First and Lasting Impressions: Julius Rudel Looks Back on a Life in Music (Eastman Studies in Music)
In his remarkable career at New York City Opera, Julius Rudel enriched and enlarged the lives of music-loving New Yorkers. This book, coauthored with Rebecca Paller, is a fascinating account of how his devotion to music -- music, not marketing -- helped shape an era. I am particularly happy to have Maestro Rudel's version of his long and complicated working relationship with Beverly Sills. --Brian Kellow, features editor, Opera News  Julius Rudel offers us direct insight into his rise through the ranks to become the director of one of America's most vibrant cultural institutions in the twentieth century, the New York City Opera.  Evident on nearly every page is that same abiding dedication, guiding spirit, and bold imagination that helped to transplant a largely foreign art form and root it deep in America's artistic soil. This book will prove fascinating to opera singers, lovers of opera, especially American opera, not to mention interested teachers, pianists, voice coaches, orchestra and choral conductors. --Michael V. Pisani, Vassar College  He looks back at his career with a good humour which suggests how he survived. . . . He and his co-author write engagingly. . . . Interesting for most opera-lovers, and, for those with transatlantic (i.e., American) viewpoints, fascinating. BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE (Michael Scott Rohan)   Julius Rudel has a great tale to tell. . . . Any reader with an interest in Rudel, in New York City Opera, or in the running of an opera company will devour it cover to cover. OPERA NEWS (Fred Cohn)  Highly informative, entertaining . . . autobiography by conductor Rudel and a biography in his words of the New York City Opera. . . . A loving memoir, brutally frank, but never vindictive. Powerful, even emotional working associations with great artists: Norman Treigle, Beverly Sills, Phyllis Curtin, John Alexander, Richard Cassilly, and dozens more. . . . A most humane gentleman. AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE (Charles H. Parsons)