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The New York Philharmonic: From Bernstein to Maazel
The New York Philharmonic, from Bernstein to Maazel continues the story of America's oldest orchestra as told in Howard Shanet's A History of New York's Orchestra . That volume ended with the 1970-71 season, just before the arrival of Pierre Boulez as music director.
Obviously, much has happened since. This book begins, however, with a retrospective account of the controversial last years of the tenure of Dimitri Mitropoulos and the ascendancy of Leonard Bernstein to the music directorship. Having been a Philharmonic assistant conductor during Bernstein's tenure, and an inveterate Philharmonic watcher ever since, the author brings some personal insights to the story as well as moments of humor.
A sub-theme of the book concerns the way the Philharmonic and its music directors have been treated by the New York press, the Times in particular. Howard Taubman's attacks on Mitropoulos, Harold Schonberg's on Bernstein, and Donal Henahan's on Zubin Mehta are all covered here, as are the writings of various critics on those and other conductors, and on the orchestra itself.
The New York Philharmonic is the only orchestra ever to undertake a foreign tour solely on the initiative of its musicians, without benefit or support from management. How this came about is chronicled, as are the opening of Lincoln Center, the Parks Concerts, Promenades, Prospective Encounters, Rug Concerts, tours, and, of course, the subscription seasons. John Canarina shows how the New York Philharmonic weathered extraordinary ups and downs during this period, while remaining a vital component of New York's cultural life.
Obviously, much has happened since. This book begins, however, with a retrospective account of the controversial last years of the tenure of Dimitri Mitropoulos and the ascendancy of Leonard Bernstein to the music directorship. Having been a Philharmonic assistant conductor during Bernstein's tenure, and an inveterate Philharmonic watcher ever since, the author brings some personal insights to the story as well as moments of humor.
A sub-theme of the book concerns the way the Philharmonic and its music directors have been treated by the New York press, the Times in particular. Howard Taubman's attacks on Mitropoulos, Harold Schonberg's on Bernstein, and Donal Henahan's on Zubin Mehta are all covered here, as are the writings of various critics on those and other conductors, and on the orchestra itself.
The New York Philharmonic is the only orchestra ever to undertake a foreign tour solely on the initiative of its musicians, without benefit or support from management. How this came about is chronicled, as are the opening of Lincoln Center, the Parks Concerts, Promenades, Prospective Encounters, Rug Concerts, tours, and, of course, the subscription seasons. John Canarina shows how the New York Philharmonic weathered extraordinary ups and downs during this period, while remaining a vital component of New York's cultural life.
- GenresMusic
526 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2010
8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 15, 2011
"The New York Philharmonic: From Bernstein to Maazel" continues the story of the New York Philharmonic. Howard Shanet's "Philharmonic: A History of New York's Orchestra," which ends after the 1970-71 season, begins this story. John Canarina takes us from the end of Dimitri Mitropoulos's tenure to the end of the Maazel era.
The book goes season by season, describing scheduling, performances, and performers. A key theme is the orchestra's and its music directors' relationship to New York critics. The work does a good job describing the ebb and flow of critics' opinions of the Philharmonic's music directors. In addition, the book discusses labor-management negotiations, something that few arts books do. The author's writing style is good.
The book, however, has a certain lack of depth. At times, the discussion of orchestra schedules, labor negotiations, and last minute substitutions feels like a laundry list. Politics and egos are key in orchestras and opera companies, and they are fun to read about. However, the author says little about these matters. Surely, he has much insight into the clashes between conductors and managers and players. Why not share it?
Another, less serious, shortcoming pertains to the index. It consists of people but not of places or institutions. This was an inconvenience when I wanted to take a second look at something that Canarina had written on Carnegie Hall.
The book, however, succeeds despite these omissions. Buy it and enjoy it.
The book goes season by season, describing scheduling, performances, and performers. A key theme is the orchestra's and its music directors' relationship to New York critics. The work does a good job describing the ebb and flow of critics' opinions of the Philharmonic's music directors. In addition, the book discusses labor-management negotiations, something that few arts books do. The author's writing style is good.
The book, however, has a certain lack of depth. At times, the discussion of orchestra schedules, labor negotiations, and last minute substitutions feels like a laundry list. Politics and egos are key in orchestras and opera companies, and they are fun to read about. However, the author says little about these matters. Surely, he has much insight into the clashes between conductors and managers and players. Why not share it?
Another, less serious, shortcoming pertains to the index. It consists of people but not of places or institutions. This was an inconvenience when I wanted to take a second look at something that Canarina had written on Carnegie Hall.
The book, however, succeeds despite these omissions. Buy it and enjoy it.
March 1, 2018
Canarina gives us the Who, What, Where, and When but very little Why: not much original analysis or critical thinking. The book is divided into two- or three-year segments from Howard Taubman’s hatchet job on Mitropoulos to the author’s hope that Alan Gilbert’s tenure will be a long and happy one and that his will become a household name. The author does not mention that Gilbert’s official conducting résumé does not include his years with the Haddonfield (N.J.) Symphony or that the orchestra he led in Sweden is not even the top orchestra in the country.
Almost every chapter follows the same wearying pattern: summer tours or festivals, details of the latest musicians’ contract (vis-à-vis that of the Chicago Symphony), retirements or obituaries of musicians or administrators affiliated with the Philharmonic, the opening night gala, and season highlights based not on any first-hand listening or even recordings but on snippets from The Times.
The index is not very helpful: the only composers included are those who also happened to conduct. How is the reader supposed to know there’s a citation in the endnotes when there are no numbers in superscript in the text?
Glad I don't own a copy of this book.
Almost every chapter follows the same wearying pattern: summer tours or festivals, details of the latest musicians’ contract (vis-à-vis that of the Chicago Symphony), retirements or obituaries of musicians or administrators affiliated with the Philharmonic, the opening night gala, and season highlights based not on any first-hand listening or even recordings but on snippets from The Times.
The index is not very helpful: the only composers included are those who also happened to conduct. How is the reader supposed to know there’s a citation in the endnotes when there are no numbers in superscript in the text?
Glad I don't own a copy of this book.
January 6, 2026
I thought this book was kind of text-book-like if that makes sense. I would have loved to read more funny facts about the conductors- I loved when they mentioned how Bernstein was a heavy smoker. This book reminded me how I aspired to be a conductor as a young musician. I also took the time to listen to some pieces mentioned that I had never listened to before, just so I could get a bit more out of the book- cus like I said: it has a textbook vibe 😂 if I was a college professor I could put this book in the syllabus.
September 29, 2015
A very organized, detailed, minutiae-focused history of the New York Philharmonic in the form of "this conductor led this concert and this reviewer said". Same format, every chapter. Informative as to the surface, no details. The research must have been intense but the end result is dull and dry.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews