Priest of Music: The Life of Dimitri Mitropoulos [Hardcover]

William R. Trotter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2003

Impeccably researched and written with a novelist's narrative mastery, this biography of the great conductor is a modern tragedy. Mitropoulos was a passionate advocate of difficult modern music and an early champion of Mahler; his emotionally charged performances brought the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra into the first rank of American orchestras. Generous and self-effacing, he was an innocent in the game of musical politics, unprepared for the intrigues and treachery in store when he became music director of the New York Philharmonic, "the orchestra that took no prisoners."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Greek-born Mitropoulos (1896-1960) was one of the great American conductors of the midcentury, and it is astonishing how little his memory is regarded in his adopted land. Perhaps this obscurity is attributable partly to his self-effacing personality. His extraordinary musical gifts included an almost supernatural memory, a degree of involvement that transfigured players and audiences alike and a sense of duty to contemporary composers that made his concerts challenging and, to orchestra boards and old-time symphony subscribers, frequently daunting. His happiest years were spent in Minneapolis, but lack of careerist guile made him easy pickings in New York City: the critics were bewildered by him, the New York Philharmonic players were disrespectful of him and even his record company treated him badly. It did not help that he was homosexual and chose not to enter a cosmetic marriage. Music critic and novelist Trotter, who had access to the late Oliver Daniel's considerable research on Mitropoulos, has presented a compassionate, judicious and moving portrait of the conductor. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 532 pages
• Publisher: Amadeus Press; First Edition edition (March 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0931340810
• ISBN-13: 978-0931340819
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #633,842 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #75 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Composers & Musicians > Classical

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful biography of a forgotten giant, May 26, 1999

By 

Peter Bistolarides - See all my reviews

This review is from: Priest of Music: The Life of Dimitri Mitropoulos (Hardcover)

I stumbled on the name Dimitri Mitropoulos quite by accident, as one never hears him mentioned much in the same way Karajan, Bernstein, and others are. Neither have I heard any of his recordings. This book helped me delve into this great man's life - what a singular purpose of mind he had - total dedication to his craft. William Trotter succeeds in giving us not just the details of his life (which, by themselves, are not exactly mundane), but also in bringing the reader the imagery, the depth of feeling of Mitropoulos' work. One can feel and see him conducting in his full glory. Having had this marvellous biography brought to me, I am now eagerly buying whatever recordings conducted by Mitropoulos that I can find. I agree with the other reader who commented - a discography would be most welcome.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb biography of a great musician, November 5, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Priest of Music: The Life of Dimitri Mitropoulos (Hardcover)

At the time of Dimitri Mitropoulos' death in 1960, he was regarded as one of the greatest conductors of the century. His spellbinding performances in Minneapolis and with the New York Philharmonic were legendary. Then he handed (or was forced to hand over) the baton to Leonard Bernstein, Mitropoulos turned to opera. Virtually all of those performances are legendary. Even when let down by poor casts (such as a Met broadcast of DIE WALKURE) his conducting leaves the listener breathless. Yet the irony is that with a decade of his death, he was virtually forgotten. William Trotter's well-written, well-paced biography reminds us of Mitropoulos' great musicianship and encouraged me, for one, to pull the maestro's recordings off the shelf and become reacquainted. My only quibble is the lack of a discography. Maybe Amadeus will remedy that in future editions or maybe they'll give us a separate volume (as with their excellent Bjoerling discography). Highly recommended to all music lovers.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fine job, February 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Priest of Music: The Life of Dimitri Mitropoulos (Hardcover)

Mitropoulos's career, method of working, extraordinarymusicianship are described in detail. Also described is his sweetnessand naiveté. Aside from some special pleading when he bashes other conductors in defense of Mitropoulos, Trotter does a fine job of pulling together the research of Oliver Daniel who died before he could write the biography.