The New York Times Essential Library: Opera: A Critic's Guide to the 100 Most Important Works and the Best Recordings

The New York Times Essential Library: Opera: A Critic's Guide to the 100 Most Important Works and the Best Recordings by Tommasini, Anthony. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780805074598.

An insightful, provocative selection of the best opera performances, chosen by The New York Timess chief classical music critic in one hundred original essays Opera intertwines the drama of the theater with the powerful emotionality of music. In this magical and illuminating guide to the best opera recordings, Anthony Tommasini delves into the ways story and music interweave to create the subtle but telling moments that move us. Tommasini brings to life the rich history of opera performance and the singers and conductors who, over the past century, have come to own the music. He chooses masterworks, such as Arturo Toscaninis La Boheme, captured for posterity fifty years after he conducted the operas 1896 premiere for Puccini, and Leontyne Prices Leonora in Il Trovatore, an encapsulation of the ideal Verdi soprano. For aficionados and newcomers alike, Tommasini is the perfect guide to the passions and playfulness of the opera.