Virgil Thomson: Composer on the Aisle, published in 1997 by W. W. Norton & Company. Among the reviews the book received was Jack Sullivan’s in the Washington Post: “…a thoroughly original biography, detached yet intimate, learned yet entertaining, one that does full justice to its feisty, iconoclastic subject.” Robert Craft, in the New York Review of Books, deemed the biography “indispensable to anyone concerned with American cultural history of the period.”
New York Times Essential Library series, is Opera: a Critic’s Guide to the 100 Important Most Important Works and the Best Recordings. It begins with a primer for newcomers to opera and includes 100 original essays on the chosen works.
As a pianist, he recorded two Northeastern Records compact discs of Thomson’s music, titled Portraits and Self-Portraits, and Mostly About Love: Songs and Vocal Works. Both were funded through grants Anthony Tommasini was awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Prior to joining the Times he covered music and theater for the Boston Globe. Over the years as a journalist he has also written about dance, jazz, rap, books, and AIDS. He lives in Manhattan with his partner, Dr. Benjamin McCommon, a psychiatrist.