Offers a tounge-in-cheek description of the history of opera and such composers as Bizet, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Wagner, Verdi, and Puccini.
Authors Note And Acknowledgments vii Preface ix Maureen Forrester Foreword xiii Anna Russell Starting A Trend Monteverdi and Crowd 3(6) A Cut Above The Castrati Lose Their Marbles 9(10) Serious Buffoonery Opera Seria and Opera Buffa 19(8) French Bred Lully, Rameau and Gluck 27(8) Bizet 35(4) The English Channel Handel 39(14) Tutonic Tunesmiths Haydn 53(4) Mozart 57(8) Beethoven 65(6) Russian Into Things Glinka, The Mighty Five and Tchaikovsky 71(12) Ulterior Leitmotifs Wagner 83(10) Italian Sausage Machines Vivaldi 93(4) Rossini 97(6) Bellini 103(6) Donizetti 109(4) Verdi 113(10) Puccini 123(12) 20th Century Leftovers Epilogue 135(4) Index 139(5) About the Author & Cartoonist 144(1) Copyright Notice 145(1) Other books of interest 146(5) Note from the publisher 151
