Opera : A History in Documents

This work collates over 100 primary-source documents for students of the history of opera.

The varied selections - which include letters, excerpts of journals, bits of libretti, and contemporary criticism - provide eye-witness commentary on the world of opera from its late-Renaissance infancy through modern times.

Each selection is introduced by an extensive headnote that both explains the document's context and positions it in the book's overall narrative.