But what does he want? That we should do away with them? He knows that conductors came into existence for a reason, there being no other means by which to bring off successful performances of complex orchestral music.
Does Lebrecht think they ought to be nicer people? Well, we definitely all ought to be nicer people, and Lebrecht might consider setting an example by dropping the venomous tone characteristic of most of his writing. If you want to read about the history of conducting, Harold Schonberg's The Great Conductors is a more balanced overview, although it's now badly out of date. Better still, read some of the excellent recent biographies of major conductors: Sachs' Toscanini, Prieberg's Furtwangler, and, particularly, Heyworth's Klemperer, which evokes the world of twentieth-century orchestral performance with infinitely greater accuracy and impartiality than Lebrecht can muster.
This book was truly eye-opening. Capitalism is truly evil, and market economics have wreaked havoc in this artistic sphere. The construct of the conductor as mystic musical priest may have its roots in some sort of the truth, but market forces, really propelled by Herbert von Karajan, This book was truly eye-opening. The construct of the conductor as mystic musical priest may have its roots in some sort of the truth, but market forces, really propelled by Herbert von Karajan, created an unholy marriage between art and money, has made monopoly inevitable especially as seen in the chapter on Ronald Wilford - DAMN , forced a sort of bland middle-of-the-road interpretive style the only commercially successful venture, and has excluded women and people of color from the industry.
There is some hyperbole and a few annoying factual inaccuracies, and the book starts a bit slow. However, these issues don't really affect the overarching story that's being told.
Of particular note - the entire chapter dedicated to Karajan; the guy was a Nazi and never apologized for it. Why don't more people talk about that? Is there so much money still being made on the Karajan-records industry that people turn a blind eye? If you're at all interested in classical music and its history, or the business side the music industry, this is definitely a must read. The writer preserves its professional dignity and avoids gossip but at the same time without losing his bite.
The only shortback for me was that the book was written 15 years ago and more many things have changed since. I would be interested in some of his fresh writings. Apr 20, Erik rated it it was amazing Shelves: art-architecture-music. A gossipy presentation of many of the past century's most known conductors. Kind of like a highbrow Page Six. Sep 04, Martin Herbordt rated it really liked it. Gossip, innuendo, and occasional deep insight into the world of large-scale classical musical and its gods — the conductors.
Perhaps a hundred are bashed, butchered, and ballyhooed; lionized and libeled; slandered and smeared; cheered, celebrated, and castigated. Some get nearly whole chapters or more — Furtwangler, Toscanini, and Karajan, others barely a paragraph. Some is well thought-out and thorough, e. Some is little more than who slept with whom. There are two major points that are inconsistent with one-another.
The first is that conductors are ridiculously over-praised, over-worked, over-exposed, and over-paid: the conductor as god see Leonard Bernstein. This all leads to corruption and reduced quality of the music itself. The writing style is dense and insider-heavy. The politics of Covent Garden and the London orchestras held no interest.
Not awful, not great. The book is nearly 30 years old, so much of it is out of date, but the premise is that the art of conducting is dying out because there is a lack of newcomers to the game and the author lays out the various reasons, including a lack of opportunity in small regional theaters they don't exist anymore where the younger generations cut their teeth.
The book is a bit gossipy about the older generation of conductors which I enjoyed. There is an entire chapter on gays, women and Not awful, not great.
There is an entire chapter on gays, women and people of color not being a part of the maestro fraternity and with VERY notable exceptions that is still the case today.
The German's who stayed in Nazi Germany during the Third Reich get a bit of a tongue lashing deservedly as does the agency model of jet set conductors who are overpaid preening prima donnas.
There is a lack of any ideas on how to address the issues so that a new crop of youngsters can come along and take the reins. And a number of the 'younger' conductors cited when this book came out 30 years ago are either gone or approaching retirement, so the lack of new talent is still very noticeable. The book is still worth a look though if you are a fan of classical music. This was an interesting read, but I wouldn't call it a real "page turner.
It portrays most of these people as not very admirable human beings, i. It's a bit dated and perhaps has been updated since. It does portray a few of them, such as Simon Rattle, as decent. It also describes, similarly to Mozart in the Jungle, how much conductor This was an interesting read, but I wouldn't call it a real "page turner. It also describes, similarly to Mozart in the Jungle, how much conductors' fees have increased over the last few decades, and that this is a problem for the classical music industry.
It's also dated, as so much has happened with the conductors who were still alive at the time of its publication most obviously Levine. It's interesting for serious classical music fans, but not super engaging. May 17, Ty Turley Trejo rated it really liked it. As a conductor it was fascinating to read about the flawed lives of many of the greats. It underscores just how difficult the job of the music director can be - especially with the pleasing of so many masters.
I know this book was intended to dispel the myth of great conductors and the conducting profession but I think it only emboldened it. Especially since he laments at the end the death of the conductor. I've seen exact same ensembles transformed by the mysterious power of a magnetic conducto As a conductor it was fascinating to read about the flawed lives of many of the greats.
I've seen exact same ensembles transformed by the mysterious power of a magnetic conductor. No conductor is perfect. But many try very hard to inspire and make an impact. And enjoyable read, especially for the classical music nerd. Mar 20, Joseph rated it really liked it Shelves: music , conducting.
Lots of information on that much-maligned yet quite mandatory creature, the orchestral conductor. Interesting, thorough, well-researched, compelling reading. Sep 14, Haymone Neto rated it liked it. Apr 11, Len Hayter rated it liked it Shelves: music , biography , classical-music. The author is rarely kind to any of them, but some draw his spite more than others. In fact, it seems to be Mr Lebrecht's view that very few conductors are worth the money they are paid or the adulation they often receive.
The book is well written. However, the author's constant criticism does make one wonder if classical music is a world comprising only of greedy and power-hungry villains. Surely there must be some good guys and gals out there. Lebrecht knows what he is writing about, factually and psychologically. Apparently there are many facts that support his conclusions, be it that he, indeed, shows a tendency to select and use a gossipy tone.
Jun 19, Tyler Knowlton rated it really liked it Recommends it for: People who care about the state of art music in society. Very influential book on this newer generation of conductors Salonen, Rattle, and younger. Lebrecht demonstrates a fluid writing style as he decries the greed and damaging behaviors of the past few generations of A-list conductors. I misplaced this book before I could finish it, but it was awful.
Svetlana Kotova rated it it was amazing Oct 16, Gennady Chepovetsky rated it it was amazing Feb 08, V rated it liked it Aug 17, Khizzie rated it really liked it Oct 20, Alan Beggerow rated it really liked it Nov 15, David rated it liked it May 05, Daniel rated it liked it Feb 17, Steven rated it really liked it Aug 17, Juan Manuel rated it it was amazing Apr 09, Myrrha rated it it was amazing Sep 07, Jon Schneider rated it really liked it Sep 19, John rated it really liked it Aug 25, Dan rated it really liked it Jan 14, There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one ». Readers also enjoyed. This article reports an empirical investigation into the characteristics of conductors' temporal gestures and people's ability to synchronize with them.
It describes a new approach to the … Expand. Inside the conductor's jacket: analysis, interpretation and musical synthesis of expressive gesture. We present the design and implementation of the Conductor's Jacket, a unique wearable device that measures physiological and gestural signals, together with the Gesture Construction, a musical … Expand.
Highly Influential. View 4 excerpts, references background. The lexicon of the Conductor's gaze. Computer Science, Psychology. Action-sound : developing methods and tools to study music-related body movement.
Toward an understanding of musical gesture : mapping expressive intention with the digital baton. Recent work done in developing new digital instruments and gestural interfaces for music has revealed a need for new theoretical models and analytical techniques.
Interpreting and responding to … Expand. In particular, … Expand. Synchronous Sympathy at the Symphony. This study compared the emotional intensities of a conductor and audience during a concert of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
The affective state of the conductor was estimated unobtrusively with a … Expand. A conducting recognition system on the model of musicians' process. Related Papers. By clicking accept or continuing to use the site, you agree to the terms outlined in our Privacy Policy , Terms of Service , and Dataset License.
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