Conversations with Toscanini / B.H. Haggin.
| Author/creator | Haggin, B. H. |
| Format | Book |
| Edition | Second edition, enlarged. |
| Publication Info | New York : Horizon, ©1979. |
| Description | 177 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Foreword -- Conversations with Toscanini -- Addenda. Rehearsals and performances of the last years ; Photographs and letters ; Postscript: 1979 ; The Toscanini recordings: 1979 ; The writing about Toscanini -- Appendix: Article: "Genius betrayed". |
| Abstract | In a poll of colleges WQXR, the music station of The New York Times, reports that the conductor whose records are most in demand for broadcast is Arturo Toscanini. The greatest conductor of our age is presented in this book by B.H. Haggin whom Randall Jarrell described as 'one of the best, most courageous and most individual critics alive.' When Mr. Haggin's Conversations with Toscanini was first published Wilder Hobson wrote in Newsweek that it is 'a remarkable chance for the reader to see the dazzling interpreter plain and for the musical layman to grasp something of the art and method and passion of great conducting. ... B.H. Haggin had the rare privilege of Toscanini's confidence. He has a fastidious, intense temperament which suggests Toscanini's own. Toscanini read him, received him at home, talked with him, twitted him, and conducted whole scores for him (sometimes leaning over Haggin's shoulder as the critic followed the music). Haggin was admitted to many Toscanini rehearsals. It was all an education and inspiration to Haggin, and he makes the atmospheres and emotion of their sessions movingly clear.' The meetings were on occasion of extraordinary intensity, and though Toscanini spoke mostly of his art, of his own activity in it, and of the work of composers, singers, and other musicians he admired or disapproved of, he also revealed deeply personal and moving facts about himself. In addition to reporting his conversations with Toscanini, Mr. Haggin gives illuminating descriptions of Toscanini's rehearsals and performances with the NBC Symphony, the Philadelphia and the New York Philharmonic Orchestras, and in this new edition reveals what has become known about Toscanini's resignation and about his broadcasts and recordings, and clarifies some of the other matters dealt with in the first edition which has been out of print for many years. This new edition also contains Mr. Haggin's evaluations of the Toscanini performances on records and information on the quality of the recordings now available under American and foreign labels. |
| Bibliography note | Discography: pages 144-161. |
| ISBN | 0818012196 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Closed Stacks - Ask at Circulation Desk | ML422.T67 H3 1979 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |