Opera News, July 1st, 2001
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett HarperCollins, 304 pp. $25 Ann Patchett's new novel is introduced by the passage from Die Zauberflote in which Tamino defines the object of his quest as "friendship and love," and these are the themes of this thriller/love story/homage to the art of singing. The setting is an unnamed South American nation (clearly, Peru), where a beautiful American diva (a dead ringer for Renee Fleming) has been engaged to sing at a party honoring a visiting Japanese business mogul, in the hope that he will invest in the country. The plans go awry just after the last notes of "the ...
HighBeam Research, Free Preview: 'Bel Canto'... Full Membership required for unlimited access. Free 7-day trial.
Subscribers: HighBeam content is only available to HighBeam subscribers. Click the link above for more information.
