Chopin: the Man and His Music
Gelesen von LibriVox Volunteers
James Huneker
(3,3 Sterne; 5 Bewertungen)
A biography of the Polish composer and virtuoso pianist Frédéric Chopin and a critical analysis of his work by American music writer and critic James Huneker. (Summary by Julie VW) (9 hr 30 min)
Chapters
Bewertungen
Laurence in massachusetts
(2 Sterne)
Valuable for musicians and music lovers, although the perspective and scholarship is now very dated. A majority of the book is musical examples and should be read along with listening to the music: easily done since all of Chopin is readily available online. BUT - Only 2 stars and A large caveat: the readers vary greatly in quality, and too many are hampered by an inability to pronounce composers, basic musical terminology, European place-names, etc. Very frustrating to hear standard composers’ names mangled - like Wagner and Berlioz! Readers should know how to pronounce what they are reading: it does not help the comprehension of this complex subject.
Too much detail
Rene Hasekamp
(2 Sterne)
The first part is a biography, which is interesting, but a bit short. The second part is about all the compositions of Chopin. This part can hardly be read (or listened to) if one is not familiar already, in great detail, with all these compositions. Although I have listened quite often to the music by Chopin, I could not follow the detailed analysis. The reading is very good.