1 comments about Falstaff: Vocal Score (G. Schirmer Opera Score Editions).

1. Verdi's two Comedies philosophically, and emotionally, frame his long career. While writing Il Giorno di Regno, his first comedy, and only his second opera, the rather naive young Verdi lost his first wife and their children in a fire. Needless to say, the opera wasn't very funny, and the audience booed it off the stage. Verdi quit Opera...he thought for good. However, his self-imposed exile didn't last long, and Verdi eventually wrote several of Opera's greatest masterpieces. He also loved Giuseppina, first as his paramour, eventually as his second wife, became one of Europe's most generous philanthropists, and admired his great rival Richard Wagner, who referred to Verdi simply as "pig." Arrigo Boito, a genius in his own right (if you don't believe it, get a good recording of Mefistofele), testified in Italian newspapers that Verdi's "old ways" of writing Opera were permanently invalidated by Wagner. Yet one day, eight years after Verdi had retired for the second time, Boito, the great Verdi hater, came to Sant' Agata, hat in hand, to ask Verdi to compose music for two Shakespearean music dramas he had written. The second of those music dramas, Falstaff, was to be Verdi's second comedy, and his last opera. Falstaff is a towering monument to artistic collaboration. In it, Verdi, Boito, and Shakespeare tell us that life is a great cosmic joke, and, since we cannot escape being its brunt, we might as well laugh along. Dover republished an early Ricordi edition of Falstaff. Ricordi is, simply put, the most useful publisher of late romantic Italian opera, especially of Verdi and Puccini. The scholarship is top notch, making this Dover edition quite a useful volume. The book itself is, as always, well crafted and easy to read. The score may be too large, and the book too small, to make this volume useful for the podium, but at home, in front of the stereo, it's invaluable. Falstaff is one of the west's great example's of existentialism expressed in artistic form. If you are not familiar with this opera, I strongly recommend you buy this score, and a good recording to go with it, and knock yourself out.

2 comments about Giulio Cesare in Full Score.

1. This score of Handel's second part of his own "Ring" is well suited for baroque and Handel lovers. Handel's score is very simple containing a few "Basso Continuo" arias; beatiful, and arias! Arias that are so beautiful, it makes you say that Handel was the best opera composer of the baroque and the morcoco. This score contains all arias the recitatives, and a table of contents. The score is only 156+ pages long yet is more than three Hours long! This score cannot stay flat yet is a good study score. Buy this book all you Handel Lovers!



2. Giulio Cesare in Egitto is one of several Opera Serias Handel wrote in Italian on a Roman Historical subject. As you can probably guess, it deals with Julius Caesar's affair with the femme fatale of all femme fatales, the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra. For those few who don't know, Caesar's affair predates her more famous liaison with Marc Antony. It's a fascinating subject, and no less a writer than Bernard Shaw wrote a play about it. In the Opera, Handel executes an interesting bit of gender bending that probably delighted Shaw. Caesar is a contralto, Ptolemy, Cleopatra's husband and King of Egypt, an Alto. Pompey the Great's wife is also an alto, as is the royal Egyptian advisor, Nireno. Cleopatra, of course, is a soprano, as is Sextus Pompeius, the son of Pompey the Great. In short, there are six male characters, and only two female characters, but they are sung by six women and only two men. Now, this is the subject for a book or a doctoral dissertation, hardly to be sucessfully addressed in a 1000 word amazon.com review, but it brings to mind a professor of Shakespeare studies I had in college. Despite well established Elizabethan casting practices, this professor used certain speeches of Rosalind's from As You Like It to suggest that Shakespeare was, in fact, gay. Now, given this Opera's quite normal rococo casting practice, I wonder what my professor would've said about Handel? At any rate, Dover's complete score of Giulio Cesare is an extraordinary bargain. It is a reprint of the 1875 Deutsche Handelgeselleschaft edition, edited by renowned Handel scholar, Friedrich Chrysander. The score is basically for string orchestra, with winds used for extra color. There are alternates to several numbers, and they are conveniently placed behind the numbers they would replace. The book is easily read, and large enough to accommodate all orchestration. In spite of the occassional tendency to place wind lines below string lines, it's perfect for podium use. It's crafted beautifully, as usual for Dover, and at Dover prices, it's not a bargain really; it's a steal.

5 comments about Broadway Musicals: Show by Show Sixth Edition (Broadway Musicals Show by Show).

1. This book has proven and indispensable part of my theatre library, and if you get it, it will become one for you as well. Want to know what date the original production of Show Boat opened on Broadway? This book will tell you. Who the original stars of Mexican Hayride were? That's in here, too. You will be able to find the answer to just about any question you could ever ask of Broadway's hit musicals. A perfect companion piece to Ken Mandelbaum's Not Since Carrie (which chronicles the flop musicals this book mostly excludes), and a wonderful way of tracking the history of the Broadway musical, Broadway Musicals: Show by Show is as comprehensive, helpful, and essential as reference books on Broadway come.



2. overall a nice book covering the Bway Musicals. I happened to purchase one for a friend who attends the theater (both Broadway and off-Broadway) religiously and she was very happy with the gift.



3. This was the required text book for a class in musical theater in college. I found it informative but lacked many details that I would have like to have known.



4. I purchased this book for my father. He is a music professor and teaches a course in Broadway Musicals. He just raved about how helpful it is to he and his students.



5. Let me begin this review by stating, that of all of the text books I have had after a six year stint in college, I have used this book the most. I have used this book to not only research shows for synopsis', but I've helped a local high school pick their yearly musical from this show for the past three years. I am sad that it only goes up the 1996 year, and have been awaiting a new version for a while now. But if you need a time frame, this book helps with giving you the year, directors, original cast, and a brief synopsis of the show itself. This helpful for any music director/show director, I highly recommend this book for anyone persuing musical theatre history.

5 comments about The Librettist of Venice: The Remarkable Life of Lorenzo Da Ponte--Mozart's Poet, Casanova's Friend, and Italian Opera's Impre.

1. I got this for my parents, who are opera fans and know classical music, and they really enjoyed this book.



2. My initial interest in this book was to learn more about the person who wrote those exquisite librettos for Mozart's Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, and Cosi Fan Tutte. I was initially somewhat disappointed that the author did not dedicate more space to his relationship with Mozart, but this disappointment dissipated after reading about the rest of DaPonte's life and how he reinvented himself over and over again, in Venice, in Vienna, in London, and finally in New York City. He was a man born way before his time and certainly someone we should read about in admiration, despite his many flaws. The book is very well written and holds your interest from beginning to end.



3. 
   Lorenzo da Ponte defied his time, and later, his age. In his era, most people stayed put, and if they moved, they stayed in the new place. People generally had one career- that of their father(s). Having relocated and reinvented himself, several times, da Ponte lived two generations beyond his contemporaries. At his death he was more than twice Mozart's final age. He outlived his wife by a generation, and he was a generation her senior!
   
   He was busy every moment with optimistic plans and schemes. When things worked out he had high highs. He had low lows when they didn't. Nothing deterred him - ever. He died a risk taking octogenarian. Something about his personality garnered great friends and stirred up enemies.
   
   Bolt is wonderful in describing places da Ponte lived in their time. In Vienna, through the largesse of the Emperor Joseph, a theater could operate independent of the crown, a privilege easily rescinded. I read and re-read the different parts about how the words of Thomas Jefferson resounded in Europe. Like the descriptions of late 18th century Vienna, Prague, the Italian cities and London, the descriptions of early 19th century Philadelphia and NYC are marvelous.
   
   Don Giovani played here in Hawaii to a sold out crowd last week. I wonder how many of those in attendance knew the librettists' name? How many this wonderful story of his life?



4. This is a wonderful book about the fascinating and sexy late 1700s & early 1800s music world. Who new that Father Da Ponte came to the US in 1805 and jump started opera in America (after running a grocery store in Sunbury, PA)? Well researched and amusingly written, The Librettist of Venice is great fun from start to finish.



5. Lorenzo Da Ponte was a courageous, adventurous and passionate man--
   and a brilliant poet and librettist. Reading about his life and travels,
   his trials and failures, is exciting and inspiring!
   This is one of the most riveting biographies I have read.
   I recommend it highly to anyone---even if you are not an opera lover.
   This is the story of a man who had to reinvent himself again and again.
   A man who took risks, which sometimes brought him acclaim and money,
   and sometimes left him having to start again. He never gave up.
   Beautifully written, and so evocative, it is as if you are there for it all. Enjoy this book!

5 comments about Little Musicals for Little Theatres: A Reference Guide for Musicals That Don't Need Chandeliers or Helicopters to Succeed.

1. Licensing questions? Casting concrns? Denny Martin Flinn gives you the low-down on tons of shows that are suited to smaller theatres and budgets. After a synopsis of each play (casting/and musical numbers), Flinn lists the advantages and disadvantages to performing that show. He also includes biographies of the playwrights/songwriters. Easy to use and well thought-out.



2. Over a hundred small musicals which any theatre can produce is packed into a guide which uses the background of its experienced Broadway producer author to select among the few musicals that have small casts and can be performed on a budget. Most musicals rely on glitz and expensive production eye-catchers for effects and drama, so it's especially refreshing to see a focus returned to the stage itself. Chapters serve as a reference to these selected productions focusing on synopsis, outlining musical numbers, acts, and pros and cons of production.
   
   Diane C. Donovan, Editor
   California Bookwatch



3. It's been years since I've directed so I wanted to start with something small. Being a musical theatre aficionado I would love to direct a musical again. This book is a fantastic resource for smaller theatres without access to crazy special effects.



4. Denny Martin Flinn presents a very good book about little known musical theatre works and provides the reader with a clear a concise overview of many shows. However, what is lacking - and most important - is what the shows call for in the way of musicians. Book provides nice info as far as synopsis, original cast, musical numbers, licensing, and some difficulties/advantages, but what about the size of the orchestra? Why is it that in a "Musical" the instrumentalists are always the first to be cut (or reduced) but last to be considered? It's first and foremost a musical, not play and this information should be considered along with sets, costumes, and props. Perhaps in a future edition Mr. Flinn can add this most important of information.



5. This is a great read for people involved in amateur or community theatre especially those faced with the endless problem of what to stage next.
   
   The writer offers some useful advice and lists some of the pitfalls some people or companies will fall into when tackling some musicals.
   
   Get it now!

No comments about Enchantment: The Seductress in Opera (European Perspectives: A Series in Social Thought and Cultural Criticism).

No comments about Bravo! Brava! A Night at the Opera: Behind the Scenes with Composers, Cast, and Crew.

No comments about HMS Pinafore: or The Lass That Loved a Sailor Vocal Score.

5 comments about Cosi fan Tutte in Full Score.

1. I spent a very intimate month with this score when I understudied the role of Despina. The score is rife with misprints. There are misprints with text, notes, and rhythms. Learning any role from this score will result in the inevitable relearning of certain areas of the music and text. If you can, get yourself to a Barenreiter copy. It is considerably more expensive, but the product is immensely superb and will be entirely accurate to the signed Mozart score. The only thing that is good about this score is its availability. The product, however, is not good. During rehearsals we would keep a tally of how many mistakes we could find--"Chalk one up for Mr. Schirmer!"



2. I used this score for a school performance. There were so many errors in it that I ended up learning incorrect words, pitches and note values. It's so aggravating to see one of Mozart's masterpieces with so many errors. Barenreiter is the best. No mistakes. That was our saving grace. If you want accuracy, this score is not for you. If you want a great translation,...seek out the Nico Castel translations.



3. good edition. has everything needed and there are no mistakes in the music.



4. Just like I had back when I was in college. A great score with the original arrangement. Thanks so much.



5. As a member of the Coro, the score was workable; however, I found the translations to be inaccurate. Also, as a Bass, it was awkward at first, to see the words located only in the Soprano line.
   
   It would be desireable to provide an accurate translation rather than make me(us)research Italian/old Italian. It is important to me to know literally what I am singing.

5 comments about Mario Lanza: An American Tragedy (Great Voices 7) (Great Voices).

1. After having read other books about Mario Lanza's life and death, I must say that while this book is very well researched and very detailed in it's content, it doesn't quite live up to some of the rave reviews presented here.
   
   There are a number of shortcomings with this book:
   
   1. Mr.Cesari seems totaly taken with his subject and shys away from all but the most necessary mention of Lanza's infamous habits and less than complimentry antics.
   
   2. The author spent entirely too much time presenting meaningless facts and trivial details (license plate # of the hearse carrying the tenor's body, draft registration # etc) which in turn makes for less than exciting reading of the entire book.
   
   3. The overall picture presented of Lanza is that of a hapless victim of circumstance with little will or power to control his own fate. Blame for the tenor's fate is shifted to any and eveyone from his accompanist/conductor Costa Calinicos, his managers, his wife, on to the various powers at MGM and beyond.
   At no time does the author hold Lanza directly responsible for the ill-fated decisions that led to the tenors' early demise.
   
   Good points about the book include a vast photo collection which is by and far the most extensive offered in any of Lanza's biographies to date and the enclosed CD which is interesting since the song selection seems to try and demonstrate Lanza's operatic genious to his detractors rather than present his best renditions of the arias he is most closely assiciated with.
   
   All in all this book is more of a loving and welcome tribute to a great artist and complicated man than an objective and all encompassing biography of an American icon.



2. WOW, I must say this book Mario Lanza: An American Tragedy (Great Voices) (Hardcover) by Armando Cesari sure ends depressing (but most of the book is a wonderful and fun part to read) and really does show what a great Tragedy both Lana's life and death was and is; (and the ending must be read to get the whole story). I knew of his untimely death and all the myths surrounding his life and death; but I did not know the real story. I just knew I love his voice, the power, the beauty, the range, the breath control, he was just terrific; Maybe the best singer of all time. Read Ceserir's Bio of Lanza and his family you will get his history and also more, you can see how and why he never fulfilled his promise of being a great opera star; and with his talent he could have, arguably, been the best. Ceseri uses quotes extensively of those who know Mario, well, both family friends, actors, singers, hangers on, etc., in relating the events of his life. He also shows the criticisms both good and bad, and he shows why many of the bad ones were unfounded. Ceseri shows how those who really knew music, and opera more so, were enthralled with Mario's voice. he dispells the Myths of any doctoring of Marios voice by RCA, and also dispells the myths of the hollywood rumor mill. At the same time Ceseri shows us all side's of lanza, he does not pull any punches, and he gives us a balanced view of lanza's life, the good and the bad. I would highly reconed this book to anyone who wants to know the real story of Mario lanza.
   
   THE CD that comes with the book is fantastic!!!!!



3. I am neither music critic nor literary critic. But let me just say ... When Lanza was focused, when he was free to be an artist, when he wasn't destroying himself, there was and is NO one better. And fortunately "Lanza at his best" is NOT a rare thing! Go listen to his work (you can start with the CD in this book, which is worth the price of the book and MORE). Yes you have to ignore some "bad" stuff (musically and personally) he did, but if his magnificent voice and artistry (which does exist OFTEN) doesn't grip your heart and soul if you let it, I suspect not much really does.
   
   The critics can say what they want about artists like Callas and Lanza, but it is their ilk that demonstrate that the words do mean something, and that "passion is the only truth, all else is lies!" Lanza was a gift to the world, yes a flawed one, but a true gift none the less. Others that may have had, or do have, more critical acclaim and/or popular followings, more often than not, cannot come close to bringing you to where Lanza brings you.
   
   I just received the book yesterday so I'm not finished reading it. However so far it's a very good read. And by the way, if those "flattering quotes" aren't true, well they should have been, and only one's feelings of being embarrassingly bested would have prevented their utterances.



4. Maestro Cesari has done a wonderful service to all those who search for truth about the exciting, magnificent and tragic life of Mario Lanza. His marvelously researched work is splendid and is meticulously documented with facts and figures. What emerges is a clear separation of the man, the myth and the artist. Lanza is not glorified in Maestro Cesari's book. Instead the author creates a mosaic which portrays a tenor who wanted to sing for the people and bring classical opera to all as well as give endless pleasure through his glorious renditions of popular music. It also shows a great perfectionist who knew that he possessed a sacred gift to leave for posterity. Anyone who listens to his finest recordings will understand why five decades after his death millions still listen to him and fan clubs and societies to promote his memory and music span the globe.
   
   Testimonials, carefully documented, by the best and brightest performers of Lanza's generation gave clear evidence that he was the greatest tenor and perhaps the greatest singer of all time.
   
   This is an excellent book and all those who seek a real portrait of Mario Lanza owe Maestro Cesari an enormous debt of gratitude. He devoted decades to preparing this wonderful work and it deserves rave reviews.
   
   Someday a fine movie will be made about Lanza, along the lines of "Amadeus" or "Ray" that will depict the great voice and the great man who possessed it and cared for it enough so we can still enjoy it today.
   
   Bravo Mario and Bravo Maestro Cesari!!



5. Well written book with the bonus of a CD of rare recordings .
   A must have for all Lanza fans.