Pre-Owned The Life and Work of Pauline Viardot Garcia Vol. 2 : The Years of Grace 1863-1910 (Hardcover) 9781443840132

As a former singer Barbara Kendall-Davies has considerable technical knowledge and writes perceptively about singing. The book is a result of years of travel and research and many wonderful images illustrate its pages. There is much of interest here for music lovers since the age of romanticism is covered extensively and Chopin Schumann Brahms Liszt Gounod Berlioz Massenet Saint-Saens Faure and Wagner all cross paths with our protagonist. Pauline Viardot Garcia and her legendary friend Ivan Turgenev are at the core of the world that Kendall-Davies ably documents. - Harold Bruder The Record Collector 58:1 (March 2013) 58-59. Viardot s position in the mid-19th century operatic world was undoubtedly important and Kendall-Davies demonstrates in great detail the full amplitude of her social connections and influence. Indeed with a circle of friends and colleagues (not to mention putative lovers) that reads like a roll-call from the cultural pantheon of the time Viardot is the sort of figure many opera-lovers might wish they had been able to meet. - Flora Wilson Opera 2 (September 2013) 1216-1217. Contributor: Barbara Kendall-Davies