Our critics cast their eyes over this month’s selection of books on classical music
The Beloved Vision
– Music in the Romantic Age Stephen Walsh
Faber & Faber 432pp (hb) £25
Stephen Walsh traces the first stirrings of musical Romanticism back to Haydn’s unruly Sturm und Drang phase of the late 1760s and early 1770s. But the real subject of his book is 19th- and early-20thcentury music, from Beethoven and Schubert to Sibelius and Elgar. Walsh makes much of the lingering influence of Wagner (though Schoenberg’s lushly post-wagnerian masterpiece Gurrelieder curiously fails to rate a mention), and he has an enviable ability to penetrate right to the heart of the matter in few words. His chapter on the driving forces that make Beethoven’s music so unique occupies no more than 15 pages, and there’s a similarly concise and astute article on the symbiosis between music and poetry in Schubert’s lieder.
Walsh is particularly eloquent on the subject of opera, and his knowledge of the repertoire is remarkable. If you want to know all about such long-forgotten works as Spontini’s La Vestale or Chabrier’s Gwendoline, Walsh is your man. He’s a writer who wears his considerable knowledge lightly, and his book is both elegant and witty. It is altogether a pleasure to read.
Misha Donat ★★★★★
Curtain Up!
– Behind the Scenes at the Royal Opera House
Lauren O’hara (illustrator) Thames and Hudson 40pp (hb) £12.99 Did you know that it took 21 lorries to deliver all the sets and scenery for the Royal Opera House (ROH)’S Ring cycle? Or that the company’s wig collection contains more than 100,000 pieces? Curious facts like these are sprinkled throughout Curtain Up!, a behind-the-scenes guide for children that follows Figaro, the ROH’S resident cat (posh Persian rather than London tabby) as he wanders backstage,
half an hour before the evening’s performance of The Nutcracker. It’s the perfect companion to a first visit to the festive ballet – and makes a strong case for a career in the arts along the way. Lauren O’hara’s distinctive watercolour illustrations elevate the text, capturing a diverse staff across the departments. ‘Opera-ting on inequality: gender representation in creative roles at The Royal Opera’, a recent paper that used the ROH as a case study to examine the division of labour within this type of venue, suggests that the organisation still has a long way to go on that front. Still, Curtain Up! is certainly aspirational. ‘Can you spot the conductor?’, asks Figaro. ‘She’s the last person to arrive before the performance starts.’
Claire Jackson ★★★★
London Chamber Orchestra – 101 Years of Transformation Jessica Duchen
LCO 152pp (hb) £25
A book commissioned to mark the centenary of an orchestra could very easily be a vanity project, enjoyed only by those who have been involved in shaping and creating the ensemble’s history. Instead, Jessica Duchen has penned an engaging, vibrant reflection of music-making in Britain over the last 101 years.
The orchestra is at the centre of the narrative, naturally, but rather than simply glorifying its achievements and revelling in its success, Duchen uses the orchestra as a vehicle for the rest of the story about
British orchestral music and its industry to pivot around.
From the early years as a loose ‘collective’ of musicians, the London Chamber Orchestra was a unique setup, its small scale providing numerous opportunities to flexibly take on different money-making opportunities. We cycle through the decades, with the chamber orchestra format starting to spread, along with the burst of broadcast concerts and changes in playing and programming trends. After the financial pressures of the ’60s and ’70s, the LCO’S current music director Christopher Warrengreen comes on board in the 1980s, quickly transforming the way the orchestra – and in turn, ensembles around the world – performs. The orchestra stands up to play, throws out traditional concert dress and even performs at venues like the Hammersmith Odeon. With colourful anecdotes and rarely heard stories, we are given a glimpse into an orchestra and its broader context in the UK classical music scene at large. Freya Parr ★★★★
Neumarkt
Frank Schinski (photographer) Kerber 304pp (hb) £70
You’d be forgiven for having never heard of the Bavarian town of Neumarkt, let alone its 462-seat concert hall created 40 years ago in the shell of a 14th-century grain store. A veritable haven of worldclass music-making, run by a notfor-profit organisation founded by cellistphilanthropist Ernst-herbert Pfleiderer, its programme is strictly curated by him, and audiences seem to flock from far and wide to enjoy its outstanding acoustics. This photo essay, partly a massive vanity endeavour, is an absorbing collection of photographs that capture some very familiar names on and off stage. Photographer Frank Schinski was given total access to the musicians and staff at the venue, around the town and far beyond – even at home. While you may not care to see the town’s former mayor, a long-time subscriber, or the venue’s sound engineer, you won’t be able to take your eyes away from portraits and informal shots of the great and good of classical music. From Patricia Kopatchinskaja to Isabelle Faust, via András Schiff, Iván Fischer and the Danish String Quartet, it’s a fascinating who’s who. Michael Beek ★★★