Opera ─ A Beginner's Guide

"Admirably compact. Packed with richly resonant material." Daniel Snowman - Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Historical Research, University of London, and author of The Gilded Stage: A Social History of Opera

"Wilson is a gifted writer and has packed a world of history, culture, and music into her new opera guide." Helen Greenwald - Musicologist, Department of Music History & Musicology, New England Conservatory

"An enlightening, whistle-stop tour of the history of opera. Engaging and easily readable." Clair Rowden - Lecturer, School of Music, Cardiff University

Opera is often dismissed as outdated and elitist, yet it is an art form that explores eternal and universal human concerns - love and death, jealousy and greed, power and loss.

Rescuing opera from tired cliches, this Beginner's Guide takes us on an engaging tour of its fascinating history. Alexandra Wilson examines the factors that have shaped the composition, production, and reception of classic works; charts how they have been performed on both stage and screen; and offers an insider's take on the latest debates about politics, gender, and race in opera. Assessing the art form's place in the modern world, this insightful introduction shows that, far from being inaccessible, opera is something that everyone can enjoy.

Alexandra Wilson is Senior Lecturer in Musicology at Oxford Brookes University. Passionate about bringing opera to a wider audience, she has presented numerous broadcasts for BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4, and given educational talks for the Royal Opera, Glyndebourne Touring Opera, and English National Opera.