Although Jerome Kern virtually created the modern American musical, and, latterly, Stephen Sondheim has brought it to new heights of invention and sophistication, many would say that the most significant of all composers in the field was the prodigally talented Richard Rodgers. Unique among Broadway composers, Rodgers enjoyed two phenomenally successful careers with very different lyricists: his early work with the witty, corrosive Lorenz Hart produced some of the most enduring standards in the history of popular music. And had Rodgers' career only consisted of this association, he would be assured of a place in musical history. But his subsequent work with Oscar Hammerstein II (in such groundbreaking musicals as Oklahoma! and South Pacific) changed forever the face of the American musical, adding relevance and dramatic veracity to a medium that had all too often been superficial. Rodgers' skills lay primarily in the area of melody, and there were few composers (apart, possibly, from Gershwin) who could match the prodigality of his invention. What Secrest's remarkable and penetrating biography reveals is what a troubled man Rodgers was. Throughout his career, we were presented with the cool (in fact cold) professional, and the intimation from associates such as Stephen Sondheim that Rodgers had a difficult private life is here confirmed by Secrest. But as a celebration of a musical genius, this is unlikely to be beaten.
