CoNTENTS

5 Letters to the Editor 9 Obbligato: an

independent and essential column by Peter Conrad 10 Spotlight 16 Broadway Diary: Ruth

Leon reports from musicals' land 18 Opera Houses of the

World: Teatro Comunale, Florence. Michael Scott looks at the present home of opera in the city where the art form began; and Anne Marshal/ Zwack suggests where else to go and what to see 24 Assortment of Voices:

this month}ohn Steane explores the voice and repertoire of the light baritone 28 DreamingofFreedom:

Susan Shaw profiles composer Hans Werner Henze, whose latest opera is premiered in Berlin this month 32 Opera Begins: from the

sixteenth century to the present day- some things in opera never change, writes Hamish Swans ton 36 Electronic Renaissance:

lan Stones takes a look behind the scenes of a recent television recording of the Florentine intermedi 40 Theatrical Gardens:

How theatrical sets influenced garden designs. By George Carter

46 Vanishing Act: Soprano

Leonie Rysanek profiled by Peter Conrad 52 Listening and Learning:

Antony Peattie looks at the current trend for masterclasses as a method of teaching singing 54 Changing Styles:

Getting to the very foundation of stage makeup and wigs, Pip Leahy talks to master-craftsman Per;erOwen 58 Glyndebourne on the

Mississippi: Tom Sutclif/e visits Opera Theatre of St Louis 62 Opera Now's Night at

the Opera: A special readers' offer to performances ofWilliam Tell and b Boheme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden 64 The Qpera Now

Collection 66 King of Conductors:

Fishing for effect: a te chnician at work du ring recent fil ming of the 1589 Floren ti ne intermed i. State-of· the-art production methods cause the man on the right to lose his legs. See p.36

Harvey Sachs looks back at the career of conductor Arturo Toscanini , whose recordings are now being rereleased on CD 70 Recording of the

Month: Several new reissues of Aid a add to the confusion of choosing a recording. Nicholas Snowman has listened ro them 72 The Qpera Now Tour:

A culture-packed long weekend in Vienna, exclusive to our readers 73 Reviews: Opera, recitals

and choral music on CD, plus recent video releases 80 Equipment: This month

Michae/ Scott Rohan recommends ways of finding yourself a good hi-fi dealer 82 Performance: Reviews

of recent UK producrions 84 Listings: UK and

international

CONTRIBUTORS GEORGE CARTER is a garden designer and hisrorian, wirh particular interest in the seventeenth century . .. PETER CONRAD's latest book, Where I Fell to Earth, has just been published by Chatto & Wind us . . . NI GEL PARRY is a freelance phorographer living and working in London ... HARVEY SACHS is the author ofToscanini, The Virtuoso, and Music in Fascist Italy . .. MICHAELSCOTI is author of The Record of Singing and The Great Carmo . .. MICHAELSCOTIROHAN is a fantasy and science fiction author whose next novel Chase the Morning will be published in July .. . SUSAN SHAW is an arts journalist and researches for The South Bank Show ... N!CHOLAS SNOWMAN is General Director (Arts) ofl.ondon's South Bank Centre ... TOM SUTG.lFFE is Opera Critic and a Features Writer for The Guardian.

COVER Hans Werner Henze photographed by

NIGEL PARRY