"Verdi's Shakespeare: Men of the Theater" by Garry Wills
Jeff Glor talks to Garry Wills about, "Verdi's Shakespeare: Men of the Theater," an exploration of Verdi's three Shakespearian operas: Macbeth, Othello, and Falstaff.
Jeff Glor: What inspired you to write the book?
Garry Wills: Love of the plays and the operas, and of many fine performances I have seen of them.
JG: What surprised you the most during the writing process?
GW: The many intense hours Verdi spent choosing, coaching, and directing his singers.
GW: Given my fantasy life, I would be an opera tenor.
GW: I am reading the twelfth-century abbot, Guibert de Nogent, to review for NY Review of Books.
GW: "Font of Life" (Oxford University Press), the story of Saint Ambrose baptizing Saint Augustine in the baptistery of Milan (rediscovered in the twentieth century).
