phases that evolved at the hands of such geniuses
like; Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi, and Puccini. This book is a culmination of the stories of
the twelve most popular Italian operas with musical quotations. The choice of operas includes
the most representative composers of Italian opera we know today.

Gammond, Peter. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Opera. New York: Crescent Books, 1979.
This book contains in-depth information on over five hundred and fifty operas, ranging
from Cosi fan Tutte and Fideilo to Death in Venice and Madame Butterfly. The operas are
arranged alphabetically under the name of composer. Each entry begins with brief biological
details and career notes followed by the operas in chronological order. Every opera is annotated
with such details as the librettist and first performance, as well as notes on the music and well-
known arias. A synopsis of the plot is given for major operas and there is also a selection of
recommended recordings with cast lists. A supplementary section contains illustrated
biographies of one hundred leading opera singers. The author, Peter Gammond has held several
posts in the musical world, including those of author of a number of books on music, notably
Music on Record, Bluff Your Way in Music, One Man’s Music, Musical Instruments in Color,
and Scott Joplin and the Ragtime Era.

Grout, Donald Jay. A Short History of Opera. 2d Ed. New York: Columbia University Press,
1965.
The lives and careers of all the great opera composers are touched upon and their major
works introduced, with interesting sidelights on librettists and singers. The whole scene is related
to outside developments such as different trends and influences of France, Germany, and Britain.
This book gives in full the history of opera starting from what is considered to be the first opera;
Peri’s Dafne. The book most exclusively contains a linear description of opera through each
century; emphasizing greatly on the impact of each composer on the evolution of opera.
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Stretching though modern times, Donald Jay Grout provides and extensive and accurate
depiction of opera compositions and the poignancy of their time.

Headington, Christopher. Opera: A History. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987.
This book covers the High Baroque and its reformers, and shows how Mozart inherited
and transformed the three eighteenth century forms of opera seria, opera buffa, and Singspiel. It
then moves to the French and German heroic and early Romantic operas that appeared around
the time of the French Revolution. In the second half of the book, three chapters are devoted to
the great Italian period from Rossini to Puccini, and even discussed Wagner’s music dramas after
Lohengrin. Composer, lecturer, and writer, Christopher Headington is the author of The Bodley
Head History of Western Music and a number of other books on musical subjects. He taught
music at Oxford University, reviews records for the Gramophone, is a frequent broadcaster and
is well known as a pianist in many countries of the world.

Kupferburg, Herbert. Opera. New York: Newsweek Books, 1975.

In this volume, Herbert Kupferburg traces the history of opera from the musical
speculations of a group of young Florentines in the late 1500s to the multifaceted operatic
experiences of today. Opera contains a special five-page chronology that relates events in history
of opera to other cultural and political developments, while a selected bibliography and a full
index make this valuable reference work.