THE RELUCTANT LOVER

18-year-old Vienna sporano Andria Dietrich, though adored by the very young (and very ineptly sketched) Franz Schubert, loves mysterious architect Stefan--who betrays her, then goes to London to work with Henry Shrapnel of the Royal Artillery. And when Andria winds up in London too, singing Donna Anna in a fledgling company's Don Giovanni, she finds herself falling for Stefan all over again. But why is Stefan so flirtatious with rich Cynthia, the weak soprano who is Andria's opera-company rival? And could he be a French spy? And who is Benedict Dracott, the Don Giovanni, really in love with: Andria, Cynthia, or neither? Thin, stiff Regency romance overall--with no witty repartee, some flat anachronisms (""The opera is your bottom line""), and musical details which will be unconvincing for aficionados, merely boring for most others.