Virtuosi

By Harold C. Schonberg

Book Overview

Hardcover: 509 pages Publisher: Times Books; First Edition edition (August 12, 1985) Language: English ISBN-10: 081291189X ISBN-13: 978-0812911893 Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.6 x 1.8 inches This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394755324
• ISBN13: 9780394755328
• Release Date: October 1988
• Publisher: Vintage Books USA
• Length: 509 Pages
• Weight: 1.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A wonderful volume full of interesting stories and great pictures

We miss Harold Schonberg to this day. His lively and insightful writing about music and musicians has not been duplicated or replaced by anyone. That isn't to say there are not good writers on music, there certainly are, but none fill that niche for the general reader that Schonberg filled. It was impossible to read an article by him and not come away with something new to think about or some wonderful anecdote to share. Fortunately, his book "The Great Pianists" is still in print and should be read by every music lover regardless if they can play the keyboards or not. Why this book is out of print is beyond me. He does pretty much what he did with "The Great Pianists", he provides articles on great virtuosi, their times, and the other artists of their day. This book is always charming, the writing is delightful, and the articles provide the patented Schonbergian light-touch-teaching. You would have to be a widely read almost beyond understanding to not pick up anything new in this book. You will learn about great violinists, singers, and even the very greatest pianists. There are lots of pictures and drawings to help you put faces to the names. If for nothing else, by reading this book carefully you will always have some interesting story to share at a dinner after a concert or at a party with your musical friends. Since you can pick up used copies of this book so cheaply, I urge you to get a copy and enjoy it. You will get more from it than most other books and more than from anything on TV.