Book Review

First Nights at the Opera
by Thomas Forrest Kelly

This is kind of a sequel to Kelly's First Nights, but focusing on opera. He again takes five major works and gives a detailed accounting of their premieres: Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots, Wagner's Das Rheingold, and Verdi's Otello. This book has all of the strengths of the earlier volume: hitting the sweet spot of content and tone to appeal to both non-musicians and musicians, making extensive use of primary sources, and good structure. It was especially interesting to read about the stagecraft involved with producing an opera. I also enjoyed the contrast between reading about the first three operas, which were made for and produced as part of a theater's regular opera season and whose composers were in their early or middle careers, and the final two, whose productions were highly anticipated special events whose composers were at the height of their fame and stature.