Encyclopaedic, browsable; alphabetical: exploring nearly two thousand operatic works by some eight hundred and fifty composers as diverse as Bellini and Britten, Handel and Hindemith, Massenet and Monteverdi, Rameau and Rossini, Weber and Weill, with biographical sketches for each composer's important works, each work's genre and duration, the librettist and the libretto's source, the premiere dates, a synopsis, and a musical discussion; revised and expanded to offer fresh insights into such perennial favourites as Mozart, Verdi and Wagner, and examines stage works by composers not primarily remembered for their operas – Schumann, Faure and Schoenberg; updated to include the latest operas by contemporary composers worldwide, including Ades, Carter, Holliger, Macmillan, Picker, Reich, Saariaho and Tan Dun; illustrated, 1,100+pp., indexed; first published as 'The Viking Opera Guide' in 1995.
