Rating: 
Summary: Pretty Good
Review: This book shines in its early history of the Metropolitan Opera, and it is quite interesting to follow this history to the present day. Most of the information, however, is new only to opera novices, not to those who have closely followed the opera scene for years. While the stated purpose of the book is to give the reader a behind-the-scenes look at the administration of the Met, there are simply too many omissions of important performers and their contributions to make this a truly satisfying read. In short, this book could have been greatly enriched with more anecdotes about the performers who make the opera what it is. This is not to slight the administrators, many of whom did amazing work in building the Met. But a more complete picture would have been far more interesting, and for this reason, I was disappointed in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good
Review: This book shines in its early history of the Metropolitan Opera, and it is quite interesting to follow this history to the present day. Most of the information, however, is new only to opera novices, not to those who have closely followed the opera scene for years. While the stated purpose of the book is to give the reader a behind-the-scenes look at the administration of the Met, there are simply too many omissions of important performers and their contributions to make this a truly satisfying read. In short, this book could have been greatly enriched with more anecdotes about the performers who make the opera what it is. This is not to slight the administrators, many of whom did amazing work in building the Met. But a more complete picture would have been far more interesting, and for this reason, I was disappointed in this book.
Rating: 
Summary: I want my money back!
Review: This book was a big bore! What a rip-off! Cobbled together from other anecdotes Opera lovers have heard and read elsewhere. The writer must be trading on her father's famous name. Obviously talent wasn't passed aong in the genes!
Rating: 
Summary: facinating read
Review: This is an obviously well researched book that is an excellent read. The author has an unique ability to take facts and make them come to life in her narrative. Though the book is obviously a work of non-fiction, it reads so easily that it feels more like a great novel. It is chock full of information that will be interesting to both lovers of the opera as well as those like me who new little about the world behind the "gold curtain". Once I started it, I couldn't put it down.
Rating: 
Summary: Tired old stories cobbled together by Levine Worshipper
Review: While I was happy that this book avoided the calculatedly catty tone of Hoelterhoff's misbegotten "Cinderella and Co.", most of it reads like a Met tour guide's script. The description of one Met impresario succeeding another reads like those interminable 'this one begat that one, who begat that one, etc' parts of the Bible. And those worn out old stories about Kathleen Battle's bad behavior have been repeated so many times that every community college freshman voice major is weary of them. Plus all the parts about Maestro Levine sound like they were written by Aunt Bea if she were Levine's publicist. "Oh, Andy! Can you believe these dreadful things they are saying about Jimmy!" It's as though the only times that Fiedler took her hand away from her pearls was to speed dial Levine and submit her latest draft for his approval.
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