"The NPR Listener's Encyclopedia of Classical Music," Ted Libbey (Workman, $19.95 paperback, $29.95 hardcover): Libbey, a former music critic and longtime NPR record-library curator for "Performance Today," spent 11 years on this magnum opus, an encyclopedic but very personal account of great artists, top recordings and immortal works.
The biographical entries are particularly nice, full of the sense of character and style, and illuminated in many cases by letters and by his own recollections. Great for that person who vows that 2007 will be the year to learn about classical music.
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