The stirring memoir of one of the greatest pianists of the postwar era—an inspiring tale of triumph over crippling incapacity that rivals Shine.The pianist Leon Fleisher—whose student–teacher lineage linked him to Beethoven by way of his instructor, Artur Schnabel—displayed an exceptional gift from his earliest years. And then, like the hero of a Greek tragedy, he was struck down in his prime: at thirty-six years old, he suddenly and mysteriously became un...

In 1967, Luciano Pavarotti was an up-and-coming young tenor with a voice far more impressive than his stage technique or presence. So Decca, his record company, told him, 'Luciano, you're a real nice guy. So you need a real bastard to do your publicity.' Enter Herbert Breslin. The two of them hit it off and thus began a professional association and a friendship that lasted over 36 years.The King and I is the story of that relationship, during which Breslin guided what he c...

This is the story of the thirty-six-year-old business relationship between Luciano Pavarotti and his manager, Herbert Breslin, during which Breslin guided what he calls, justifiably, “the greatest career in classical music.” During that career, Breslin moved Pavarotti out of the opera house and onto the concert (and the world) stage and into the arms of a huge mass public. How he and Pavarotti changed the landscape of opera is one of the most significant and entertaining stories in the his...

Puccini is one of the most beloved of all opera composers La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Turandot play to packed opera houses the world over. In his lifetime he achieved an international celebrity accorded to only a few, yet the critics were rarely impressed. He was nevertheless a creative artist of profound sensitivity and dramatic flair who developed a unique form of free-flowing opera while penning some of the greatest melodies of all time. His oeuvre constitutes the final floweri...

Everything about opera is larger than life, but the bigger the art form, the bigger the potential for disaster. When things go wrong at the opera house, they really go wrong. No one has a greater or more intimate knowledge of such moments than Lotfi Mansouri. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, Mansouri has directed nearly 500 productions at major opera houses around the globe.Mansouri has gathered a collection of discrete vignettes that recount unforgettable...

MAKE A SOUND INVESTMENT IN CLASSICAL MUSICWho are the ten most important classical composers? Who in the world was Palestrina? Why did Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" cause a riot? Which five of each important composer's works should you buy? What is a concerto and how does it differ from a sonata?Maybe you don't know the answers to these questions; author Phil Goulding certainly didn't. When Goulding first tried to learn about classical music, he found himself buried in an ava...

In Listen to This, the award-winning music critic and author of The Rest is Noise, Alex Ross looks forward and backward in musical culture: capturing essential figures in classical music history, as well as giving an alternative view of recent pop music.From his own first encounter with classical music to vibrant sketches of Schubert, Verdi and Brahms; from in-depth interviews with modern pop masters such as Björk and Radiohead to the lives of a high school’s music students, Ross s...

Born in Venice, Italy, Antonio Vivaldi was one of the most influential and highly regarded Baroque composers, although his fame blazed only briefly. He is most remembered for his concertos, particularly “The Four Seasons,” but his overall production was enormous, ranging from orchestral and vocal music for both secular and church settings, as well as opera scores and libretti. In addition, Vivaldi was a master violinist and spent much of his career as an instructor at a famous institution ...

The classic instructional—and inspirational—guide for amateur pianists, filled with humor, encouragement, and advice from modern masters: “Excellent.” —The New York TimesLongtime New Yorker writer and passionate piano player Charles Cooke offers concrete routines for improving your piano performance, whether you’re experienced, starting out, or starting over.A pleasant and constant cheerleader, Cooke asks readers to practice every day, sug...

If you enjoy great music but want to know more about how it came to be the way it is - without investing time in a graduate degree - here are the background stories of over 200 great compositions. If you're only just coming to experiment with great music, here are guideposts to help you understand and enjoy what you encounter. The stories and sounds behind the scenes: welcome to Classical Music Insights.

This book is a perceptive and critical account of the first 75 years of The Royal Ballet, tracing the company's growth, and its great cultural importance - an indispensable book for all lovers of ballet.In 1931, Ninette de Valois started a ballet company with just six dancers. Within twenty years, The Royal Ballet - as it became - was established as one of the world's great companies. It has produced celebrated dancers, from Margot Fonteyn to Darcey Bussell, and one of the richest ...

This book gives you all the basic principles underlying solid walking bass lines. Comprehensive, easy to understand, with page after page of great transcriptions of the author's walking lines on the accompanying CD. The CD of NY professional jazz players can also be used as a swinging play-along CD. Endorsed by Eddie Gomez, Jimmy Haslip, John Goldsby, etc. The audio portion of this book is available for free download at http://www.sher...