Without doubt, Michael William Balfe (1808-1870) was the most successful composer of English opera in the mid nineteenth century. During his lifetime he enjoyed an international reputation and worked with some of the leading singers of the time, including Jenny Lind, Malibran and Grisi. Drawing on previously unused source materials such as letters, legal documents and playbills, this biography of Balfe and in-depth study of his English operas overturns many of the previously accepted 'facts' of the composer's lifestyle. Using London as his base, Dublin-born Balfe spent long periods in Paris and travelled widely in Europe. William Tyldesley discusses the continental influences evident in Balfe's operas and offers new suggestions as to the draw that Paris held for the composer. Far from leading a fairly prosperous and unexceptional life, Balfe is shown to have found himself in financial straits on more than one occasion, and to have employed possibly unethical means of extracting himself from them. Those wishing to perform Balfe's works or to do further research into them, will find Tyldesley's re-examination of the composer a necessary first port of call.

In this handsome and invaluable book, James Fuld, author of The Book of World-Famous Music, examines the libretti of 167 works of musical theater. For each opera, operetta, or musical comedy libretto, he supplies a facsimile of the title page (see opposite) and, facing, all the relevant facts that can be gleaned from a close study of the original publication. In addition to a description of the physical properties of each libretto, you will find, for example, the date and place of the first performance, the names of the singers who created the roles, the original publisher of the score, and the libraries in which copies of the work in question may be found. Opera lovers will browse in it with delight, and scholars consult it with profit. Andrew Porter