From Publishers Weekly
Horowitz (Understanding Toscanini) surveys the course of classical music in America, discussing composers, performers, conductors, managers, entrepreneurs, critics and orchestras in a wide-ranging and provocative volume. The book's first half charts the vibrant years from the late 19th century to WWI, when major orchestras, including the Boston Symphony and the New York Philharmonic, were created, composers such as George Chadwick and Amy Beach were met with wide acclaim, and the visionary conductor Theodore Thomas was thrilling Gilded Age audiences. He makes a more contentious assessment of the period following WWI - a time of decline, in his view, as conductors and performers ignored new music and concentrated on works from the European past. Horowitz singles out Arturo Toscanini, who rarely conducted anything other than "canonized masterworks"; David Sarnoff, who created the NBC Symphony as a vehicle for Toscanini; and Arthur Judson, the powerful manager who promoted the familiar, conservative repertoire. Recycling the tried and true was a sure bet, and Horowitz blames this safer marketing strategy for our contemporary quandary: most composers of classical music find American audiences have little interest in what they have to offer. Horowitz doesn't deliver a solution to the problem, though, and his critical tone detracts from what is otherwise a valuable contribution to the history of classical music in this country. Illus. not seen by PW.
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Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Booklist
In this large history, Horowitz traces developments through two centuries. Beginning in the nineteenth century and continuing to World War I, wealthy sponsors nurtured symphony orchestras in Boston and New York; orchestra members and conductors were mostly European. Opera, though centered in Boston and New York, included companies that traveled throughout the country; and New England and New York supported several composers whose music was played by their orchestras. The peak of classical performance occurred just before WWI. Thereafter, performance in America declined. American singers and performers grew in prominence in the 1930s, however, when their European counterparts were unable to cross the pond, and after 1950 American conductors, performers, and composers came into their own. But opera companies and orchestras declined as radio, television, and recordings replaced live concerts. Opera companies and orchestras reactively pursued marketing instead of music. Horowitz sees twenty-first-century growth in chamber groups pursuing contemporary music by Americans. Full of sketches of significant people and organizations plus critical commentary, this excellent, readable, concise history would grace any collection. Alan Hirsch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
