The Complete Opera Book is Gustav Kobbé’s celebrated guide to the operatic repertory, recounting the stories of the operas alongside hundreds of their leading airs and motives in musical notation. First published in 1919, it became the standard English-language companion to the opera house.
Kobbé surveys the works of Mozart, Wagner, Verdi, Puccini, and many others, blending plot synopses with musical illustration and historical background. The book guided generations of opera-goers and was repeatedly revised and expanded by later editors. As a comprehensive and affectionate handbook to the repertory, it remains one of the most useful and beloved reference works on opera ever written.