The Book Collector Tickets

Classical opera is a timeless art form that has been captivating audiences for centuries. It combines music, singing, and acting to tell stories that are steeped in history, culture, and tradition. As with any art form, classical opera has its devotees, those who collect every record, memorabilia, and book associated with it.

The book collector is an important link for anyone seeking to understand the history, development, and significance of classical opera. They are curators of rare, vintage, and out-of-print volumes that provide insights into the life and times of composers, performers, and critics.

One such collector is Robert Pinsky, a former Poet Laureate of the United States, who has written extensively on opera and amassed an enviable collection of books on the subject. In his essay, The Pleasures of Classical Opera, Pinsky writes about how reading books on opera enriched his experience of attending live performances. For him, books provided context, depth, and nuance that he could not get from listening alone.

The book collector's most vital contribution is the preservation of knowledge. With the passage of time, books become sources of cultural history, providing us with glimpses of the past. For example, Georgina Paul's "The Story of Opera" (1936) chronicled the evolution of classical opera from its early days in Italy to its zenith during the 18th century. The same book also offers insight into the social milieu, tastes, and attitudes that shaped opera as an artform.

Another notable book collector was Patrick Agard, an opera historian from France, whose collection boasts of over 20,000 volumes on classical opera. Agard's collecting habits had a single-minded purpose: to create an unbroken chain between the past and the present by accumulating every published work on opera. His collection includes catalogs, librettos, sheet music scores, biographies, journals, and letters.

Agard's collection was an inspiration for the Paris Bibliothèque-Musée de l'Opéra, which created its own vast collection by purchasing many of his books. Today, the library is considered one of the most comprehensive music collections in the world, with over one million documents and 60,000 sound recordings. If you are interested in classical opera, this library is a treasure trove of information.

In conclusion, the book collector has played an integral role in the preservation and perpetuation of classical opera. Their collections provide rare insights that enrich our understanding of this art form. Most importantly, they remind us that the cultural legacy of classical opera is not just confined to the stage but also exists in the pages of books. The next time you watch a performance of classical opera, take a moment to think about the book collectors who helped preserve its heritage.