Public-domain ebook
by Gustav Kobbé
Language: en3,464 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Music·Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #40540.
The Complete Opera Book is a reference work that pairs concise plot synopses with musical excerpts. The 1919 first edition, prepared after Gustav Kobbé’s untimely death, presents a systematic survey of the operatic repertoire, beginning with early Italian experiments and moving through the three great national schools, Italian, French, and German, before cataloguing individual composers from Gluck to Puccini and beyond. Its structure follows a chronological “Schools of Opera” framework, then proceeds to detailed entries for each composer, complete with illustrated portraits, stage scenes, and a selection of 400 leading airs rendered in musical notation. The introductory material explains that the e‑book has been cleaned of obvious typographical errors while preserving the author’s original interchanges of foreign terms, and that any ambiguous corrections are flagged in transcriber’s notes.
Written in the scholarly yet accessible prose of the early twentieth century, the book reflects the era’s reverence for opera as a high art form. Kobbé’s voice is that of an informed commentator who emphasizes the importance of language, vocal artistry, and historical context, often drawing vivid comparisons between schools and composers. Readers who enjoy a blend of musicology, performance history, and visual documentation, students, opera enthusiasts, and performers seeking a compact yet richly illustrated guide, will find this volume a valuable companion for exploring the stories and signature melodies that have shaped the operatic stage.
The opening · free to read
This e-book was prepared from the 1919 first edition. Gustav Kobbé was killed in a sailing accident in 1918 and apparently did not have the opportunity to make corrections before the book was published. There are consequently numerous typographical, spelling, and formatting errors and inconsistencies in the first edition, the most obvious of which have been corrected without note in this e-book. Ambiguous errors are noted in a [Transcriber's Note] where they appear. The author's deliberate interchanges of foreign words or names and their equivalents in English or other languages have been preserved as they appear in the original. Misplaced Table of Contents and index entries have been moved to their proper places.
Photograph illustrations have been moved so as not to break up the flow of the text.
Italic text is marked with underscores, and bold text with =equal signs=.]
The book keeps going
Reading is free forever. Sign up and watch scenes appear while you read.
Scenes Storieta drew for other classics.
New illustrated classics
Once or twice a month: the latest books to get full character casts, scene art, and free comic editions. No account needed.
