The Metropolitan Opera

Following the first volume, this second book provides the plots of a further 124 operas. Each composer featured is the subject of a short biographical sketch, with details of the opera's first performances, the librettists and the cast, and a detailed summary of the plot. Opera-goers are guided through the performance, and the principal arias and choruses are indicated where they occur in the story. The operas in this volume include: Monteverdi's "Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria", Lully's "Atys", Gluck's "Alceste" and Rossini's "William Tell", with contemporary works such as Philip Glass's "The Voyage".