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Book of Musical Anecdotes by Norman Lebrecht

mark_lm's review

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3.0

Quite entertaining collection of musical anecdotes, some of which might be true. Recommended by Robert Greenberg in the bibliography for the course, "The 30 Greatest Orchestral Works". My favorite, that I hadn't heard, is that when Rossini was asked, after seeing The Ring performed, what he thought of Wagner's music, he replied that he thought it would require many listenings to fully appreciate, and he would not be back.
[Note added later: I don't think Rossini could have seen The Ring performed in its entirety since it was completed years after his death. However, another similar frequently cited quote of Rossini's is,
"Wagner's music has wonderful moments and dreadful quarters of an hour."]
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