Author Description

From Library Journal Porter, music critic for The New Yorker, has once again brought the magic of the concert hall to the arm chair. This latest collection of the reviews Porter began writing in 1972 (others include Music of Three Seasons, 1974-1977, LJ 11/1/78, and Musical Events, LJ 9/15/87) is filled with interesting facts and perceptive criticism of significant musical performances. Although the work focuses on opera in general and Handel in particular, Porter has not omitted instrumental music and composers of our time, e.g., Pierre Boulez, Elliott Carter, and Aaron Copland. Music enthusiasts and scholars alike will enjoy the casual but penetrating writing style and delight in the many edifying tidbits not likely to be found anywhere else. - William J. Waters, Pensacola Jr. Coll., Fla. Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Publishers Weekly This fifth collection of Porter's New Yorker reviews, covering three additional seasons, reflects what was going on musically in America and elsewhere, from Wagner's Ring at Bayreuth in August 1983 to the festivals of Cabrillo, Carmel and Tanglewood in the summer of 1986, and features both new productions of older works (from the Middle Ages to Alban Berg) and first performances by composers ranging from Babbitt and Boulez to Tippett and Wuorinen. As his readers have come to expect, Porter tends to be more curious than censorious, enthusiastic whenever he can be, and generous toward honest endeavor even while impatient of pretentions. Nevertheless, when Rutland Boughton's The Immortal Hour was revived in 1985 the critic reported that "The music has a faint, wispy, not irresistible charm" but that "perhaps it had simply not occurred" to the cast "to sing gently, with refinement." A treasure house for music lovers. Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.