Alan Jefferson Books

A guide to the 14 operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan.

1988 marks the centenary of the birth of the singer Lotte Lehmann, one of the greatest sopranos of her age, who has continued to fascinate later generations familiar with her voice and personality only through gramophone recordings. Born in Prussia, she died in California in 1976. Her 88-year life span encompassed a brilliant operatic career in Vienna (where she will forever be associated with the operas of Richard Strauss); outspoken opposition to the Nazi regime; working with Toscanini; rivalry with other singers, especially sopranos such as Jeritza and Ursuleac; a stormy passage with New York's Metropolitan Opera; a dazzling concert career as a Lieder singer; teaching; writing; and always at the heart of everything a fierce dedication to her art. --- from book's dustjacket