Overview
Pianists—their lives, performances, and recordings—are detailed in this two-volume set. Each biographical essay emphasizes musical background and training, special influences on development, significant performances, and more. Performance is analyzed and emphasis given to style and repertoire. For those pianists who recorded, there are selective discographies and reviews of outstanding recordings. The authors attended many performances and often supply a personal dimension to the discussions. This readable work, containing extensive documented coverage of 100 artists, will be appreciated by scholar, student, and music buff alike.
As a sourcebook, this work contains biographical data; style analyses (culled from reviews, recordings, articles, and essays); pedagogical history and methods, when applicable; lists of selected references and reviews; and a representative discography. The result is an objective, thorough presentation of the lives and performances of 100 notable pianists. The list initially derived from correspondence with pianists and pedagogues in music conservatories and colleges throughout the United States and after eight years of research in both libraries and concert halls. The text reads easily (and is fascinating), but the vast amount of information and the careful scientific analysis make it a scholarly work of the highest order, useful to graduate students as well as the general public.
Synopsis
Pianists—their lives, performances, and recordings—are detailed in this two-volume set. Each biographical essay emphasizes musical background and training, special influences on development, significant performances, and more. Performance is analyzed and emphasis given to style and repertoire. For those pianists who recorded, there are selective discographies and reviews of outstanding recordings. The authors attended many performances and often supply a personal dimension to the discussions. This readable work, containing extensive documented coverage of 100 artists, will be appreciated by scholar, student, and music buff alike.
As a sourcebook, this work contains biographical data; style analyses (culled from reviews, recordings, articles, and essays); pedagogical history and methods, when applicable; lists of selected references and reviews; and a representative discography. The result is an objective, thorough presentation of the lives and performances of 100 notable pianists. The list initially derived from correspondence with pianists and pedagogues in music conservatories and colleges throughout the United States and after eight years of research in both libraries and concert halls. The text reads easily (and is fascinating), but the vast amount of information and the careful scientific analysis make it a scholarly work of the highest order, useful to graduate students as well as the general public.
Booknews
A wonderfully entertaining and informative sourcebook of 100 of the most significant modern pianists. For each, it presents biographical data; analysis of style (culled from reviews, recordings, articles, essays); pedagogical history and methods, when applicable; a list of selected references; and a representative discography. Of particular interest are the reviews of live performances and of recordings over time. Also includes a general bibliography and b&w photos of many of the pianists. Non-technical and accessible to a general audience of music lovers as well as scholars and musicians. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Editorials
The Gillespies have written a monumental work on 100 pianists of this century. The list was carefully chosen--Andre Watts, Alicia de Larrocha, Rachmaninoff, Myra Hess, Andras Schiff, and Ignace Paderewski. The five or more pages on each biographee begin with place and date of birth and a quotation from the pianist, a reviewer, or another writer. The authors then chronicle the personal and concert lives of the pianists and provide an interpretation of their playing. The entries end with a bibliography, citations to reviews, a selective discography, and a list of videos. Black-and-white portraits of some of the pianists are found at the beginning of each volume It is evident that the research for these two volumes involved listening to recordings and reading reviews, interviews, articles, and books about the pianists. All of this investigation results in a fair, enlightening analysis. The reviews and references are extensive. The "Adelaide" (Australia) "Advertiser", "Anchorage Times", "Sacramento Union", and "South China Morning Post" are examples of sources of reviews. Although the page numbers of the reviews and the reviewers' names are not cited in the bibliography, venerable critics such as Irving Kolodin, Olin Downes, and Howard Taubman are acknowledged in the preface This is a perfect reference source for music collections in academic and public libraries, but the readability of the volumes will make it an excellent choice for circulating collections as well.