The Maestro Myth: Great Conductors in Pursuit of Power (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Music critic/provocateur Norman Lebrecht didn't make the high muckety-mucks of the classical music industry at all happy with this iconoclastic book, but he did open a lot of eyes. In 328 fascinating pages, he exposes the foibles and failings (musical and otherwise) of the great conductors of the last century. Why are there so few really outstanding conductors, and so many surface-skimming mediocrities? How did the conductor go from a mere time-beater to a powerful, immensely well-paid figure who jets from continent to continent and from podium to podium, hobnobbing with presidents and tycoons instead of with other musicians? Lebrecht explores all these factors, along with the history of conducting, and in the process dishes a few good anecdotes. He also shines the light on Ronald Wilford, the superagent of Columbia Artists Management, Inc., who controls the careers of more than 100 conductors--and, therefore, controls much of classical music. Lebrecht gets a few facts wrong (mostly minor--there haven't, for example, been stockyards in Chicago for some decades), but most of his points are well taken. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

The most penetrating study of the role of the orchestra conductor to have appeared in recent years. Photos.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Citadel; 2 Rev Upd edition (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806520884
• ISBN-13: 978-0806520889
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #633,356 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Riveting, but deeply flawed., November 30, 2000

By	Augustus Caesar, Ph.D. (Eugene, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maestro Myth: Great Conductors in Pursuit of Power (Hardcover)

Norman Lebrecht's "The Maestro Myth" is one of the most unique and controversial books on classical music ever published. In it, Lebrecht chronicles the lives, careers and conflicts of several important maestros (many notable conductors are left out) from Hans von Bulow to Sir Simon Rattle. I can scarcely think of another book on classical music that is as unputdownable or consistently fascinating, yet I had some strong reservations after finishing "The Maestro Myth."

Though the stories are invariably fascinating (with the exception of one excruciatingly dull chapter entitled "The Search for a Semi-Conductor"), there never seems to be an overall central idea or theme to "The Maestro Myth," despite its subtitle: "Great Conductors in Pursuit of Power." Very often, Lebrecht's writing is simply a collection of unflattering or embarrassing facts about various well-known musical personalities. Also, Lebrecht can be extremely inconsistent. Sympathetic towards Hans von Bulow, he follows it with an inexplicably nasty attack on Bruno Walter (who is portrayed generously and kindly in Sir Georg Solti's memoirs--and Solti was not one who minced words) and then ends with ten pages of bizarre sycophantic raving for Simon Rattle. In between, he compiles the usual litany of grievances against Toscanini and writes a hyperbolic and often blatantly dishonest thirty plus page attack on Herbert von Karajan. There are other examples. The bottom line is that Lebrecht often lets sensationalism interfere with fact. That is the biggest drawback to "The Maestro Myth."

That said, "The Maestro Myth" is well worth reading, indeed required reading, for anyone interested in the politics and tumultuous insider dealing involved in the 20th century conducting world. Fascinating overall, "The Maestro Myth" needs to be read with a grain of salt.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Gossip, but with a valid point, July 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Maestro Myth: Great Conductors in Pursuit of Power (Paperback)

Lebrecht is a journalist, and it shows. This is a gossipy, irreverent and sensationalistic tour through the lives of virtually all of the great Maestros of the 20th Century, seeking to debunk the "cult of the conductor" along the way. This it does quite effectively. Its style is breezy and engaging, not scholarly. It is entertaining and fun to read. Great vacation reading. But there is no depth to it. One theme is that most of these conductors were/are greedy, power-hungry egomaniacs. Hardly a revelation. It doesn't offer much psychological insight into the conductors considered. The most serious and important part of the book comes at the end, with an expose of the huge fees and cushy lives that the top conductors enjoy these days, particularly compared to the lives of their predecessors and the musicians they now conduct. Lebrecht makes a powerful case that things at the top are out of hand. His own indignation at this state of affairs comes across very clearly, and it is infectious. Conductors, he persuasively argues, have become part of the problem rather than the solution to the current malaise in classical music. Everyone who loves classical music should read this chapter. It makes the whole thing worthwhile. The rest is merely entertaining.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Newly Revised and Updated...but was it edited?!, January 14, 2006

By	tompy0904 "Micah Tompkins" (Florida) - See all my reviews

Although I am deeply enthralled by the lives of great conductors and musicians, this was not enough to erase the embarrasment and, at times, utter disgust at the mistakes (typos, misspellings,etc.) and errors found throughout this book.
I bought the book on a whim and became deeply entrenched in its pages within minutes (this is not to say that this reads like Clancy but it is very interesting). But the more I read the more frustrated I became at the mindless and senseless editing that was done here. For instance, on one page alone there are 3 different spellings of Mahler's name:
1: The correct way appears- Mahler
2: Then this- Maler
3: And finally this- Mabler
The latter really bowled me over. And the further I read the worse it became. There are also misrepresented facts (such as the stockyards in Chicago) throughout.
In short, if you are looking for scholarship and true presentations, look elsewhere. If you are interested in various interesting anecdotes and trivia-like facts about conductors and you dont mind sifting through misspellings and foreign words with no interpretation, then you will enjoy this book. But I must warn you...any book with a typo on its back cover (The Maesto Myth) may be more of a hassle than good informal reading.