The New Grove Masters of Italian Opera: Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi, Puccini

These five biographies provide for the first time a complete survey of Italian opera from the early buffo operas of Rossini to Verdi's great masterpieces, Otello and Falstaff, and the verismo operas of Puccini.Andrew Porter has been highly praised for his original and enlightening account of Verdi and Philip Gossett has received similar acclaim for Rossini. Together with William Ashbrook, Julian Budden, Mosco Carner and Friedrich lippmann, all acknowledged experts in the field of Italian opera, they combine to give a unique insight into the traditions and workings of one of the most fascinating periods in the history of opera.