- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Da Capo Press; 1 edition (Dec 13 2000)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0306810069
- ISBN-13: 978-0306810060
- Product Dimensions: 1.5 x 2.3 x 0.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 499 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #796,968 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
The conductor George Szell once told Isaac Stern that if he spent less time doing other things and more time practicing he could be "the greatest violinist in the world." Since those "other things" included saving Carnegie Hall from the wrecker's ball, generously sponsoring young artists like Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman, and touring the world as an ambassador of American classical performance, music lovers can only be grateful that Stern settled for being one of the world's great violinists. His appealing memoir reveals a well-rounded man with a gusto for life beyond the concert hall that made his passion for music all the more fulfilling. Born on the Russian-Polish border in 1920, Stern grew up in San Francisco and by age 6 already displayed a precocious musical gift. His assessment of his abilities is refreshingly free of false modesty, while his enthusiastic appreciation for such fellow artists as Pablo Casals, Leonard Bernstein, and Rudolf Serkin keeps him from seeming like an egomaniac. Perhaps because of the contributions of coauthor Chaim Potok (author of The Chosen and other novels), the prose here is smoother and less self-conscious than in many performers' memoirs. It limns a vigorous, busy life dedicated to the idea that music has the power to break down barriers between people and nations. --Wendy Smith
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Publishers Weekly
As one might expect, the more engaging elements in this autobiography occur when Stern, world-renowned violinist (or as he would have it, "fiddler") and music education activist, discusses playingAand not just his own. Stern seems most excited when discussing performances by others (mainly classical musicians and conductors), including Naoum Blinder, Pierre Monteux and Leonard Bernstein. The virtuoso also details his childhood and formal training: Stern, it seems, had very little of either. Born and raised by middle-class Russian-Ukrainian immigrant parents in San Francisco, Stern credits his interest in the violin to a childhood friend: "My friend Nathan Koblick was playing the violin; therefore, I wanted to play the violin." Rather than bloat his talent or sense of destiny, Stern is given to frank statements such as, "It seems I may have been the first American violinist to do a tour of the major Soviet cities." Coauthor Potok's (The Promise) narrative touch is clear; instead of technical jargon, classical pieces are described through setting and emotion. Occasionally, lifeless passages diminish substanceAe.g., long transcriptions of personal tapes Stern sent his family while out on the road; and there are windy clich?s: on meeting President Kennedy, Stern writes, "I felt as though I were inside a golden coach drawn by four pure-bred white horses into the glitter of mythic Camelot." But after three marriages, four kids and a 60-plus-year career that spans playing in Carnegie Hall to saving it from demolition, to touring the world dozens of times over, a man is entitled to a few clich?s. Photos. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, considering the author's life,
By
This review is from: My First 79 Years (Hardcover)
I picked this book up as a used trade paperback, and I'm glad that I [didn't spend to much] for it. I was expecting much more. The narrative is quite choppy, with not much of a sense of continuity. Some of the critical issues/events, such as his refusual to perform in Germany and his divorce from his first wife are discussed with a severe lack of candor. The German thing bothers me the most, I feel like he felt the need to be politically correct - I would not fault him for feeling very negative feelings and being unable to overcome them even after many years. But he keeps saying that the Germans are a fine people, cognisent of their own history, and does not address his feelings on the matter in a fully satisfying way. I guess this is the flaw of the autobiography, though some authors have given their lives an unsparing look, to both their and the readers' benefit. There is much writing about his life of touring and of saving Carnegie Hall, but I never got a sense of the personal feelings and struggle that went into this staggeringly busy and full life. There are hints here and there, but it reads like an extended New Yorker puff piece much of the time. If you want an overview of a great life, but not much detail or meaningful introspection, then this book will serve your needs. For everyone else, wait for the first "unauthorized" biography.
4.0 out of 5 stars
The book's a joy!,
By
This review is from: My First 79 Years (Hardcover)
With the exception of Yehudi Menuhin, it's best to approach the autobiographical excursions of great musical artists with more than a little skepticism. How many disappointments have flown into the meadow by that route! This engaging effort by Isaac Stern is therefore a more than little delight, filled with the characteristically notable voice of one of the authentic humanists of the 20th century, not to mention one of the great fiddlers of all time. Stern's writing is great deal like his playing; verve and confidence riding the high clouds with surety and an unmistakably personal passion. I often thought, while reading this book, how no one in my experience plays Kreisler's 'Schon Rosmarin' like Stern -for all the salon qualities of the piece, it has a heart of pure gold- and this book resembles that little encore nugget in more than a few ways: true, one wishes at times that Stern would simply go on with his thought, go on with the memory at hand, even with the discussion at hand; yet in many ways he keeps up the flavor of his reminiscences by the succinctness, and at times almost the distractedness, of his writing/speaking style. I would argue that in fact he does give us quite a bit of his way of looking at not only his own life, but the wonder called the human experience, it's just that with this man one simply wants the conversation to go on and on. Even when speaking of his children (which he does often, even including charming transcriptions of little tape recordings of Daddyspeak for his wife and children when he was so often away on tour), Stern's power to captivate arises full from his honesty, indeed one of the great attributes of his music making. Chaim Potok's hand in the affair seems somehow deep under, and therefore probably pervasive and beautifully wise (as is every Chaim Potok effort!), leaving Stern's voice alive and vibrant, humanly awkward at times, and always surprising in its direct power- very much like the playing of this most gifted of musicians. Despite the obvious limitations that will always attend a book like this, it remains a delight, charming if not all revealing, even moving. Lovers of music won't be disappointed!
4.0 out of 5 stars
A MASTER MUSICIAN TELLING HIS STORY MASTERFULLY,
This review is from: My First 79 Years (Hardcover)
What is involved in playing a musical instrument? What is needed to become really good? How should music affect you? All of these questions are answered very well and many times while reading this book. I welled up with emotion within like you sometimes do while reading the Reader's Digest because of the content. I thought Stern's life was well presented in an interesting manner and with great detail. Anyone interested in classical music should truly enjoy this life story.
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