Maestros, Masterpieces and Madness: The Secret Life and Shameful Death of the Classical Record Industry - Softcover

Lebrecht, Norman

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141028513 ISBN 13: 9780141028514

Publisher: Penguin, 2008

Synopsis

Inflated egos. Corporate insanity. Slave labour. Sexual excess. Dazzling genius. Welcome to the world of classical recording.

Maestros, Masterpieces and Madness is a sparkling exposé of the strange truth and sheer brilliance behind the classical music recording industry. Leading music critic Norman Lebrecht charts its rise since the great Caruso’s first gramophone bestseller of 1902 and predicts the industry’s imminent doom in the face of schmaltzy crossover albums and new technology. From the imperious Karajan to the perfectionist Toscanini and charismatic Bernstein, the leading figures are all here, depicted in witty, incisive pen portraits.

Including Lebrecht’s own selections of 100 recorded masterpieces and twenty that should never have been made, this is a compelling story of flamboyant maestros, lifelong alliances, disastrous personality clashes and entrepreneurial masterstrokes.

About this title

Review:

'Norman Lebrecht is classical music's chief mischief-maker. As full of bombast as a fairground barker, he will print what most would only hint ... [it is] a lickety-spit history of the industry from wax cylinders to MP3s.' -- Anna Picard, The Independent on Sunday

About the Author:

Norman Lebrecht won the Whitbread First Novel Award for 2003 with The Song of Names. Born in London, Norman Lebrecht is Assistant Editor of the Evening Standard and presenter of lebrecht.live on BBC Radio 3. He has written eleven books about music, translated into 15 languages, and is regarded as one of the foremost cultural commentators of our time.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0141028513
• ISBN 13: 9780141028514
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352