About the Author

Johanna Fiedler is the daughter of Arthur Fiedler, the long-time conductor of the Boston Pops, and has worked in the field of classical music for many years. She is the author of Arthur Fiedler: Papa, the Pops, and Me. She lives in New York City.

Reviews

“Weav[es] telling vignettes and interseting interpretations into a rich tapestry that vividly describes what goes on behind the great gold curtain. [Fiedler] deserves an ovation.” --The Dallas Morning News

“Elegant. . . . It’s the opera book that tells you what you really want to know, not by gossiping, but by sensitive discussion of facts long-hidden behing [the Met’s] Kremlin-like façade.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer

“High-toned dish. . . . [The Met is] creepy one minute, transcendentally beautiful the next, but never, ever boring.” --St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Compelling. . . .Lively, in-depth. . . . Fiedler doesn’t stint in her tales about those temperamental artists who make the business of running an opera company unlike any other.” --The Wall Street Journal

“Provides a unique perspective not only on the opera scene, but on the changing landscape of American society since the Met’s opening in 1883. . . . It also serves up some pretty spicy dish.” —The Boston Globe

“The juicy survival saga of a leaky vessel that has managed to stay afloat despite constant threats of disaster and a passenger list out of Ship of Fools.” —The New York Observer

“Evenhanded. . . . Brings an emotional immediacy to events.” --The New York Times

“Opera buffs looking for a chatty, informative and basically fair take on the Met will enjoy the book.” —The New York Times Book Review

“There’s plenty of gossip. . . . Digs into power struggles, plus diva dramas, even a murder.” --USA Today

“A great pleasure to read. Simultaneously thoughtful, well-written and trashy . . . an ideal beach read for opera buffs.” —Time Out New York

“Fiedler succeeds in exposing all the dirty linen that she used to work so hard to conceal: the affairs, the squables, the nasty memos.” --The New Yorker

“High-toned dish. . . . [The Met is] creepy one minute, transcendentally beautiful the next, but never, ever boring.” --St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“A rare, gossipy, behind-the-scenes look into the life of New York’s Metropolitan Opera, where passions are as dramatic offstage as on.” --Town and Country

“A facsinating survey of the misdeeds going on in the back. . . . A must-read for all operaphiles.” --The State (Columbia, SC)

“Breezy. . . . Fiedler makes old scandal as intriguing as topical news about its current Artistic Director James Levine and General Manager Joseph Volpe.” –The Austin Chronicle

“A thorough-going, eyeball-rolling institutional history. . . . One couldn’t ask for a more knowledgeable guide to the inner wrokings of the Met.” --Kirkus Reviews

“Fiedler delivers the goods. . . . By the time I finished Molto Agitato, I was ready for more.” --John Griffin, San Antonio Express-News