Product Description

The most comprehensive one-volume collection of unabridged opera lyrics ever published. It features virtually all of the operas that are being performed in the foremost opera houses and concert halls today. The text is presented in its original language as well as in an English translation. To enrich the experience, a short synopsis precedes each libretto. 101 Opera Librettos is indispensable for opera lovers and everyone curious about the literary richness of the worlds most beloved vocal musical performances.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #477032 in Books
• Published on: 1996-01-10
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1474 pages

Amazon.com
You're never going to haul this book to the opera house, it is true, but, on the other hand, you'll probably never again have to fret over where to find a libretto for most standard repertory operas. This massive, 1,474-page (plus endpapers) volume, which could readily double as a doorstop or a booster seat at the theater, contains all the words, in their original languages (for the most part) and in English, of 101 out-of-copyright operas. The selections run the gamut from Ludwig van Beethoven's Fidelio through Carl Maria von Weber's Euryanthe, with scores of stories in between. In addition to the word-for-word libretti, a brief précis of each plot is also provided.

There are some puzzling omissions--Mozart's Così fan tutte and Abduction from the Seraglio--and puzzling inclusions as well: Paderewski's Manru and Horatio Parker's Mona are not considered standard operas by any authority that readily springs to mind. Borodin's Prince Igor is, incomprehensibly, given in Italian and English (the Russian people improbably sing, "Ad Igor, signor nostro, vittoria"), as are Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov and Tchaikovsky's Evgeny Onegin. There are also some annoying little errors that could have been avoided with more careful proofreading ("Madam Butterfly"?), and the paper used is disappointingly cheap. Still, with these caveats in mind, The Book of 101 Opera Librettos is a very useful book for the money, a one-stop shop for many of the operas you're likely to encounter. Just be sure to read the libretto before you leave for the opera house.

Language Notes
Text: English, French, German, Italian

Customer Reviews

Borders on misrepresentation
As both an opera singer and avid fan, I bought this book in hopes of having a handy translation for all operas I might be interested in, and a way to follow the Met afternoon broadcasts. The first time I turned to use it, I found out I'd been had! First, the IT DOES NOT ALWAYS INCLUDE THE ORIGINAL TEXTS, which is indicated prominently on the cover. For many operas not written in Italian, they provide Italian librettos (e.g. Eugene Onegin and La Fille du Regiment). So you cannot follow an actual opera with this text in some cases. (I did not check every one, but note that they do have some German libretti, so the libretti are not all in Italian.)

Second, as noted by the voice teacher reviewer, these translations are not accurate, and sometimes laughably (and sadly) wrong. Finally, both the inclusions and exclusions are jarring - L'Africana (Meyerbeer) and Euryanthe (Weber) IN vs. Cosi Fan Tutte (Mozart) and Turandot (Puccini) OUT? So you don't always find the quite popular opera you are looking for in the book. A big waste of $$ and space - the size of a small ottoman. My guess is that this was patched together from sources that were not protected by copyright, or something of the sort, because who would want to copyright these translations?

A collection of reprinted turn-of-the-century librettos
The pros and cons of this book are both the natural result of what it really is: a collection of reprinted, out-of-copyright libretti from the 1900s and 1910s. These are the libretti you would have seen for sale if you'd attended the Met a hundred years or so ago, newly typeset but otherwise unchanged.

This is good in that it lets us get 100 libretti cheap; there's no way the publishers would have been able to afford new translations of everything.

On the other hand, this means that the selection is a bit odd. In general, only librettos from 1921 and before are going to be out of copyright, which explains why operas (like "Turandot") composed after that date can't be included. This also explains why operas such as "Cosi fan tutte", which was rarely if ever performed in most American opera houses, are absent--Cosi didn't really enter the American repertory until the 1950s Met production.

In addition, the book can only present the versions of the operas as they were performed at American houses at that time. This means that the book omits materially traditionally cut by whatever house they got the libretto from (most likely the Met). If that house performed a Russian opera in Italian translation, you'll get an Italian and English libretto in this book as well. And the English translations themselves are generally fairly archaic and flowery, as was the style in American opera houses at the time.

So if your needs are the same as an early 20th century opera attendee--getting a general idea of the story or a more-or-less accurate copy of the original-language libretto--then this is a good value. I find it a very useful resource just because it is so comprehensive. But if you're looking for a deep understanding of an individual libretto, or a quality modern English translation, you'll need to look elsewhere.

Borderline garbage
Not only does this have "puzzling omissions" (6 Massenet operas -- no Manon!), but it lacks at least one important opera libretto (Verdi's Falstaff) that, according to the cover of the book, is supposed to be included! The libretti that are included have many cuts and errors, and the translations are poor compared to what you get in an average CD insert. It's like they compiled the cheapest, laziest translations available and passed the savings on to you. This would get my lowest rating, except that the price is right and there is obscure stuff in here that may otherwise be hard to find.