PRAISE FOR THE PREVIOUS EDITIONS:u003cbru003eu003cbru003e“If you are for opera, this book is for you.”—u003ciu003eNew York Times Book Reviewu003c/iu003eu003cbru003eu003cbru003e“The most influential recent book on opera criticism…in the English-speaking world”—u003ciu003eNew Grove Dictionary of Operau003c/iu003eu003cbru003eu003cbru003e“Affords the serious reader and listener an absorbing encounter with a sensitive and superbly trained intelligence in the act of thinking about music and music criticism…. We come away remembering the sound of Kerman’s prose voice, mellifluous, elegant, eminently civilized, beneath its cool control a ground bass of urgent feeling.”—u003ciu003eSan Francisco Chronicle Book Reviewu003c/iu003eu003cbru003eu003cbru003e"The author's clarity and pungency...make for enjoyable, challenging reading. It is a collection that can tease the person who is primarily interested in opera into wanting to explore the song literature of the English Renaissance or to listen more knowledgeably to Mozart's piano concertos and Beethoven's symphonies."—William Ashbrook, u003ciu003eOpera Quarterly u003c/iu003eu003cbru003eu003cbru003e"Kerman's musicological activity is technical without neglecting the importance of text, cultural context, meaning, expression, and value, and is likely to appeal to educated lay people.... Kerman's scholarship is careful and sensitive, and often subtle and witty. Yet this subtle scholarship has evoked strong and widespread reaction and provided significant leadership within musicology and beyond."—Renée Cox Lorraine, u003ciu003eNotes u003c/iu003eu003cbru003eu003cbru003e"Lucid, lively.... Many aspects of his work can provide inspiration."—Oliver Neighbour, u003ciu003eMusic and Letters u003c/iu003e