William Somervell Mann

Great. Intelligent and erudite but always sensible. A handy guide to the Strauss operas, more academic than Charles Osborne's volume but no less appealing.

Perhaps still the most respected single-volume work on Mozart's operas, with in-depth but never off-putting analyses of each of the theatrical works. Mozart is especially fascinating as someone of pure genius yet whose works allow us so much insight into the development of the artist, from his first operas during his early teens through to his flourishing just before his untimely death at aged 35. Mann has still got it.

3/22/22