bookshelf

CONVERSATIONS WITH BERNSTEIN

Name: CONVERSATIONS WITH BERNSTEIN
Author: William Burton
ISBN: 0-19-507947-7

by William Burton ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1995

bookshelf

Yet another addition—though a set of interviews rather than a full bio—to this year's shelf of Lenny B. books. Assuming that the public has an insatiable appetite for books about the late dynamo of American music, musician/writer Burton (not to be confused with Humphrey Burton, whose recent Leonard Bernstein (p. 582), if flawed, is still the best treatment of its subject) has questioned L.B.'s contemporaries, including composers (Lukas Foss, David Diamond); critics (Harold Schonberg); protÇgÇs (John Mauceri, Justin Brown); colleagues (Jonathan Miller); performers from the worlds of opera and song (Jerry Hadley, Christa Ludwig, Frederica von Stade), the symphony (Mstislav Rostropovich), and Broadway (Carol Lawrence); and members of the New York, Israel, and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras who performed under the maestro's baton. The results are not uninteresting, and the book's prime virtue—in contrast to most other recent Bernstein tomes—is that it's short and painless to read. However, don't expect much musical nourishment. Not surprisingly, almost everyone interviewed has a not-so-hidden agenda, i.e.: Lenny should have rid himself of the circle of young male ``acolytes'' who surrounded him in his last years (Diamond); gee, all my negative reviews didn't really have an impact on Lenny's career (Schonberg); Lenny was devastated by Schonberg's continuous attacks, and as to my own book, I was surprised that neither L.B. nor his circle saw my portrayal of his rampantly promiscuous homosexuality as ``life enhancing'' (biographer Joan Peyser); and on and on and on. Such things tell us more about the interviewees than about the subject. The varying musical opinions are also unenlightening: Foss thinks Bernstein's most serious composition is West Side Story; Diamond argues that West Side Story may well be forgotten, etc. Thin stuff, but undoubtedly grist for some 21st-century scholar's mill.

Pub Date: March 1, 1995

ISBN: 0-19-507947-7

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Oxford Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1995

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

bookshelf

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

bookshelf

TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

bookshelf

An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.