Arthur Groos, an emeritus professor at Cornell specializing in medieval German literature and a leading scholar in the field of Puccini studies, has delivered a superbly researched and well-constructed volume that is surely destined to become a foundational work for future investigations. His years of experience are apparent in every polished paragraph.
Groos states at the outset that he began the journey toward the writing of this book by immersing himself in archives rich in primary source material—a type of musicological legwork that is sometimes sidestepped, yet almost always to the detriment of the research produced. Thus, it is deeply satisfying to see a work of this type engage so closely with sources such as the Ricordi Archive in Milan, the collection of the Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna, and various other notable holdings of private papers. The result is a fascinating look at the emergence and development of a famous...