Here at last is the definitive opera story collection, the only one now authorized by the Metropolitan Opera. Written by the associate editor of Opera News magazine, the volume includes the complete plots of 150 different operas, biographical information on all of the 72 composers represented, easy access to the stories through both a table of contents and an index, and a foreword by Peter Allen.

Millions of music lovers have heard the moving words of Father Owen Lee during the first intermissions of the Saturday afternoon operas broadcast live from the Metropolitan Opera in New York. His illuminating, intensely personal, immediately accessible half hours on the air have brought grateful letters from all parts of the United States, Canada, and Europe, from both first-time listeners and veterans of fifty years of Met broadcast listening. Now, First Intermissions makes available twenty-one of Father Lee's finest radio talks, analyses of some of the best loved operas in the repertoire, including masterworks by Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, Puccini, and Strauss.

Contains the plots of 150 of the world's most popular operas, short biographies of the 72 composers represented, plus background material pertinent to each work.

“Engaging. . . . The text and illustrations exude the glamour, passion, and lyricism of opera.”—Publishers Weekly Jane Rosenberg’s delightful retellings for children of the greatest operas—whether the tales are read as introductions to a opera or to relive a production already seen, art and text combine to give a clear understanding of plot, scene, and character. Young children in particular will enjoy reading the stories—or having them read—both as lovely fairy tales and to help them share in the magic of a real dramatic performance. Here are the gaiety of The Barber of Seville and the lavish spectacle of Aida. Sets, costumes, and lighting are re-created to give the true flavor of authentic productions and to approximate, as fully as possible, the experience of attending the opera oneself.

More than 200 of the world's famous operas are clearly and concisely summarized. Appendices of the composers, sources of plots, and an index of the characters.