Books/ Maestros And Their Music - western classical

By Narendra Kusnur

Book: Maestros And Their Music
Author: John Mauceri
Genre: Western classical
Publisher: Vintage Books
Rating: ****


When one talks of conductors, many Indians immediately think of Mumbai-born Zubin Mehta. Hardcore classical aficionados would mention Leonard Bernstein and Herbert Von Karajan. The conductor performs a very crucial role in nurturing an orchestra, and unlike what many think, his job involves much more than standing with one’s back to the orchestra, waving a baton and finally taking a bow.

In his book Maestros And Their Music, senior conductor John Mauceri goes into granular detail about “the art and alchemy of conducting”. To be sure, this isn’t a layman’s guide on the subject or a plain description of important pieces conducted by various masters.

There is a lot of technical detail, specially while explaining how certain conductors approached certain compositions. The ideal reader would be someone who’s been involved in classical music performance or someone with a very deep interest in the nitty-gritty of the genre.

Yet, one would advise even those with a working knowledge of classical music to try out this book, even if they judiciously skip the more erudite parts. Mauceri, who has conducted four opera companies and three orchestras, provides a behind-the-scenes narrative, blending hard fact with interesting anecdotes and occasional humour.

The book begins with a brief history of conducting, talking of how the composer himself led the musicians till the middle of the 19th century, where a separate person was asked to do the job, initially to much opposition. The chapter on the technique of conducting has many nuggets which would be of interest to musicians.

“The planes of the body will express the conductor’s intention: eyes, heart (chest), full frontal address, arms (tight and closely held or open and embracing), hands (closed, open), facial expressions. Each of these signals a different meaning and affects the sound players make,” says Mauceri, before giving specific examples.

Sections on how to learn an orchestral score and how to learn to be a conductor provide valuable guidelines for both conductors and musicians. Mauceri then addresses the important issue of what makes one conductor’s performance different from another’s, given the fact that many often play the same compositions. He cites the examples of three conductors he was closely associated with during a fellowship – Michael Tilton Thomas, Seiji Ozawa and the legendary Bernstein.

The difference, says Mauceri, lies in the way a conductor controls time – the ebb and flow of the notes within every phrase and the duration of the piece, something that can vary by as much as 15 per cent from conductor to conductor – and the way he controls internal balances of every sound coming from a group of instrumentalists and soloists. “We must know the end – the goal – from the moment just before we start any piece, and yet have the flexibility and understanding that there will be adaptability and adjustments at every moment along the way,” he points out.

One of the most important chapters is on ‘Relationships’. Here, Mauceri talks of how a conductor relates to the music, musicians, the audience, critics and the owners and management. For instance, while talking of a maestro’s association with his orchestra, he says that whether the conductor is strict or friendly, “a superior intellect” or “a passionate young firebrand”, conducting is inevitably about partnership.

Throughout the book, Mauceri talks of different approaches conductors have followed for a philharmonic orchestra, a medium-sized ensemble, an opera or a ballet, looking at both rehearsals and the actual performance. There are passages highlighting the difference between conducting in a concert and in a recording, and also how to manage musicians in a film or television score, or a stage musical.

Composers Ludwig Van Beethoven, Gustave Mahler, Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms, Igor Stravinsky and Giuseppe Verdi regularly come up while citing examples. And the list of conductors reads like a who’s who of top names, with more word space devoted to Bernstein, Karajan, Arturo Toscanini and Leopold Stokowski.

Indian readers would be specifically interested in references to Zubin Mehta. There are three casual mentions but the fourth talks of how many people described him as a “jet-set conductor”, in contrast to Valery Gergiev, who also travelled the world but was called a “missionary conductor”. Apparently, Mehta once said he loved travelling because his phone never rang in the plane and he could read his scores in peace.

Incidents like these, as well as the description of the first meeting between arch rivals Bernstein and Karajan or what conductors liked to wear add welcome lightness to a serious topic, involving both personal experience and research. Mauceri has a naturally flowing style, using metaphors comparing music to science and visual art in the right places. For both classical musicians and their audience, it’s a book that should bring in a new perspective, and offer insights on things one never knew.