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Their Plots, Their Music, and Their Composers
A Handbook
by
Twelfth Edition
Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Company
1897
The object of the compiler of this Handbook is to present to thereader a brief but comprehensive sketch of each of the operascontained in the modern repertory which are likely to be given duringregular seasons. To this end he has consulted the best authorities,adding to the material thus collected his own observations, and ineach case presented a necessarily brief sketch of the composer, thestory of each opera, the general character of the music, its prominentscenes and numbers,—the latter in the text most familiar toopera-goers,—the date of first performances, with a statement of theoriginal cast wherever it has been possible to obtain it, and suchhistorical information concerning the opera and its composition aswill be of interest to the reader. The work has been prepared for thegeneral public rather than for musicians; and with this purpose inview, technicalities have been avoided as far as possible, the aimbeing to give musically uneducated lovers of opera a clearunderstanding of the works they are likely to hear, and thus heightentheir enjoyment. In a word, the operas are described rather thancriticised, and the work is presented with as much thoroughness asseemed possible considering the necessarily brief space allotted toeach. In the preparation of the Handbook, the compiler acknowledgeshis indebtedness to Grove's excellent "Dictionary of Music" for datesand other statistical information; and he has also made free use ofstandard musical works in his library for historical events connectedwith the performance and composition of the operas. It only remains tosubmit this work to opera-goers with the hope that it may add to theirenjoyment and prove a valuable addition to their libraries.—G.P.U.
CHICAGO, August, 1885.