Franco Corelli and a Revolution in Singing: Fifty-four Tenors Spanning 200 Years, vol. 3 Hardcover – January 1, 2018

I am not sure for whom these volumes are written, aside from Mr. Zucker and a few of his friends. I am amused at his lamentations regarding the paucity of good quality paper. Much of the content of this volume isn’t worthy of the expensive paper. It is no surprise to me that he was unable to interest a university press in his project. What Mr. Zucker is in desperate need of is a good editor. I wish I could say that these volumes add significantly to the understanding and literature of vocal art, but they do not. This volume, especially, is on the thin side. It abounds in unfiltered, undirected, and often pointless interviews and recollections. It is basically a jumble of leftovers from his Opera Fanatic magazine and radio days with some current stuff added on top. What I think it does do is document a certain kind of American opera lover and approach that dates from 1980s. If Mr. Zucker is interested in real vocal art writing I strongly suggest he explore The Record Collector magazine. A single article in that magazine would show him how he can describe singing in a way that is not only accessible but beautiful and interesting.