(3) YA Translated by Hugh Hazelton. Illustrated by Linda Wolfsgruber. With drypoint and monoprint illustrations washed in muted but emotive colors, this is a free-verse, present-tense retelling of the librettos of Wagner's great Ring Cycle. Although there is nothing that marks this particularly as a book for young people, it would be an accessible and dramatic introduction for newcomers to the operas.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton

(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) 4-6 Masters of Music series. Well-researched and clear, these books in five or six chapters relate biographical details of the composers' lives, emphasizing the circumstances surrounding their musical education and compositions. Photographs and reproductions illustrate chapters, which are interrupted by "FYInfo" pages that supply further cultural details of varying relevance. There are four other fall 2004 books in this series. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Masters of Music titles: The Life and Times of Scott Joplin, The Life and Times of Hector Berlioz, The Life and Times of Igor Stravinsky, and The Life and Times of Richard Wagner.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian