Opera Fans! Which is the Best Book: "The New Penguin Opera Guide;" "The Viking Opera Guide;" Or "The New Grove Dictionary of Opera"?

If you're an operatic newbie (or even a longtime dilettante), you have every right to feel overwhelmed by the plethora of ostensibly "comprehensive" books--including so-called "encyclopedias" or "dictionaries"--on operas and composers. Being myself relatively new to this field, I've been avidly researching as many relevant books as possible, and my conclusion is that there are actually only two really comprehensive general references: (1) the immense, four-volume New Grove Dictionary of Opera (ISBN: 0195221869) ; and (2)The New Penguin Opera Guide (ISBN: 0140514759). [However, the latter book is actually a renamed, 2001 edition of the (1993) Viking Opera Guide (ISBN: 0670812927); and it's not necessarily as good as its antecedent, as I'll explain.

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera is unarguably the ultimate, most comprehensive general reference on opera, but it will cost you a small fortune. Note, however, that (as of this writing) its price has been slashed from nearly four hundred dollars to only $150 at the following page of the Oxford University Press web site:
http://www.us.oup.com/us/catalog/25965/subject/Music/?view=usa&ci=9780195221862

I myself own the four-volume New Grove (i.e., the most commonly available "paperback" edition) as well as The Viking Opera Guide, and I must say that, if you could only own one opera reference, you need look no further than the four-volume The New Grove. Not only does it cover (seemingly!) every opera ever written and every operatic composer in history, but also there are countless entries on "conductors, directors, performers, librettists, literary sources, cities and countries, operatic historians, and opera genres and terminology."

But if you're primarily interested in learning about specific operas and composers (but not "conductors, directors, performers, librettists, literary sources, cities and countries, operatic historians, and opera genres and terminology"), the single-volume New Penguin Opera Guide is approximately as comprehensive as the four-volume New Grove (each covers roughly 2000 operas, albeit the New Grove is said to cover around 2900 composers in its 5448 pages, whereas the New Penguin is said to cover about 850 composers in its 1168 pages). And so, for anyone who either can't afford (or house!) The New Grove or would like a "second opinion" about (almost) any opera (or composer), The New Penguin Opera Guide would, at first blush, seem to be the only way to go.

However, let me explain several not-so-cheery things about The New Penguin that you likely won't read anywhere else. I recently searched the worldwide web for definitive information that would help me determine whether to purchase The New Penguin Opera Guide (published in 2001) or to seek a used copy of its original incarnation, the 1993 Viking Opera Guide. Some sources led me to believe that the original "Viking" version was significantly more comprehensive in its coverage of operas and composers, while still other sources said the very opposite. Only after I got my eager hands on actual copies of both books was I able to discern some noteworthy--and somewhat surprising--distinctions between them.

First, don't be confused by several other (so-called) "Penguin" opera-guide editions that have appeared since 1995. If you buy any "Penguin" opera guide lacking the word "New" in its title, you'll be getting a mere abridgement of the real deal. The only two versions of editor Amanda Holden's book that are truly comprehensive in their coverage of operas (and composers) are: the 2001 New Penguin Opera Guide; and its original antecedent, the 1993 Viking Opera Guide.

Somewhat to my surprise, I discovered that the 1993 "Viking" (a rather fat hardcover with dust jacket) is significantly more to my liking than is the "New Penguin" (an equally fat, and surprisingly heavier, oversized softcover book). Generally, the articles in the 2001 edition have simply been copied verbatim from the 1993. But, textually speaking, there are advantages and disadvantages (i.e., occasional insertions or omissions of particular operas/composers) in both versions, with the older ("Viking") version ending up the definite winner overall. (Surprise!) Generally, the only operas/composers that the "New Penguin" includes but the old "Viking" lacks are relatively recent works/composers. But a somewhat distressing number of older (admittedly relatively less well-known) works/composers (or music historians) are now missing from the "New Penguin" edition. For example, the English music historian Charles Burney (1726-1814) gets both an article and an illustration in the "Viking" but is omitted from the "Penguin." Personally, I have at least as much interest in many of the old, "classic" operas/composers/historians (even when they're somewhat "obscure") than I do in many of their "modern" or "avant-garde" analogs, such as Gavin Bryars and sundry other, not-so-famous figures. Thus, your own preferences in this regard could determine whether you'll favor the "Viking" or the "New Penguin."

Textually, the font in either book is rather small; however, in the "New Penguin" it's relatively fainter and significantly more tiresome to read, whereas in the older "Viking" the text is conspicuously darker, providing much better contrast and legibility.

Above all, the illustrations (all black-and-white, and seldom very large, in either edition) are much more numerous in the "Viking" than the "New Penguin;" moreover, all the illustrations are different (changed) in the newer edition (not consistently better or worse, just different). Along these lines, where the "Benjamin Britten" section got a whopping seven illustrations in the "Viking," it only gets three in the "New Penguin." Almost without exception, any given composer section fares, graphically, at least somewhat better with the "Viking" than the "New Penguin." Indeed, in more than a few instances, a composer section in the "New Penguin" will lack any illustration whatsoever, whereas it'll get at least one illustration in the "Viking."

If you grab either book and rapidly flip through its pages, with the old "Viking" you'll see plenty of blurry "blackness;" but with the "New Penguin" you'll see mostly "whiteness" (i.e., there's a much higher percentage of pages lacking illustrations).

Opposite the title page, the full-page photo in the "Viking" involves a lovely, opera diva circa 1902; by contrast, the analogous graphic in the "New Penguin" is a somewhat smaller image of "Herman" (from Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades) in bed with a grotesquely large skeleton! (Featuring that photo opposite the title page seems in questionable taste.)

And so, with the "New Penguin" edition you (on balance) lose a modest yet significant percentage of the original textual content involving mostly older composers and operas (while you gain a modicum of "new" articles about "modern" composers such as Gavin Bryars), and you lose a great deal of graphical content.

Ironically, there is, on balance, more "audio recording" information detail (for many, not all, of the operas) provided by the 1993 than the 2001 edition. In fact, the latter adds only a modest degree of new information in the way of "recordings" (in the tiny print at the conclusion of each "opera summary")! The 1993 edition not only mentions particular recordings, but, not infrequently, it adds some brief comments regarding the quality of the performance or recording.

The upshot:

If you're not seeking a veritable "encyclopedia" of opera but rather a "general introduction," there is a plethora of worthwhile books available, including (to name but a few): Opera 101 by Fred Plotkin (ISBN: 0786880252) ; Ticket to the Opera by Phil Goulding (ISBN: 0449005666); Opera for Dummies by David Pogue and Scott Speck (ISBN: 0764550101); and, not least, the colorfully delightful little "DK field guide," Opera by Alan Riding and Leslie Dunton-Downer (ISBN: 0756622042). Most such books could be borrowed via public libraries till you're sure which one(s) you'd really like to own.

However, if, instead, you want a truly comprehensive encyclopedia providing helpful synopses and commentaries for (seemingly) every opera ever written (plus biographical content regarding virtually every composer of operas), your choices are two, er, three. Either shell out a small fortune for the four-volume New Grove Dictionary of Opera (ISBN: 0195221869); or spend considerably less for a used copy of the (1993) Viking Opera Guide (ISBN: 0670812927). If you can't find a decent, affordable copy of the "Viking" via the used-book market, then consider settling for its "almost as good" successor, The New Penguin Opera Guide (ISBN: 0140514759), which is essentially a renamed and, on balance, slightly "abridged" version of of the original "Viking."