This handsome affordable volume includes the Overtures to The Flying Dutchman and Rienzi; the Overture and Introduction to Act III of Tannhäuser; the Preludes to Acts I and III of Lohengrin; the Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde; the Prelude to Act I of Parsifal; and the Prelude to Act I of Meistersinger.

This outstanding volume features a rich selection of the composer's greatest overtures: Idomeneo (K.366); The Abduction from the Seraglio (K.384); The Marriage of Figaro (K.492); Don Giovanni (K.527); Così Fan Tutte (K.588); The Magic Flute (K.620); and La Clemenza di Tito (K.621). All reproduced in full score from authoritative early editions.

An international team of contributors, including film director Mike Leigh, presents fresh insights into the work of Gilbert and Sullivan.

The famous operetta composer Franz von SuppÃ(c) (1819-1895) was of Italian and Belgian descent, and was born a subject of the Habsburg Empire in Dalmatia. His musical gift was evident from an early age, but he first studied philosophy in Padua and then law in Vienna, before he later enrolled in the Vienna Conservatory under Sechter and Seyfried. He became a conductor in theatres at Pressburg and Baden, then in Vienna at the Theater an der Wien (until 1862), at the Carl Theater (until 1865), and subsequently at the Leopoldstadt Theater. During the same time, he wrote light operas and other types of theatre music. After 1860, he consciously imitated the popular style of the Parisian operetta, and achieved great success with Die schöne Galathee (1865), effectively adapting the spoof of Antiquity that had brought Offenbach such fame (in OrphÃ(c)e aux enfers and La Belle HÃ(c)lène). SuppÃ(c) established the Viennese operetta as a genre in its own right, full of charm and gaiety, using a brisker style with vigorous popular rhythms. He wrote some 30 operettas, and 180 stage works in all. Almost all of them were produced in Vienna, with a few other premières in Prague, Berlin and Hamburg. SuppÃ(c)â (TM)s sense of boldly defined melody, impulsive rhythmic verve and brilliant orchestral technique found preeminent expression in his overtures, many of which became celebrated all over the world. Poet and Peasant; Light Cavalry; Pique Dame; Morning, Noon and Night in Vienna; and Boccaccio still retain a place in the light repertory of the concert hall. His most enduringly famous operetta remains Boccaccio (1879), based on episodes from the life of the famous medieval Italian writer. Fatinitza (1876), using a libretto adapted from Eugène Scribe, also became extremely popular. This collection brings together many of the celebrated overtures to operettas and plays that became SuppÃ(c)â (TM)s hallmark as a composer. Also included are some of the shorter orchestral introductions that the composer provided for some of his later stage works (such as Der Teufel auf Erden, Fatinitza, Donna Juanita, Die Afrikareise, Die Jagd nach dem GlÃ1/4ck, and Des Matrosen Heimkehr).

(Vocal). Now available, in a single volume, are the full scores of the overtures and preludes to the Verdi operas Nabucodonosor , Ernani , Il corsaro , Luisa Miller , Rigoletto , La traviata , I Vespri siciliani , Un ballo in maschera , La forza del destino and Aida .