What is it about opera that can bring unashamed tears to the eyes of adoring fans? In this book, first published in French in 1986 and now available in English, Michel Poizat explains in a charming way the fascination of the interaction between music and words. Touching on a variety of historical musical events, operatic themes, specific works, and individual composers, Poizat borrows some methods from the field of psychoanalysis to satisfy his curiosity about the strange power of the human voice.