Fritz Reiner, Maestro and Martinet (Music in American Life) [Hardcover]

Kenneth Morgan (Author)

Book Description

Series: Music in American Life | Publication Date: November 14, 2005

This award-winning book, now available in paperback, is the first solid appraisal of the legendary career of the eminent Hungarian-born conductor Fritz Reiner (1888-1963). Personally enigmatic and often described as difficult to work with, he was nevertheless renowned for the dynamic galvanization of the orchestras he led, a nearly unrivaled technical ability, and high professional standards. Reiner's influence in the United States began in the early 1920s and lasted until his death. Reiner was also deeply committed to serious music in American life, especially through the promotion of new scores. In Fritz Reiner, Maestro and Martinet, Kenneth Morgan paints a very real portrait of a man who was both his own worst enemy and one of the true titans of his profession.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A gifted musician and a brilliant technician with the baton, the Hungarian-born Reiner never became a star like some of his contemporaries, and, as Morgan documents in this absorbing biography, Reiner's prickly personality, his stubborn refusal to promote himself, his frequent clashes with orchestra managers and backers and his icy relationship with the press sabotaged his ambitions time and again. As a result, one of the finest conductors of the twentieth century is widely respected by musicians, but comparatively neglected by the public. A product of the opera houses of central Europe, Reiner enjoyed stormy yet artistically fruitful tenures with the Cincinnati Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony and Chicago Symphony orchestras as well as the Metropolitan Opera. He spent a decade as the leading conducting teacher at Philadelphia's prestigious Curtis Institute, where his pupils included a young Leonard Bernstein. Morgan offers fascinating insights into Reiner as teacher and interpreter-his small but precise beat, his fanatical attention to balances and phrasing and his strong feelings about new music. (Reiner was a champion of the works of fellow Hungarian Bela Bartok.) At the same time, Morgan delves into the Reiner's darker side, noting the "sarcasm and withering contempt" the conductor leveled at musicians who failed to meet his standards. Union rules and changing conceptions of a conductor's role make it unlikely that we will see another martinet at the helm of a major orchestra, but this book makes it clear that Reiner is worth remembering.
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Review

"A lively, polished, and succinct writer and scholar of the first rank, Kenneth Morgan has filled a critical gap left by Reiner's previous biographer, focusing as he does on Fritz Reiner's musicianship. Through impeccable research and revealing interviews, Morgan offers unprecedented insights into those distinctive characteristics that made Reiner one of the greatest conductors of all time. Especially welcome is his detailed discussion of the famous legacy of recordings that keeps Reiner's memory alive, even to those too young to have heard him in concert."--Steven Hillyer, editor of Podium

"Kenneth Morgan's eminently readable Fritz Reiner is a highly provocative and well-researched biography of one of the most interesting musicians who worked in the United States. It will certainly be of great value to all those interested in this legendary conductor."--Leonard Slatkin, music director, National Symphony Orchestra

"In the galaxy of brilliant Chicago Symphony maestri including such giants as Theodore Thomas, Frederick Stock, Georg Solti, and the incumbent Daniel Barenboim, Fritz Reiner was a masterful conductor in the great tradition, modest in demeanor yet fierce on behalf of the highest musical standards."--Danny Newman, Lyric Opera Chicago

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 360 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press; First Edition edition (November 14, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252029356
• ISBN-13: 978-0252029356
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,754,768 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fritz Reiner receives his due honor, March 16, 2006

By 

Robert L. Volz - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fritz Reiner, Maestro and Martinet (Music in American Life) (Hardcover)

As Dr. Reiner conducted the first Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert I ever heard, I have held a fond place in my heart towards him. Therefore it is a treat to have this more analytical biography of the musical life of this great Hungarian-American conductor to accompany Philip Hart's 1994 "Fritz Reiner: A Biography", which was rather anecdotal in its approach. Morgan has also blessed us with his detailed information on the Reiner recordings, which for the standard repertoire, as well as for most of the orchestral works of Richard Strauss, and also some surprise offerings, my favorite being Alan Hovhaness' "Mysterious Mountain" Symphony No.2, has created one of the most important American archives of classical musical interpretation, ranking finally, I believe, in importance even above that of the recorded musical legacy of Leonard Bernstein. Hopefully still more of the older commercial recordings and the taped live performances of Reiner with various orchestras over the decades will be recovered, engineered, and released on CD (or whatever format the future holds for us) - Kenneth Morgan has gone the full measure to document those issued to date.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the whole story, September 30, 2010

By 

Martin Kuskis (Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fritz Reiner, Maestro and Martinet (Music in American Life) (Paperback)

Kenneth Morgan's book seems to be only the second full-length work devoted to the eminent conductor Fritz Reiner (1888-1963). It is thoroughly researched and Morgan has had the benefit of access to extensive archival material including Reiner's own papers. As an academic study it fills an important gap. However as a biography of Fritz Reiner it does not tell the whole story.
Morgan, not a musician but a history professor, is really only interested in Reiner's career, achievements and legacy as a conductor, teacher and recording artist. Thus the usual biographical details are summarised in the first (20-page) chapter, which reads like a separate article, leaving Morgan free to spend the rest of the book on charting Reiner's career. Reiner was married three times but we learn little about his wives or his three children. Certainly readers are interested in Reiner's friendships with major figures like Bartók and Richard Strauss, but they are also interested in what Reiner was like away from the concert hall and the opera house. Reiner was a private man but surely it is the job of a biographer to provide insights into his subject's personal life, or at least appropriate parts of it.
I also found some features of Morgan's writing style unhelpful, particularly his penchant for setting out streams of information rather than listing it (or, better, moving it to an appendix). A half-page paragraph running through the repertoire which Reiner conducted in a season or a location quickly becomes indigestible. The writing style is occasionally maladroit, as with this example from page 157: "He did not find a place for all leading American composers on his programs, notably Charles Ives, Elliott Carter, and Roger Sessions". There are also some factual lapses, such as including Flotow's opera Martha among French repertoire (p.34) and stating that the original version of Mozart's G minor symphony (K.550) has oboes rather than clarinets (p.214 - there are oboe parts in the `clarinet version' too). Two uses of the non-word `miniscule' should have been picked up in proof reading.
But for all my criticisms, this is an important and valuable book. Reiner was a significant figure in 20th century music, but he was not a charismatic man and he remains much less well known than he deserves. It is unlikely we will get another biography of similar quality in the foreseeable future so I certainly recommend buying and reading this one. Print and paper quality are good and there is a very interesting selection of photographs.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Biography, November 27, 2007

By 

Hannibal (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Fritz Reiner, Maestro and Martinet (Music in American Life) (Hardcover)

It is a pleasure to read Kenneth Morgan's excellent biography of Fritz Reiner, giving music lovers a wonderful account of his extraordinary life, far surpassing the pathetic, earlier work by Philip Hart.

Although one could still hope for a biography even richer and more complete than this, Morgan at least gives us a well-balanced account of the great conductor's career, and writes with a style infinitely superior to that possessed by Hart.

This book is a real pleasure to read, and I recommend it to everyone interested in Dr. Reiner's career.