Enchantress of Nations: Pauline Viardot, Soprano, Muse and Lover

She was among 'the most brilliant dramatic stars of our time', according to Franz Liszt, and billed as 'the most talked of opera singer in Europe'. Dickens - reduced to tears by her singing - regarded her as 'one of the greatest actresses of any time'. Liszt also declared that, with Pauline Viardot, the world had finally found a female composer of genius. Enchantress of Nations is a lavish biogra…

Not Fade Away: The Life and Music of Buddy Holly

'Buddy Holly and The Crickets had an electrifying effect on us as young lads in Liverpool. We were inspired to learn guitar by seeing him on television and listening to his records. That'll Be The Day blew our minds and Lord knows how long we took trying to learn the opening riff. His guitar and vocal style was massively influential on us as writers and players and things would definitely not h…

The Lives and Times of the Great Composers (PAPERBACK)

This updated edition of Michael Steen's portait of the biggest names in classical music, as well as being an authoritative reference, is an engrossing and hugely readable history of 350 years of musical genius at the heart of tumultuous Europe. Explore the life of Bach, the respectable burgher much of whose vast output was composed amidst petty turf disputes in Lutheran Leipzig; the ugly, argum…

The Lives and Times of the Great Composers (paperback)

Lavish, colourful and highly acclaimed major history of the giants of classical music: "A glorious plum-pudding of a book, to be consulted, with pleasure and profit, over and over again" Sir Jeremy Isaacs "Michael Steen?s beautifully illustrated book packs an astonishing amount of biographical and cultural detail into nearly forty subjects." Independent on Sunday "Hugely informative and delicio…