Reviews

Baker's continues to be the most complete and reliable source of biographical information on musical subjects since its first appearance in 1900. The latest, an update of the 1984 edition (Schirmer: Macmillan. 7th ed.), broadens the area of coverage to include many pop stars as well as the most recently notable classical performers, composers, historians, etc. It is not difficult to locate the entries added since Slonimsky took charge; he is free with descriptive adjectives such as ``brilliant'' (for Seiji Ozawa), and ``fantastically popular and audacious'' (for Madonna). Just as interesting are the prefaces to this and the sixth edition ( LJ 3/1/79), written in Slonimsky's quirky, gossipy style. An indispensable tool for serious music collections.-- Timothy J. McGee, Univ. of Toronto