A Night at the Opera: An Irreverent Guide to The Plots, The Singers, The Composers, The Recordings (Modern Library (Paperback))

Brilliantly delivered by a very cheerful guy. Book in decent condition for the price

If you need an opera reference book this is highly recommended. It covers 83 popular operas and gives a personal and sometimes irreverent account of the story with amusing anecdotes. It also had important historical accounts of performances and discussions of the music. I read it often and always before seeing or listening to an Opera.

A guide to all the major operas by a real living human who knows how they work and leaves the crap out.Opera is about our deepes emotions. When it works it pieces to the heart. Forman can recognise these moments and explain them.He is a great guy.

Having a copy of The Good Opera Guide by the same author and enjoying his style of writing I noticed in that book that "Also by the same author" included this, so I bought it. I was really looking forward to reading it only to doscover IT IS THE SAME BOOK published under a different title.I can't help feeling somewhat deceived even if the books were published many years ago.This is no reflection upon the booksellers I hasten to add but no doubt a weaknesss of buying on-line without being able to appraise books first.

I love his Good Opera Guide, I use it like a bible! Does this book cover the same operas, biographies etc in the same way or does it include those missing from his first book?

This is a great complementary book that forces you to laugh with the irreverent comments by Mr.Forman. I wish he would publish an updated version with analysis of actual singers, Netrebko, Villazon etc. I still laugh with such a comment like "Beta for Tito and one can be sure Mozart would agree".I am reading Opera 101 and this book and they both give me a rich analysis that complement each other. I have attended some of the operas he includes and I find his views acceptable and true.I saw Placido Domingo conducting in Rigoletto (with Netrbeko and Villazon) at the Met, probably there are better conductors than him since he is a singer. MR Forman said ".. so please Placido-sing now, conduct later.", I think it was funny (and true). I am preparing to attend Don Carlo with Rolando Villazon as tenor in Covent Garden. I am reading the book by Schiller (Don Carlos) and Opera 101 and this book and I am sure I will be prepared to enjoy as Mr Forman says: " the grandest of grand operas and an alpha-plus through and through".

Ok