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Opera for Dummies
"Pogue is a wonderful teacher... He can teach anybody."
-- Gay Talese, bestselling author of "Honor Thy Father"
-- Gay Talese, bestselling author of "Honor Thy Father"
"Scott Speck is a great communicator of classical music.... Concert audiences and readers alike can't help getting caught up in the joy of his subject."
-- David Styers, American Symphony Orchestra League
Opera is weird. Everybody wears
...morePaperback, 384 pages
Published
August 21st 1997
by For Dummies
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I generally like the ...for Dummies books as introductions to a topic. Usually they are set up to keep the facts accessible to those of varying interests and don't take themselves too seriously.
Opera for Dummies succeeds well in the first endeavour. They make opera approachable through well-thought-out divisions of opera history from opera culture and the synopses of the operas themselves. I confess I skipped the vast majority of the seventy-five synopses included, knowing that readin...more
Opera for Dummies succeeds well in the first endeavour. They make opera approachable through well-thought-out divisions of opera history from opera culture and the synopses of the operas themselves. I confess I skipped the vast majority of the seventy-five synopses included, knowing that readin...more
I guess this is a typical Dummies book. If you like the style you might like this. If, like me, you hate the style, this will be something for you to skim as quickly as possible while you look for new information. It's riddled with terrible, corny jokes, many of which are even worse because they're so dated (a reference to Demi Moore and Bruce Willis' marriage and the frustration of getting busy signals when trying to connect to America Online are the two that stick out). That's bad enough but t...more
This Dummies book is probably one of the best I've ever read, all it made me the most excitable person about opera ever.
Too bad I have approximately 1.75 people who share the interest!
Great trivia, a fantastic reference guide for the classics as well as a great historical overview of this age old art form.
Too bad I have approximately 1.75 people who share the interest!
Great trivia, a fantastic reference guide for the classics as well as a great historical overview of this age old art form.
I read this as research for my novel, My Phantom: The Memoir of Christine Daaé. An even more useful guide with a bonus CD."
Its a really fun book, it makes opera very accessible and friendly. I would definitely reread it. The only really annoying thing about it was that they kept referring back to another book that the authors wrote on classical music. Everything else about it was really good. It covers all different aspects: history, musical periods, voices. It does the synopsis for the 50 most important operas and also has a section on "lesser" operas, like my favorite "Norma". This editio...more
If your are interested, but not ready to become a full time student, this is a good book. It makes the art accessible and eased my anxiety.
If you're at all interested in opera this is a very informative and entertaining read.
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