What to read and hear.(Bibliography)(Critical Essay)

MADAMA BUTTERFLY

Mosco Carner's Puccini: A Critical Biography (third edition, Holmes & Meier) is strong on both life and music. William Ashbrook's The Operas of Puccini (Cornell, paperback) discusses the works in biographical and stylistic contexts. The ENO/Royal Opera Guide to Butterfly (Riverrun, paperback) includes John Luther Long's original story and a libretto with variants of the original 1904 version, as well as useful essays. Arthur Groos explores the opera's revisions in The Puccini Companion, edited by William Weaver and Simonetta Puccini (Norton). Vocal scores are available from Schirmer and Ricordi, full score from Dover. Michele Girardi's recent study of composer and music, Puccini: His International Art (Chicago), also deserves serious consideration.

Among many complete recordings (2 CDs unless noted), the protagonist will be most listeners' central criterion for choice. For vocal quality and finish, consider the touching Victoria de los Angeles (Testament, mono, with Giuseppe di Stefano, or EMI, with Jussi Bjoerling) or the more robust Renata Tebaldi (Decca, fresher in the mono version under Erede, better partnered by Carlo Bergonzi in the more leisurely stereo version). For expressive intensity, go for Maria Callas (EMI, mono, with Nicolai Gedda) or Renata Scotto (EMI, with Bergonzi). Herbert von Karajan's recording with Mirella Freni and Luciano Pavarotti (Decca, 3 CDs) offers maximum expansiveness and tonal refulgence. The 1939 Olivier de Fabritiis version (EMI, mono) preserves the unconventional but affecting heroine of Toti Dal Monte, alongside Beniamino Gigli's glamorous Pinkerton. A fascinating Vox set (4 CDs) offers the opera's original Milan form, plus an appendix of variants from the Brescia and Paris versions, albeit in an uneven performance. From a mixed bag of videos, the Ponnelle film with Freni and Placido Domingo (Decca, VHS, DVD), post-synched to a Karajan soundtrack, is to be preferred.

FALSTAFF

The standard account of Verdi's life is Mary Jane Phillips-Matz's comprehensive, meticulously researched Verdi: A Biography (Oxford). Julian Budden discusses Falstaff in Volume III of his thorough The Operas of Giuseppe Verdi (Oxford paperback). Besides illuminating the genesis of Verdi's late masterworks, The Verdi-Boito Correspondence, admirably translated by William Weaver (Chicago), is an absorbing human document. James Hepokoski's Cambridge Opera Handbook (paperback) on Falstaff offers expert history and analysis; the less detailed ENO/Royal Opera Guide includes a libretto. Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor is available in numerous editions. Vocal scores are published by Ricordi and Schirmer, orchestral by Dover.

For a challenging score, Falstaff has fared rather well on recordings (all 2 CDs). A high standard was set by Arturo Toscanini's 1950 broadcasts (RCA, mono), a dazzling, quicksilver rendition with a capable cast. More potent singing -- including Tito Gobbi's famous Falstaff -- will be found in Karajan's slightly heavier performance (EMI; avoid his ponderous Philips set). Georg Solti's first recording (London), ...