"Opera intertwines the visual action of the theater with the powerful emotionality of music, and yet it is no less powerful when experienced through recordings. In this guide to the best operas and their recordings, Anthony Tommasini, chief classical music critic of The New York Times, delves into the ways story and music combine to create the subtle but telling moments that move us." "Tommasini brings to life the history of opera performance and the singers and conductors who have come to define the roles and the music. He chooses recordings that continue to delight over the years, such as Arturo Toscanini's La Boheme, captured for posterity fifty years after he conducted the opera's 1896 premiere; the darkly comic interpretation of Mozart's Don Giovanni conducted by Josef Krips, who found inspiration in the libretto's title page; and Leontyne Price's Leonora in the famously tragic Il Trovatore - Tommasini's vision of the perfect Verdi soprano. He also names his choices for the best contemporary operas available on CD, including Gyorgy Ligeti's already canonical 1970s opera, Le Grand Macabre, which marries comic books and Armageddon. In these one hundred original essays, Tommasini captures the essence of each opera's musical tapestry, the theatricality of its story, and the way a particular singer's voice can enrich the sense of a character simply by imbuing it with a raspy, reedy, or lilting quality. For aficionados and newcomers alike, Tommasini is the perfect guide to the passions and playfulness of the opera."--BOOK JACKET.