Opera seems to generate more coffee-table tomes than any other subject—always beautiful, usually interesting, and occasionally informative. This one manages to succeed on all three counts. Somerset-Ward, the former head of music and arts programming for BBC Television, has attempted to provide a comprehensive history of the art in time for its 400th birthday (the first opera performance, of Dafne, took place in Florence in February 1598), and if he’s a bit late raising the curtain, no one has real cause to complain. For in addition to requisitely gorgeous illustrations and photos, Somerset-Ward has written an authoritative 300-page text tracing the history of opera from its origins in ancient Greek dramaturgy and Baroque court spectacles to its golden age in the 19th century and its many transformations over the past 30 years. In a book that will appeal to all opera fans, Somerset- Ward’s history will manage to attract the serious musicologist and historian. (Book-of-the-Month Club selection)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-8109-4193-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1998
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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