George Szell

George Szell

Author: Michael Charry

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 2011-06-01

Total Pages: 466

ISBN-13: 0252093100

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This book is the first full biography of George Szell, one of the greatest orchestra and opera conductors of the twentieth century. From child prodigy pianist and composer to world-renowned conductor, Szell's career spanned seven decades, and he led most of the great orchestras and opera companies of the world, including the New York Philharmonic, the NBC and Chicago Symphonies, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and Opera, and the Concertgebouw Orchestra. A protégé of composer-conductor Richard Strauss at the Berlin State Opera, his crowning achievement was his twenty-four-year tenure as musical director of the Cleveland Orchestra, transforming it into one of the world's greatest ensembles, touring triumphantly in the United States, Europe, the Soviet Union, South Korea, and Japan. Michael Charry, a conductor who worked with Szell and interviewed him, his family, and his associates over several decades, draws on this first-hand material and correspondence, orchestra records, reviews, and other archival sources to construct a lively and balanced portrait of Szell's life and work from his birth in 1897 in Budapest to his death in 1970 in Cleveland. Readers will follow Szell from his career in Europe, Great Britain, and Australia to his guest conducting at the New York Philharmonic and his distinguished tenure at the Metropolitan Opera and Cleveland Orchestra. Charry details Szell's personal and musical qualities, his recordings and broadcast concerts, his approach to the great works of the orchestral repertoire, and his famous orchestrational changes and interpretation of the symphonies of Robert Schumann. The book also lists Szell's conducting repertoire and includes a comprehensive discography. In highlighting Szell's legacy as a teacher and mentor as well as his contributions to orchestral and opera history, this biography will be of lasting interest to concert-goers, music lovers, conductors, musicians inspired by Szell's many great performances, and new generations who will come to know those performances through Szell's recorded legacy.


The Trap

The Trap

Author: Patrice Gilles

Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers

Published: 2024-01-05

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 1035830485

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In The Trap, prepare yourself for a high-stakes thriller that spans continents and cultures, unravelling over eight tension-filled years. Primarily set in Thailand, the narrative also takes you through Russia, the United States, and North Korea, offering a penetrating look into the dark corridors of statecraft, media manipulation, and international intrigue. Caught in a web of global machinations are an American man, his Russian wife, and their dual-nationality son. Their international background, once a symbol of unity, quickly becomes a liability as they are unwittingly pulled into a geopolitical crisis that threatens to consume them. As the complex drama unfolds, relationships are strained, convictions are tested, and love itself comes under scrutiny. Amidst the grim backdrop of corruption, crime, and power plays, the family’s hope for a return to normalcy becomes both their driving force and their ultimate question: Do they possess the resilience, strength, and faith to escape what increasingly appears to be an inescapable trap?


A Player's Guide to Chamber Music

A Player's Guide to Chamber Music

Author: Paul Jeffery

Publisher: The Crowood Press

Published: 2017-09-14

Total Pages: 291

ISBN-13: 0719825075

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Chamber music includes some of the world's greatest music. It is widely played in homes, without an audience, by players who are mostly amateurs, and much of the repertoire is playable even by those of quite moderate ability. A Player's Guide to Chamber Music gives advice on what music is available and helps the player to identify what is suitable. It covers chamber music from the seventeenth to the later twentieth century and all instrumental combinations including strings, piano, wind instruments, duet sonatas and baroque ensembles. All the significant composers and musical aspects of playing are covered along with works suitable for inexperienced players. Illustrated with 63 black & white illustrations.


Mozart in Vienna

Mozart in Vienna

Author: Simon P. Keefe

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017-09-21

Total Pages: 719

ISBN-13: 1108394108

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Mozart's greatest works were written in Vienna in the decade before his death (1781–1791). This biography focuses on Mozart's dual roles as a performer and composer and reveals how his compositional processes are affected by performance-related concerns. It traces consistencies and changes in Mozart's professional persona and his modus operandi and sheds light on other prominent musicians, audience expectations, publishing, and concert and dramatic practices and traditions. Giving particular prominence to primary sources, Simon P. Keefe offers new biographical and critical perspectives on the man and his music, highlighting his extraordinary ability to engage with the competing demands of singers and instrumentalists, publishing and public performance, and concerts and dramatic productions in the course of a hectic, diverse and financially uncertain freelance career. This comprehensive and accessible volume is essential for Mozart lovers and scholars alike, exploring his Viennese masterpieces and the people and environments that shaped them.


Journeying Boy

Journeying Boy

Author: John Evans

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Published: 2010-10-21

Total Pages: 602

ISBN-13: 0571274641

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Best remembered for his operas and his War Requiem, Benjamin Britten's radical politics and his sexuality have also ensured that he remains a controversial public figure. Journeying Boy is a selection of his diaries that offer the reader an unseen insight into this complex man. Encompassing the years 1928-1938, they explore some key periods of Britten's life - his early compositions, his education first under composer Frank Bridge and then at the Royal College of Music, an unhappy but productive period studying under John Ireland and Ralph Vaughan Williams, and his reluctant and often painful process of parting from the warm, safe environment of his family home and his beloved mother. The diaries cast light on an often misrepresented musician whose technique, originality and musical prowess have entranced audiences for generations and who continues to inspire composers and musicians around the world.


Mozart and His Piano Concertos

Mozart and His Piano Concertos

Author: Cuthbert Girdlestone

Publisher: Courier Corporation

Published: 2012-11-12

Total Pages: 514

ISBN-13: 0486310833

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Classic of music criticism provides detailed studies of 23 of Mozart's piano concertos, offering 417 musical examples and authoritative information on the works' form, tone, style, and balance.


Billboard

Billboard

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 1948-10-02

Total Pages: 104

ISBN-13:

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In its 114th year, Billboard remains the world's premier weekly music publication and a diverse digital, events, brand, content and data licensing platform. Billboard publishes the most trusted charts and offers unrivaled reporting about the latest music, video, gaming, media, digital and mobile entertainment issues and trends.