The record industry has fallen into the hands of arms producers, music has lost control of its own production. Lebrecht traces the history of the classical music business. He records the final days of serious music as an independent art, and challenges the murderers of classical music.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It begins as a historical review, but these shadows are merely to underscore that the world of classical music has become all business, that the profit motive reigns supreme, and that personal power for its own sake is sometime more sought after than artistic merit. Chilling, but fascinating. The danger forecast is the death of musical organizations like opera companies and orchestras and the rise of the entertainment power center. A long read, but well worth the effort. Negatives; Too many remote footnotes. Lebrecht's malice sometimes shows through his objectivity.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.5 out of 5 stars
2 reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
dry prose, fascinating story
18 July 2003
By Jeremiah Lawson
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
This book is also known by the title Who Killed Classical Music in the U.S. The prose is dry but the case for the historical demise of classical music as a mass media is well-made. The nutshell is that the music could not survive the compartmentalization of mass-marketing and the greed of the recorded music industry. Lebrecht doesn't hesitate to label good guys and bad guys. The worst bad guy for Lebrecht seems to be Herbert van Karajan, whom he describes as an unrepentant Nazi who, unlike Mengelberg, is welcomed at the end of WW2 and conquers classical recording more thoroughly than Hitler overran Europe. The good guys aren't even all that good, record execs who had shifty business ethics but at least had the idealism to back musical greats like Duke Ellington and Stravinsky. You may disagree strongly with Lebrecht's position or his hit list but there's no doubt he's done his homework.
The book isn't all gloom despite its two titles. Lebrecht ends with some optimism about low-budget and independent labels like Hyperion and Naxos that go for obscure and local music or for affordable prices. Lebrecht definitely thinks classical music is in trouble as a music business but he does offer alternatives to the status quo.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Unfair
3 Nov 2004
By E.J. Pitt
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
A very interesting collection of facts. However Lebrecht is entirely unfair and inconsistent in his use of them. He demonizes Arthur Judson entirely in the first part of the book, with evident justification, but by the time he gets to the last quarter of his book he is looking back on Judson's as a golden age. The overwhelming impression is of a uniformly negative point of view regardless of who is being discussed, with any available evidence being marshalled in favour of the current conclusion even if he has already discredited the evidence earlier. A fun read though.
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