752. The Pocket Book of Great Operas, by Henry W. Simon and Abraham Veinus (read 6 Sep 1963) In September 1963 I became much interested in opera and read this book with much appreciation. I also listened to complete recordings of Aida and Carmen and was enthralled. Neither story is such as to enthrall, yet with the music they are stupendous. I went on to listen to Lucia di Lammermoor, saying its music was non-intrusive but its singing was tremendous. The version I heard had Maria Callas as Lucia and I found her tremendously good. I listened to 13 operas complete between September 1963 and Jan 1964. I subscribed to Opera News and listened to the radio broadcasts. But this craze of mine eventually faded and I seldom listen to opera now unless I happen to hear it on TV. But appreciation was fed by this book, and so it was a good thing. ( )

An oldie but a goodie. A nice run down on some of the classics. While probably hard to find now, and superceded by modern attempts at the same thing, this is a good reference for beginners if you find it somewhere. ( )