Description
Book SynopsisServing Genius tells the life story of Carlo Maria Giulini, one of the most renowned and beloved conductors of the twentieth century. Detailing Giulini's extraordinary professional career, Thomas D. Saler also chronicles Giulini's personal life, including his musical awakening while growing up amid the spectacular beauty of the Dolomite mountains, his years as a student in Rome's Academy of St. Cecilia, his conscription into the Italian army during World War II, his nine months in hiding for his anti-fascist and pacifist beliefs, and his selfless devotion to his wife, Marcella. A humble master who shunned the limelight, Giulini took a deeply emotional and subjective approach to making music. Saler provides uniquely detailed analysis of Giulini's nuanced musicianship and the way he conveyed that musicianship to the orchestra through physical gestures. Meditating on the very art of conducting at which Giulini excelled, Saler discusses each of the conductor's major musical appointments, i
Trade Review"A thorough, balanced and illuminating portrait of the charismatic Italian as man and maestro."--Chicago Tribune
"It was wonderful to get to know the man we have met so often in his music-making."--
American Record Guide"A fascinating full account."--
Los Angeles Times"[A] highly illuminating biography."--
The Spectator"Highly readable and musically substantive. Strongly recommended."--
Classical.Net"This engaging and extensive biography shows why Carlo Maria Giulini stood apart from other maestri, and above the fray: because of his gentle humanity, his spiritual resonance with music, and his uncompromising seriousness of purpose. This is certainly a book I will recommend to all the conductors I encounter, as well as others because it captures the essence of an uncommonly inspired and inspiring human being."--Kenneth Kiesler, conductor, director of orchestras at the University of Michigan, and director of the Conductors Retreat at Medomak and Conductors Programme at the National Arts Centre of Canada
"Thomas D. Saler's biography of the conductor Carlo Maria Giulini is worthy of the noble, deceptively complex subject. Saler paints an extraodinarily sensitive, comprehensive and illuminating portrait of an artist who was selflessly dedicated to his art. The author's enthusiasm is palpable, his reportage elevated by rare knowledge and passion."--Martin Bernheimer, 1982 Pulitzer Prize Winner for Criticism
Table of ContentsPreface — ix
Acknowledgments — xiii
Abbreviations — xv
1. Beauty and Betrayal — 1
2. Mastering the Melodrama — 15
3. Prometheus in London — 33
4. Amore: The Chicago Years — 52
5. Molto, Molto, Espressivo — 87
6. Out of Eden — 117
7. Peace, Love, and Pleated Pants — 126
8. Days of Wine and Roses — 139
9. Wearing the Garment of Tragedy — 173
Notes — 189
Interview List — 213
Index — 215
Illustrations follow page — 86
