(4) YA Classical Composers series. Clara Schumann, along with managing a tumultuous relationship with her father and tending to her erratic husband and their eight often-ill children, was able to maintain a career as a world-renowned concert pianist (and composer) for over six decades. The information in this thorough volume could be better organized, but it's engaging nonetheless. Archival artwork supports the text. Timeline, websites. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Rebecca Hachmyer

(4) YA Classical Composers series. These thorough, well-researched composers' biographies focus almost solely on their subjects' lives, with a few glimpses at historical context. Verdi incorporates brief summaries of his major operas, but neither book elucidates the composers' musical styles. Mendelssohn's story is meatier, as its subject attempts to reconcile gender roles with professional ambitions. A list of suggested recordings would have been a welcome addition. Timeline, websites. Bib., ind. Review covers these Classical Composers titles: Giuseppe Verdi and Italian Opera and Gifted Sister.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(4) YA Classical Composers series. These thorough, well-researched composers' biographies focus almost solely on their subjects' lives, with a few glimpses at historical context. Verdi incorporates brief summaries of his major operas, but neither book elucidates the composers' musical styles. Mendelssohn's story is meatier, as its subject attempts to reconcile gender roles with professional ambitions. A list of suggested recordings would have been a welcome addition. Timeline, websites. Bib., ind. Review covers these Classical Composers titles: Giuseppe Verdi and Italian Opera and Gifted Sister.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(4) YA Classical Composers series. Friends, families, lovers, rivalries, achievements, disappointments, and more are placed firmly in musical and social context by awkward prose that emphasizes Handel's vocal music; Brahms's songs, Requiem, and symphonies; and Wagner's remarkable operas. Chapters brim with events and details of the composers' lives. Period illustrations, many in color, illuminate the carefully documented text. Timeline, websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Classical Composers titles: George Frideric Handel and Music for Voices, Johannes Brahms and the Twilight of Romanticism, and Richard Wagner and German Opera.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(4) YA Classical Composers series. Friends, families, lovers, rivalries, achievements, disappointments, and more are placed firmly in musical and social context by awkward prose that emphasizes Handel's vocal music; Brahms's songs, Requiem, and symphonies; and Wagner's remarkable operas. Chapters brim with events and details of the composers' lives. Period illustrations, many in color, illuminate the carefully documented text. Timeline, websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Classical Composers titles: George Frideric Handel and Music for Voices, Johannes Brahms and the Twilight of Romanticism, and Richard Wagner and German Opera.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(4) YA Classical Composers series. Early education, family life, and musical styles are covered in these biographical surveys; Vivaldi contains more musical analysis, particularly of The Four Seasons. Both books suffer from awkward prose (not to mention too many parenthetical comments) and a lack of contextual information about the Baroque period, but together text and color images make for adequate biographies. Review covers these Classical Composers titles: Antonio Vivaldi and the Baroque Tradition and Johann Sebastian Bach and the Art of Baroque Music.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(4) YA Classical Composers series. Early education, family life, and musical styles are covered in these biographical surveys; Vivaldi contains more musical analysis, particularly of The Four Seasons. Both books suffer from awkward prose (not to mention too many parenthetical comments) and a lack of contextual information about the Baroque period, but together text and color images make for adequate biographies. Review covers these Classical Composers titles: Antonio Vivaldi and the Baroque Tradition and Johann Sebastian Bach and the Art of Baroque Music.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(4) YA Classical Composers series. Friends, families, lovers, rivalries, achievements, disappointments, and more are placed firmly in musical and social context by awkward prose that emphasizes Handel's vocal music; Brahms's songs, Requiem, and symphonies; and Wagner's remarkable operas. Chapters brim with events and details of the composers' lives. Period illustrations, many in color, illuminate the carefully documented text. Timeline, websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Classical Composers titles: George Frideric Handel and Music for Voices, Johannes Brahms and the Twilight of Romanticism, and Richard Wagner and German Opera.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian