Customer Reviews

The Last Prima Donnas

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Lanfranco Rasponi in his book, The Last Prima Donnas, compiles a series of interviews spanning fifty years with some of the most legendary divas to grace the operatic stage. This book is easily the most comprehensive, engaging, and just downright fascinating piece of work concerning opera out there. Such grand old dames as Eva Turner, Lily Pons and even Maria Callas expound intelligently and lucidly upon their careers and colleagues, the past, present and future of opera and many other subjects concerning their art and lives. It's an absolute must-read for anyone who's ever been enchanted by the sounds of opera, for it is the story of opera told through the eyes of some of its greatest and most colorful interpreters

"The Last Prima Donnas" is a compilation of interviews that the author conducted with the divas themselves. In some cases, the author had more than one occasion to meet with the singers, and was even friends with a few. The majority of singers represented were born before World War I and were active in the 1920's to 1950's. Several worked with the composers themselves. Many names are not as well known to us in 2010 as they were in their day. If you think somebody deserves to have been included who was not, remember that these were all women who were interviewed directly by the author. This is a book that you buy for content. I bought one that must have been a library book that was less than $3.00 before shipping and I am quite satisfied.

No real opera fan can affort NOT to read this informative and entertaining book...So much insight into what opera used to be....Awesome reading.

I found this to be a very interesting, moving, hauntingly sad and fascinating book giving a good view into the lives of some of Operas Great Singers through personal interviews.
I highly recommend this book to lovers of Great Singing. It clearly shows the difference between Opera as it was performed and the way it is to day and why many people to day see it as a dying art ruled by the directors and not the singers who make the Opera.