Otto Klemperer 2 Volume Hardback Set: His Life and Times - Hardcover

Heyworth, Peter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521565383 ISBN 13: 9780521565387

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1996

Synopsis

Otto Klemperer was one of the great conductors of the century, best known for his performances and recordings of the classical symphonic repertory from Mozart to Mahler. Peter Heyworth's biography has become established as a classic account of the conductor, one of the crucial figures in the musical life of the early twentieth century. Volume 1 and the long-awaited sequel, volume 2 are now available as a set. Volume 1 of Peter Heyworth's biography follows the conductor's career from early days in Prague through his appointment as director of the Kroll Opera in Berlin, to his abrupt departure from Germany in 1933. The second volume of the biography follows the conductor's fortunes from his frustrating and unhappy time as an émigré in the United States to his final years as conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra of London.

About this title

Review:

'This is a proper book, immaculately researched and lucidly written, a warts-and-all biography that none the less abides by the rule that, whatever a great man's foibles, he deserves, in the final analysis, to be judged by the strongest links in his chain. In Klemperer's case, some links, some chain.' Richard Osborne, Gramophone

'... superb and meticulously researched ... It is a powerful and sobering tale, told with lucidity and force.' The Sunday Times

'Mr Heyworth tells Klemperer's heroic and tragic story with a fitting sense of drama and full human understanding and sympathy. It is difficult to see how any musical biography could be done better, and impossible to see how this particular one could.' Bernard Levin, The Observer

'... this fine and detailed study leaves us in no doubt as to Klemperer's heroic stature.' The Guardian

'He could not have hoped for a more devoted and percipient chronicler than Peter Heyworth. Always alive to the broader political and cultural context, Heyworth's biography is a landmark contribution to the story of musical life in our century. It would be hard to imagine a fairer assessment of the conductor; here we have the triumphs and disasters, the idiosyncrasies and even some of the elusive greatness of Klemperer's conducting.' Patrick Carnegy, The Times Literary Supplement

'... one of the finest accounts of a musician ever written. Heyworth's prose is unaffected and precise, his scholarship impeccable, his judgements fair and humane.' Michael Kennedy, The Sunday Telegraph

Book Description:

Peter Heyworth's biography has become established as a classic account of the conductor Otto Klemperer, one of the crucial figures in the musical life of the early twentieth century. Volume 1 and the long-awaited sequel, volume 2 are now available as a set, Volume 1 covering the years 1885–1933 and volume 2 covering 1933–73.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0521565383
• ISBN 13: 9780521565387
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 1010