takes us through years that are studdednwith the names of Leo Blech, BrunonWalter, Wilhelm Furtwangler, andnmany others, until the disintegration ofnEurope and the Nazification of Germanyndrove Melchior to America for good.nThe ascendancy of Hitler and his relationshipnto Wagner, to Bayreuth, and tonmusical politics, Emmons plays for allnits worth. The personal stories of FridanLeider, Kirsten Flagstad, and others arenwoven into the narrative of Melchior’sncareer, lending shade to this account ofna life that was, on the whole, sunny.nA pleasure-loving man, Melchiornwas not cut out for tragedy. Wasn’t hensomehow “at home” appearing innThrill of a Romance and Luxury Linernand other such cornball movies? Thengiant, the hero, had a deep need to benthe clown, the buffoon. Rudolf Bingnmade a point of humiliating Melchiornand eliminating him from the MetropolitannOpera in 1950. He was wrong,nbut he had a reason:nHeadlines screamed “COURTnRULES IT ISN’T NOISE IFnMELCHIOR SAYS ITSnMUSIC!” and Lauritz lookednjust fine playing the washboardnfor the photographers from hisnHerald-Tribune. In the samenmonth as the glamorousnMetropolitan opening, Lauritznserved as witness for thendefense in the trial of the KornnKobblers’ Band. Accompaniednby a few beauteous show girls,nthe Korn Kobblers were ridingnalong Broadway in a haynwagon, celebrating theirnimpending appearance at anrestaurant in the vicinity. Atn47th Street and Broadway theynwere handed a noise summonsnby a policeman who insistednthat auto horns, washboards,nand inverted spittoons were notnorchestral instruments. Lauritz,nbrought along to court by thenchief Korn Kobbler to helpnprove that it was music that theynwere making, spoke eloquently:n”Sometimes it is difficult tondetermine what is music.nWagner’s operas were at firstndescribed as unnecessary noise.nThe music of living composersnis way ahead of the people.”nFrom the sublime to thenridiculous seemed to be thennormal path of Lauritz’s life.nCould Rudolf Bing have missednthis coverage? Most surely henheard Melchior’s exuberantnrendition of the Chevrolet radioncommercial. The Wagneriannparody of “Seeeeeeee thenU!S!A! in a Che-vro-laaaaaaaay”nwas inescapable.nWell, so was Lauritz Melchior’s destiny.nShirlee Emmons was herself a membernof “The Lauritz Melchior Show” thatntoured nightclubs, which gave her anpersonal insight into Melchior’s personalitynand the retrogression of his career.nBut most of the authority of hernbiography of Melchior is scholarly. Extensivelynresearched and documented,nTristanissimo is a superbly composed,nimpeccably balanced rendering of anlife. Just at those most difficult pointsn— the Nazi degradation of German culturenand the Wagner cult, Melchior’snfailures as a father and his weaknessesnof character — she is strongest.nHer scrupulous maintenance of comprehensivenunderstanding gives a sensenof forgiveness to the portrayal of oldngrudges and family bitterness. At thenend, we see that the Heldentenor wasnno hero, but we must be sad to see himngo. After all, there haven’t been manynsingers around who could “do”nSiegmund at 70 as well as ever, ornwhose idea of “warming up” was to getnon the outside of a bottle of Carlsberg.nYou have to like a guy like that. Butnyou have to feel something more fornthe artist who recorded Act I of DienWalktire with Lotte Lehman and BrunonWalter so unforgettably, and whonleft behind a cut but incandescentnTristan love duet with Frida Leider thatnputs all others in the shade.nShirlee Emmons has succeedednhandsomely in doing justice not onlynto her peerless subject, but to thenfamilial, cultural, and historical contextsnof his life. Complete with elaboratennotes, bibliography, discography,nand photographs, her Tristanissimo isnthe best biography I have read in years.nAnother book on a great singer,nAndrew Farkas’s anthology of piecesnabout Lawrence Tibbett, is nowherennear as extended a study as Emmons’nbiography of Melchior. But it is anvaluable, useful work, one that notnonly says much about an imposingnnnartist but also provokes some reflectionsnabout music in America today.nJohn Chades Thomas, Robert Merrill,nCornell MacNeill, and SherillnMilnes notwithstanding, LawrencenTibbett was the greatest of Americannbaritones, one whose American trainingnled to international impact, matineenidol status, and recordings cherishednby lovers of great singing all overnthe world. A superb artist and a reflectivenand intelligent person, Tibbett wasnthe man for whom the MetropolitannOpera mounted English-language operasnthat are chiefly remembered todaynbecause he sang in them: EmperornJones, The King’s Henchman, andnMerry Mount. Farkas’s Lawrence Tibbettnincludes the singer’s own argumentnfor opera in English as the key tonpopular acceptance. I think today thatnargument must seem quaint, since operanin its original languages thrivesnpopularly, in many ways; and since toonthe degradation of popular music hasnopened up an all but unbridgeable gapnbetween “high” and “low.” Tibbettnand others had the good fortune to livenin a generation that enjoyed somenmeasure of cultural unity. Cab driversnsang the Prologue to I Pagliacci — andnTibbett sang “The Battle Hymn of thenRepublic” with matchless power on thenradio. Stars of Tibbett’s charisma don’tncome along very often, but when theyndo, they redefine “the rules” and createntheir own audience, as Callas did.nThe story of Tibbett’s life and careernis surveyed in Thomas R. Bullard’sn”Lawrence Tibbett,” the most substantialnessay in Farkas’s book. Alsonincluded are various other pieces, includingnones by Tibbett himself, anlavish supply of photographs, and ancomplete discography by W.R.nMoran. Every vocal buff will want ancopy of Lawrence Tibbett, whichnleaves me feeling only one lack: thensound of Tibbett’s voice m my ear.nThat lack can be supplied today onnRCA and Pearl silver discs, which gloriouslyndemonstrate why Tibbett stillnlives in recordings sixty years old. Thatngreat lago, Simon Boccanegra, andnFord continue to cast vocal spells. Anyonenwho has never heard Tibbett’snrendition of Loewe’s “Edward” shouldndo so posthaste. The likely result willnNOVEMBER 1990/39n