Facing the Music

by Harold C. Schonberg

A collection of the finest pieces Harold Schonberg wrote in more than two decades as senior music critic of the New York Times, with sections on criticism, performance practice, contemporary music, opera, singers and singing, piano, conductors.

Genres: Music

464 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Harold Charles Schonberg was an American music critic and journalist, most notably for The New York Times. He was the first music critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism (1971). He was the author of a number of books on musical subjects, and also one on chess.

Reviews

[Genni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this. It sums up Schonberg's life work with essays on a broad range of subjects that mostly run the length of his stay as music critic for The New York Times. Schonberg's writing, as always, was clear and concise. It could have become dull, but he was too passionate about his subject for that to happen.

It's so interesting to compare Schonberg and Bernstein. They both sought to educate the public, but with very different approaches. Bernstein met the listener where they were, and Schonberg wanted them to come to a higher level. I think there is a great need for both approaches. Schonberg's article “Elitism, in the Arts, Is Good” is a very good example of his focus and, I think, more relevant today than ever.

So there were articles that could as easily be applicable today as they were in the 60's, and some that whisper of ghosts of ages past. I loved the feeling of being transported back to Schonberg's time of influence when he wrote such articles as “A Farewell to the Old Metropolitan Opera House”, “The Summer Concerts of Minnie Guggenheimer”, or “The Goddess that was Geraldine Farrar”. And of course I was thrilled when, in “Did Rachmaninoff collaborate with God”, I learned that he had heard Rachmaninoff in performance. That Rachmaninoff was an incredible pianist is something on which we are in perfect agreement. It was an odd feeling of connection (if it is possible to feel connected to a time when you were not alive) that was similar to his own experience of hearing some of Lionel Mapleson's casual recordings from the early days of the old Met, when the listener was “back in time and space: he is sharing the same experience that long-dead people were frantically acclaiming. Ghosts become alive.”

I suppose there was some sentimentality wrapped up in my enjoyment of this book. Nevertheless, I think there is something here for every classical music lover. If nothing else, one will at least walk away with another list of pieces and artists to explore.

[OldBrad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Schonberg had great gifts and skills with both music and journalism. He was a phenomenal columnist. (In retrospect I would have chosen one column per section to read at a time to increase topic variety.)