opera

Each book contains a history of the opera, a synopsis of the story, a complete libretto in its original language as well as in English.

Madama Butterfly concerns the disastrous results of a young American naval officer's marriage to a pretty geisha.

As a hot-blooded young corporal in the Spanish cavalry stationed near Seville, Don Jose is ordered to arrest Carmen, a young, flirtatious Gypsy woman, for assaulting a co-worker. Greatly charmed by her, Jose allows her to escape. He deserts the army, kills two men on Carmen's account, and takes up a life as a robber and smuggler. He is insanely jealous of Carmen, who is unfaithful to him, and when she refuses to change on his behalf, he kills her and surrenders himself to the authorities.

Giuseppe Verdi's sentimental favorite is the story of Violetta, the self-sacrificing courtesan who sells her jewels to keep her younger lover living in bucolic bliss.

Story of Thea Kronborg, who rose from humble origins to the top of the opera world through her own hard work and the support of others.

Alma the cat loves to sing and dreams of one day of singing on stage with her mistress, Madame SoSo, an opera singer.

Angus MacMouse's dreams of escaping his dreary life of hunger and cold on the streets of New York come true when he happens into the Brooklyn Opera House, creates a sensation, and makes a new friend, Rosemary.