Who's Who in Opera: A Guide to Opera Characters

by Joyce Bourne, Michael Kennedy (Editor)

Here is a marvelous guide to over 2,500 operatic characters, with synopses of over 250 major works. Each entry provides a full description of the role, indicates its vocal category, and discusses who first created the part and other notable performers.
Best of all, the volume boasts twenty-five feature articles--illustrated with photographs--by many well-known personalities who themselves constitute a who's who of opera. Readers will find Placido Domingo writing on the character of Otello, perhaps his greatest role. Bryn Terfel writes on
Leporello, Janet Baker on Mary Stuart, Thomas Hampson on Posa, and Theodore Uppman on Billy Budd. Other contributors include Andrew Porter, Sena Junnac, Philip Langridge, Jonathan Miller, Sir Charles MacKerras, and Marie McLaughlin. These special articles reveal much about the creative process
behind some of the most famous performances in opera history. From Arabella to Wozzeck, here is a wealth of information on the main characters in the repertoire of both opera and operetta. Both informative and absorbing, it is a must for all opera lovers.

Genres: Music

476 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1998

Reviews

[Jenni O'Guin]

Bourne, J. (1998). Who's who in opera: A guide to opera characters. New York: Oxford University Press.

Citation by: jenni O'Guin

Type of Reference: Biographical reference

Call Number: Ref 782.1

Content/Scope: A biographical reference for anyone who is interested in opera music. This book gives details of opera characters and those who played the roles.

Accuracy/Authority/Bias: Joyce Bourne is the associate editor of the Oxford Dictionary of Music. Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world.

Arrangement/Presentation: Arrangement is alphabetically by character name. Included are 25 or so essays written by people in the opera business. This hardback book has 476 pages with 27 black and white illustrations. Contains a foreward and preface, two appendices, and an index of composers.

Relation to other works: Since this book is about opera, it will complement books about other genres.

Accessibility/Diversity: Although this reference book might not be used by all students visiting a library, for those interested in the performing arts (a sometimes underserved population), it will be very useful.

Cost: $40.00

Professional Review: Booklist online. (1999). Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com.libsrv....

[Carolyn Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is key for the Opera-curious. A simple run down on characters and their various plots and schemes.