Operetta: A Theatrical History is considered the classic history of this important musical theater form. Traubners book; first published in 1983; is still recognized as the key history of the people and productions that made operetta a worldwide phenomenon. Beginning in mid-19th century Europe; the book covers all of the key developments in the form; including the landmark works by Strauss and his followers; Gilbert Sullivan; Franz Lehar; Rudolf Friml; Victor Herbert; and many more. The book perfectly captures the champagne-and-ballroom atmosphere of the greatest works in the genre. It will appeal to all fans of musical theatre history.
#2411662 in eBooks 2004-06-01 2004-06-01File Name: B000Q35ZR4
Review
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful. good first book of the bluesBy Michael J. DoleshIm a beginning to intermediate piano student and I thought this book was a good introduction to the blues. The individual songs; traditional basic blues material; were kept intentionally simple and are only 1-2 pgs in length. Good material to practice the syncopation and phrasing of blues; at a beginner level.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. disappointing; lacks MP3 files to download; oversimplified musicBy B. Powelldisappointment. I had the "First Book of Jazz" and enjoyed it because it included downloadable MP3 files to listen to. This book doesnt make MP3 files available; and it sorely needs it; since the rhythm of blues music is not even represented in the written music. The music is ridiculously oversiumplified; it would have been nice to have more than a single note per measure on the left hand for example.24 of 26 people found the following review helpful. A book with no apparent audienceBy Customer"A First Book of Blues" would not be a good choice if you are looking for your first book to start playing blues piano. In fact; I cant figure out who would find this book useful. You would never want to play these arrangements for anyone else to hear. You probably wouldnt get much pleasure or value out of playing them as exercises. If you are just starting with blues piano; you arent going to learn how to get the blues sound from this book. At best; someone who knows quite a lot about playing blues piano could use this as a kind of fake book to provide a starting point for building a interesting arrangement; but there probably are a lot of better choices for that.Ive posted images so you can see what the music in this book looks like. These are from the Kindle edition but I wouldnt expect the paper edition to look appreciably different.My complaint is that the "arrangements" are so simplified that almost all the flavor of these songs has been boiled out of them. To illustrate I have posted an image that shows the first four bars of "Down Home Blues" as presented in this book compared to a transcription from a piano roll by James P. Johnson. Admittedly Johnsons performance is probably the gold standard for a solo piano performance of this song and about as far from an easy arrangement for beginners as you can get. I posted the comparison so you can get a sense of how much the arrangements in this book have been simplified.The biggest shortcomings in my view are the static left hand parts. I have been playing blues piano for a year. What I have been learning is that a rhythmic left hand is the foundation on which blues piano is built and what propels the music forward. The left hand does almost nothing of interest in any of the arrangements in this book.If you want some idea of what I think this book should have been; you can find audio from the arrangement of "Down Home Blues" included in Alfreds "Premier Piano Course" Lesson Book 3 on their website or a student performance on YouTube. The left hand is still rather leaden but at least it provides a steady beat against which the right hand syncopation can work.I understand that writing an arrangement suitable for beginners that still sounds good and has the flavor of a more advanced arrangement is a real challenge. Unfortunately; this book fails to rise to the challenge.Since the guidelines require disclosure of whether you received a free copy to review; Ill disclose that I am going to return this book so I guess you could consider this a review of a copy I didnt pay for.