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A review by dogearedtales
Declassified: A Low-Key Guide to the High-Strung World of Classical Music by Arianna Warsaw-Fan Rauch
4.0
This book is a fun way to learn more about classical music. It's less of a microhistory or in depth analysis and more like meeting up with a friend of a friend who used to be a top classical musician.
The author gives her insights and advice about appreciating classical music woven through her memoir of becoming and ultimately leaving a career as a violinist. It is a fun and quick read, with hilarious footnotes of sassy asides. It really felt casual and personal and while I don't know that I grasped everything I do have a better understanding of classical music as well as far better appreciation for what it takes to become a professional musician. The author does a good job balancing the memoir and the tips/guide to classical music. Its fun to learn something from a well informed fan, but the author is also refreshingly honest about the parts of classical music that aren't great (both music and people) and didn't take the topic or herself too seriously.
It's a good welcome to people to anyone who wants to learn about classical music or see what it looks like to become a classical musician.
The author gives her insights and advice about appreciating classical music woven through her memoir of becoming and ultimately leaving a career as a violinist. It is a fun and quick read, with hilarious footnotes of sassy asides. It really felt casual and personal and while I don't know that I grasped everything I do have a better understanding of classical music as well as far better appreciation for what it takes to become a professional musician. The author does a good job balancing the memoir and the tips/guide to classical music. Its fun to learn something from a well informed fan, but the author is also refreshingly honest about the parts of classical music that aren't great (both music and people) and didn't take the topic or herself too seriously.
It's a good welcome to people to anyone who wants to learn about classical music or see what it looks like to become a classical musician.