Grand opera Book

I have read this book several times in the last 20 years and it's time to write a review. The author highlights just 8 "well-loved" operas.

I loved this book: 1) it is very readable for opera novices 2) you can dip in and out of it easily if you just want to read about a specific opera 3) the author reveals the actual history against which the opera is set (just like movies, they took liberties with the truth) 4) it helped me better understand and enjoy the operas I saw.

Every opera is followed by a "Notes" section and there is a bibliography at the end. Highly recommended.