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I came across this yesterday. It comes out next week and sounds like it could be a really interesting read.
http://amzn.to/2zsVpk1
Maestros and Their Music
The Art and Alchemy of Conducting
by John Mauceri
"An exuberant, uniquely accessible look inside the enigmatic art and craft of conducting, from a celebrated conductor whose international career has spanned half a century."
I went ahead and pre-ordered the audio edition. I'll come back here to share any relevant thoughts on it after I listen.
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Thanks for the head's up. He was a wonderful, witty communicator whenever he'd address the crowd at the Hollywood Bowl, and of course he recorded many wonderful albums that have long graced my record shelves.
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I'm about half way through and really enjoying this so far. He shares a lot of wonderful stories about Leonard Bernstein.
Of particular note to folks here, though, is Mauceri's revelatory story about Korngold's violin concerto as well as some nice anecdotes about Rozsa. There've also been mentions of Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein and others.
Also some insight into Danny Elfman and how he has changed over the years.
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This sounds really interesting. I've never quite understood all the facets behind the importance of the conductor, but I'm eager to learn. This only really came into my mind the other day when I was listening for the umpteenth time to Jerry Goldsmith's totally amazing score for THE ILLUSTRATED MAN, and I began to think how different (if at all) it would have sounded had it been conducted by some talentless nobody (such as, say.... Samuel Matlovsky - whose claim to fame was one Star Trek episode score, and a bad one at that) instead of by Lionel Newman.
From what I'm hearing in this book, it could have been very different indeed.
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Just listened to an interesting section about those concerts where he's conducting film scores live to a video of the movie.
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Finished this weekend, and I found it well worth hearing. (I listened to audiobook version)
It's full of anecdotes, as I've mentioned, and they're all good.
Mauceri shares a lot of fascinating info about conducting as a profession - it's not all glitz and glory and tuxes. Sometimes it's TSA pulling you out of the line because of the PVC pipe you carry your baton in.
He also talks a lot about how music is recorded - and the effect that can have on our perception of the music - as well as what a conductor brings to a piece. There are also several sections where he describes the extensive research a conductor such as himself often does in advance of playing a piece. And how that research can sometimes jar with tradition.
Anyway, I found it fascinating and I think a lot of you here would enjoy it, too.
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