Recommendations required for music books preferably autobiographies

[Stanfordian]

John Drummond 'Tainted by Experience: A Life in the Arts'. One of the most fasinating autobiographies I've read for some time. It pulls no punches!

My best book of last year was Astrid Varnay '55 Years In Five Acts: My Life in Opera'. An indispensible read for music lovers and opera lovers in particular.

[Ferretfancy]

Shostakovich A Life Remembered by Elizabeth Wilson.

This is not strictly a biography, but a collection of essays and comments from friends and colleagues assembled by Elizabeth Wilson to create a narrative of his life. I hope it's still in print from faber and faber. This is a far better portrait than Volkov's Testimony.

[umslopogaas]

#17 seconded, FF. I would however recommend the Volkov 'Testimony' volume, because whether or not any of it is accurate, its a fascinating read.

I would strongly recommend 'Am I Too Loud?' by Gerald Moore. These "memoirs of a piano accompanist" are fascinating, Moore played for an enormous range of musicians and has a wonderful range of anecdotes. He is also a very good writer. My copy was published by Penguin in 1966.

[Richard Tarleton]

Shostakovich A Life Remembered by Elizabeth Wilson.

I hope it's still in print from faber and faber.

I just got it from Amazon, so still available.

[ardcarp]

Jerrold Northrop Moore's biography of Elgar, "A Creative Life'.

[David-G]

I have some book tokens from Christmas to use and I’m looking for recommendations please for classical music/opera music books preferably autobiographies or even biographies of opera singers, musicians, conductors etc.

Strong recommendation for the Memoirs of Hector Berlioz, as translated by David Cairns.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Memoirs-Berlioz-Everymans-Classics-Contemporary/dp/037541391X

[aeolium]

Strong recommendation for the Memoirs of Hector Berlioz, as translated by David Cairns.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Memoirs-Berl.../dp/037541391X

Also very good is Cairns' 2-volume biography of Berlioz. And I've enjoyed two other biographies of C19 composers, Joan Chissell on Schumann and John Warrack on Weber.

[Ferretfancy]

Strong recommendation for the Memoirs of Hector Berlioz, as translated by David Cairns.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Memoirs-Berl.../dp/037541391X

It's ages since I read it, but how about Evenings in the Orchestra By Berlioz? The idea is that the players are bored stiff churning through something like Meyerbeer every night on auto pilot, so they construct a sort of Decameron, each performer telling a story to compensate for the tedium.
Berlioz really had it in for Meyerbeer!

[Op. XXXIX]

Jerrold Northrop Moore's biography of Elgar, "A Creative Life'.

I'll definitely second that!

[Richard Barrett]

Berlioz's Memoirs are alternately entertaining, bizarre and maudlin, a bit like his music really. When I was reading it I was having such a good time that I would read paragraphs out loud to anyone who'd listen.

JEG's book on JS Bach Music in the Castle of Heaven is an inspiring and fascinating read.

Peter Hill and Nigel Simeone's biography of Messiaen is one of the most enlightening such books about a 20th century composer I know of.

[ahinton]

Berlioz's Memoirs are alternately entertaining, bizarre and maudlin, a bit like his music really. When I was reading it I was having such a good time that I would read paragraphs out loud to anyone who'd listen.

JEG's book on JS Bach Music in the Castle of Heaven is an inspiring and fascinating read.

Peter Hill and Nigel Simeone's biography of Messiaen is one of the most enlightening such books about a 20th century composer I know of.

Intrigued by your take on Berlioz's Memoirs but unreservedly in agreement over the remainder of what you write about here.

[ahinton]

I'll definitely second that!

Ahem! Not quite so sure about some of that!