Cambridge Companion to Verdi. Edited by Scott L. Balthazar. (Cambridge Companions to Music.) New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. [xxvi, 336 p. ISBN 0521635357. $25.99.] Music examples, index, bibliography. Within the prefaces to the volumes of the ever-increasing Cambridge Companions series, it has become commonplace to assert, in the words of the editor of Cambridge Companion to Verdi, that these books are aimed primarily at and opera who already have background in music history and but have not proceeded to specialized level while simultaneously offering new ideas and information that interest scholars already working in the field (p. xiii). Thus each member of the Cambridge Companion fleet attempts to carefully navigate the potentially treacherous passage between the Scylla of overly specialized studies and the Charybdis of the fare intended for general readership readily available elsewhere. obvious question upon the embarkation of each new vessel is: how well does it stay the course? However, more pressing question might be: who are these students and opera lovers with broad background in music history and theory that are not already to some degree on specialized level? It may be the case that the intended reader of these volumes simply does not exist. At its best (the companion to grand opera comes to mind), the series accomplishes the seemingly impossible by bringing together thoroughly readable and intriguing set of essays that do not estrange the novice while holding the attention of the scholar. Sadly, such feats of accomplishment are rare. As is so often the case with the Cambridge Companion series, the volume on Verdi contains hits and misses along with handful of essays that are somehow simultaneously both. book comprises four parts: 1) Personal, cultural, and political context; 2) The style of and non-operatic works; 3) Representative operas; and 4) Creation and critical reception. While these groupings may strike the reader as largely ad hoc, it is perhaps better to take the monograph at its editor's word and judge it as a series of essays, each investigating different theme across career, that reveal aspects of his style and lines of development (p. xiii). While each chapter is wholly self-contained, reader might profitably compare certain of the essays in order to clarify the goals set forth by the book and the success, relative to each article, in attaining those goals. In particular, I am interested in pursuing what the intended reader (knowledgeable but not specialist) might gain from attending to this collection of essays. Luke Jensen's An introduction to working and Harold Powers's Verdi's Don Carlos: an overview of the operas offer an instructive comparison. Jensen's chapter articulates four periods in production on the basis of his working methods. He tantalizingly suggests that the coincidence of these groups with traditional stylistic groupings is striking and underscores the importance of considering working conditions and methods when providing an overview of [Verdi's] operas (p. 257). This is compelling suggestion albeit not entirely supported by the chapter-perhaps owing to limitations of space. However, Jensen provides solid and readable introduction to process of composition-a welcome examination for student of career. Powers, on the other hand, discusses one aspect of process, revision, with regard to Don Carlos, supplying the reader with detailed list of the differences between the various versions (including differing sections of the libretti) as well as guide to the various recordings of the opera. Whereas Jensen's article is strictly an introduction to working methods that takes process (including revisions) into account, Powers provides an in-depth case study of the revision process with regard to Don Carlos that perhaps supplies too much detail to be of interest to anyone besides specialist or serious devotee. …