Cecilia Bartoli The Passion of Song

"Most of the book I would call a heartfelt stab at wondering if her subject is this or if she's that. Ms. Chernin seems to think she's more this, whereas Ms. Stendhal, as it develops, thinks she is more that. Consequently, what the book also seems to chart is the wedge driven between two friends by an interloper. This angle also divides me: on the one hand I'd like to know more, on the other hand a little voice tells me not to touch it with ice tongs, except to say that I think Ms. Stendhal's account is, as assessment, more clearheaded. Even so, where is the record of Ms. Bartoli's studies at the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rome, and particularly what is the opinion of her voice teacher there (''a nice person,'' Ms. Bartoli calls her) of the ministrations of her mother? Does Ms. Bartoli continue daily exercises from the legendary Mathilde Marchesi? Does she sight read? Can she readily transpose?Chernin, Kim is the author of 'Cecilia Bartoli The Passion of Song' with ISBN 9780060186449 and ISBN 0060186445.