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balletbookworm's review against another edition
4.0
A very thoughtful examination of why and how we listen to classical music (and what defines “classical” music) from an experienced conductor. I really loved the ideas about how to program a concert, what works, what doesn’t, and how certain works become well-known. Would have liked a list of suggested recordings to listen to, since this would be a tough book to read if one doesn’t have a decent background in classical music. (I’d also like to remind Mauceri that classical music does not have exclusive rights to being performed without electronically-provided sound; pop music, country, rap, etc can all be performed acoustically)
maggiekdean's review
2.0
Oof, I'm gonna be honest, this was a tough one to finish. The first few chapters were very captivating and focused on how our human nature influences our perception of music, which I found extremely interesting. HOWEVER, I could not handle all of the name dropping. It was super distracting and frustrating to have to suffer through reference after reference of operas and symphonies and concertos. I understand that it's a book about classical music, but I found the amount of examples cited to prove his thesis exhausting and pretentious, which totally defeats the purpose of this book.
allyrose_is_awesome's review
3.0
To me, this book feels like a love note to classical music. I learned a lot from reading it, yet if you were to ask me what I learned, I’m not sure I could tell you what it was I learned. I found it very thought provoking and going forwards, I think mentally referring back to this book will help me form a deeper connection with the music I play and eventually conduct.
___joe's review
2.0
“Music appreciation is subjective.” I’ve now summarized half this book.
“John Mauceri is rather important.” The other half.
“John Mauceri is rather important.” The other half.
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