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Zubin Mehta: The Score of My Life by Zubin Mehta
Book by Zubin Mehta
Hardcover
First published April 30, 2006
3 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 14, 2016
Found this book as I was preparing to travel to Vienna. It reads easy though his moving back and forth in time is a bit tedious. But it acquainted me with classical music nicely. My second father by choice was a classical music aficionado and this book brought pleasant memories.
October 24, 2018
Very interesting and gives a lot of information about conducting
January 17, 2022
Abandoned. Too dry, no insights, just events.
March 6, 2011
I am not as "well-read" in the music world as I would sometimes like to be. Before coming across Zubin Mehta: The Score of My Life, the autobiography of an apparently world-renowned conductor, while searching for a book whose title began with the letter "Z" (for one of my many reading challenges), I had never heard of Zubin Mehta. I have heard of many of his friends and the musicians and singers with whom he has worked, but not him.
In this book, Mehta tells us his story...from growing up in India, a member of the minority Parsi religious group, to his musical education in Vienna to his growing career as a world-reknowned conductor. For the most part the story is very well-told. I felt as if I were sitting with Mehta and listening to him tell me his story out loud. I would not say that he rambles, but one story leads to another the way stories often do when you're just sitting around chatting with your friends. It makes me wonder if he wrote this autobiography by hand or recorded his thoughts verbally and then transcribed them to written form. The feel of the book has me strongly favoring the latter.
Although I have long been a minor fan of classical music (it was always my favorite background music for studying in college) and have a very small knowledge of composers and their works, it was a real treat to be taken inside the world of classical music and the way the conductors and orchestras bring these works to the public. I very much enoyed Mehta's stories and they were made all the more enjoyable with the interludes from his personal life. Make no mistake, this is a professional autobiography. Mehta is telling the story of how he became a conductor who worked with orchestras from the New York Philharmonic to the Israel Philharmonic to leading the Munich Opera Festival performances. The more personal stories merely serve as a counterpoint to the rest.
My only quibbles (and for this my musical background may be at fault) are with some of the technical descriptions. Musical terminology that the average reader may not be familiar with and which make it hard to follow. I also became a bit bogged down in the sections where he went from description of one practice session (and how that didn't work so well) to the next. But overall, this is a very informative book, told for the most part in a very conversational tone that was highly enjoyable. Three and a half stars.
In this book, Mehta tells us his story...from growing up in India, a member of the minority Parsi religious group, to his musical education in Vienna to his growing career as a world-reknowned conductor. For the most part the story is very well-told. I felt as if I were sitting with Mehta and listening to him tell me his story out loud. I would not say that he rambles, but one story leads to another the way stories often do when you're just sitting around chatting with your friends. It makes me wonder if he wrote this autobiography by hand or recorded his thoughts verbally and then transcribed them to written form. The feel of the book has me strongly favoring the latter.
Although I have long been a minor fan of classical music (it was always my favorite background music for studying in college) and have a very small knowledge of composers and their works, it was a real treat to be taken inside the world of classical music and the way the conductors and orchestras bring these works to the public. I very much enoyed Mehta's stories and they were made all the more enjoyable with the interludes from his personal life. Make no mistake, this is a professional autobiography. Mehta is telling the story of how he became a conductor who worked with orchestras from the New York Philharmonic to the Israel Philharmonic to leading the Munich Opera Festival performances. The more personal stories merely serve as a counterpoint to the rest.
My only quibbles (and for this my musical background may be at fault) are with some of the technical descriptions. Musical terminology that the average reader may not be familiar with and which make it hard to follow. I also became a bit bogged down in the sections where he went from description of one practice session (and how that didn't work so well) to the next. But overall, this is a very informative book, told for the most part in a very conversational tone that was highly enjoyable. Three and a half stars.
October 30, 2012
I hope to write a proper and unbiased view once the publisher has corrected the spelling of my grandfather's name on I believe page 35. George K-u-y-p-e-r, not "Kyper". Unfortunate that no one bothered to check; particularly when the book is full of dropped names, and that my grandfather was a primary figure in getting Master Mehta to the United States.
December 6, 2016
Inspiring to see a man so dedicated to his work and know exactly what the value of his work is in the larger scheme of things, in the middle of strife or leisure. The writing style is not appealing - often reads like a list of I conducted this this this - but if you can go through (skipping if you wish), wonderful to read of his dedication and love for his work, his team members (musicians) etc.
Want to read
March 5, 2010The title of this seems to be "A Score of My Life".
Read
January 6, 2013He is a man who creates Peace through a single-minded dedication to Music.
July 9, 2013
Amazing book, and amazing life of this man.
I'm soo glad I met him, and performed with this great artist!
I'm soo glad I met him, and performed with this great artist!
October 19, 2014
Detailed Review at http://www.anureviews.com/the-score-o...
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews