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marblemenow's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
annataeko's review against another edition
4.0
This book has made me reminisce about the bond other musicians and I brought together back in my childhood years and early teens. I miss that bond, that "spark" and "magic". There is more to music than meets the eye, always, regardless of how much or little one is familiarised with it. And I find it absolutely worth it to spend time every once in a while trying to figure out why.
This is my first Murakami book that I read and I'm so looking forward to reading more of his. This was delightful and awe-inspiring. Needless to say, highly recommended.
This is my first Murakami book that I read and I'm so looking forward to reading more of his. This was delightful and awe-inspiring. Needless to say, highly recommended.
joaniemaloney's review against another edition
4.0
Oh, this was such a delight.
Despite having taken lessons for over a decade of my life (piano, classically trained, the whole RCM shebang), I don't listen to music with 1/1000th of the attention that Haruki Murakami does, so even if this book was just him talking about his love for music, that would've been enough to motivate me to listen more widely and jump back into the world that I've mostly abandoned since revolving around it in my high school days. However, this book isn't just Murakami's musings, but a series of warm conversations between friends. The other partner, Seiji Ozawa, is a veteran conductor with a wealth of stories that would leave any fan in awe. His dedication to the music as a whole, to teaching, and his all-consuming love for his art is so beautiful.
I have so much to listen to because of this book. Mahler, man. Beyond having to listen to pieces that I had to play or study for exams, I didn't do much listening for leisure, much less know multiple recordings of the same piece by heart to compare and contrast like Murakami did, for so many works. Maybe I'm too blasé but that did impress me.
I knew this one would be up my alley and that I would learn a lot from it when I heard about the collaboration, but this book is going on my wishlist for the holidays because I'd love to keep it as a reference to leaf through as I listen to more. It'll be quite an undertaking to go through everything if I include the throwaway mentions, but it'll be worth it.
PS: I was both amused and disappointed at how little the Toronto Symphony Orchestra factored in here (hometown bias, sorry!). It's quite sad - not a loss for him, obviously, but for us over here. It read like those few years Ozawa spent with them as music director was a speck of dust compared to everything else. No inspiration, no impact, no memories. I was surprised to even see him being in Toronto when I checked his bio before reading, so at least they had him for a bit before he was off to better things. Even a quick search on wikipedia has nothing in that time beyond noting the years, and it wasn't even a full sentence - a half one with San Francisco taking the second half. It's a blink and you'll miss it.
Despite having taken lessons for over a decade of my life (piano, classically trained, the whole RCM shebang), I don't listen to music with 1/1000th of the attention that Haruki Murakami does, so even if this book was just him talking about his love for music, that would've been enough to motivate me to listen more widely and jump back into the world that I've mostly abandoned since revolving around it in my high school days. However, this book isn't just Murakami's musings, but a series of warm conversations between friends. The other partner, Seiji Ozawa, is a veteran conductor with a wealth of stories that would leave any fan in awe. His dedication to the music as a whole, to teaching, and his all-consuming love for his art is so beautiful.
I have so much to listen to because of this book. Mahler, man. Beyond having to listen to pieces that I had to play or study for exams, I didn't do much listening for leisure, much less know multiple recordings of the same piece by heart to compare and contrast like Murakami did, for so many works. Maybe I'm too blasé but that did impress me.
I knew this one would be up my alley and that I would learn a lot from it when I heard about the collaboration, but this book is going on my wishlist for the holidays because I'd love to keep it as a reference to leaf through as I listen to more. It'll be quite an undertaking to go through everything if I include the throwaway mentions, but it'll be worth it.
PS: I was both amused and disappointed at how little the Toronto Symphony Orchestra factored in here (hometown bias, sorry!). It's quite sad - not a loss for him, obviously, but for us over here. It read like those few years Ozawa spent with them as music director was a speck of dust compared to everything else. No inspiration, no impact, no memories. I was surprised to even see him being in Toronto when I checked his bio before reading, so at least they had him for a bit before he was off to better things. Even a quick search on wikipedia has nothing in that time beyond noting the years, and it wasn't even a full sentence - a half one with San Francisco taking the second half. It's a blink and you'll miss it.
hachim's review against another edition
4.0
I don't usually write reviews but my thoughts of this were a little coherent so i thought i'd give it a try
"There is also something deeply abnormal about Mahler's music. If I have to put a label on it I'd call it schizophrenic."
I've read this book mainly for 2 reasons : first of all I'm fond of murakami's works, "Kafka on the shore" was one of the greatest pieces of art I came across this year, and secondly because of a movie, lately i watched Tàr (a stunning fictional biography that centers on a widely known conductor) and it struck me that - As someone who thought knew so much about music - I had so little knowledge about classical music (I'm even embarrassed to say that i first heard Mahler's fifth during the film)
The greatest pleasure I had while reading this was listening to the pieces -Especially the 3rd piano concerto of Beethoven by Gould and Bernstein- while being discussed.
The parts about ozawa's life and career were quite interesting, the author was extremely good in describing ozawa's insights on music and the way he understands it and feel it based just on reading the score. "Music is not a sound but an idea"
Opera still remains something i do not care for but i did appreciate ozawa's inputs about its development and importance in western music
Altogether a useful, informative and entertaining book that offers a fresh and a unique approach to classical music however i think it should be read with some music background (especially Brahms, Beethoven & Mahler works).
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7oNeUCxdCfL9Egyj2SKp5d
"There is also something deeply abnormal about Mahler's music. If I have to put a label on it I'd call it schizophrenic."
I've read this book mainly for 2 reasons : first of all I'm fond of murakami's works, "Kafka on the shore" was one of the greatest pieces of art I came across this year, and secondly because of a movie, lately i watched Tàr (a stunning fictional biography that centers on a widely known conductor) and it struck me that - As someone who thought knew so much about music - I had so little knowledge about classical music (I'm even embarrassed to say that i first heard Mahler's fifth during the film)
The greatest pleasure I had while reading this was listening to the pieces -Especially the 3rd piano concerto of Beethoven by Gould and Bernstein- while being discussed.
The parts about ozawa's life and career were quite interesting, the author was extremely good in describing ozawa's insights on music and the way he understands it and feel it based just on reading the score. "Music is not a sound but an idea"
Opera still remains something i do not care for but i did appreciate ozawa's inputs about its development and importance in western music
Altogether a useful, informative and entertaining book that offers a fresh and a unique approach to classical music however i think it should be read with some music background (especially Brahms, Beethoven & Mahler works).
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7oNeUCxdCfL9Egyj2SKp5d