On Singers and Singing : Lectures and Essay
14: Amadeus Press, 1990. Hardcover. Text in English. 244 pp. Price sticker on the back cover. Light rubbing on the dust jacket.
Reynaldo Hahn, born in Venezuela in 1874, was a classmate of Maurice Ravel, an intimate friend of Marcel Proust and Sarah Bernhardt, a student of Massenet, and a friend of Fauré. He not only wrote more than a hundred mélodies, but also operas, operettas, and concertos; he was an integral part of the musical life of Paris and central Europe from the turn of the century until after the Second World War, as much for his influence in the musical and literary salons of the time as for the posts he held as music critic of Le Figaro, conductor at the Salzburg Festival, and, finally, director of the Paris Opéra.
This book, a translation of Du Chant, is a series of nine lectures Hahn delivered in 1913-1914 plus an epilogue. It is not so much a treatment of technical questions in singing as a discussion of expressive matters of taste and style, informed throughout by Hahn's refined sensitivity. As such it is valuable both for singers and for students of the musical traditions of la belle Époque.
This translation includes an introduction by Lorraine Gorrell and a discography by William R. Moran, "The Recorded Legacy of Reynaldo Hahn," cataloguing Hahn's recordings as a singer, accompanist—both of himself and others—conductor, and speaker. Near Fine / Very Good. Item #4443
ISBN: 0931340225
Price: $30.00