William Berger (1)

I saw "Falstaff" this weekend and I had wanted to read up on Verdi before I went. The intro to this book is very entertaining and the overview of Verdi's life has a lot of good information. His life was so bound up with Italian nationalism and I'd not read a good summary of the Risorgimento before. The section on Falstaff, the last opera Verdi wrote made me wish I had read it before I saw the opera. A lesson for next time.

On the other hand, Berger goes on about what a bad rap Verdi got from show more the critics, and I have to admit I am not a Verdi fan, but his writing is amusing.

I didn't actually read the whole book but I will put it on the READ shelf. show less

If you want to "leap" into the world of opera, this book makes it feel like baby steps. Highly recommend this book for anyone interested in learning more about opera...a bit of history, opera types, the major composers, performers, and shows. I supplemented the read with YouTube, looking up the operas and performers as I went along. I recommend this read or another like it before listening to your first opera.