Legendary Voices

by Nigel Douglas and Douglas Nigel

Book Overview

There's a temptation to look at opera solely through the performances of our own time, and to forget the contributions of artists from an earlier era. (It can be equally tempting to conclude that... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879101873
• ISBN13: 9780879101879
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Limelight Editions
• Length: 305 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Outstanding Book on a Selection of Great 20th Century Opera Singers

Nigel Douglas wrote two wonderful books on opera singers - this is the first. (He also wrote a fine 2004 book all about the world of opera The Joy of Opera.) Douglas is a singer himself who studied and sang in Vienna; an opera producer in both Australia and England; and a mainstay for many years on the BBC specializing in singers and the opera. In this book, divided into 14 chapters for as many different singers, he gives each a short 20 to 25 page essay. (Caruso, not unreasonably, receives 30 pages.) The singers in order of apperance are, 1. Jussi Bjorling; 2. Enrico Caruso; 3. Guiseppe de Luca; 4. Kirsten Flagstad; 5. Tito Gobbi; 6. Alexander Kipnis; 7. Lotte Lehmann; 8. Alfred Piccaver; 9. Ezio Pinza; 10. Rosa Ponselle; 11. Tito Schipa; 12. Luisa Tetrazzini; 13. Eva Turner; and 14. Frizt Wunderlich. Douglas offers a charming style and an easy command and appreciation for the difficulties of singing - few writers get the difficulties as right as he does, and his chapter on Ponselle is especially fair for seeing beyond her outward 'Prima Donna' behavior and into the vocal issues driving her fears. As usual there are nicely blended anecdotes - these are, after all, men and women of the stage. To give but one example, I especially recommend his chapter on Kirsten Flagstad, which clears up any lingering misconceptions about her return to Norway during the Nazi occupation. Douglas rightly repeats Flagstad's ironic first lines at the Met following her banishment for perceived German sympathizing, Isolde's opening, "Wer wagt mich zu hohnen?" - 'Who dares to sneer at me?' And Douglas is old enough to give his opinions of Flagstad heard live, as well as his observations of her and a few of the more recent singers, such as Wunderlich, culled both live and during recording sessions. Throughout each essay Douglas lists various available Cds as he cites arias and scenes and operas. His writing on voice is usally infallible - and he writes always without rancor - a rare trait in opera books that deal so closely with the actual art of voice. This is a perfect book for reading a chapter at a time, and the suggested recordings allow anyone made curious easy leads to hearing what Douglas writes so well about. His easy conversational tone gives this book an endearing charm - one of my favorite books on opera and singers, and not to be missed by anyone interested in the great singers of the first half of the 20th century. The book includes a 9 page index of artists and composers, and another full five page Index of Individual Numbers. There is also a list of Recommended Cds, one for Individual Singers, and One for Compilations. A very short list of a few biographies is too short and now out of date. A classic book, and one anyone interested in singers of the past should read.