Historical Dictionary of Opera - (Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts) by Scott L Balthazar (Hardcover)

About the Book

The information in the Historical Dictionary of Opera will help the reader identify central figures, works, concepts, and trends in the history of opera through selectively chosen entries that provide essential information and integrate that content within broad social or styl...

Book Synopsis

The information in the Historical Dictionary of Opera will help the reader identify central figures, works, concepts, and trends in the history of opera through selectively chosen entries that provide essential information and integrate that content within broad social or stylistic narratives. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 300 cross-referenced dictionary entries on important persons, composers, individual keystone operas, cities and terms. This book is a vital reference tool for students, teachers, and to all opera lovers, performers, and composers who seek information about the development of the genre.

Review Quotes

Balthazar (West Chester Univ.) has conceived this historical dictionary as an academic textbook in alphabetical format, with entries for important composers, librettists, performers, impresarios, publishers, individual keystone operas, major cities, and terms. In entries for composers and other persons, Balthazar keeps biographical information to a minimum and emphasizes commentary on their achievements. Articles dealing with composers (e. g., Mozart, Verdi), librettists (e. g., Da Ponte, Boito), and singers (e. g., Callas, Pavarotti) present succinct accounts of their unique abilities and achievements. However, several composers lack entries, including Johann Strauss II (his compatriot, Lehár, is included), Humperdinck, and Gershwin, who are still represented in today's repertoire. Included is a useful piece titled "Categories of Opera," which provides cross-references to articles on the most important types of opera and operetta. Balthazar also surveys the contributions that women have made to opera. He provides an extensive bibliography of English-language books, dissertations, and articles published during the last 50 years. This dictionary will be a valuable acquisition for academic libraries with modest budgets. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty.

Balthazar presents an accessible dictionary of opera for students, as well as enthusiasts, performers, and composers, that contains about 350 entries on composers, librettists, performers, conductors, other figures, terms, stylistic movements, selected key operas, genres, cities, and other topics. It covers the genre from about 1600 to the present in the major Italian, French, German, eastern European nationalist, and British traditions, as well as others like the Spanish and Chinese traditions. Operetta and musical theater are not covered in detail. The introduction surveys opera and its influences and trends.

The latest entry in Scarecrow's Historical Dictionaries of Language and the Arts series covers the entire gamut of opera, from the earliest productions through such contemporaries as Glass and Adams. The dictionary section contains about 350 entries, ranging from a short paragraph to three pages, and mostly focuses on composers. Fewer entries cover significant performers, impresarios, venues, works, and terminology. Every entry includes bolded cross-references, and many feature additional see also references that lead to other entries within the volume. Entries are well written . . . and all are objective rather than subjective. Coverage is heaviest in the golden age of opera, the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. . . .As with other dictionaries in the series, the current volume includes a brief timeline, a short introductory essay, and a good secondary bibliography. Although some might question the need for still another opera reference book, Balthazar does a better job with uniting information on composers, terms, and works than other excellent but more focused single-volume works. . . .This work is recommended for all music collections.

This is a further addition to Scarecrow's excellent Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Artsseries. Covering opera from 1600 to the present day this dictionary will join its companion volumes as a useful quick reference guide for students and, in this case, opera-lovers. . . .The 100 page bibliography that follows the dictionary sequence is a welcome part of such a book whose subject is so well-documented, and this will in itself be incredibly useful to the scholar. This series continues to offer excellent one volume fare in an accessible format while still allowing for browsing that just does not seem to work so effectively via the computer screen. It is thoroughly recommended for all appropriate reference collections.

About the Author

Scott L. Balthazar has been teaching about opera for nearly a quarter century, and he has been studying the field even longer. For the past two decades, he has been Professor of Music History at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. He has written numerous articles on opera and contributed to other encyclopedias on the topic.