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Why is this book out of print?, July 2, 2009
This review is from: Lost in the Stars: The Forgotten Musical Life of Alexander Siloti (Hardcover)
Why write a review of a book which Amazon lists as out of print and which is rarely available on the used market? Partly because there is no good reason for this book to be out of print. It belongs in any serious library of any size and in the collection of any musician interested in the history of music. Perhaps after reading this review you will help pester the publisher, who still lists the book as available, ("due to arrive at the warehouse within a few months" for several years now) to actually put the book back into circulation.
This 2002 biography of Siloti, titled "Lost in the Stars," was widely acclaimed by such musicians as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Evgeny Kissin, Valery Gergiev, and Marilyn Horne, to name just a few whose names appear on the jacket of the 2002 edition. Moreover, it is the only book written about Siloti. "Lost in the Stars" is so well researched, so complete, and so well written, that it is unlikely that any future work on Siloti could tell us more than Charles Barber already has. Barber arranged with Carl Fischer to simultaneously publish a collection of Siloti's forty surviving scores as "The Alexander Siloti Collection." That outstanding volume was still available at the time this review was written (see my Amazon review). Besides the scores, it contains some excerpts from Barber's biography and six photos.
Why would we care about Alexander Siloti (1863-1945)? Since most of us today haven't heard of Siloti it is hard for us to understand that one of the greatest musical figures of all times has vanished from our memory and our libraries. "Lost in the Stars" is both an enigmatic and accurate title for this volume. Barber provides a detailed and compelling look inside a man, a time, a family, and a city. With so much intimate detail about St. Petersburg and Siloti's circle revealed in this book, the reader comes away with a far deeper understanding of events that have dwindled to the status of "anecdotes."
For example, it is still commonplace to hear experts discuss the changes that occurred in Rachmaninov's life between the time he wrote his first (not highly regarded) and second (perhaps the most popular concerto of all time) piano concertos. References are made to an early practitioner of psychotherapy and his experiments with hypnosis. That's a good story, and it is told often, but what actually happened to Rachmaninov was Siloti. More on this later...
Siloti was an energetic and busy man and he also "happened" to Stravinsky, Scriabin, and Prokofiev. Before this 20th century phase in Siloti's life evolved in St. Petersburg, he had already established himself as one of the greatest pianists of the 19th century and toured Europe and America to immense acclaim.
Siloti edited and orchestrated much of Tchaikovsky's work while still a young man working as an assistant to this former teacher. He had the same relationship with Liszt who treated him as more than his most brilliant pupil, but as a son. (They determined that he was not!) In one example of their far-sighted collaboration they worked together to create a painstakingly accurate transcription of what an actual performance by Liszt sounded like. They chose the Concert Etude in Db, known as "Un Sospiro," as their example, and Siloti employed his legendary understanding of notation and editing to capture what Liszt played, long before the recording arts arrived with their scratchy cylinders. Their intention was to create a score that would help future generations understand the vast difference between the scores Liszt had published and what he actually played. This was at a time when it was clear to both men that memories of Liszt's actual performances were soon to vanish without a trace. And yet, for the better part of the 130 years since Liszt's death, pianists have wondered about exactly what Liszt intended. This is only because they are unaware that Liszt himself foresaw this problem and left behind a window in time, and that Siloti's manuscript had been out of print for generations. It is just one of forty incredible documents in the Carl Fischer edition that was created alongside this book.
Liszt and Tchaikovsky both took Siloti's advice almost religiously, based on their years observing the young Siloti absorb and then expand on what they could teach him. Tchaikovsky only balked once, and that was when the young Siloti completely revised and re-orchestrated his piano concerto, making many cuts. Tchaikovsky insisted that Siloti's edition could exist alongside his own version, but only as an alternative. They toured the piece together in both versions, exchanging roles at the podium and at the piano on different nights. The Siloti version prevailed, and that is what we hear today. Liszt put it more simply, "Siloti is always correct," and then gave Siloti permission to edit, revise, and even delete items in his publishing catalog. Most musical souls this large come with equally large egos. Siloti, on the other hand, seemed more at home collaborating to make others' works better than in claiming the spotlight for himself. Yet, this is not a biography of a retiring recluse. Everything Siloti touched nearly turned to gold in his hands and he came into this world with a formidable energy for projects.
Tchaikovsky and Liszt were already well established by the time Siloti came into their lives. The same cannot be said for Rachmaninov. Siloti was the first to believe in his younger cousin and highlighted a few pieces including his early Prelude in C# minor (from opus 3) in his tours across Europe and America. The audience reaction helped Siloti formulate his plan for Rachmaninov's rehabilitation. After placing his young cousin with some of the best teachers in St. Petersburg, only to learn that he had been booted out quite quickly, he took matters into his own hands, installed Rachmaninov in his own home, and became his teacher. Next, he arranged a "job" for Rachmaninov to make some money. He persuaded Tchaikovsky that the young Rachmaninov was up to the challenge of orchestrating a major new Tchaikovsky composition to be performed the next fall. Those who know Rachmaninov's first piano concerto (unfortunately dedicated to Siloti, who deserves credit for the second concerto instead) probably realize that this might have been a premature claim on Siloti's part. Forget about the legends of Rachmaninov arising from depression due to hypnotic suggestion. Tchaikovsky's fury at what Rachmaninov handed over surely lit a fire under Rachmaninov's butt and this allowed Siloti to gently step in and take matters in hand. Together, Siloti and Rachmaninov, spent the summer successfully orchestrating Tchaikovsky's work, and Rachmaninov would never again be accused of being a clumsy orchestrator.
Siloti was not so subtle in the second phase of his plan. He simply told Rachmaninov that he had scheduled a performance of the second piano concerto in a few months and planned to proceed with it whether Sergei finished it or not. He would play whatever was written. At the time, only a draft of the second movement was complete. The rest was "waiting" on Rachmaninov. This was how Siloti worked; he understood what was needed for a young genius to move forward, provided that necessary instruction, and then provided a kick in the pants if needed. So much for the legendary hypnotist who "cured" Rachmaninov. You have to love Siloti, and apparently most everyone did.
Although he could be ruthless when applying pressure to publishers and promoters to get a young artist's work performed (As he did for Stravinsky and Diaghilev in Paris) it was usually to serve others, not himself. He wielded immense power as the successor to Liszt and friend to the most famous Russian composers of the day. He also funded and directed a concert series in St. Petersburg whose every program unearths treasures and directs the public's attention not on Siloti, but on what Siloti has appreciated in others. The program of every concert is detailed in Charles Barber's book. Siloti was instrumental, at the very least, in establishing the careers of dozens of the 20th century's most famous musicians, just as Liszt had been for him.
Most of all, Siloti was a pianist whose intelligence, sensitivity, discipline, and scholarship matched his passion. Never mind that he orchestrated many of Tchaikovsky's most famous works while seeing that the future lay with Stravinsky. Yet today you cannot buy one book about the legendary genius who changed the course of history, and was then "Lost in the Stars."
The detailed wealth of Barber's biography stemmed in part from his access to Siloti's surviving children, especially the pianist Kyriena Siloti, which began with a chance phone call in 1974. This access eventually came to include all of the original manuscripts and the complete records of the famous Siloti concert series in St. Petersburg. This landmark book contains an additional 200 pages of appendixes. These include indexes of Siloti's published editions, concert programs, and unpublished scores, as well as notes about dozens of musicians in the Siloti circle.
Although Siloti escaped Soviet Russia at the last possible moment (thanks to his friend Gorky who pulled him out of prison and likely execution,) his story declines after 1920. He settled in America and lived for another 25 years, but never learned English and declined to make recordings. While Siloti turned inward, Koussevitzky claimed much of the spotlight that they had competed for in Russia. Barber's biography illuminates even these quiet years with great detail. Siloti's students at Julliard were sometimes surprised to find that the old Russian men smoking and chatting at the back of Siloti's studio were Stravinsky and Rachmaninov. Unfortunately,...
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