Opera

These unusually handsome and informative volumes for older children cover major episodes in music history. They tell the stories of important composers and performers, while also explaining details of instrument construction, fundamentals of music theory, and related historical information. Accompanying full-color illustrations have detailed captions and labels. These volumes make fine introductions to elementary music appreciation classes, but they also provide pleasant casual reading to young music lovers.Chronicled here are four centuries of music drama, starting with seventeenth-century bel canto, the operas of Gluck, the eighteenth-century classicists led by Mozart and Rossini, the grand operas of Verdi and Wagner, and much more.