... neither dry-as-dust scholarship nor gushing, gossipy opera dish, although it packs plenty of historical knowledge, stylistic analysis and enthusiastic personal details into its pages.

Aucoin happily wrestles with multiple impossibilities in this highly personal book. In vivid, granular detail, he explores composers and operas he loves.

... the second chapter, 'Primal Loss,' offers a profound meditation that ends with Harrison Birtwistle’s The Mask of Orpheus.

Aucoin speaks eloquently from his own experience as composer, conductor, writer, and pianist.

Aucoin’s expressive language conveys his passion for opera and its influence on his life. For each composer, librettist, or composition the book discusses, he explains what made them groundbreaking and new and what made them similar to their operatic predecessors.

... exceptional.