from dissertations, and to omit journalistic work, and we have little idea how
many conference papers we never find.
In this context I have approached the formidable patch called opera litera-
ture, which may in fact be too large for a valid bibliography. With the millions of
writings in the field, I cannot claim more than a slight, often secondary, acquain-
tance. Since World War II opera has become musicology’s busiest field. Seeing all I
could and finding out as much as possible about what I could not see, and hoping
that the rest was not vital to the task, I have tried to identify a core literature and
say some useful things about it. I hope the (impossible) result is not a complete
mirage. To quote from The Fairy Queen,
We hope to please, but if some critic here
Fond of his wit, designs to be severe,
Let not his patience be worn out too soon,
In a few years we shall be all in tune.***In revising the first edition, I have felt like someone racing to catch a train as it
leaves the station. At first it seems that the platform dash should succeed, but as
the train gathers speed human acceleration is sorely tested. Keeping pace with the
rush of operatic literature is an exhilarating run. I hope I have been able to make a
movie finish (clinging to the last car), so that the result is a useful list of the core
writings. There were 714 numbered entries in the first edition, extended to 2,
in this one. Hundreds of other items are included without separate numbers as
citations within composite books, and there are references, passim,to related
materials listed in other bibliographies.
Among those other bibliographies are numerous titles in the Garland Com-
poser Resource Manuals series. The expert guidance in those volumes has saved
me countless hours and given me confidence that I have not overlooked significant
material. The search for that material has taken me through the back files of the
principal scholarly journals, dissertation lists, websites, and the online catalogues
of the Library of Congress and other great libraries of Europe and America. I have
also followed the “citation trail,” noting what writings are referred to by the
important authors. Most of the research was done in the University of Chicago
Library.
The scope of the compilation is limited to writings on the opera of the West-
ern world, covering Europe, North America, and South America; there is also
attention to Australia and New Zealand. All kinds of opera are included, but
musicals are not. Materials in English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish are
emphasized, but contributions in other languages are entered when needed for
certain topics. Access to the scholarship in Slavic languages is usually through ref-
erences to other books that cover it.
I have included writings that give reliable summaries of their topics, those
that are significant contributions to the development of scholarship, those that
xvi Introduction