Beverle Myers: 5 books

In September of 1740, singer Tito Amato receives a curious invitation. The German composer Karl Johann Weber is rehearsing a new opera at an isolated villa nestled in the hills of the Venetian mainland. Would Tito accept the lead role? Puzzled by the air of secrecy that enshrouds the production, but...

Venice, 1734. Neglecting his vocal practice for dubious pleasures, singer Tito Amato finds himself demoted to secondary roles and overshadowed by a visiting star. When the murder of scene painter Luca Cavalieri threatens to close the opera house, Tito jumps at the chance to regain his worth by finding...

Tito Amato returns from an operatic tour expecting to relax with his family. Instead he finds his merchant brother Alessandro imprisoned. The senator who controls Alessandro's fate is determined to have a Venetian as the next pope. He forces Tito to Rome to sing at the villa of a powerful, music-loving...

Venice, 1731. Opera is the popular entertainment of the day. Tito Amato, mutilated as a boy to preserve his enchanting soprano voice, returns to the city of his birth with his friend Felice, a singer whose voice has failed. Disaster strikes Tito's opera premier when the singer loses one beloved...

Tito Amato has regained his zest for performing and is once again singing lead roles at the Teatro San Marco. On opening night, the famous soprano has the entire audience entranced—except for one box keeping its scarlet curtains stubbornly drawn. Annoyed at being ignored, Tito aims the full force...