With this volume Cowden has completed his project of three bibliographies about performers. . . . The current work on instrumentalists is divided into several parts. The main section is an alphabetized list of individual artists with their birth and death dates and related bibliographic citations. There is also an index and four appendixes that provide handy cross-references to all sections, and there are two lists of books about performers. Cowden's selected virtuosi include players of the basic woodwinds and brasses, strings, organ, percussion, piano, and less common instruments such as harmonica and JeW's harp. . . . A useful addition to almost any library. Choice With Instrumental Virtuosi, Robert Cowden has completed his comprehensive three volume bibliography of musical performers. A compilation of resources drawn from dictionaries, encyclopedias, periodicals, and published materials by and about individual musicians, it is unequalled by any other work in scope and coverage. In addition to classical instrumentalists, artists in the pop and commercial tradition--such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Stephane Grappelli--are included. The first two sections of the book list some 300 works on various types of virtuosi, including brass players, keyboard artists, and string and woodwind players. These publications have been personally examined and annotated by Cowden. The final section contains alphabetical entries for more than 1,200 artists. In addition to biographical data, the entries list references to sources cited earlier in the volume, autobiographies and biographies, publications by the performers, related works, and compilations of memorabilia, scores, and reviews. Cross-referencing, an author index, and indexing to other musical references are supplied. With its two companion volumes--Concert and Opera Singers and Concert and Opera Conductors--Instrumental Virtuosi is likely to become the standard reference in its field. An appropriate acquisition for any music library or music reference shelf.

This guide to the biographical literature available on popular 20th-century singers covers nearly 1000 artists. Much of the literature cited is also cross-referenced to major biographical dictionaries, encyclopedias, and relevant periodicals. Entries not only list known publications associated with popular singers but also incorporate elements of analytical and descriptive bibliography. The artists included in this volume increasingly cross musical boundaries. The popular singer category, therefore, encompasses Broadway, Hollywood, cabaret, and operetta performers as well as recording artists.

Scholars of popular music and popular music enthusiasts will appreciate the extensive research this work embodies. Divided among three sections, citations are arranged alphabetically and include information about literature published through 1997. An appendix of additional artists and an index complete the volume.

Have you ever tried to find information on your favorite classical singer, past or present? If you have, you know the frustrations involved. Now, for the first time under one cover is a comprehensive listing of all known published and unpublished material of a biographical nature about classical singers of the opera and recital stages. No current reference work or periodical includes more than a fraction of the material found here. This book will save the reader countless frustrating hours tracking down sources by indicating exactly where to look. For anyone with a serious interest in classical singers, this new publication is a "MUST." Quite simply put, there is nothing comparable available. If you own any or all of the current basic references on opera and singing, this represents a worthy and indispensable companion to each of them. Classical Singers of the Opera and Recital Stages is a comprehensive listing of biographical materials about 1,532 famous and not-so-famous vocalists. Materials from 30 languages and language variants are annotated including cross-references to 24 major dictionaries, encyclopedias, and reference works as well as 12 important periodicals. In addition to this body of information, 157 collective titles and 283 related books are also cross-referenced. It even includes references to works such as the American National Biography which is currently "in publication." All of this material is organized into five easy-to-use coded categories, and the codes remain standard throughout the work. A special feature is a complete index to all vocalists accorded an entry in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera (1992). Some 323 classical vocal artists, who do not appear inGrove-Opera, are included here. Cowden's monumental reference lists thousands of sources for obscure artists as well as for the legendary ones from the 17th century to 1993. Each reader will find sources of information previously unknown thus saving countless hours tracking down biographical information about a particular artist. An indispensable supplement to even the most recent published reference works in the field of the vocal arts, Classical Singers of the Opera and Recital Stages should remain a standard work for years to come.

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Here for the first time are in-depth profiles of 139 major opera companies from around the globe, representing 35 countries, from Argentina to Yugoslavia, and including little-known information on opera in the People's Republic of China, Israel, Japan, the Republic of South Africa, and Turkey. Briefly noted in an appendix are an additional 24 companies from ten countries, three of them not included in the main section.

The profiles provide directory and access information, a survey of the company's history, and, wherever possible, a chronological listing of directors and managers, and a concise bibliography for further reference. An annotated research bibliography contains general sources, such as reference books, opera annals, architectural studies, discographies, and relevant studies of conductors and performers. A chronology of the foundings of the opera companies and an index complete the volume. Much of the information is singularly available in this source, which will be welcomed by scholars, researchers, and opera lovers.

Filling an important gap in scholarship, Professor Cowden's new bibliography provides complete and authoritative information on major conductors of permanent orchestral ensembles since the time of von Weber and Berlioz. Cowden has selected 1,249 conductors on the basis of citations in standard music references, biographical studies, autobiographies, and contributions to the pedagogy of conducting. Publications in English and several European languages are cited. The first section, "Collective Works," gives detailed information on titles devoted to concert and opera conductors and related titles containing additional material on conductors and conducting. The section on individual conductors is arranged alphabetically by artist. Further sources and references are offered in appendixes and an index of authors is included.