The Metropolitan Opera: Stories of the Great Operas

Explores a large area of repertory that lies beyond the basic, with considerable attention paid to American opera, but includes also the less familiar operas of Rossini, Verdi, Massenet, and Wagner. Freeman has organized his material in fastidious though not excessive detail and presents it in a down-to-earth, conversational manner. His highly informative essays on the composers are particularly valuable. George Jellinek"