Classical Music: Expect the Unexpected

by Kent Nagano, Inge Kloepfer

Overview

How relevant is classical music today? The genre seems in danger of becoming nothing more than a hobby for the social elite. Yet Kent Nagano has another world in mind – one where everyone has access to classical music. In Classical Music: Expect the Unexpected the world-famous classical conductor tells the deeply personal story of his own engagement with the masterpieces and great composers of classical music, his work with the world's major orchestras, and his tireless commitment to bringing his music to everybody. Narrating his first childhood encounters with music's power to overcome social and ethnic boundaries, he celebrates an art form that has always taken part in debates about human values and societal developments. The constantly declining relevance of classical music in these disrupted times, he argues, not only impoverishes society from a cultural perspective but robs it of inspiration, wit, emotional depth, and a sense of community. Getting to grips with classical music's existential crisis, Nagano contends that it is too crucial to humanity's survival to be allowed to silently disappear from our everyday reality. In this moving autobiography, Kent Nagano makes a compelling plea for classical music that is as exhilarating as it is thought-provoking.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780773556348
Publisher:	McGill-Queens University Press
Publication date:	02/25/2019
Edition description:	Translatio
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Kent Nagano is a renowned conductor working all over the globe. Born in the United States, he grew up in Morro Bay, a fishing village on the west coast of California. After gaining success as a conductor in the US, he was appointed music director at the Opéra National de Lyon in 1988, where he served until 1998. From 1991 to 2000, he stood at the helm of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, and in 2003 he was appointed first music director of the Los Angeles Opera. From 2000 to 2006 he was chief conductor and artistic director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin before becoming general music director at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich (until July 2013) and music director of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. In 2015, he began his tenure as general music director and chief conductor of the Hamburg State Opera. Inge Kloepfer, born in Munich, is a prize-winning and bestselling author and journalist writing for Germany’s leading papers. She lives in Berlin.

Table of Contents

Prologue ix

Chapter 1 On Cattle Breeders and Trumpets 3

A Fishing Village Filled with Sound 3

Mother's Determination 6

The Miracle of Morro Bay 9

Music - School - Music 13

On Teachers and Structure 17

The Golden Age of Classical Music 20

My Dream 24

Bach - Through the Heart to the Head 27

Chapter 2 Declaration of Bankruptcy in Philadelphia 41

Concert in a Ghost Town 41

Death in Installments 43

Greetings from Lehman Brothers 47

A Wasting Disease in Wonderland 49

Gray, and Even Grayer 52

Changing Values, Changing World 56

Narrow Education 57

Wishful Thinking, Wished-for People 59

Schoenberg - Collapse and New Beginning 63

Chapter 3 Classical Music for a Time of Crisis? 77

Outrage Is the Beginning of All Things 77

Imminent Disappearance 78

Not Just for Elites 80

The Search for Meaning 83

Man's Foe 87

On the Power of Aesthetic Experiences 88

A Matter of Social Survival 92

What's Your Mind Made Of? 94

The Promises of Music 97

Beethoven - Superstar 100

Chapter 4 Heroes on Ice - and No Compromises 113

Strange Sounds for Young Folk 113

An Orchestra without a Conductor 116

Anything for the Turnaround 119

Strauss, or The Path to a Program Idea 121

Outside the Door 125

Nothing Lasts Forever 127

Frank Zappa, or The Serious Side of the Artist 129

Messiaen - A Glimpse into the Beyond 135

Chapter 5 Nothing But Music in One's Head 149

Diabolus in Musica 149

Music Can Engender More than Words 152

Have a Good Cry! 156

Sweet Expectations 160

Heard a Thousand Times 162

Nothing Comes for Free 166

Classical Music or Pop? 169

A Matter of Perspective 170

Bruckner - Dissolution of Boundaries 174

Chapter 6 The Unanswered Question 189

Helmut Schmidt: In No Humor for Pessimism 190

William Friedkin: A Trip with Beethoven 198

Julie Payette: Good Morning, Houston 203

Dirk Nowitzki: Basketball Is Jazz 208

Yann Martel: Perfect Silence 213

Bernstein and Ives - Whither America? 217

Acknowledgments 233

Literature 235

Editorial Reviews

"A discreet man, Kent Nagano opens his story with great tenderness and takes you on a journey from California to France, from Germany to Montreal, and along the way provides the reader with important insights into the future of classical music." Christophe Rodriguez, Journal of Montreal


"A very interesting read, not only for classical music lovers, but for all those who care about the arts." Marc-André Masson, RDI


"This enjoyable book is at once smart, modest and surprisingly intimate." Christophe Huss, Le Devoir


"A resounding advocacy for classical music in a world that belittles art, and an invitation to break the elitist shackles in which it has been bound." Martine Desjardins, L'actualité


"A tribute to the music teachers who trained Nagano, but [also] a precious reflection on the teaching of music, and even, more generally, on the teaching of the arts and humanities." Didier Delsart, Huffington Post


"A discreet man, Kent Nagano opens his story with great tenderness and takes you on a journey from California to France, from Germany to Montreal, and along the way provides the reader with important insights into the future of classical music." Christophe Rodriguez, Journal of Montreal

From the Publisher