Shoot the Conductor: Too Close to Monteux, Szell, and Ormandy (Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Series)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.67 (845 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1574416138 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 336 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-12-27 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
“Hilarious and heartbreaking, this memoir is a real page-turner as well as a remarkably accurate account of one extraordinarily gifted musician’s professional ups and (alas!) downs. (My father trimmed his mustache after the style of Toscanini). Szell, Monteux, Ormandy… these were our household idols. Thank the gods of music, then, for Anshel Brusilow—for his robust humor, his sharp insight into character, and above all for his love of music and music-makers. Anshel Brusilow tells it like it was, con brio and molto vivace.”—Gary Graffman, pianist “Don’t start reading this memoir by an inspired and inspiring concertmaster, conductor, and teacher too late in the evening, or you may not get much of a night’s sleep. I found it unputdownable, and read the whole book in one sitting. Anshel Brusilow tells how he did it, with
Martin B. Haub said Wonderful Biography. I've read a lot of biographies of conductors and this one is the most interesting, compelling, and wonderful of them all. If you have any interest in the golden age of classical music in the United States in the 1950's and 60's you must read it! You get a whole new appreciation for Szell and Ormandy. Brusilow holds nothing back - and there are a couple of shocking episodes that must have be. Hugh Nini said "Shoot the Conductor" reads like a great orchestral score.. I didn't want this book to end. "Shoot the Conductor" reads like a great orchestral score. It commands like Mahler, it soars like Strauss, and it lilts like Debussy. Words float effortlessly off the page in this mesmerizing story of a five year old violinist, Anshel Brusilow, who rises to the highest ranks of the classical music world. Brusilow and his co-author Robin Underdahl walk the rea. This book was an absolute delight even to a neophyte such as myself Mike McIntyre Normally, I don't read this particular genre; but, due to personal reasons, I decided to read this book. I have always had an appreciation for classical music and listen to it often. This book was an absolute delight even to a neophyte such as myself. I had absolutely no idea of what goes on behind the scenes. Most of what everyone sees is what happens on stage. This book provides a delight
His playing wasn’t ordinary, though. At sixteen, he was soloing with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Brusilow’s tumultuous relationships with Pierre Monteux, George Szell, and Eugene Ormandy shaped his early career. He wanted to conduct. Foreword Reviews 2015 INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award Winner in Performing Arts & Music Anshel Brusilow started playing violin in 1933 at age five, in a Russian Jewish neighborhood of Philadelphia where practicing your instrument was as ordinary as hanging out the laundry. Unhappy endings repeat themselves in his memoir—and yet humor dances constantly around the edges. Musicians need it. Brusilow turned in his violin bow for the baton and created his own Philadelphia Chamber Symphony. Under Szell, Brusilow was associate concertmaster at the Cleveland Orchestra until Ormandy snatched him away to make him concertmaster in Philadelphia, where he remained from 1959 to 1966. He was also studying conducting. He formed chamber groups on the side; he conducted summer concerts of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Next he took on the then-troubled Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Co-written with Robin Underdahl, his memoir is a fascinating view of American classical music as well as an inspiring story of a working-class immigrant child making good in a tough arena.. Brusilow played with or conducted many top-tier classical musicians and has something to say about each one. Even as