Alfred Cortot
Paris: Fayard, 2018. Softcover. Octavo. Softcover. Illustrated wraps. 464 pages ; 24 cm. French text. VG. Light shelfwear, otherwise clean and unmarked. Item #212257
ISBN: 9782213701660
A virtuoso instrumentalist, conductor, chamber musician, pedagogue with innovative methods and concepts, musicologist, collector, and administrator of institutions, Alfred Cortot (1877-1962) shines today through his recordings, his writings, and his "Working Editions," but also through the École Normale de Musique, which he founded in 1919. An interpreter par excellence of Chopin, a valiant Beethovenian, an ardent Schumann enthusiast, a great Lisztian, and a militant Wagnerian, this heir to the Romantic age was also a defender and promoter of French music of his time throughout the world. During the Occupation, he held administrative and political positions. Motivated by his cultural Germanophilia, his adherence to Vichy ideology is undeniable, as is his political ambition to reform the conditions of French musical life. Persisting in his collaborationist convictions until 1944, he was violently criticized for his attitude at the Liberation; he distanced himself from France and continued his career as a pianist, still giving some one hundred to one hundred and fifty concerts a year and tirelessly touring the world. A portrait of an artist that subtly examines what characterizes Cortot's playing and legacy in his immense repertoire, this book is neither an indictment nor an attempt at rehabilitation. Based on undeniable documents, at the crossroads of cultural history and musicology, this new biography aims to transcend the ambiguities of Alfred Cortot's memory. It presents, without compromise and in all its aspects, the multifaceted genius of one of the most illustrious French musicians of the first half of the 20th century. century." -- Page 4 of cover.
OCLC: 1053900432
Price: $30.00