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Title: Maestros and Their Music

Subtitle: The Art and Alchemy of Conducting

Author: John Mauceri

Narrator: John Mauceri

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-07-17

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

An exuberant, uniquely accessible look inside the enigmatic art and craft of conducting, from a celebrated conductor whose international career has spanned half a century.

John Mauceri brings a lifetime of experience to bear in an unprecedented, hugely informative, consistently entertaining exploration of his profession, rich with anecdotes from decades of working alongside the greatest names of the music world. With candor and humor, Mauceri makes clear that conducting is itself a composition: of legacy and tradition, techniques handed down from master to apprentice - and more than a trace of ineffable magic.

He reveals how conductors approach a piece of music (a calculated combination of personal interpretation, imagination, and insight into the composer's intent); what it takes to communicate solely through gesture, with sometimes hundreds of performers at once; and the occasionally glamorous, often challenging life of the itinerant maestro. Mauceri, who worked closely with Leonard Bernstein for 18 years, studied with Leopold Stokowski, and was on the faculty of Yale University for 15 years, is the perfect guide to the allure and theater, passion and drudgery, rivalries and relationships of the conducting life.

Critic Reviews:

Informative and entertaining[Mauceri] has an insiders grasp of the vagaries of the music business... [Maestros and Their Music] will appeal to both musicians and others seeking a broad base of information about conducting and conductors. (Library Journal)

"You think conducting is a matter of a maestro merely knowing the score? Let John Mauceri open your eyes and ears to the mysterious, solitary, itinerant world of the conductor and have all preconceptions blown away. Mauceri rips the smoke and mirrors off his profession with wicked and gleeful lucidity, filling us in on its history and answering questions you didn't even know to ask. This irresistible and unique book is guaranteed to send you to the concert hall and your CDs with newly educated ears - and heart." (John Guare, playwright)

Members Reviews:

Disappointing. Dry.

I felt like I was at a dinner party listening to the author talk about random things in the conducting and music world. He didnt go into enough depth or detail about specific things - just snippets about this and that. It was hard to stay interested. He should have coauthored with a writer or journalist to make it more engaging.

For example he mentioned the conductor Muti a couple times, but he didnt say anything meaningful about Muti. Was Muti good or not good, and why? Tell me something interesting about Muti. And the same with other conductors, give me some opinions.

The author briefly mentioned that Petrillo in Chicago was a key figure behind unionizing musicians. Petrillo claimed recorded music took jobs away from musicians. Petrillo was also against something about small musician groups. I was confused. I wanted to know more about Petrillo - how were things before and after him, but it was just sort of mentioned in passing.

Slightly annoying was the way the author frequently said I was asked to conduct ... It felt egotistical. I would have preferred hearing him say I conducted ...

ONE THING I REALLY LIKED AND I LEARNED SOMETHING:

I was interested in the following comment about Maria Callas. The author was giving his opinion and judgment.