The New Grove Book of Operas: A Distinguished Reference for a Tawdry Price!

About a month ago I shelled out some big bucks when I bought The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, which is unarguably the ultimate single book on opera. (Actually, it's a four-volume book, and each volume is tall, fat, and hefty (about 6.5 pounds).

Now, speaking to those of you whose interest in opera doesn't dictate springing for the pricey and bulky four-volume set, consider, instead, The New Grove Book of Operas, which is a (relatively!) "compact," 3.5-pound, single-volume edition that, in its own right, is plenty comprehensive and large enough for the majority of the opera-loving population. With its coverage of some 264 operas, you can rest assured that--essentially--the entire "standard repertoire" is covered.

Mind, Berlioz' The Damnation of Faust is curiously absent. Still, by and large, this book covers the reasonably frequently performed operas and then some. And all the entries here were extracted--virtually verbatim--from the pages of the ultimate authority on opera, the four-volume New Grove Dictionary of Opera.

Moreover, speaking to those of you who already own the four-volume New Grove Dictionary of Opera, if you'd also appreciate a "compact," "armchair," "Baby Grove" adjunct to your "Big Daddy" four-volume set conveniently at hand for the most commonly consulted operas' synopses, this 1996 edition might be found for well under ten bucks! [See my below comparison of this 1996 edition to the only slightly costlier 2006.] Admittedly, owning this edition is unnecessary if you already have the "unabridged", 4-volume set; but it's continually gratifying for any unapologetically lazy, opera-loving couch potato! (This wieldy, 9.5-inch-tall tome weighs only about half as much as any volume of the huge 4-volume set.)

The format of this book is about what you'd expect from an encyclopedia specializing in full-length, rather detailed opera synopses and commentaries (but not operatic composer biographies; performers; venues; or very much else). You can basically just find any given opera by searching for its title alphabetically throughout the bulk of the 758 pages (but also see my below explanation of the handy, three-page index at the back of this book).

Contrasting this book with, for example, the 2001 edition of The Penguin Opera Guide (or, better still, the original 1993 version of the latter, which was titled The Viking Opera Guide and is still a superlative reference--if you can find a copy at a reasonable price), the entries are generally a bit lengthier and more detailed with this single-volume Grove than with its worthy (non-Grove) competition.

On the other hand, given that this single-volume Grove only covers about 264 operas while The Viking Opera Guide covers a whopping 1,500, it's important to note that this "Baby Grove" is clearly intended to cover the "standard repertoire (plus a bit more)"; it is not intended to be anywhere near as comprehensive as the "unabridged", four-volume Grove, which covers "over 1,800" operas (a great many of which are, of course, utterly obscure and seldom, if ever, performed today).

At the tail end of this book, there's a three-page "Index of Operas under Composers" where you can find the composer's last name alphabetically. [The composer's birth and death dates are likewise provided there, by the way.] Page numbers are given for that composer's operas included in this book.

I should also mention that two additional, separate indexes are provided near the back of the book:

The "Index of Role Names" spans about 23 pages and is basically an alphabetized list of principal roles in some 264 operas covered by this book. Alongside each role name is the "voice type" (e.g., "s" = soprano) for which the role is written, as well as the title of the opera and the name of the composer.

The "Index of Incipits of Arias, Ensembles, etc." allows the reader to look up the initial words of any item from an opera and find its source. Each entry in this index includes the singer (or singers in an ensemble); the opera title; the act/scene number; and the composer.

Then, too, there's a handy, ten-page "Glossary" of operatic terms near the back of the book. While this section certainly can't fully replace the four-volume Grove Dictionary edition's seemingly countless (and lengthier) entries on such operatic terms, it can go a fairly long way as a very basic reference. And given that the size of the font used throughout the book is "rather small yet still legible," many operatic terms are actually explained at (barely) sufficient length here.

The above photo of this 1996 (first) edition doesn't do justice to the gilt-highlighted dust jacket's cover art, which, to my sensibilities, looks considerably classier (and perhaps a bit more "scholarly" or "highbrow") than that of the somewhat glitzier 2006 (second) edition.

I recently received a "Like New", 758-page hardcover copy of this 1996 edition of The New Grove Book of Operas from a third-party seller at Amazon. [I paid an unusually low price of $3.67 (plus shipping), and so it can truly pay to patiently "comparison shop" on-line at such sites as Amazon; Half.com; eBay; and Abebooks.com.] Its dust jacket (including the striking bit of gilt highlighting) is tastefully beautiful indeed, and its brownish-red and creamily off-white hues harmonize nicely with those of its big brother (the complete, 4-volume New Grove Dictionary of Opera).

I placed this 1996 edition side-by-side with the 2006 edition. (I have the latter checked out from the public library.) And not only do I like the fact that the 1996 leans ever-so-slightly more toward older, "classic" operas than relatively recently composed (and, frankly, of precious little interest to me) operas, but also--somewhat to my surprise--I liked many of this 1996 edition's illustrations better than their counterparts in the ostensibly new-and-improved edition. More than a few operas that got a nice B & W illustration in the 1996 edition get no illustration whatsoever in the 2006 edition. And I think there are, overall, just as many (the dust jacket cover says "64 pages" of) color plates in the 1996 as in the newer edition, the biggest difference being that the illustrations in the newer edition often feature very recent opera productions (a smattering of which look more grotesque than beautiful to my sensibilities).

Oh, there are both advantages and disadvantages to either the 1996 or the 2006 edition, but, on balance, I prefer the first edition's overall "look and feel" to that of the "updated" second edition (which, actually, is mostly a verbatim reprint of the 1996).

The Upshot:

If you want/need an authoritative, single-volume reference that is primarily intended to provide synopses and commentaries for the operas included in "the standard repertoire" (plus somewhat more), then look no further, this is the book for you. The New Grove Book of Operas is not only affordable but also provides entries that are generally somewhat lengthier and more detailed than even such worthy references as (the 2001 edition of) The Penguin Opera Guide or the (1993) Viking Opera Guide.

However, if you want/need an authoritative reference whose entries are generally somewhat briefer but which covers many more operas, then do consider either the aforementioned (2001) Penguin or (1993) Viking alternatives, or (if price is no object and you've got plenty of shelf space) consider the ultimate opera reference, the four-volume New Grove Dictionary of Opera.

Of course, if you're really, really "into" opera books, do as I do: own both the four-volume Grove and this single-volume "Baby Grove", and keep the latter conveniently beside your armchair. Plus, for good measure, own a copy of the 1993 Viking Opera Guide (or the entirely similar but not quite so comprehensive, well-illustrated, or aesthetically gratifying 2001 edition of The Penguin Opera Guide), too!

In any case, my best wishes to all of you opera-loving (or "opera-curious") souls out there! :-)