"Passionate opera fans Charles and Mirella Affron have created a comprehensive, decade-by-decade history of the Metropolitan Opera House and its changing repertoire, from the inaugural 1883 Faust to Marian Anderson's Civil Rights era debut to the age of 'Live in HD' simulcast. If the Phoenicia Festival of the Voice whetted your operatic appetite, here is a splendid multicourse meal."
"This new history is an epic treat for the Metophile . . . An exhaustively researched, updated, thoughtful Met Opera history. The successive directors' flaws and achievements are described with equanimity. It compellingly conveys the problems and the progress, the failures and the glories of the Metropolitan Opera."
"The Affrons have filled a void with Grand Opera: The Story of the Met. . . . They have written a conscientious, readable history of this world-renowned opera company. Their writing style is elegant, fitting for the elegant Met."
"Richly detailed . . . For better or worse, where the Met goes, other companies follow; and as the Affrons’ gracefully written and finely researched history so often reminds us, the history of the Met is frequently the history of opera itself."
"Drawing on vast and intricate research, Grand Opera lays out the entire history of the Metropolitan Opera—its triumphs and its catastrophes, its labor squabbles and its architecture, its impresarios and its stars. For anyone who cares about opera, this book is an essential reference guide and companion."—Wayne Koestenbaum, author of The Anatomy of Harpo Marx
“The history of America's foremost opera company has been in need of refreshing, and the Affrons have done it well. For readers new to the story, they have given a highly readable and informed account. For those familiar with earlier tellings, theirs is an invaluable complement. And it brings us all up to date, especially in the increasingly Byzantine areas of management and patronage, and their effects on artistic policy. An important contribution.” —Conrad L. Osborne, critic and author
"Grand Opera is the latest and certainly one of the most fascinating literary explorations of the colorful history of the Metropolitan Opera. In this thoroughly documented narrative, rich with succulent detail, Charles and Mirella Jona Affron provide the reader an engrossing account of the genesis of America's premiere opera company and its oft-tumultuous journey through time, proving in many ways the old adage that 'there's nothing new under the sun.' This is a great read, and an essential addition to my library."—George I. Shirley, J. Edgar Maddy Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Music, University of Michigan; tenor, Metropolitan Opera, 1961–1973
