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Divas

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Winthrop Sargeant, the distinguished music critic of The New Yorker, compiled this collection of profiles of legendary opera superstars between 1959 and 1973. Five of the six originally appeared in the New Yorker, in slightly different form. The style of his writing is accessible and entertaining, even for those who know nothing about opera. It is obvious to the reader that these profiles emerged from a gentler time, when the writer's purpose was to gently reveal the forces shaping each singer's career, rather than the contemporary style, which runs to scandal and exposure. The subjects of the profiles are: Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne, Beverly Sills, Birgit Nilsson, Leontyne Price, and Eileen Farrell. This book is a real pleasure for someone learning about the world of opera. All six of the "divas" are sopranos, and have appeared in starring roles in nearly every well-known work. Read this book. You'll find yourself using the term "diva" a lot more selectively.