Like no other genre, opera appeals to our senses: combining art with artisanry, it creates a spectacular gesamtkunstwerk. It transcends the boundaries of reality, thrives on dramatic extremes, the magical and the irrational, and creates an event that is unique and ephemeral.
This book offers a kaleidoscopic panorama of different forms of opera. Drawing on the example of famous opera houses such as La Scala in Milan, the Vienna State Opera or the New York Met, as well as a selection of paintings and costumes, posters and stage design models, caricatures and programmes, it traces the growth and change of the institution in the 19th and 20th century. Portraying the people who cast their vision in the sumptuous form of opera, it tells known and unknown stories of an institution that is constantly reinventing itself.