THE PUCCINI COMPANION William Weaver/Simonetta Puccini, eds. WW Norton & Co., 2000 ISBN: 0 393 32052 9 Paperback, £10.95

This collection of essays on Puccini's life and music is an excellent resource for the serious Puccini scholar. Its fifteen studies provide both thoughtful biographical insight and, at times, highly provocative stimulus for a deeper appraisal and even re-examination of Puccini's contribution to operatic repertoire.

The value of such monographs cannot be understated. Given the constant repetition of La Bohème, Tosca and Madama Butterfly on the world's stages, and, of course, the capacity of these works to sustain such repetition, the need for fresh perspectives for performers as for listeners is utterly imperative. Look at Puccini as it is performed today. Consider David McVicker's gritty realism in his new production of Bohème for Glyndebourne (Television relay: Channel 4, Christmas Eve 2000) or the psychological tension between Suzuki and Cio-Cio-San in Graham Vick's celebrated production of Butterfly for English National Opera (Revival: London, Coliseum Spring 2002) and you cannot fail to recognise the immense scope for exploration in these fecund works.

I am therefore indebted to the patient research exhibited by this companion. If push came to shove, I would single out Juergen Maehder's splendid treatment of Turandot, which quite rightly puts Puccini's stage works into the canon of modern and contemporary opera. The extensive biography, chronology, dramatis personae, synopses and catalogue of works are also very useful and I will surely return to them for they are a real expansion upon Kobbe and Viking.

I do have a caveat of sorts: excellent as this is, I do not think this companion should be the first port of call to the newcomer to Puccini. Much better to begin with Mosco Carner's definitive Puccini: A Critical Biography whose comprehensive survey introduces such important themes as Puccini's fascination with women as victims and his enthusiasm for Americana. Nevertheless, that the efforts of William Weaver and Simonetta Puccini do not trespass on well-chartered territory is very much to their credit.

Crispin Woodhead