A Second Book of Operas

A Second Book of Operas is a classic opera guide by Henry Edward Krehbiel and a sequel to the author's venerable volume, A Book of Operas. Whether or not the English owe a grudge to their Lord Chamberlain for depriving them of the pleasure of seeing operas based on Biblical stories I do not know. If they do, the grudge cannot be a deep one, for it is a long time since Biblical operas were in vogue, and in the case of the very few survivals it has been easy to solve the difficulty and salve the conscience of the public censor by the simple device of changing the names of the characters and the scene of action if the works are to be presented on the stage, or omitting scenery, costumes and action and performing them as oratorios. Contents: Biblical operas -- Bible stories in opera and oratorio -- Rubinstein and his "Geistlich oper" -- "Samson et Dalila" -- "Die königin von Saba" -- "Hérodiade" -- "Lakmé" -- "Pagliacci" -- "Cavalleria rusticana" -- The career of Mascagni -- "Iris" -- "Madama Butterfly" -- "Der rosenkavalier" -- "Königskinder" -- "Boris Godounoff" -- "Madame Sans-Gêne" and other operas by Giordano -- Two operas by Wolf-Ferrari.