Two decades of indispensable work by a great American writer. Thirty-five years after her first collection of essays, Sontag has chosen more than 40 longer and

"Icouldn't imagine a finer or livelier guide through the world of opera. . . . [Levine] distills a lifetime of passion and insight into this immenselyenjoyable

Vincenzo Bellini's Norma, first produced at La Scala, Milan, in 1831, is widely regarded as the greatest achievement of the bel canto era. Its title role, sung

A lively introduction to opera, from the Renaissance to the twenty-first century There are few art forms as visceral and emotional as opera -- and few that are

David Kimbell traces the history of Italian opera from the Renaissance to the early twentieth century.