The Grove Book of Opera Singers
Macy’s new volume offers biographical and professional information about more than 1,500 opera singers active from the sixteenth through the twenty-first centuries. She explains in her preface that many of the entries are drawn from The New Grove Dictionary of Opera  (1992) and The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2d ed., 2001). She called upon Richard Wigmore, professor at the Guildhall School of Music, to help identify the most important singers active since 1900 listed in Grove Music Online and added new names not included there. He also wrote most of the newer articles. Approximately 100 entries, mostly singers who have recently come onto the national and international scene, appear for the first time in this book.   Each brief article includes birthplace and date, education details, date of professional debut, and important subsequent appearances at major opera houses. Many entries also provide names of influential figures, a general description of the singer’s voice quality, critical reception, comparisons to other singers, or other personal information. Color and black-and-white photos and indexes of opera titles and roles are also included.   Few up-to-date books exist on the topic, making this one a refreshing addition. A Concise Biographical Dictionary of Singers (1969) presents similar information, but Macy’s volume provides important updates. Divo: Great Tenors, Baritones, and Basses Discuss Their Roles (1986), and Diva: The New Generation; The Sopranos and Mezzos of the Decade Discuss Their Roles (1998) provide biographical information and personal insights of some important twentieth-century singers but do not approach the breadth of coverage of the present volume.   Given her and Grove’s reputation for excellent reference works, Macy’s book is an important resource for opera buffs, students, singers, neophytes, and aficionados and would be a welcome addition to public or academic libraries. --Steven York