To this day, Schubert remains something of an enigma, despite the wealth of literature about him. Did he write the 'philistine sonatas' attributed to him by Richard Wagner, or did he have the 'divine spark' which Beethoven recognized in him? Was he the 'cosy Biedermeier character' of Vienna, known to his friends as 'little mushroom', or was he something else--a genius unrecognized? Inspired by his own love of performing Schubert's chamber and instrumental...

"Joseph Wechsberg--musician and lifelong opera addict, claqueur, listener and critic--takes the reader on an informative and highly entertaining journey through centuries of operatic history, from Dafne, performed during the 1590s and generally thought to be the first opera, to today's glittering productions at La Scala, the Metropolitan, the Staatsoper in Vienna." --