Opera for Dummies (Book and Audio CD)
by David Pogue, Scott Speck

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Book Reviews of Opera for Dummies (Book and Audio CD)

Book Review: Read this one, irrespect to your relation to opera - Fun!
Summary: 5 Stars

But make no mistake, this is not "merely" a funny book, it is a well researched miniature course on opera. If schoolteachers and professors taught the way the authors of this book do, I'd been a Nobel laureate years ago as opposed to not yet... Imagine attending an opera class taught by Victor Borge or Eddie Izzard , and you'll get my drift.

With a sound music background the authors can make generalizations of opera phenomena, getting beginner going; e.g. telling what kind of "voices" usually play what kinds of characters, etc.

Even if you will never go to opera, reading this book is worth your time (and I am not related to the authors).

I am writing these lines at 1:55 a.m. while suffering from stomach influenza and fever, and although I feel like I'd eaten acouple of kilos of soap, shampoo and baking powder, I don't mind being awake as this book keeps me company.

P.S. A minor minus, but not one concerning the book itself: The enclosed CD tried to install Quicktime without informing me whether it would be replacing my newer version with an older one or vice versa. When I tried to cancel the installation (leaving my version of Qt intact and skipping the installation of the version on the CD was not an option) my Win98 halted like a donkey, and only got going after two power-ups and some automatic file recovering. I might just stick to listening to the CD with my CD player while browsing the book. (No big deal, really.)

By the way, during my life I have seen one opera, Don Pasquale. I considered it higly (and hopefully unimitably) boring. This stomach thing is much more fun than that opera was. (Feh!) Maybe one day I will go to see some other opera; now that I know which ones I might hate the least.

A flu patient from Finland.

Summary of Opera for Dummies (Book and Audio CD)

?Scott Speck is a great communicator of classical music?. Concert audiences and readers alike can?t help getting caught up in the joy of his subject.?
? David Styers, American Symphony Orchestra League

Opera is weird. Everybody wears makeup and sings all the time. Even when they?re singing your language, which is rare, you still can?t understand the words. Women play men, men play women, and 45-year-olds play teenagers. All the main characters seem to get killed off. And when somebody dies, he takes ten minutes to sing about it. Yet, for all its weirdness, an operatic experience is an experience in breathtaking beauty. When you hear a soprano float a soft high C, or a tenor singing a love song, or a full-throated chorus in the climax of a scene?s dramatic finale, you can?t help getting goosebumps.

Want to experience all that beauty for yourself, but don?t know where to begin? Opera For Dummies is an excellent place to start. Written by an acclaimed conductor and a musical director, this friendly guide tells you what you need to know to:

• Understand opera from the Baroque and Roman periods through today
• Interpret characters, orchestra, chorus, and other players
• Understand what?s happening, both on stage and off
• Choose the best seats
• Identify famous operas
• Build a great collection of opera recordings
• Locate opera sites and chat groups online

Whether you?re interested in attending a live opera, want to build a collection of recordings, or just want to be able to talk about opera intelligently, Opera For Dummies is for you. Among other things, you?ll explore:

• The words, the music, and the people who sing it
• The history of opera and the lives of the great composers
• Going to the opera ? including tips for getting tickets, preparing for the opera, dressing for the opera, and more
• Musical and theatrical conventions used in opera
• In-depth synopses of the world?s most beloved operas

On the bonus CD you?ll find:

• More than 60 minutes of music compiled especially for the book
• A multimedia piece for PC or MAC

Wonder what it is about opera that can make a grown person cry like a baby? Find out in Opera For Dummies.

There are, however, a few glaring errors in this book that demand correction: Scott Speck and David Pogue confuse the opera chorus with the supers (the "extras" who march in armies, wait on tables, and never, ever sing), and--even worse--maintain that soloists and choristers are two entirely separate breeds. In fact, there's not a soloist alive who has never done chorus work--and choristers frequently do solo work as well. These are rather foolish mistakes for a pair of acclaimed experts to make in a book that wants to be taken as a basic guide to opera.

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