Download - La Scena Musicale

tual and metaphysical issues raised by having a passionate
and restless consciousness latch on to a living
woman’s soul might be disappointed. Those,
however, ready to enjoy interesting characters
adapting to incredible, yet somehow understandable
circumstances, alongside meditations on
genius, celebrity, and the ethics of using a sexy
dress to help one’s career will find themselves
engrossed in an enjoyable read. Ultimately, this
book is about music; about the passion of playing
and truly listening; about the understandings and miscommunications
music fosters; about how music is universal, and can be loved by anyone
as the most direct means of a soul’s expression. Even though Schubert’s
soul is incorporated in a new time, place, and body, the intense power
sound and melody enable him to reveal to the world, and to those closest
to him, what he feels and what he is. Christopher Bourne
Decoding Wagner — An Invitation
to His World of Music Drama
Thomas May
Amadeus Press, 2004. 224 pp, includes 2 music CDs
Richard Wagner is one of the few composers who
could be described as notorious. Infamous for his
arrogance, anti-Semitism, and philandering, discussion
of his overwhelmingly influential artistic ideas
will certainly be coloured by these more personal
elements. Perhaps this is only just, as Wagner’s art
contains so much of himself. What balance must
then be struck, between art and artist, in order to
understand his musical world? In Decoding Wagner,
former Fulbright scholar Thomas May, senior music
editor for Amazon.com, has weighed Wagner’s history and mythology,
philosophies and ideologies, and frames these elements within a discussion
of ten blockbusting operas. By weaving the strands of each opera
into the fabric of Wagner’s life, May offers compelling evidence of the
man’s complexity, alongside direct and illuminating discussions of the
composer’s most famous works. In a book of only 200 pages, detailed
analyses of ten operas would be impossible. Instead, May has fashioned
a musical biography of a man who, although troubled and pessimistic,
stored great faith in the transcendent power of the unity of art. Wagner
was deathly afraid of being misunderstood, and composed his operas in
effort to bare his soul to anyone who would listen. May, who has listened
and understood, threads readers through a labyrinth of myth and
metaphor to a blueprint of the operas from which to construct an honest
picture of a difficult man. CB
Polly and the Piano
Carol Montparker
Amadeus Press, 2004, 40 pp. Hardcover.
CD included.
I have had the pleasure to read Carol Montparker’s
witty columns and articles on
numerous occasions in Clavier, a magazine
devoted to piano pedagogy. This time, the
pianist / teacher / author / dog lover
decides to talk to the younger piano enthusiasts
with this first children’s book. It
recalls the story of Polly, Montparker’s dog
(which passed away 12 years ago), her muse for many years. The story
is told from the point of view of the dog, which puts nice perspective on
this largely autobiographical musical tale of teaching, practicing, performing,
and striving to be the best one can be. The loneliness of the
daily practice is evoked with finesse, along with the many pleasures
music can bring to one’s life. Polly herself tries at some point to play the
piano but “can only play modern music”. In the tale (not as in real life),
the dog walks on the stage of Carnegie Hall with its mistress, laying as
she always did under the piano. The watercolours (painted by
Montparker when Polly was alive) have a warm and somewhat quaint
quality that evokes sunlit porches and quieter days. A CD of some of the
works mentioned in the story (performed live by Montparker) is also
included. Interpretations are sensitive though at time a bit vertical and
somewhat rushed for my taste. Voicing is carefully integrated. Teachers
will want to put this book into the hands of as many young students as
possible. It is quite possible that Polly’s story might even inspire a few
extra hours of extra practicing from budding pianists. Music, after all, is
meant to be shared. Lucie Renaud
Growing Up with Jazz - Twenty-Four Musicians Talk About Their Lives and
Careers
W. Royal Stokes
Oxford University Press, 2005, 242 pp.
Jazz is much more than music; it is a human adventure.
Veteran jazz commentator Royal Stokes’ latest
tome confirms this fact with stories told by jazz
artists from all over the world. Although the
author’s style is rather anemic, with weak leads and
a flimsy connecting thread, the meat in the pie is
still tasty enough due to Stokes’ keen instincts for a
good story. Most of the book is made up of transcriptions
of taped interviews, with details of childhood,
development, career twists and turns, some
of which seem like more than one wants to know at times, but all relevant
in the long run, with an overall novelistic effect, through which
seemingly trivial details gain in resonance.
A similar tack was as an integral part of Paul Berliner’s landmark
“Thinking in Jazz”, but with a more scholarly purpose; Stokes’ book, on
the other hand, will appeal to the layman because of the focus on the
human element. We get popular neo-swingers like Ray Gelato and Jane
Monheit reminiscing about formative experiences, innovators like Uri
Caine, Don Byron or Armen Donelian explaining how they try to integrate
diverse musical identities, and then there are fascinating, unusual
stories, like those of the Indonesian-born musicians René van
Helsdingen and Luluk Purwanto who forge unique musical styles.
The writer and his editors have organized the material into three wellconceived
sections: “Keepers of the Flame” groups all the traditionalists,
young or old; “Modernists” opens with Art Blakey, runs into Howard
Johnson and ends with pianist Billy Taylor; and “Visionaries and
Eclectics” shows the reader how broad the spectrum of approaches to
the music are, and highlights the struggles of musicians trying to reconcile
the idiosyncrasies of their own experiences with the artistic templates
of the jazz tradition. Basically this is light stuff, but satisfying
reading that provides insights into the creative process of jazz. Paul
Serralheiro
Fall 2005 27