[Ralph P. Locke]

[[Over the past few years, I have been reviewing a lot of CDs and some books. Some of the items are of definite interest to musicologists, so I think I\’ll start posting announcements of the ones of greatest musicological interest here, unless people tell me they find them annoying. Most of the announcements appeared on my Facebook homepage–I apologize for the duplication, for those who visit my page there.]]

My rather lengthy review of Conrad L. Osborne\’s astonishingly insightful (and occasionally infuriating) book on operatic performance–which I first published in The Boston Musical Intelligencer, has now been picked up by a second online magazine.

NewYorkArts.net did me (and my readers) the added favor of inserting wonderful sound clips illustrating a number of Osborne\’s observations. Just listen to Johanna Gadski since \”Ach, ich fühl’s” from Mozart’s The Magic Flute!  Magic, indeed, and transmitted to us from over a century ago!

Entire chapters in this 827-page book (that\’s not a typo!) deserve to be studied closely by opera singers, conductors, stage directors, music critics, and scholars alike.

I particularly recommend the wonderful observations in longish chapters about Borodin\’s Prince Igor and Halévy’s La juive.

My review summarizes many other important points made by Osborne–not least about changes in vocal technique and training in recent decades, possibly explaining why so many singers\’ voices do not carry in large halls and also why so many singers develop an unpleasantly wide, slow vibrato or wobble, even early in their careers. I don\’t necessarily agree with or endorse everything he says about this highly charged topic (nor about lots of other topics in the book!). But he speaks from extensive experience, and, in my judgment, has a lot of sensible thoughts to offer.

This book could become the spur for numerous debates and scholarly studies.

It\’s also written with much wit. I suggest opening it to a random page–you\’re likely to find yourself snagged and then reading many more pages than you had originally intended.

Here\’s a link to Osborne\’s site, with excerpts from other people\’s reviews (e.g., the critic and musicologist/cultural historian Joseph Horowitz) plus a list of errata in the first printing (which reportedly are all now corrected in the second printing): http://conradlosborne.com/opera-as-opera/.

Ralph

Ralph P. Locke

Professor Emeritus of Musicology, Eastman School of Music (University of Rochester)

Senior Editor, Eastman Studies in Music (University of Rochester Press)

Research Affiliate, University of Maryland School of Music

postal address:

Ralph P. Locke

11901F Breezy Meadow Dr.

Apt. F

Clarksburg MD 20871USA

RLocke@esm.rochester.edu

also: Ralph.P.Locke@gmail.com

Short biography and list of published writings: https://www.esm.rochester.edu/faculty/locke_ralph/

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