The product of years of dedicated service putting 'Entartete Musik' back in the repertoire where it belongs, Michael Haas's book is not only a chilling account of the proscription of music under the Nazis, but also a fascinating cultural history of the German-speaking world during the 19th and 20th centuries.
2. The Leonard Bernstein Letters edited by Nigel Simeone (Yale University Press)
A veritable treasure trove of personal correspondence, insights into the process of 'being Bernstein' and a whole host of other great characters and events.
3. Benjamin Britten: A Life in the 20th Century by Paul Kildea (Penguin)
Its headline grabbing claims aside, this is a strong biography, balanced, eloquent, if occasionally a little posed. Kildea knows his stuff and provides many fresh insights into a composer he's unwilling to place on a pedestal.
4. Music in the Castle of Heaven: A Portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach by John Eliot Gardiner (Penguin)
Love or loathe John Eliot Gardiner, there is no doubting his commitment to the Bach cause. This isn't a flawless book, given its frequent partialities, but its emphasis on the music instead of the man is to be soundly applauded.
5. The Cambridge Wagner Encyclopedia edited by Nicholas Vazsonyi (CUP)
Not so much an encyclopedia [sic] about Wagner, but of the entire German musical identity. Created by a host of impressive scholars, young and old, this is a must have for any musicologist or lover of music.
Turkey: I'm afraid that Britten's Century, the all-too-hagiographic appraisal of Benjamin Britten, 100 years after his birth, was a real disappointment.
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