Customer Reviews

The Devil's Music Master: The Controversial Life and Career of Wilhelm Furtwangler

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Wilhelm Furtwangler is mostly served well in this biography by Sam Shirakawa, but the author has real problems with his prose. It's good that he wants to make his book as accessable to the general public as possible, but too often it leads him to sentences which are unintentionally deprecating and, well, trite. An example: "The unimpugned lootings of Jewish-owned property and businesses had already begun, and the move to examine everybody's family tree for signs of Jewish blood became the deadly Trivial Pursuit of the time." I don't think it's being oversensitive to be offended by having Hitler's despicable racial policies compared to a popular board game from the 1980s, but quite apart from that, sentences like this one put things in simplistic ways more appropriate for a high school term paper than for a scholarly work.

Nonetheless, Shirakawa has done a scrupulous job of examining Furtwangler's life and career. The evidence he puts forward that Furtwangler was not a Nazi is well-documented and compelling, even if there are remaining doubts (which there probably always will be). He also does a very credible job at detailing the conductor's work habits, his thoughts on his craft, his dalliances (which were considerable), his relations with other composers, conducters and musicians, and his frequent battles of wills with the leaders of the Third Reich. You may still feel no pity for Furtwangler's dilemmas at the end of the book, but it's not because the author hasn't been thorough in examining his subject's life. I hope Shirakawa might consider a revision this book at some later date; there's too much that's good about this book to let it be undermined by what's bad.

This is a substancial research effort from the author, that sets the record straight on Furtwänglers case. The references are extensive, and many personal interviews are reproduced, such as with Elizabeth Schwartzkopf, and many others.

Although extensive and well documented, the book is an interesting reading for the non-scholar and those passionate about music and curious to learn about the turbulent life of arguably the greatest conductor of the 20th century.

The Kindle edition works well, without broken lines or other problems.

"For openers, who is the author. I've never heard of Sam H. Shirakawa and I would like to know what are his credentials for commenting on the music made by Furtwangler and his life."

What insolence! Since when has anyone had to seek your permission, your Lordship, before undertaking a venture of this kind? And when will your own biography of Furtwangler be forthcoming to the market?

OK, there are a few factual errors and yes, the editor was less than stellar (if you are going to undertake a review of Furtwangler's discography, at least be systematic about it and not sequester it across various chapters), but this is a fine biography of the German conductor.

Furtwangler was a product of Ninetheenth Century German Humanism and this is noted well enough by the author - though little attention is paid to Furtwangler's relationship with his parents - the foundry in which a character is established. Shirakawa is at his best when discussing the two Nemeses of Furtwangler's life: Joseph Goebbels & Herbert von Karajan. He is unremittingly fair towards the latter - and there is a great deal of wisdom in his comments on the relationship that haunted both men until the end of their days. Shirakawa's treatment of Furtwangler under the Third Reich is sensitive, humane and balanced. His portrayal of the ominously named Rudolf Vedder, a colonel in the SS and Karajan's agent, is a delightful vignette; it is a pity that Balzac never met this lupine figure. Elsewhere, his survey of the post-war correspondence between Furtwangler and Bruno Walter - sophisticated brinkmanship at its best - is captivating in the extreme.

Shirakawa's biggest coup was revelatory: he persuaded Elisabeth Schwarzkopf to open up the bonnet on the complicated nexus between herself, Furtwangler, Karajan (Mister K, as she calls him) and Walter Legge (her husband). I am not going to spoil it for you. The interview is worth the price of admission and more. Schwarzkopf later tried to retract / modify her comments - but they are presented here in their naked glory and oh how they sizzle. Your eyes will be glued to the relevant pages.

While it is not perfect - and the title itself is garbage - this book is a highly entertaining read that wears its (light) scholarship lightly.

This is an in-depth analysis of a musical genius, with all the warts showing. It is highly entertaining, informative and objective, with no ax to grind. Rather, an attempt to set a warped record straight as to F's alleged Nazi collaboration - quite the opposite being true.

For openers, who is the author. I've never heard of Sam H. Shirakawa and I would like to know what are his credentials for commenting on the music made by Furtwangler and his life. Any temptation to give the author the benefit of any doubt, given the high reputation of publisher Oxford University Press, is eradicated by the howler of an error on page 177. In an aside, Shirakawa tells us that Theodore Roosevelt was Franklin Roosevelt's grandfather. I would have thought every schoolchild knows that Teddy was the fifth (!!!) cousin of FDR. (How could the prestigious publisher let this error slip by??) After reading that, it is very difficult to accept at face value what Shirakawa asks us to accept regarding his scholarship and expertise. More generally, and a further criticism of the publisher, the book is too long and mmmuch too repetitive. All in all, a disappointing read about a genius music maker.