Publishers Weekly
Murray, who eventually became a staff writer for the New Yorker and the author of some 30 books, including several racetrack-themed mysteries, initially had planned a career in opera (he died earlier this year at age 78). Writing this study of a year in the life of an entering class at Chicago's Lyric Opera Center, one of the world's top programs for training young opera talent, was both his way of experiencing his own "road not taken" and an opportunity to explore modern techniques of operatic training. Murray went to Chicago for the school's 2003-2004 season and sat in on everything-master classes, rehearsals, auditions and opening nights-talking with students, coaches and directors. Inevitably, some performance would remind him of an anecdote about one of opera's larger-than-life stars, its "sacred monsters." While hard-core opera aficionados may already know Murray's Pavarotti stories, and may even be able to trump his Zeffirelli tales, in the opera world, stories grow better the more they're told. This affectionate, appreciative tribute to the world of opera and its next generation of stars should please fans-and help their dates make better cocktail party conversation. 8-page b&w photo insert. Agent, Elizabeth Kaplan. (Sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
In this enjoyable, easy read, the late journalist, novelist, and tenor manqu Murray (City of the Soul) relates the workings of the Chicago Lyric Opera Center for American Artists training program during the 2003-04 season. He interviews vocal coaches, conductors, and artistic administrators, all the while attending auditions, master classes, rehearsals, and performances. Chronicling the career and vocal ups and downs of the 12 young participants-readers will find themselves rooting for these young singers-he humorously shares his own early experiences with opera as well as his none-too-subtle opinions on modern-day icons like Luciano Pavarotti and Renee Fleming. Within the book's chatty, sometimes earthy pages are useful nuggets about voice training and the business of opera. Warmly recommended for all collections.-Barry Zaslow, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
A season in the lives of young singers struggling get noticed in the demanding world of opera, alluringly told by prolific writer and tenor Murray (City of the Soul, 2003, etc.). The author, who died in March 2005, spent 24 weeks during the 2003-04 season with 12 artists in the Lyric Opera of Chicago training program, a launching pad for many great international careers. What makes the training program so special is not only the quality of its singers, but the talented coaches who guide the artists through their exercises and roles, instructing them in dramatic interpretation, language meaning and pronunciation and movement. Murray shines in chronicling the development of the singers' technique; his prose is gratifying, his dry humor a pleasure. He is wonderfully adept at evoking the particular musical personalities of the singers, and he stands in awe of their courage and professionalism. Murray understatedly brings his own history as an opera singer into the picture when it helps shed light on the challenges faced by his subjects. (Of that career, he says: "[I]t never amounted to much, but it had deeply enriched my life.") He is sensitive to the aspects of opera that help create "sacred monsters," singers of such ego and celebrity they are like forces of nature. Aspiring artists are judged day after day, he writes, and rarely given more than a nod of acknowledgement. So if perchance one becomes a great star, he or she may well feel it's another's turn to play the supplicant. Murray has left as his final gift a lovely book of song. (8 pp. b&w photo insert)
