Our list of some of the best Opera books & series in recent years. Get inspired by one or more of the following books.
- 1. Opera 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Opera (1900)
- 2. A History of Opera (2015)
- 3. The Phantom of the Opera (Akasha Classic) (2008)
- 4. A Night at the Opera: An Irreverent Guide to The Plots, The Singers, The Composers, The Recordings (Modern Library (Paperback)) (1998)
- 5. Orion Awakened: An Intergalactic Space Opera Adventure (Orion Colony) (2019)
- 6. The 4 x 4 Diet: 4 Key Foods, 4-Minute Workouts, Four Weeks to the Body You Want (2018)
- 7. The Last Reaper: An Intergalactic Space Opera Adventure (2019)
- 8. Opera: A History in Documents (2002)
- 9. Eyewitness Companions: Opera (2006)
- 10. 100 Great Operas And Their Stories: Act-By-Act Synopses (1989)
1. Opera 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Opera (1900)
Opera is the fastest growing of all the performing arts, attracting audiences of all ages who are enthralled by the gorgeous music, vivid drama, and magnificent production values. If you’ve decided that the time has finally come to learn about opera and discover for yourself what it is about opera that sends your normally reserved friends into states of ecstatic abandon, this is the book for you. Opera 101 is recognized as the standard text in English for anyone who wants to become an opera lover–a clear, friendly, and truly complete handbook to learning how to listen to opera, whether on the radio, on recordings, or live at…
2. A History of Opera (2015)
“The best single volume ever written on the subject, such is its range, authority, and readability.”―Times Literary Supplement Why has opera transfixed and fascinated audiences for centuries? Carolyn Abbate and Roger Parker answer this question in their “effervescent, witty” (Die Welt, Germany) retelling of the history of opera, examining its development, the musical and dramatic means by which it communicates, and its role in society. Now with an expanded examination of opera as an institution in the twenty-first century, this “lucid and sweeping” (Boston Globe) narrative explores the…
3. The Phantom of the Opera (Akasha Classic) (2008)
Experience for yourself the classic story of love, music, and murder which has captivated people for generations. When new managers take over the running of the Paris Opera House, they make light of warnings about a mysterious ghost who haunts the theater. But this Phantom is all too real, and attempts to ignore his demands have dangerous consequences. When a beautiful young singer becomes the object of fascination by both the Phantom and a handsome viscount, disaster is inevitable. Leroux’s story, which he claims to have based on real events, has provided the basis for many adaptations on stage and screen. It is a thrilling…
4. A Night at the Opera: An Irreverent Guide to The Plots, The Singers, The Composers, The Recordings (Modern Library (Paperback)) (1998)
With an encyclopedic knowledge of opera and a delightful dash of irreverence, Sir Denis Forman throws open the world of opera—its structure, composers, conductors, and artists—in this hugely informative guide. A Night at the Opera dissects the eighty-three most popular operas recorded on compact disc, from Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur to Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. For each opera, Sir Denis details the plot and cast of characters, awarding stars to parts that are “worth looking out for,” “really good,” or,…
5. Orion Awakened: An Intergalactic Space Opera Adventure (Orion Colony) (2019)
An alien awakens from a long sleep.An impossible prophecy that cannot be ignored.Dean and his friends are trapped on a world they can barely comprehend with enemies on all sides and a growing need to survive. There’s more to this place than any of them could have dreamed.But what is the strange infection spreading across the forest, and where did it come from? Who or what is the Great Dawn?The world is full of secrets, and Dean Slade is at the center of it all.Time to discover the truth. #2,382,055 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #5768 in Cyberpunk Science Fiction (Books) #5765 in Exploration Science Fiction…
6. The 4 x 4 Diet: 4 Key Foods, 4-Minute Workouts, Four Weeks to the Body You Want (2018)
Celebrity trainer and former marine Erin Oprea’s motto is “lean and clean.” Her unique 4 x 4 diet shows you how to get clean by reducing the 4 major hitches in most diets: sugar, starch, sodium, and alcohol. She also tells you how to get lean, using her 4-minute tabata workouts: 8 repititions of 20 seconds of high-intensity moves, then 10 seconds of rest. Within 4 weeks, the average person will be able to reduce bloating and belly fat; gain increased muscle definition in the arms, legs, and stomach; improve cardiovascular endurance; and break…
7. The Last Reaper: An Intergalactic Space Opera Adventure (2019)
When a high value scientist is taken hostage inside the galaxy’s most dangerous prison, Halek Cain is the only man for the job.The last remaining survivor of the Reaper program, Hal is an unstoppable force of fuel and madness. A veteran amputee-turned-cyborg, he has a history of violence and a talent for killing that is unmatched by any soldier. With the promise of freedom as his only incentive, he’ll stop at nothing to earn back his life from the people who made him, imprisoned him, and were to afraid to let him die.Experience this exciting beginning to a brand new…
8. Opera: A History in Documents (2002)
In Opera: A History in Documents, Piero Weiss presents a wide-ranging, vivid, and carefully researched tour of operatic history. A unique anthology of primary source material, this survey includes 115 chronologically organized selections–passages from private letters, public decrees, descriptions of first performances, portions of libretti, literary criticism and satire, newspaper reviews and articles, and poetry and fiction–from opera’s late Renaissance infancy through modern times. This first-hand testimony allows students to experience the history of…
9. Eyewitness Companions: Opera (2006)
The authors present a book featuring everything you need to know about opera. It includes over 160 operas by 66 composers from around the world, and spans 400 years of music drama from late-Renaissance Italy to the latest exciting work from contemporary names including Philip Glass and Thomas Ades.” #295,330 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #831 in Music History & Criticism (Books) #665 in Opera Music (Books) #34573 in Reference (Books) Would you like to ?If you are a seller for this product, would you like to ?…
10. 100 Great Operas And Their Stories: Act-By-Act Synopses (1989)
An invaluable guide for both casual opera fans and aficionados, 100 Great Operas is perhaps the most comprehensive and enjoyable volume of opera stories ever written. From La Traviata to Aïda, from Carmen to Don Giovanni, here are the plots of the world’s best-loved operas, told in an engaging, picturesque, and readable manner. Written by noted opera authority Henry W. Simon, this distinctive reference book contains act-by-act descriptions of 100 operatic works ranging from the historic early seventeenth century masterpieces of Monteverdi to the modern classics of Gian-Carlo Menotti….
Best Opera Books: The Ultimate List
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Genesis and download some opera books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
Petroleum Rock Mechanics. Drilling Operations and Well Design
Author(s): Bernt Aadnoy and Reza Looyeh (Auth.)
ID: 1016946, Publisher: Gulf Professional Pub, Year: [2011], Size: 9 Mb, Format: pdf
Silent weapons for quiet wars : an introduction programming manual. Operations research technical manual TW-SW7905.1
Author(s): Anonymous
ID: 1611508, Publisher: , Year: [1986?], Size: 538 Kb, Format: pdf
Development Co-Operation Reviews : No. 35: Ireland.
Author(s): OECD
ID: 2147923, Publisher: Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development, Year: Set. 1999, Size: 542 Kb, Format: pdf
Please note that this booklist is not absolute. Some books are truly record-breakers according to USA Today, others are drafted by unknown writers. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant resources you could recommend? Drop a comment if you have any feedback on the list.