Leoncavallo: Life and Works

This is ideal for anyone looking for in-depth research material on this little-known composer. Highly recommended. ― CHOICE, October 2007, Vol. 45, No. 2

Best known as the composer of Pagliacci , Ruggiero Leoncavallo (1857-1919) created many other operatic works, including Chatterton , Der Roland von Berlin , and La bohème. Based on extensive archival research conducted by the author, this critical biography attempts to untangle and organize the facts of Leoncavallo’s life while offering a relatively complete analysis of his works. Dryden teaches music at the University of Maryland University College-Europe. ― Reference and Research Book News, May 2007

Because of Dryden, he [Leoncavallo] has finally been accorded a memorial entirely unlike himself: that is, unassuming, focused, disciplined, and perilously near to perfection. The preface, by no less a performer than Plácido Domingo, merely confirms the whole project’s quality. It is impossible to imagine any subsequent book on leoncavallo doing more than adding a handful of grace notes, and perhaps the very occasional cadenza, to Dryden’s quietly heroic art. ― The New Criterion, June 2008

Real-life events partially inspired Ruggiero Leoncavallo’s 1892 verismo shocker to make it one of the most popular operas ever written. The work also turned its composer into a “one-hit wonder.” Leoncavallo, deeply troubled and insecure for most of his career, wrote operas to inspire both admiration and revulsion. When you add the chaotic state of Leoncavallo’s correspondence, the challenges facing any writer of a definitive biography become apparent. Fortunately, Dryden’s illuminating study succeeds despite these odds….Dryden’s book proves a thorough, well-documented resource on a gifted composer tormented by the early success he was never able to duplicate. Dryden’s painstaking detective work provides a solid foundation for future research. Simply put, every scholar, singer, conductor, and opera fan who admires Leoncavallo and wants to learn more about his career and personality will want to read this book. Highly recommended. ― The Opera Journal