2000-04-19 Essential!

Essentially it is a book of recommendations - 100 CDs to buy and listen to: Fundamentally it is a well-written introduction to the music, the composers, librettos and performers.

100 Opera recordings have been selected, not for being the best, but for being "key works by seminal figures." The composers are arranged alphabetically (from Adam to Weill) and the works listed chronologically under each composer. The earliest opera listed is Monteverdi's, 'L'Orfeo', the most recent, Birtwistle's, 'Gawain'.

Each recording is reviewed in approximately 500 words. This includes a listing of performers, a cover photograph (useful when searching in a shop, as I found out) and the most recent (almost) catalogue number.

The reviews follow the formula of: Introduction, plot, significant points about the music/text and an assessment of the recommended performance. This works well: Context is given to the individual Opera (e.g. Britten is quoted on Tosca; you also find out which Opera was "too tough for the teeth of the Viennese" and who was called an "old crank") and some guide as to what to listen out for in the music (the "darting around" and "shimmering orchestral textures" of Ligeti; the "exhilarating" role of Canio in 'I Pagliacci' requiring "stamina, flexibility and power"; the strings imitating the breezes, the bassoon used for comedy/ horn for more serious episodes in Mozart's 'Cosi fan tutti' - credited with being "the most perfect ensemble opera ever written"). The recordings are selected intelligently to give as wide a range of performers and performing styles as possible whilst preserving the quality of both performance and recording. They really are benchmarks against which other recordings and live performances can be measured! All 100 should remain in the catalogues of both Europe and North America for a long time (although the selection criteria mean the listed performances are frequently top price). I already own a number of the recordings (some on records) and agreed with what was said about them.

As a test of the book, I slipped a copy into my trouser pocket (it is that small), went off to the only decent music store in Moscow (Melodyia) and selected two recordings I would not normally have considered buying - both turned out to be absolute gems!

A word of warning - one of the recordings has already changed its cover (the book warns this can happen) but the listings were detailed enough for me to identify it without any problem.

I am really impressed by the range of selection, the clarity of the writing, the handy, well-made format - and the price - of this book. It will be an essential guide (not dictator) to my purchasing over the next few years (and the Rough Guide to 100 Classical CDs is almost as good).