Opera: The Autobiography of the Western World (Illustrated Edition)

Since the first performance of the first opera in 1600, operas have been telling stories from myth and history. This book - beginning with the Creation and ending in the present day - is a chronology of myth and history as told in opera. Over 260 paintings and photographs, most in colour, accompany the narrative.

Why were particular myths and historical events important at particular times? Why were the same myths and historical events told in radically different ways? In seeking answers to...