Singers of the Century, Volume I (Singers of the Century)
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
Published: April 1, 2003
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 271
ISBN-13: 9781574670097
Subjects: 20th century music; Reference works; Reference; Music Of The 20th Century; Music; Biography / Autobiography; Opera; MUS033000; MUS; Singers; Composers & Musicians - Classical Vocalists; Voice; Performing Arts / Theater / General; Biography
First sentence: 'All'armi!' Manrico's battle-cry, with which Martinelli himself so often rallied the troops on stage in Il trovatore, leaps to his defence whenever the great tenor is called into question, which he sometimes is.
Description: In his previous books about singers, John Steane has taken for his subject the art of singing as heard on records (The Grand Tradition) and 'in the flesh' in opera houses and concert halls (Voices, Singers and Critics). Here, in Singers of the Century, he turns to the singers themselves, seeing how their art develops with the opportunities of their professional lives, with chance and design playing their part and all likely to be at the mercy of some quirk of taste or character.

Each study is a carefully worked vignette, and the book is illustrated throughout with photographs and memorabilia, many never before published. Singers of the Century will appeal to all those with a love of singing and of music writing at its best.