Parsifal. By A. Corbett-Smith. (Grant Richards. Is. net.) —The Ma.stersingers.
By A. Corbett-Smith. (Same publisher and price.)—With a season of opera in full swing at Covent Garden there should be some demand for these little hand- books. The ordinary music lover who is hearing, say, Parsifal for the first time could not do better than refer to Major Corbett- Smith's description of the opera. In addition to telling the story in a clear and readable way, he gives a note on its history and a chapter on the music. These booklets can be carried with the utmost ease in the pocket, and, of course, their small size precluded the use of musical illustrations. Major Corbett-Smith has, however, successfully evaded this disadvantage by describing the orchestration and the character of the music in a non- technical way that anyone could understand. These opera handbooks are not an innovation, but they are quite the best of any of their kind that we have seen. The series includes all the usual operas, and also a number of works like Sir Charles Stanford's The Critic and Stravinsky's Le Rossignol, which we wish were heard more frequently.
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