Legend
- McGill users only
- In-library-use only
- Catalogue record
Sources for background information
Encyclopedias/Dictionaries
- Oxford Music Online (includes Grove Music Online and New Grove Dictionary of Opera)
- The New Grove Dictionary of Opera
Ref ML102 O6 N5 1992b - Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart
Ref ML100 M52 1994 - Grosses Sängerlexikon, 4th ed.
Ref ML105 K83 2003 - Loewenberg: Annals of Opera
Ref ML102 O6 L6 1955 - Stieger: Opernlexikon
Ref ML102 O6 S8
There are several other general opera reference books around Ref ML102 O6.
Bibliographies
Bibliographies are lists, usually annotated, of materials written about a particular composer, period, or genre. Below are a few examples; these and others will lead to a wealth of potential resources on any operatic topic.
Bibliographies in print may be found in both the 3rd-floor Reference area and the 5th-floor stacks.
Genre bibliographies (ML128)
- Marco, Guy A. Opera: A Research and Information Guide. 2nd ed. (2001).
- Parsons, Charles. An Opera Bibliography.
ML102 O6 P25 1986 v.17-18
Composer bibliographies ML134
- Fairtile, L. Giacomo Puccini: A Guide to Research.
Ref ML134 P94 F35 1999 - Harwood, G. W. Giuseppe Verdi: A Guide to Research.
Ref ML134 V47 H37 1998 - Saffle, M. Richard Wagner: A Guide to Research.
Ref ML134 W1 S24 2002 - Willier, S. A. Vincenzo Bellini: A Guide to Research.
ML134 B43 W56 2002
Other opera reference titles may be found in the "Bibliography of music bibliographies," also known as "Duckles":
- Duckles, Vincent H., and Ida Reed. Music Reference and Research Materials. Ref ML 113 D83 1997
Call numbers for browsing / Cotes à parcourir
- M3
- Complete works by composer
- M1500
- Opera - Full scores
- M1503
- Operas - Piano/vocal scores
- ML400
- Vocalists – collective biography
- ML410
- Composers – individual biography
- ML420
- Vocalists – individual biography
- ML1700-ML1751
- Opera
- ML1850
- Comic opera
- ML1900
- Operetta
- ML1950
- Other types of opera with spoken dialogue
(ballad opera, Singspiel, zarzuela)
Recordings
Most operas recordings are relatively simple to locate since they have unique titles (e.g. Tosca as opposed to Concerto no. 4 in G major). From the Library catalogue's Advanced Search screen, a simple search by title and author keywords in combination with the limit "Recorded Music" will produce relevant hits.
Visit Opera in Video and Naxos Video Library to watch streaming opera performances from any computer.
See How to find recordings for more search strategies.
Opera periodicals
Scholarly
- Cambridge Opera Journal
ML1699 C35 - Opera Quarterly
ML1699 O65
Popular
- Avant-scène Opéra
ML1699 A95 - Opera
ML5 O66 - Opera Canada
ML1700 O6x - Opera News
ML1700 O63x
To find other opera periodicals available at McGill, type “opera periodicals” in the Keyword Search box in the Library catalogue and select “Keyword in Subject.”
Music Literature Indexes
Periodical literature about opera may appear in several publications, not just journals dedicated to opera. To locate articles, conference papers, chapters in books, theses, and reviews in these other sources, search the following music literature indexes, all linked from the Music Library Resources page:
Opera is an interdisciplinary art and scholars from several areas (political science, history, literature, medicine, sociology, for example) write frequently on opera. Therefore, relevant articles may be found by searching periodical indexes in non-music disciplines as well. Browse the options in Article indexes and databases.
Articles and books are also accessible via Google Scholar and Google Books:
Dissertations
To discover other dissertation databases, visit the Music Library's Music literature databases and indexes page.