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A review by hachim
Absolutely on Music: Conversations with Seiji Ozawa by Haruki Murakami
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