Beautifully written, clearly organized, creatively detailed, and full of information and insight concerning the works of Berlioz being discussed. This volume will be both a helpful guide for the passionate listener and a valuable resource for the performing musician. Highly recommended.

Joseph Flummerfelt, artistic director emeritus, Westminster Choir College

On first hearing Berlioz’s music, many people report the experience as if they had been seized by the collar and shaken to the roots. If that happens to you, the perfect guide will be Melinda O’Neal’s thoughtful tour through his entire output. For singers especially, this is essential reading.

Hugh Macdonald, general editor, The New Berlioz Edition, and formerly Avis Blewett Professor of Music at Washington University, St Louis

An engaging and informative exploration of the life, compositional style, and catalog of Hector Berlioz. Elegantly written with refreshing clarity, it is a wonderful resource and will be appreciated by lovers of music, lay and professional. I highly recommend this book!

Marietta Simpson, mezzo-soprano and Rudy Professor of Music, Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University

This guide to Berlioz’s music by an eminent choral conductor puts his vocal work front and center where it belongs, despite his fame as a composer of symphonies. O’Neal’s entertaining, infectiously enthusiastic, perceptive, knowledgeable descriptions will serve listeners and performers alike.

Katherine Kolb, editor of Berlioz on Music: Selected Criticism (2015)

O'Neal's reader-friendly volume is written for the average listener and contains excellent comments on how to prepare for and how to listen to a live concert. She obviously revels in the stunning sonic brilliance of Berlioz' writing and her love is contagious.

John Nelson, international conductor