This volume offers a refreshing alternative to the many Italian Songs and Arias books geared towards young singers. It celebrates women composers who composed solo music in Italian beginning in the Late-Renaissance period. These songs, arias, and madrigals have been compiled and annotated by noted vocal pedagogue, Randi Marrazzo, whose "First Solos" volumes continually rank among our most popular vocal collections.

With renewed interest in the music of Poldowski in recent years, this new critical edition is a welcome addition to the vocal repertoire. The edition, in two volumes, present all 36 of Poldowski's extant works for voice and piano. Volume 1 includes 22 of these including "Colombine," "Mandoline" and "Spleen." The editors of this new edition have provided a treasure trove of resource material relating to the songs and the composer.