Through his weekly columns in the ‘Independent on Sunday’ and broadcasts on radio and television, Michael White is one of the best-known music critics in Britain. He is author of a number of opera libretti singing translations and the book ‘Wagner for Beginners’, which was published in 1996. A barrister, he read Law at Oxford and lives in Hampstead, North London.

Elaine Henderson has degrees from the universities of Keele and Glasgow. She is a freelance writer and editor and teaches English literature in adult education.