The life of composer Richard Rodgers encapsulates the very essence of New York and London high society during the first half of the twentieth century and his brilliant twenty-five year collaboration with Lorenz Hart gave rise to songs that will live forever: "Manhattan", "The Lady is a Tramp", and "Blue Moon" are just a few of them. He later collaborated with Oscar Hammerstein II and together they wrote classics such as "Oklahoma", "South Pacific", "Carousel", "The King And I" and "The Sound Of Music". In her outstanding biography, "Secrest" sets the scenes for five decades of American musical history. It is also the intriguing portrait of a complex man: personable, sunny and seductive. Though riddled with insecurities, he was a composer unequalled, not just for longevity but output - thirty-nine musicals, more than a thousand songs, rediscovered and adored by successive generations around the world.
