Hugo Shirley 
30-Second Opera 
The 50 crucial concepts, roles and performers, each explained in half a minute

The bestselling 30-Second… series takes a revolutionary approach to learning about those subjects you feel you should really understand. Each title selects a popular topic and dissects it into the 50 most significant ideas at its heart. Every idea, no matter how complex, is explained in 300 words and one image, all digestible in just 30 seconds. 



Live operatic performance was once part of popular culture yet in modern times it has become caricatured as exclusive, overwhelming and, often, very very long. 
30-Second Opera raises the curtain so that anyone can enjoy opera, classical or contemporary, without the elitism. Compiled by opera buffs, not the bourgeoisie, it serves up all you need to enjoy the spectacle, the music, and above all the voices – from Farinelli to femme fatale. 

 

Über den Autor

Hugo Shirley is Opera Critic of The Spectator, a Deputy Editor of Opera Magazine and a critic for Gramophone and writes widely on music and opera. Having received his Ph D from King’s College London in 2011, he also maintains a profile in musicology as an Early Career Research Fellow at Oxford Brookes University, and has published work in the Cambridge Opera Journal, The Journal  of the Royal Musical Association and  Music & Letters.