Great Operatic Disasters

by Hugh Vickers, Michael ffolkes (Illustrator), Peter Ustinov (Introduction)

To its devotees, opera is the most sublime of arts. It is also one of the most accident prone, and when things go wrong, they tend to do so on a grand scale. Great Operatic Disasters records some of the most memorable calamities from opera houses around the world. Most of them are true, some have been embroidered over the years, and a few, well, se non e vero, e ben trovato.

Genres: Nonfiction, Music, Humor, Comedy

80 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Mark Dickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The format of this slim volume is my favorite guitly pleasures. Small, one page vignettes of historic opera performances illustrating that if something can go wrong, it will. But also how great performers often soldier on and make small falls appear to be brilliant improvising. Highly recommended if you like this sort of thing.

[Ikonopeiston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious. I laughed until I actually had to wipe my eyes.

[Elizabeth Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as research for my novel, My Phantom: The Memoir of Christine Daaé. A bit of light reading that I found useful.

[Peter Schutz]

Printed with 15 flyleaves at the end, presumably so you can write down notes like, “How very droll” and, “Why I never!”

[Sarahj33 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is sort of bizarrely formatted, and almost reads like an email from a good friend full of inside jokes. The secret is, that with a modest knowledge of opera, you will understand most of the jokes, and they are hilarious. A short and extremely amusing read.

[Erin Ure · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun if not entirely satisfying collection of stories (as a reader with little opera knowledge beyond what Looney Toons clips imparted to me 20 years ago), Vickers' "Great Operatic Disasters" sums up each event in a tidy one-pager, or occasionally in just a paragraph. At times half of the description is merely musings on the opera being performed which doubtlessly adds enjoyment for the better informed reader, though the stories are still entertaining. This book contains an index with entries such as "Plumbing, erratic, 22-3", one can imagine referencing these tales to obtain cocktail chatter prior to a high-society dinner party. Alas I do not expect to encounter this scenario, though I may try to see an opera someday.

[Deb Urbano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written short descriptions of actual disasters that happened over decades of opera perfromances. Dogs on stage, performers missing their rides, prop fails, and more... My knowledge of operas is limited and so limited my understanding of some of the unfortunate situations. Overall, very amusing.

[Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are an operatic fan, you know what it means to go to an off night. This was a book a friend gave me and it was fun to reread it again. Some of the anecdotes are approaching 'urban legend' notoriety, beginning with the trampoline Tosca.

[Tanya Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious read, though many times I simply did not know enough about the operas in question to comprehend what the disasters even were!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simply written; not researched (since many of the events happened prior to modern -day technology) rather related in oral-like tradition. Nonetheless an interesting, very easy read. Very easily digested in several five-minute sit-downs.

[Eleanor With Cats · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the funniest books I have ever read. I reread it every few years to fall off my chair laughing.

[Cecilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious!! Only problem was that it was too short and a bit dated in a few places.