Skeletons from the Opera Closet: An Irreverent Appreciation

by David L. Groover, Cecil C. Conner Jr.

is an appreciation and dissection, albeit humorous and light hearted, of this most lively art's weaknesses, faux pas, trumperies, unusual and uncommon manners, overlooked glories, and weird and funny occurrences.

243 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2007

Reviews

[Jill H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even the most formal of musical presentation, opera, often runs into some pretty strange situations. This book covers many of them....poor singers, bad operas, good operas ruined by a conductor, scenery falling on the heads of the singers, behind the scenes feuds, bad critics and illicit love affairs. It is all here is this rather humorous book, although the author got a little cutsey sometimes which was off=putting. I would not recommend this book to those who know little to nothing about opera since there are operatic terms and some fairly unknown works that are a major part of the narrative. Otherwise, it is a bit of fun but nothing special.

[Sarahj33 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is written as if it is one elaborate inside joke with a select group of friends. Topics are bounced back and forth like beach balls, and there is sometimes no indication what is drawn from history or merely invented in the jolly minds of the authors. This book is certainly not useful for finding out specific facts about specific operas, and it's not likely to increase your general knowledge of the genre either. It won't make sense unless you have at least a passing knowledge to start of with, and really all you'll leave with is trivia, and perhaps some silent film recommendations (a strange tangent for a book about sung music.)

But that's not to say it's not worth reading. Playful and exuberant, I found myself actually giggling on more than one occasion. Among other things, the authors delighted in finding reviews that vilified composers and operas that are beloved today, and also snarky tidbits various composers and maestri have said about each other. Delicious opera gossip abounds, although how much is historically documented is unclear, as this is not a particularly academic book and hardly ever cites sources.

This book was first published in 1986, so some of the information is outdated, but that only adds to the fun, because you get to see what the authors predicted correctly or incorrectly. I'm sure they would be delighted to know that Rusalka has been popular these last few years in the US, and I would be interested to hear their opinions on some of the newer pieces in the opera repertoire, since they were so disparaging about the work being produced in the 70s and 80s. Overall, if you're in the mood for an opera book that's considerably less dense and considerably more frivolous than most books written on the subject, without being targeted at newcomers to the genre, you've come to the right place.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this for Christmas a couple years back, but never really paid much attention to it after that, since it's a collection of unlinked stories and trivia. Difficult to sit down and read through something like that. But it's in my TBR challenge, so I decided to just go at it.

A lot of it turned out to be quoted reviews of operas, either by composers or idiot critics of the day. I mean, those have their place, but for such a relatively short book they took up too much space. So there was that, then the really weird, confusing decision to devote an entire chapter — the second to last, no less — to praising the movies Geraldine Farrar made in 1915, most of them in no way related to opera. The authors are opera fans and not connected to the medium in any other way, and they use the book like a soap box in certain places, which is irritating.

BUT, it taught me about some operas I'd never heard of, and interested me in some I'd never cared to listen to before, so I'm glad I read it.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was about the domicile. I wanted to like it a little more than I did. Was less laugh out loud funny than I was hoping for. And for a book about opera is surprisingly dry. Also, more the problem, I read Dave Barber's Bach, Beethoveen and the Boys first and it was much, much funnier. Or maybe, I'm only somewhat an opera fan. The part where they talk about the acts to skip of operas and the astrological signs were my favorite parts. Other than that, it's kinda like reading chinese food. I read it and it doesn't stick in my mind.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very charming opera gossip. A nice one to read in bits and pieces.