This biography is highly recommended for all conductors, students of conducting, musicologists, and for the collections of academic and public libraries with larger music sections. It is a must read for music historians.
American Reference Books Annual
...[a] fascinating new biography, which fleshes out our knowledge of one of the most mysterious icons of 20th-century music.
Financial ... Read moreTimes
...extensive use of first-hand research and impressive marshalling of Russian-language sources, including material from the conductor's own diaries...
Teaching History: A Journal of Methods
...an extraordinary story of this musical obsessive...
Classical Music
Tassie, who has worked in the music world for many years, offers a biography of Russian conductor Yevgeny Mravinsky (1903-1988) that reveals his connection to many prominent musicians. His most notable friendship was with Dmitri Shostakovich, whose music Mravinsky promoted at a time when Shostakovich was being criticized by the Soviet government. In addition to providing insight into the Soviet music world, the book follows Mravinsky's life and musical career throughout the twentieth century, as conductor with the Leningrad Philharmonic. The book also contains an interview with Andrey Zolotov, a chronology, and a selected discography.
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