Conductor/pianist Barenboim, recently appointed to succeed Georg Solti at the Chicago Symphony, offers not, as billed, ``a witty and engaging memoir,'' but rather a quiet potpourri of professional reminiscences and aesthetic observations—with personal matters almost entirely off-limits. There are, for instance, virtually no nonmusical references to Barenboim's late wife Jacqueline du PrÇ; he ``became over-sensitive to intrusions'' into their private life during her long battle with MS. Instead, after brief recollections of childhood in Argentina (where his Russian-Jewish grandparents emigrated) and youth in 1950's Israel (where his parents settled), Barenboim concentrates on his career—from first concert at age eight—and on impressions of musicians and music. Among pianists, he singles out Artur Rubinstein, a generous mentor, for his rhythmic vitality; Sir Clifford Curzon, who demonstrated that a musician could combine ``great flair and intuition with deep thought and analysis''; and Claudio Arrau, ``the ideal musician.'' The most important conductors for Barenboim have been stern George Szell (who initially ``told me to stick to the piano''), uncompromising Otto Klemperer, practical Sir John Barbirolli, and Pierre Boulez. His other great influence: du PrÇ, a musical rebel totally devoted to her art (``a musician who also happened to be a human being'') and a matchless expert on stringed-instrument playing. Barenboim discusses piano and conducting technique, the art of simultaneous playing-and-conducting (in Mozart concertos), his love of chamber- music and opera-conducting. (The brouhaha at the Bastille Opera receives a curt few paragraphs.) He laments the modern tendencies toward overcommercial, overtechnical music-making, and repeatedly invokes Spinoza in musings on the metaphysics of music. And, in a rare nonmusical vein, Barenboim salutes David Ben-Gurion and expresses hopes for a more tolerant Israel. Rather earnest and dry, somewhat disjointed—but thoughtful, intelligent commentaries for serious and/or philosophically oriented music fans. (Sixteen pages of photos—not seen.)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-684-19326-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1992
A general introduction to the life and work of photojournalist Lange that draws on family remembrances, scholarly evaluations, and a handsome picture portfolio. Six essays, one interview, and a healthy black-and-white picture section make up this composite introduction to Lange (18951965), best known for her US Farm Security Administration images of Depression-era migrant workers. Editor Partridge grew up in Lange's loosely knit family fold (her father worked as an assistant), and her warm introduction details the tension between Lange's motherly impulses and her irascible nature. In a 1976 interview, Ansel Adams comments on shared technical hardships, Lange's marriage to activist Paul Taylor, and her ``absolute sexless beauty.'' Roger Daniels (History/Univ. of Chicago) looks at Lange's work documenting Japanese Americans interned by the War Relocation Authority during WW II. And an incisive essay by Sally Stein (Art History/Univ. of California, Irvine) discusses Lange's fascination with bodily depictions (she had been crippled by childhood polio and was dogged by lifelong physical infirmities). Most telling, though, are the photographs themselves. One from 1937, taken at a sharecropper's cabin in Coahoma County, Miss., shows only a black woman's bare feet in the foreground, poised elegantly one atop the other on the dusty and worn boards of a front porch. Another, from 1938, records campaign posters taped to a Waco, Tex., gas station window. The sternly optimistic faces of the candidates surround painted sign lettering that reads: ``Washing/Greasing/Storage.'' Both images are blunt and literal, relying on secondary association for political or allegorical impact. Later photographs draw from Lange's extensive world travels. In all, this is a limited and general introduction to Lange's life and work. It piques curiosity but leaves a lot of rich material unexamined. Still, this compendium is respectfully assembled and nicely documented. (Partridge has produced a companion film to accompany the book.)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1994
ISBN: 1-56098-350-7
Page Count: 176
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1994
A provocative exploration of how African-Americans have, and more often have not, participated in the creation of their image through photographs. Merely ``to illuminate'' is Willis's (Black Photographs 19401988, not reviewed) stated purpose in this collection of essays. The contributors seek to ``direct outward'' the gaze that historically has been directed at them. Some of these pieces (each inspired by a photograph selected by the writer) are intimate and highly personal: Edward P. Jones concludes that, if he'd met his mother as the stylish young woman she was on the day she had her picture taken, he'd have advised her to choose a life without him and his father (``Save yourself, I would have told her''); LisÇ Hamilton examines her feelings of rejection by her white mother and grandmother. Addressing a variety of subjects—from the stereotypical portrayal of black men as criminals and black women as poverty-stricken mothers with too many children, to the hegemony of ``good'' hair—these pieces provide a historical base from which to view the depiction of African-Americans in today's media. The subjects of the photographs range from two lynched men and an ancestor labeled ``¨N, ¨I, ´W'' (one-quarter Negro, one-quarter Indian, one-half White), to a variety of family snapshots. The juxtaposition of these images and histories magnifies the close intertwining of family and cultural history. Moving beyond mere explanations of the photographs, these essays lead the reader to question assumptions about what is being seen, how images are created, and for whose consumption they are produced. Angela Davis documents her lack of agency over her image and explains that 25 years after her trial what she is remembered for is not her politics but her Afro (Vibe magazine recently ran a '70s nostalgic fashion spread that termed Davis ``a fashion revolutionary''). A startling, revealing look at photographic representation and its effect on African-American identity and consciousness.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1995
ISBN: 1-56584-107-7
Page Count: 208
Publisher: The New Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1994
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