Arrau on Music and Performance (Dover Books On Music: Piano) Paperback – March 17, 2011

Hello,Arrau speaks freely about his views on music and his personal life. I really enjoyed this book.I only wish that the interviewer had pursued some of the topics in this book with follow up questions. For example, at one point Arrau states: "Europe was like a museum", "Paderewski was not a great pianist. A very famous one, but not great." I would have liked if the interviewer could have followed up on these topics so that I can understand Arrau's point of view.Also, I would have questioned Arrau more on Rachmaninoff. Arrau states: "But I thought the sound [Rachmaninoff's] was not very good. And from the standpoint of interpretation, it was appalling. He [Rachmaninoff] didn't seem to care at all what the composer meant." Which composers is Arrau talking about? What made Rachmaninoff's interpretations "appalling"? Which specific compositions?Lastly, the author states: "though he [Arrau] regards Rachmaninoff as a shallow composer". When did this conversation take place? What made Rachmaninoff's works "shallow" in Arrau's eyes?This book is very good overall, rich in details, and I definitely recommend it to any music lover.Cheers,Charles Henri D.

Lots of valuable pearls for piano players.Easy to read. Obviously you can read part of it at a time, no need to read from cover to cover

If you like Beethoven, Liszt and play piano, reading this book will be a extremely enjoyable. Arrau words represent years and centuries of accumulated wisdom from Beethoven to the late romantics, with a spirit not so prevalent today.

Great book, I always love to hear famous musicians use their own words in books. This is a good book!

Joseph Horowitz does a great job of collecting these interviews in order to preserve the ideas and feelings of the last great link we had to the high period of 19th century pianism. You get a good look at Arrau's unusual and rather sheltered life. Horowitz reveals both the simple and the complex in Arrau's nature. A natural born aristocrat, despite facing hard times in his early years, Arrau is quite simple as a man, but as a musician he is even more complex.A very good and accessible read. I particularly enjoyed the interviews with artists such as Garrick Ohlsson and Daniel Barenboim, among others, at the end of the book.

This book should be owned by all pianophiles. Claudio Arrau was one of the great recorded pianists of all time, even though you may not always agree with his interpretations. It's the same here: Even though you probably won't agree with everything he says about music and other pianists (I personally don't), these are great insights from a pianist whose brilliant career spanned over eight decades and who had personal contact with many musical giants at the turn of the last century. Joseph Horowitz has also done a superb job discussing most of Arrau's recordings and writing biographical notes about several phases of Arrau's life. My only complaint is that the discography that used to be in the first edition (entitled "Conversations with Arrau") is not included in this new edition.

Claudio Arrau was a great child prodigy, and later had a long career as a performing pianist. This book deals in a sensitive way with both the man and his music. I found Arrau, the person, a compelling individual whose virtuosity was both a gift and a challenge. Joseph Horowitz does a superb job of blending narrative with question and answer sessions with Arrau himself. I EXPECTED a nice biography, and I got that. Beyond that, I got numerous invaluable tips as a pianist about playing individual composers and technique.

This book is amazing. Arrau is my favorite pianist, but even for those who aren't yet converts this book is still fascinating for allowing us glimpses into a towering, fantastic musical mind, and his deep and well thought-out ideas on musical interpretation and piano technique. Indispensible.