Opera: A Research and Information Guide
Researched Bibliographic Dossier
Verified edition data and a musicological research note prepared specifically for this work.
- Title
- Opera: A Research and Information Guide
- Author
- Guy A. Marco
- Edition
- Second edition
- Series
- Music Research and Information Guides, 21
- Publisher
- Garland Publishing
- Place
- New York and London
- Year
- 2001
- Extent
- xx + 632 pages
- ISBN
- 9780815335160
- eISBN
- 9780203901205
- Language
- English
- Type
- Annotated bibliography / research guide
SCOPE & CONTENT
Marco’s guide is a large annotated bibliography designed to orient serious research in opera rather than to narrate operatic history. The second edition surveys thousands of books, articles, reference works, catalogues and specialized studies, with coverage extending through the end of the twentieth century. It combines general research tools with composer- and country-based sections, making it possible to move from dictionaries, bibliographies and institutional resources to scholarship on individual repertories and national traditions.
RESEARCH VALUE
The work is especially valuable as a map of scholarship before the dominance of web search and digitized catalogues. Its annotations help distinguish descriptive reference works from analytical studies and identify material that would otherwise be difficult to discover. Because bibliographic landscapes change rapidly, it should not be treated as a current comprehensive bibliography in 2026; its lasting importance lies in documenting the research literature and reference infrastructure available up to its publication.
SCOPE OF THE GUIDE
The second edition contains roughly 2,800 annotated entries and reaches across general histories, dictionaries, bibliographies, editions, libraries and archives, studies of more than three hundred composers, and operatic activity in dozens of countries. The organization is intended for repeated consultation: a researcher can begin with a broad subject and progressively narrow the search toward a composer, repertory, institution or national tradition.
USE IN CLASSICAL ARCHIVE
Within a digital collection, this title functions best as a bibliographic bridge. It can point readers from a Classical Archive composer or opera dossier toward older specialist literature and can help identify important print scholarship that is poorly represented by modern search-engine rankings.
- Format
- File size
- 1.8 MB
- Subjects / people
- Works & Analysis · Opera & Music Drama
- Catalogue completeness
- 8 / 10 core bibliographic fields