showing how De Lucia formed hisnstyle upon those of three stars —nGayarre, Masini, and Stagno—andnhow he ascended to take their place asnan internationally celebrated performer.nThe author is as precise as wordsnallow in rendering subtleties of stylenand in leading the reader to understandnDe Lucia’s portamento, his mezzanvoce, and his sfumature — qualitiesnthat his recordings have preserved.nBut he also sees Fernando de Lucianin the round. Singing exists in a socialncontext—it is more than the productionnof pleasing sounds. So Henstockndraws for us a picture of Naples, itsnsociety and landscape, the people andnthe culture. De Lucia was Neapolitannto the core, and his career grew withnthe exfoliation of Neapolitan song.nSongs such as ‘O sole mio, Marechiare,nTorna a Surriento, ‘O maTenariello,nOcchi di fata, Aprile, and Mattinatanbelonged to De Lucia from thenbeginning, by complete identification.nHe sang them for his neighbors. Hensang them for royalty. And he recordednthem for us. De Lucia owned thosensongs — universally beloved by olderngenerations — as Gigli and Schipa andnBergonzi were later to do.nBut the focus of De Lucia’s careernBRIEF MENTIONSnwas operatic, and Henstock emphasizesnhis place in musical history, for hisnascendancy corresponded with that ofnverismo. De Lucia was probably thengreatest Turridu, the greatest Canio,nand the greatest Don Jose that everntrod the boards. Of course he excellednas the Duke of Mantua and as CountnAmalviva — he sang the bel cantonroles beautifully and freely — and henshowed a flair for comedy and evennsang Lohengrin (!), but his best worknon stage was in the new operas ofnMascagni, Leoncavallo, and Puccini.nDe Lucia’s prominence was suchnthat he was instrumental in establishingnthe verismo operas in the repertory,nand he was important in the history ofnMascagni’s compositions after CavallerianRusticana. Henstock’s tireless expositionnof the tangled relations ofnambitious composers, autocratic conductors,nproprietary publishers, schemingnmanagers, and vulnerable singers isna rich portrayal of the music business innaction. In addition, he shows us DenLucia’s colleagues, some of whom arentoday still regarded as the greatest ofnsingers, just as they were when he sangnwith them: Patti, Plangon, and Battistini,nto name but three.nAnd of course Henstock shows usnTHE ECONOMICS OF LIBERTYnEdited by Llewellyn H. RockwellnAuburn, Alabama: The Ludwig von Mises Institute; 392 pp., $17.00nLew Rockwell and his colleagues at the Ludwig von Mises Institute have managed tonkeep alive a pure strain of libertarianism, uncontaminated by the power fantasies of thensoft right or the erotic fantasies of lifestyle libertarians. With an economic theory firmlyngrounded in the Austrian school and a passionate attachment to the Americannprinciple of limited government, these “paleolibertarians” do more than issue pressnreleases or little reports that no one reads. Through regular conferences andnsummer-school programs they have been creating a following of intelligent students,nand through their series of books, pamphlets, and reprints, they are doing what theyncan to stall the progress of bureaucracy and mind-control that is spreading throughoutnevery institution of American life.nThe Institute’s recent volume. The Economics of Liberty, collects articles from anvariety of sources: Murray Rothbard, Jeff Tucker, and Lew Rockwell himself fromnthe Institute; other well-known libertarian writers and scholars such as RobertnHiggs, Walter Block, Doug Bandow, and Sheldon Richman; as well as a variety ofnfree-market journalists not tied to the Austrian school — Tom Bethel], JosephnSobran, William Murchison, and Pat Buchanan.nThe subjects range from agricultural and arts policies to the S & L crisis to thenSoviet crack-up. Particularly timely is the pair of comments by Pat Buchanan andnBill KaufFman on the new American nationalism. These comments and this booknas a whole are fresh evidence that the dissolution of the Soviet empire (followed bynthe disintegration of the monolithic American right) is an opportunity to rethinknthe past sixty years of American political history.n— Thomas Flemingn38/CHRONICLESnnnFernando de Lucia, who, though hentreats him as a hero, he represents fairlynand unflinchingly. The course of thengreat singer’s life was a glorious one,nthough it was tortured by what seemsnto have been a miserable marriage. DenLucia lived long enough to become anlegend, to teach, and even to sing atnthe funeral of Caruso, the young lionnwhose style made his own seem quaint.nDe Lucia’s subtlety and grace were notnto be cultivated as virtues in the mod^nem period, though perhaps Henstock’snadmirable book may help to turn thentide.nThis book is a scholarly contributionnto the history of music, of performancenart, of theatrical history, and of Italiannculture, as well as a deeply developednrendering of the decades before andnafter the turn of the century. Henstock’snlife of De Lucia may not be forneveryone, but it will certainly attractnthose individuals fascinated by its subjectnas well as by the broader context ofnvocal art and the history of opera. Hisnbook will also find its place on many anlibrary shelf as a permanent referencenand source.nBut this has not been Henstock’snonly service to the memory of Fernandonde Lucia. Henstock has also beennthe compiler of an anthology of DenLucia’s recordings of Neapolitannsongs, gathered in a two-CD set, “Fernandonde Lucia,” Opal CDS 9845n(imported by KOCH International).nThose discs contain over two hours ofnDe Lucia’s singing, transcribed digitallynat lower speeds than the 78 r.p.m.nthey have usually been played at. Henstock’snelaborate arguments for bringingndown the speeds of antique acousticallynrecorded discs in order to pullnthe pitches down a half-tone are onesnto be studied, their results to be considered.nNo one can doubt Henstock’snknowledge of the material or devotionnto the task, though some have questionednnot so much his logic as thenaural product. I have found my earnadjusting to the Opal transcriptions,nnot least because they give me newnaccess to the enchanting voice of Fernandonde Lucia. Somewhere that greatnsinger must be proud of what hisnchampion has accomplished on his behalfnJ.O. Tate is a professor of English atnDowling College on Long Island.n