John Ardoin (1935-2001) was the music critic for The Dallas Morning News for more than 30 years. He died unexpectedly, just after completing his work on this book. He was renowned for his encyclopedic knowledge of opera and singers, particularly Maria Callas, and was the author of Callas at Juilliard: The Master Classes, also published by Amadeus Press. He served, as well, as editor of Musical America Magazine, critic for The Saturday Review, New York music correspondent for The Times of London, and New York critic for Opera magazine.
