Opera 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Opera - Paperback

by Fred Plotkin (Author), Placido Domingo (Author)

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 the opera house. Fred Plotkin, an internationally respected writer and teacher about opera who for many years was performance manager of the Metropolitan Opera, introduces the reader (whatever his or her level of musical knowledge) to all the elements that make up opera, including:

• A brief, entertaining history of opera;
• An explanation of key operatic concepts, from vocal types to musical conventions;
• Hints on the best way to approach the first opera you attend and how to best understand what is happening both offstage and on;
• Lists of recommended books and recordings, and the most complete traveler's guide to opera houses around the world.

Author Biography

Fred Plotkin is the author of the bestselling and acclaimed Opera 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Opera, which is the standard text in North American for discovering the glories of opera. He writes for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Opera News, Das Opernglas, and Gourmet.