Product Description
Offers a start-to-finish history of classical music, explaining how the twentieth century has reached a radical tranformation period in which orchestras have become out of reach to most people, left only to the elite who can afford their exorbitant ticket prices.”Amazon.com Review
A sequel of sorts to The Maestro Myth: Great Conductors in Pursuit of Power, Who Killed Classical Music? continues British author and critic Norman Lebrecht’s version of… More >>
Who Killed Classical Music?: Maestros, Managers, and Corporate Politics
Tags: amazon, british author, Classical, conductors, Corporate, corporate politics, history of classical music, Killed, maestro, Maestros, Managers, Music, music maestros, norman lebrecht, orchestras, Politics, ticket prices
#1 by rodboomboom on April 22, 2010 - 9:29 pm
Trying to indoctrinate oneself to the classical music world is difficult and trying. First there is the language and jargon associated with any field. Second there is the task of attempting to construct a workable historical chronology that will aid in understanding the gamut of the field. Third combining all of this with the modern classical state.
Thinking this book might aid has been a disappointment. It is overly wordy and doesn’t flow and transition well. Detail after detail likely weave a fascinating story to insiders but as a true outsider trying to peer in, this book fogs rather than clears the air.
While he suggests managers, maestros and corporate involvement among other factors, it isn’t tied together with any clarity or convincing hypothesis testing that I could follow. Again, in fairness maybe it is just a matter of not relating to the writer’s style and the foreigness of the vocab, but if classical music is going to interest more outsiders like me, shouldn’t this be a goal? This aloofness and cavalier attitude is definitely a barrier to many.
Frustrated, but still pursuing obtaining some insights into this struggling arts area which should survive and thrive.
Rating: 2 / 5
#2 by Anonymous on April 22, 2010 - 10:12 pm
Norman Lebrecht has set the record straight. For anyone who has tried to make a career in music honestly, this book explains why the struggle is so arduous. A must for anyone who cares about classical music.
Rating: 5 / 5
#3 by Anonymous on April 22, 2010 - 11:54 pm
Somehow, I naively thought that classical music was above money. (I knew that sport had become crass and materialistic, but music?) Well, the book burst my bubble. Its must reading for anyone who has an interest in how classical music got where it is today, and where it might be going in the future. Wayne Dunlap (Wdunlap@aol.com)
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by Anonymous on April 23, 2010 - 1:51 am
This somewhat mistitled book does not name *all* the culprits who killed classical music, but it is one of the few efforts to trace the history of the byzantine world of concert promotion and artist management in the classical music business. The book is thorough enough to satisify the historian in you, and salacious enough to satisfy the gossip in you. Heroes are hard to find in this saga, and many surprisingly famous and beloved classical musicians take their oft-deserved lumps.
Rating: 4 / 5
#5 by bill runyon on April 23, 2010 - 4:11 am
Here is the one book that needs to be read by anyone genuinely
curious about what has caused the decline in interest in classical music worldwide.
The situation is probably worse in the US than other places, but
there are world-wide trends at work, and this author explores
all the causes. Not only does he explore those causes in our
own time, he has reseached the history of the recording industry
to such an extent, you feel at times like you are reading a
scholarly publication. Then at other times, where the author
actually names some of the names who have caused the decline
of classical music and who cause this type music to be held in
contempt by many, and abandoned by most others, you have the feel of reading a supermarket tabloid.
The writer has researched all the pioneers in recording and radio, and he has seemingly interviewed all survivors of that
era, as well as most participants in the current music scene,
and there doesn’t appear to be a stone unturned in his work.
Many of the names will be unfamiliar to most readers, but the
writer documents their contribution to both the rise and decline
of classical music.
And, as said, he actually names the names of some of the individual “stars” who have so abused the system, and the public
trust, we have to wonder who in the world continues supporting
such grasping, selfish, egomanical performers and agents, as
well as some of the corporate owners and sponsors. He even at
one point names the world-famous conductor who apparently abuses
children in his travels, and it’s a wonder such a man can even
cross international borders. Such is the power of stardom, even
in the world of classical music.
As you can see, there are a multitude of causes for the decline
of classical music, and this writer names them all.
There is very little hope for the continuation of the presentaton of live concerts of any kind, outside the very largest cities, which are put on for the rich and elite, so the
result is rather a somber review, but the author only presents
the facts.
However, there is slight hope, and he names the handful of
alternatives that seem to be surviving, and sometimes expanding,
the availability of good classical music.
This has to be a “must” for anyone interested in either the history of classical music, and its ties with radio and the
recording industry, or in its future.
There is almost too much detail for some readers, but it needs
to be there for a full understanding; in spite of the depth of
the writer’s research, he presents it in an interesting fashion,
and there are many parts of the book which are very difficult to
put down.
If interested in this subject, rush out and get a copy now.
Rating: 5 / 5