The next generation of opera fans will love this attractive introduction to 15 of the world's greatest operas, from Mozart's Magic Flute to Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. The stories are told in detail, accompanied by lovely illustrations of the sort you used to find in children's fairy tale books. First up is Aida, Verdi's great opera set in ancient Egypt with rousing choruses and almost always presented with a spectacular set and costumes. Like many grand operas it ends with the heroic deaths of the main characters, but there is a lot of excitement en route. Amahl and the Night Visitors, by contrast, is a smaller scale retelling of the story of Christmas by Gian Carlo Menotti. Rossini's Barber of Seville is the prequel to Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, recounting Count Almaviva's romance with Rosina as he snatches her from the predatory attentions of Dr Bartolo with the help of his irrepressible manservant Figaro. La Boheme returns us to tragedy with the doomed love story of Rodolfo and Mimi, and includes several famous arias such as "Your tiny hand is frozen". Wagner is represented by his great life-affirming masterpiece The Mastersingers of Nuremberg, while Mozart's opera The Magic Flute takes us into the mystical realm of good and evil, though the Queen of the Night, famous for her stunning coloratura aria, turns out not to be so bad after all. The witch in Hansel and Gretel gets her comeuppance in Engelbert Humperdinck's jolly fairytale. Finally Gershwin's Porgy and Bess brought opera into new territory with the waterfront casinos of the southern states of America. Ages 7-12. 160pp, 27 x 24cm, softback, exquisite full-page colour paintings on many double spreads.
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