Best Opera Book of the Year (so far) has to be the latest from the author of that fine introduction, 'Opera - The Extravagant Art.'
The Stanford-based Prof. of Literature, whose fifth (!) book on opera this is must now be in his 80s - but remains as stimulating a commentator as ever. His style is informal rather than dourly theoretical and there are plenty of juicy references to actual operas including performances. Try the A - Z of Il Trovatore, the opening Essay! It is bound to make you smile - and want to revisit Verdi's warhorse, too.
Take a look too at his home page http://www.stanford.edu/~hslinden/ which among other things includes a play about an ageing diva, Miss Cramm!
His new book is called Situating Opera - quite a trendy title that, 'situating' ideas is all the rage at the moment - and contains a wealth of ideas in eight separate Essays that Lindenberger somehow manages to tie together under the situationist umbrella.
Read all about it at the publisher's web page: http://qurl.com/jchgl
The only downside of this very enjoyable [and beautifully produced] book is its whopping great price. £55!
That might make you think it is aimed at an exclusively academic audience. It isn't. Lindenberger's book can be enjoyed - and deserves to be enjoyed - by anyone at all interested in The Extravagant Art.
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