American Opera

University of Illinois Press

“Tired of Tannhäuser? Bored with Bohème? Then open your imagination to the unexpected pleasures of American opera. With this generous, accessible overview newly in paperback, Elise K. Kirk provides a vital history of one of America's liveliest arts. A treasure trove of information on a substantial, heretofore neglected repertoire, American Opera sketches musical traits and provides plot summaries, descriptions of sets and stagings, and biographical details about performers, composers, and librettists for more than one hundred American operas, many of which have received unjustifiably scant attention since their premieres."