Tropical Truth: A Story Of Music And Revolution In Brazil

Title: Tropical Truth: A Story Of Music And Revolution In Brazil
Author: Caetano Veloso
ISBN: 9780747568018
Binding: paper
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Number of Pages: 354
Price: £7.75

From Publishers Weekly

The Brazilian singer/songwriter most highly regarded by the First World intelligentsia, Veloso makes his U.S. publishing debut with a rambling, extremely erudite memoir focusing on his role in the late-1960s musical happening known as Tropic lia. While on the surface, Tropic lia and Veloso (often compared to Bob Dylan) paralleled the U.S. counterculture of the 1960s, the author explains the multilayered context of Brazilian politics and art that made the movement unique. From the innocence of his middle-class youth in the northern state of Bahia, to his stays in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Veloso vividly re-creates his formative years, which were immersed in French new wave cinema, progressive English rock and Brazilian letters, particularly concrete poetry. "What we wanted to do would be... closer to Godard's films," he muses. "Masculin-feminin [sic], with... its adolescent sexuality-I saw it as one more moment in our daily lives in Sao Paulo." That Veloso is well-read is not in question-he cites everyone from Wittgenstein and Proust to Deleuze and Andrew Sullivan, while at the same time introducing non-Brazilian readers to an unknown canon of authors such as poet Augusto de Campos and essayist Oswald de Andrade. If there is any complaint with the book, it is that Veloso can get caught up in a maze of sometimes unconnected ideas that obscure his lucid descriptions of the intricacies of Brazilian music and its often equally literate stars. However, this is a must for Brazilian music fans, as well as anyone interested in how the modernist age played out in South America.

Music at the limits- Edward Said

Title: Music at the limits

Author: Edward Said

ISBN: 9780747597780

Binding: Hard Back

Date: August 2008

Publisher: Bloomsburry UK

Number of Pages: 352 pages

Price: 995/-

Though best known for his political writings (Orientalism), Said was also, from 1986 until his death in 2003, the music critic for the Nation, and this collection draws together reviews from that publication and other magazines. Said had very firm opinions and lashed out against New York City's classical music scene in the 1980s and early '90s for producing safe but grimly uninteresting performances and repertories. Instead of simply blaming the intellectual cowardice of most contemporary musicians, however, he was able to provide detailed technical critiques of a conductor's handling of a Beethoven symphony or a singer's inadequacies in a Wagnerian role. Glenn Gould's intellectualized style of playing was a source of fascination to the critic, and new biographies or films about the pianist would inevitably draw his attention. Said also writes about his friendship with Daniel Barenboim (who contributes an introduction), which leads to one of the few discussions of Middle Eastern politics; a review of the controversial opera The Death of Klinghoffer sparks another. For the most part, however, his attention is strictly on the music, and he proves himself to have been astute and passionately engaged. (Nov.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

M/C Reviews by Tim Roberts

Zubin Mehta - The Score of My Life

Zubin Mehta - The Score of My Life
Zubin Mehta
A simple, yet engrossing narrative of his life, influences and his years as one of the most famous conductors
Hardback 5.5” x 8.5” 232 pp
ISBN 9788174366870Rs.395.00

About this book
Zubin Mehta left the sheltered environs of his parental home in Bombay in 1954, as an eighteen year old, and moved to Vienna into the very unique culture of the Music Academy where he studied under illustrious teachers like Hans Swarowsky. Just seven years later he conducted the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras and became the director of the Montrèal Symphony Orchestra at the age of twenty-five. Further assignments included Los Angeles, New York, Florence, Tel Aviv, and eventually, Munich where he was working as general music director of the Bavarian State Opera from 1998 to 2006.Zubin Mehta is one of the most celebrated conductors in the world. He has worked with all the top-class international orchestras and with excellent instrumentalists and opera stars of the past many decades. Musicians like Daniel Barenboim, Claudio Abbado, Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman count among his intimate friends. Despite his tremendous success, this popular Indian with a zest for life still remains a restless spirit – a wanderer between the worlds, who is as famous for his commitment to Israel as for his musical openness to everything from open-air concerts to operas. His exciting life makes for a gripping autobiography.


About the author
Zubin Mehta was born in 1936 in Bombay. At the age of eighteen he abandoned the study of medicine to dedicate himself entirely to music. Today he is one of the most prominent musicians worldwide. Zubin Mehta was the general music director of the National Theatre in Munich for eight years. In addition he is the chief conductor of the Maggio Musicale in Florence and music director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.