This two-volume dictionary by Margaret Ross Griffel, now in two volumes, was released in 2013 by the Scarecrow Press. Since all of its over 4,400 entries are devoted to opera titles originally written for an English libretto, it contains many less-famous operas that other, more general reference sources had to leave out because of space considerations. This makes it a truly unique source of information.
It is organized alphabetically by opera title. Entries provide at least some of the following information for each opera: composer, librettist, plot source, first performance information, synopsis, themes and unique characteristics, famous excerpts, score location, and bibliography. There are appendixes of composers, librettists, authors and sources, and a chronology. The second volume also includes selective bibliography and indexes of characters and names.
Margaret Ross Griffel has written a similar dictionary of operas in German, which is currently under revision for The Scarecrow Press.
Abraham Myler, research assistant