Seven Verdi Librettos (English and Italian Edition)

Perfect, of course. Excellent translation.

This guide to Verdi's best known operas start with an introduction of the circumstances before the opera was written, then the plots of each act, then the dialogue in Italian with the English translation. Reading this enhances the experience when listening to the opera. It's an excellent reference work for these operas.

Would have preferred the book to be a hard cover one with bigger lettersPurchased it to polish my Italian

Take out your microscope--the print is very small.

The seven operas translated in this book are: Rigoletto; Il Trovatore; La Traviata; Un ballo in maschera; Aida; Otello and Falstaff.A music student or opera buff will be handsomely rewarded by the quality of Mr. Weaver's translations; they are faithful to the original Italian, yet flow smoothly in the English of our present day. Boïto's libretti for OTELLO and FALSTAFF are particularly difficult to translate into English, given their source: William Shakespeare's English of 1500's England; yet Weaver succeeds.Weaver's book is published in soft-cover, approximately 7 x 9 inches, making it easily portable. By contrast, Nico Castel's comprehensive translations are also excellent, but they are published in expensive hard-bound, 10 x 12 inch volumes.Bravo Signore Weaver! Riposa in pace.

W W Norton has been for many a year the staple of music students and teachers everywhere. Their classical scores are clear, and easy to follow. It would, therefore, be odd if their libretti didn't match their usually high standards of excellence. This one, obviously, did. The translations are clear, yet poetic, and still easy to follow. A completely worthwhile buy.

Good and useful if you like Verdi.

Fine