Kirill Kondrashin

Kirill Kondrashin is regarded as one of the most brilliant Russian conductors of the 20th century and a great interpreter of Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, and Mahler. In Kirill Kondrashin: His Life in Music, Gregor Tassie presents a full biography of the artist, from his humble background and early conducting experience at age 17, through his 20 years in Leningrad and at the Bolshoi Theatre; from his breaking with the Bolshoi and the expanded symphonic career that followed, through his defection in 1978, and his unexpected death of a heart attack in 1981. Using first hand accounts and previously unavailable archive materials from the Soviet Party and KGB sources, Tassie provides a detailed view of Kondrashin's life and work, including his appointment as the first Russian conductor to visit America and meet President Eisenhower and his associations with such artists as Emil Gilels, David Oistrakh, Mstislav Rostropovich, Van Cliburn, and Dmitri Shostakovich. The book also supplies insight and information on the nature of the society in which Kondrashin lived, including political life in the Soviet Union from the 1920s until the 1970s and relations between East and West. Twenty photos are included, as well as a full discography, bibliography, and index, making this a fascinating resource for anyone interested in 20th century music, as well as life in the USSR.

ISBN 0810869748   Pages 384 ISBN13 9780810869745 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 726 Publisher Scarecrow Press   Published in Lanham, MD Imprint Scarecrow Press   Height (mm) 239 Format Hardback   Width (mm) 162 Publication date 29 Dec 2009   Spine width (mm) 27 DEWEY 781.45092   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

		List of Illustrations
		Chronology
1		The Early Years: 1914-1928		1
2		Universities: 1928-1936: Khaikin and Meyerhold		19
3		Leningrad: 1936-1943: The Maly Theatre		43
4		War: 1941-1943		69
5		The Bolshoi: 1943-1948: Sarnosud and Pasovsky		85
6		The Bolshoi: 1948-1956: Golovanov's Swansong		115
7		The Guest Conductor: 1956-1960		147
8		The Moscow Philharmonic: 1962-1966		167
9		Shostakovich: 1962-1975		207
10		The Finale: 1976-1981: The Concertgebouw and Renewal		245

Gregor Tassie's new biography contains some anecdotes pertaining to Kondrashin's Bolshoi years (1943--56) that will be of interest to operaphiles...The volume contains a useful chronology and an admirably thorough...discography. Opera News [Kondrashin's] life is fleshed out and told in excellent fashion by this well-documented biographical study. ! The result is a study which commemorates a great conductor excellently. !The Bibliography and Discography are fascinating and appear to be reliable. All in all, this is a book eminently worthy of its subject. Musical Opinion Gregor Tassie's meticulously detailed account of Kondrashin's career suggests an ambitious, talented musician who managed to carve a successful career with great skill and judgement in a political environment where just one false move could have easily led to disastrous consequences. Classic Record Collector

 Be the first to write a customer review