Umpteen years ago, my dormant love of classical music was reawakened by a friend's passion for music. Being a callow, whey-faced poltroon at the time he put together a tape (remember those?) of pieces that I might like, including Karajan's superb Finlandia, I recall. There was also a couple of Slavonic Dances from Georg Szell (whom my friend memorably described, in a crib sheet which accompanied the cassette, as "a shaven-headed tyrant who terrorised orchestras on both side of the Atlantic"! Well, it certainly got my attention and I was then promptly won over by the calibre of his music making with his Clevelanders, of course.)
My point in this rambling discourse, so tortuously arrived-at, is, why has no-one written a definitive biography on this fascinating musician? Especially as the orchestral players who served under him are probably getting rather long in the tooth themselves. We had Hart's book on Reiner which filled an aching gap there, but Szell I would rather like to read about at length.
Of course, should there have been such a book written, please point me in the right direction!
Best wishes
Karafan
My point in this rambling discourse, so tortuously arrived-at, is, why has no-one written a definitive biography on this fascinating musician? Especially as the orchestral players who served under him are probably getting rather long in the tooth themselves. We had Hart's book on Reiner which filled an aching gap there, but Szell I would rather like to read about at length.
Of course, should there have been such a book written, please point me in the right direction!
Best wishes
Karafan
.
Comment