Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 334
•
Trim: 6 x 9
978-1-4422-3022-4 • Paperback • December 2015 • $72.00 • (£55.00)
978-1-4422-3023-1 • eBook • December 2015 • $68.00 • (£52.00)
Benjamin Schultz holds degrees in vocal performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Belmont University, and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. He currently serves as the assistant director of the School of Music at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. As a bass-baritone, he has sung in numerous operas and performed oratorios and solo recitals. He has received national recognition from Polish cultural organizations for his research and performance of Polish vocal music.
The reference list is substantial, and Greive’s discourse on Polish music is well documented…. It is indisputable that volumes such as this encourage the exploration of repertoire that is often overlooked.... [S]ingers and pianists who wish to delve into this repertoire are provided with pronunciation and translation assistance. Singing in Polish is successful as a guide to lyric diction, and serves as a starting point for deeper investigation into this literature.
— Journal of Singing
Singing in Polish: A Guide to Polish Lyric Diction and Vocal Repertoire is a practical guide and good starting point for a native English-speaking artist interested in exploring Polish operatic and song literature. Timothy Cheek’s Singing in Czech: A Guide to Czech Lyric Diction and Vocal Repertoire opened up a whole new world of literature for the voice to Americans who wanted to explore pieces in Czech. With this work, published fifteen years later, Benjamin Schultz follows that tradition and opens the world of Polish vocal literature to a new audience. . . .I would certainly recommend this book as an addition to the personal libraries of teachers and students alike. Recommended.
— The Opera Journal
[This] is a unique and pioneering work both with respect to the approach to its subject and to its scope...it will prove extremely useful, both for teachers and for performing artists.
— Ewa Podleś, contralto
I am not sure how I would even attempt to sing in Polish were it not for Benjamin Schultz’s book Singing in Polish. Kudos to Benjamin Schultz for thinking of this project and for championing works by Polish composers.
— Susanne Mentzer, international mezzo- soprano and professor of Voice
The solo vocal music of Poland is truly beautiful and rewarding for singers and audiences alike, but Polish lyric diction has often been an insurmountable obstacle to singers wishing to explore the music. This book will undoubtedly help to change that.
— Daniel Weeks, associate professor of Music, College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati