Handel's Operas, 1726-1741
Together with the previous volume, Dean has provided an invaluable reference to what he no doubt sees as the essential point: keeping Handel's works alive on the stage for a long time to come. OPERA QUARTERLY We are fortunate to have Dean's erudite and enthusiastic advocacy of these splendid works. Handel's Operas provides essential reading for scholars, a warning for directors, information for opera-goers...and a source of great pleasure for anyone interested in 18th century culture. A delight. MUSICAL TIMES (Patricia Howard)Dean's book is clearly outstanding, and is essential reading for anyone who wants to discover almost everything there is to know about these fascinating works. SUNDAY TIMES (Hugh Canning)The writing is throughout an object lesson to those who with half (or less) of Dean's scholarly knowledge would blind us with obtuse and convoluted language. It is this above all that will surely ensure Handel's Operas a place on the shelves of the general enthusiast.GOLDBERG (Brian Robins)No music library or ardent Handelian should be without it. BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE (5 Stars)It is not fanciful to insist that without Winton Dean's invaluable devotion to Handel scholarship many of his subsequent colleagues would have remained fumbling in the dark for decades. GRAMOPHONE (David Vickers)An important book - a minor miracle. OPERAThere are riches in this book...Again and again Dean's descriptions leap off the page with a vividness that compels attention. The reader is gripped not only by the elegance and wit of his style but also by the sense that this writer...is truly a man of the theatre. EARLY MUSIC TODAYMonumental, encyclopedic, indispensable, not-to-be-superseded...essential reading. EARLY MUSIC Dean's accomplishment is extraordinary , and his work is of monumental significance. NOTESDean's comments...are illuminating and often powerfully evocative...This book and its predecessor are a remarkable achievement. MUSIC & LETTERSA critically important book, bursting with information that, as with Dean's earlier books, will likely remain important and relevant after many years. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY