Opera at Home – A Descriptive Guide to the World’s Great Operas – Gramophone Company Ltd London

Opera at Home is a fascinating early twentieth-century guide created for the growing audience discovering opera through the gramophone. Published by The Gramophone Company Ltd., London, this work was intended to accompany listeners as they explored the great operatic works of the classical repertoire from their own homes.

Opera at Home provides clear summaries and commentary on many of the world’s most celebrated operas, enabling listeners to follow the plots, characters and musical highlights while listening to gramophone recordings. Operas by composers such as Verdi, Wagner, Puccini, Mozart and Bizet are included, making the volume both an educational reference and a historical reflection of the early era of recorded music.

This example is the 1926 reprint of the work originally issued in 1920. It is bound in an attractive red cloth binding with elaborate gilt decorative panel and gilt titling to the front board and spine, typical of the presentation style used by the Gramophone Company during the early gramophone era.

The book contains 463 pages of text followed by six pages of black-and-white photographic illustrations.

A decorative and collectible example of an early gramophone-era music reference book, appealing to collectors of opera history, classical music, and early recorded sound memorabilia.

Condition – Very Good

Decorative cloth boards remain strong with light edge and spine wear. Gilt decoration still bright. Internally clean with mild age toning and light foxing in places. Previous owner’s stamp on the front endpaper. Binding sound and pages well preserved.