Reference

Violinist and educator Efrem Zimbalist (1890-1985) led a legendary life in music in an age of violin legends. Of the dazzling stars to emerge from the Russian School at the beginning of the 20th century, Zimbalist earned a special place. David Oistrakh compared him to Heifetz: While Heifetz conquered by sheer brilliance, Zimbalist captivated people by appealing to profound mysteries of heart and soul. Zimbalist was also one of the century's great teachers, for 40 years devoting himself to the renowned Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, serving as its director from 1941 to 1968. His was a remarkable journey, fortunately recounted in hundreds of hours of taped interviews with author and Curtis Institute student Roy Malan, longtime concertmaster of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. Malan then waited nearly a decade after Zimbalist's death before seeking publication, so that the story could be told in its entirety. This definitive biography of the world's first globe-trotting virtuoso also includes a discography and a list of Zimbalist's students.

In 1935 George Gershwin continued the melding of theatrical, classical, and jazz idioms he began with Rhapsody in Blue, bringing DuBose Heyward's novel and play Porgy to the musical stage with Porgy and Bess. Collaborating with his brother Ira and Heyward, Gershwin created what was deemed at the time a folk opera - a work that over the years has passed through cycles of praise and criticism, finally achieving recognition as a great American theatrical achievement and inclusion in the repertoire of opera companies around the world. In this lavishly illustrated 75th anniversary volume, created with the participation of the Gershwin estate, opera producer and author Robin Thompson recounts the history of Porgy and Bess as he looks at the various interpretations of the work and the many layers of meaning to be found in the story of the crippled Porgy, the conflicted and vulnerable Bess, the dope peddler Sportin' Life, and the other residents of Catfish Row. Packed with unique, rarely seen archival photographs and documents associated with the production, Porgy and Bess commemorates this uniquely American blending of musical, ethnic, and creative styles and the people, the performers, and the times that produced it.

This practical guide to the mechanics and evolution of the instrument also offers a survey of its literature. The author discusses touch and technique and the issues involved in historical performance practices. Also includes suggestions on selecting and maintaining a harpsichord.

Mahler's 10 symphonies and Das Lied von der Erde are intensely personal statements that have touched wide audiences. This survey examines each of the works, revealing their programmatic and personal aspects, as well as Mahler's musical techniques.

This book explains-in vivid picturesque detail-why we still listen with admiration to the work of these men, and how their personalities and the era in which they lived affected their music. The accompanying CD includes a sampling of their music from masterworks such as Appalachian Spring and The Unanswered Question to less common gems and includes guided listenings of exactly how the pieces work.

Leonard Bernstein is internationally renowned as one of the most significant composers, musical inspirations, and creative minds of the 20th century. In addition, many consider him to be the greatest American conductor of all time. He is legendary, not only for his brilliant music-making but equally for his extreme passion, raw charisma, powerful convictions, and insatiable appetite for life. This remarkable photographic essay of Leonard Bernstein during the last six years of his life gives us rare insight into the disparate, sometimes vastly conflicting elements that shaped his work and deeply influenced everyone who was drawn into his inner world. It contains approximately 200 black-and-white photographs, most previously unpublished, taken on and off stage during 20 different events or concerts, along with personal comments and remembrances from over 50 of his colleagues, friends, and relatives. The foreword is by Hollywood superstar Lauren Bacall, the preface by Jamie Bernstein (Leonard Bernstein's eldest daughter), and the introduction by James M. Keller, Leonard Bernstein scholar-in-residence at the New York Philharmonic. These vivid images reveal Leonard Bernstein at work in his final years, as mortality encroached upon his unrelenting energy and indefatigable creative genius.

Step behind the glory-and-glamour enchantment of grand opera with this candid look at life in the opera world. Life in Opera: Truth, Tempo, and Soul is a collection of encounters with great stars and personalities that shape and enhance the opera universe of today. In Part I - The Interviews, the conversations take center stage. From their earliest sparks of passion for opera to the exploration of their voices, from the unflinching devotion to their art to the development of personal philosophies about singing and life, the singers open the door to their world with uninhibited frankness. The administrators discuss the paths that led them to become the protectors and nurturers of this art form. The conductors confirm the complex roles they play, while the film directors and fashion designers describe their exciting contributions to opera. Interviews include Placido Domingo, James Levine, Peter Gelb, Joseph Volpe, Renee Fleming, Ramon Vargas, and over twenty others. In Part II - Author's Corner, join the author on her surprising journey through the opera world as she recounts the unconventional and at times amusing path where she met and came to know the stars of the lyric universe.

Maria Callas was almost as famous for her personal life - her jet-setting, her staggering weight loss, her tigress-like temperament - as she was for her singing. Of Greek parentage, the New York-born, internationally famous Callas was the most influential soprano of the 20th century, reviving a school of singing - bel canto - that had been forgotten for 75 years. Unlike most of her generation of sopranos, she was a superb actress both vocally and physically: her voice encompassed many colors and she embodied each character she portrayed. After seeing or hearing her in a role, it was said, it was difficult to imagine another singer attempting it, so fierce was her individual stamp. Her status went beyond cult; her triumphs and failures appeared on the front page of newspapers all over the world. This profusely illustrated musical biography covers Callas's life and career. A final third of the book analyzes the tracks on the two CDs, describing what made Callas unique, what made Callas Callas. Listen for yourselves to La Divina (the divine one), as the Italians dubbed her, and be amazed.

More than 40 years after his premature death, the mystique of Mario Lanza continues. He remains a legendary figure, a crossover icon embraced and remembered by an entire generation for bridging the gap between popular and classical music, the acknowledged inspiration of today's Three Tenors. Bessette tells his story with a novelist's eye for the inherent tragedy of Lanza's brief life, the contradictory facets of his personality, his passion for life, and his self-destructiveness. HARDCOVER.

Mozart: An Introduction to the Music, the Man, and the Myths explores in detail 20 of the composer's major works in the context of his tragically brief life and the turbulent times in which he lived. Addressed to non-musicians seeking to deepen their technical appreciation for his music while learning more about Mozart the man than the caricature portrayed in the 1986 movie Amadeus, this book offers extensive biographical and historical background - debunking many well-established Mozart myths - along with guided study of compositions representing every genre of 18th-century music: opera, concerto, symphony, church music, divertimento and serenade, sonata, and string quartet. Author Roye E. Wates, a Mozart specialist, has taught music history to thousands of non-musicians, both undergraduates and adults, as a Professor of Music at Boston University and from 2002-2004 as director of Boston University's Adult Music Seminar at Tanglewood, summer residence of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Mozart: An Introduction to the Music, the Man, and the Myths provides a unique combination of biographical detail, up-to-date research, detailed musical analyses, and clear definitions of terms. Amateurs as well as more advanced musicians will gain a greater understanding of Mozart's encyclopedic mastery.