"Alexandra Wilson is a gifted writer and has packed a world of history, culture, and music into her new opera guide."
– Helen Greenwald - New England Conservatory
"In her admirably compact introduction to opera, Wilson outlines the history of this most ambitious of art forms, while going on to place opera in a broad social, political and cultural context… packed with richly resonant material"
– Daniel Snowman - Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research, University of Londo
"As useful to students of opera as to the curious amateur, Alex Wilson’s ‘Beginner’s Guide’ makes a huge contribution to the popularisation of a ‘living art’ "
– Clair Rowden - Lecturer and Undergraduate Admissions Tutor, School of Music, Cardiff University
