Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Martin, a distinguished Verdi scholar, has here adapted 12 essays taken from his publications or lectures. The chapters are arranged by subject, covering Verdi's political, religious, literary, culinary, and musical interests. As such, they can be read individually; or the book can be read cover to cover, a method this reviewer recommends as being both interesting and rewarding. Verdi emerges as not only a great composer but also a genuine Renaissance man: humanitarian; lover of great books, good food, and good wine; and a sympathetic, kind human being. Heartily recommended. William Shank, CUNY Graduate Sch. Lib. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

Rejoicing in Verdi's vitality, patriotism, imagination and insistence on privacy, but above all in his musical genius, a noted American musicologist mines Verdi's letters for new information and insights. These essays, seven on the composer's political, religious, literary and culinary interests, and five on his compositional concerns, vary in length, depth and intensity. They range from Verdi's connections with Manzoni and Shakespeare, the delicacy of his orchestration and the significance of Franz Werfel's Verdi: A Novel of the Opera in advancing a Verdi revival to an essay on the composer's favorite foods and restaurants. Martin also publishes for the first time several Verdi letters as well as two short compositions that he believes were written by him. A feast for specialists and advanced students. Illustrations not seen by PW. (March) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

CHOICE Review

Martin is the author of a well-received biography of Verdi (Verdi: His Music, Life and Times, 1963) notable for its emphasis on the historical background of the composer's life. He has also written a study of the Italian risorgimento (The Red Shirt and the Cross of Savoy, 1969). In this new work, Martin presents 12 interestingly written and well-researched essays dealing with a half-dozen of the operas and with the Manzoni Requiem and several minor compositions. Notes and bibliography are detailed. Undergraduate libraries considering purchase of this volume should first see that they own the basic Verdi biographies: that by Martin himself, Frank Walker's The Man Verdi (1962), and the most recent and probably the best study, Julian Budden's Verdi (1985). Budden's three-volume The Operas of Verdi (3v; v.2: CH Apr '79; v.3: CH, Dec '81) is also essential. -R. K. Gardner, Universite de Montreal

Kirkus Book Review

The author of Verdi, His Music, Life and Times (1963; 3rd ed., 1983) offers an impressive if amiably ragged assortment of essays here, from the provocative to the conventional to the esoteric or frivolous. (Several originated as speeches or opera-program articles.) Reprinted from The Verdi Companion (1979) is ""Verdi and the Risorgimento,"" Martin's solid survey of the composer's operatic evocation of Italy's mid-century surge towards populist, unifying patriotism. (Verdi was ""the opposite of those artists of today who cannot say 'my country' without embarrassment yet will recount their love lives on television."") An intriguing, if somewhat fuzzy, close-up of the Requiem explores how Verdi--far from pious, famous indeed for his anti-clericalism--found ways to alter the emphasis of the traditional requiem-mass text. Even more interesting, and far more well-argued, is a study of the freedom-fighter/marquis, Posa, in Don Carlos: Martin contends that Verdi imagined Posa as a figure of vast moral ambiguity, led astray by his idealism (in contrast to the super-hero often found in today's performances). Three pieces of musico-dramatic analysis cover somewhat less distinctive ground: the importance of the curse-motif in Rigoletto: the repeated notes and rhythmic figures that generate the insistent tone of II trovatore; the subtle achievements (underrated, says Martin) of the orchestration of La trarviata. A discussion of the Shakespearean qualities of La forza del destino is plausible but thin, and other literary glosses--on Franz Werfel's link to the 1920's ""Verdi Renaissance,"" on the concept of ""La Gloria"" in Otello--are even slighter. Three little-known Verdi compositions (including an ""Ave Maria"") receive scholarly attention. And, in a lighter vein, there's even a brief run-down of the Verdi household's favorite foods. With valuable appendices, conscientious footnotes, and astute biographical or critical perceptions popping up throughout: an agreeable grab-bag for Verdi-lovers and opera students. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.