Puccini for Easy Piano, 25 Soaring Selections from 8 Operas.

Ricordi/Hal Leonard (7777 W. Bluemound Rd., Milwaukee, WI 53213-3400), 2002. 86pp., $10.95. Late elementary.

This volume contains very elementary-level transcriptions of famous opera arias--La Boheme, La Fanciulla del West, Gianini Schicchi, Madama Butterfly, Manon Lescaut, Suor Angelica, Tosca and Turandot. These will work for beginning musicians or music appreciation students with a beginning technique for playing music. With few phrase markings, limited fingering notation and only the words "with pedal" at the beginning of each piece, there is little to assist young pianists. There is not much hope of these settings to be "soaring," as indicated on the title page. The name of the transcriber or arranger is not mentioned.

The volume does have a very attractive cover with a famous picture of the composer filling the cover page. Inside are four pages of story synopsis and the role the arias play in the story. The arias are listed in order of appearance in the opera story. Phonetic pronunciations of the names of the operas and arias, as well as their translations, are included. For a music appreciation class specializing in opera, this is very good material.

Much to my surprise, I found on the shelf of my music outlet store an advanced volume, Puccini for Piano Solo, 38 Inspired Selections from 9 Operas. Published and distributed by the same companies, this late intermediate to early advanced volume is much more complete, musically speaking. It incidentally has the same cover design with the composer's picture. I suspect the advanced volume of music is much more satisfying than the version for easy piano. Reviewed by Paul Reed, Wichita, Kansas.