The Grove Book of Operas

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Book Reviews of The Grove Book of Operas

Book Review: The expected Grove quality and at a very competitive price.
Summary: 4 Stars

My one major criticism was the lack of a time-line/chronology of works in one place. This may seem a rather small detail, indeed most people would find the alphabetical ordering of the book more accessible. However, when one wishes to see where an individual work fits in to an individual composer's overall list of works (or into a particular musical period) this can only be done through lengthy cross-referencing. Another welcome addition would have been a recommended recording for each opera - especially for some of the lesser known works that are often not readily available. For these to be my real reservations with the book, however, tells you about it's strength in other areas. Indeed, if all this was included in the guide it would be very difficult for one to justify the purchasing of the 4 volume dictionary.

Overall, congratulations to Grove for making their opera material available to greater numbers by offering a very affordable alternative to those who were loathe to purchase the full dictionary.

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