Robert Hupka

This Was Toscanini: The Maestro, My Father, and Me"
Remembering the Musical Genius of Legendary Conductor Arturo Toscanini; Samuel Antek, Lucy Antek Johnson, Authors.
This is a layman’s review of the book, not a musician’s or even a musical scholar’s, but this book is a work of art meant not only to be read, but also to be admired. It will inspire the reader to listen to many of the classical pieces performed by both orchestras, The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra which Samuel Antek conducted, and The NBC Orchestra created especially for Arturo Toscanini where Antek played his violin for the entire 17 years that Toscanini conducted there. One part of the book is an homage to Toscanini, written by Antek, and one is an homage to Antek, written by his daughter Lucy. At age 29, Antek was asked to play in the NBC Symphony Orchestra, created expressly for Arturo Toscanini, already at the ripe old age of 70, at the time. He considered it an honor and a pleasure, and he played with him until Toscanini retired at age 87.
Although the book was originally published in 1963, this new version is well worthwhile because of its beauty as well as its information. I will not pretend to have understood all of the musical insights that are imparted within these pages, but I do not have to pretend that I truly enjoyed it. It was a pleasure to read and a joy to view. I learned so much about music that I never thought about before, as well, even something so simple like the actual meaning of the words piano, pianissimo, forte and others. As I read, they grew to have so much more meaning when I realized that the words indicated various sounds when interpreted by different conductors. How soft or how loud should a note be? How long should it be held. Everything is subject to the personal interpretation of “the maestro”.
Reading this book was like experiencing an actual performance. I could feel the passion of Toscanini and the admiration of Antek toward his beloved Maestro. Lucy Antek, with her additions to the book, gave her father, a man cut down at 49, at the height of his career, a special place in history. He directed The Young People’s Concerts in New Jersey, a variation of which I took my own children to, but in New York City, years later.
With his words, Antek gave Toscanini life. He describes the quirks in his personality and exposes the crudeness he brought to his rehearsals that were in conflict with his very public persona of formality. He explained how he brought out the best in each musician, allowing each to interpret the piece and come to his point of reference, so that together, they played as one. The photographs provide an image of The Maestro that is lifelike and authentic. He was small in stature, but of great size in his musical ability. Antek brings him to life complete with his sharp tongue as well as his talent.
I believe the book did what all great books do, it encouraged me, the reader, to listen to explore the music, to listen to Oberon, the piece Antek devotes many pages to describing, and while I did not understand all of his description, I loved listening to the music. You do not even have to love classical music to love this book. You just have to understand one thing, the thing that Toscanini wanted everyone to know as he wrenched the best performance from his artists. Music is far more than sound.
The book’s presentation is beautiful. The cover is alluring, the pages are of thick stock so that turning them is not an issue. The pictures enhance all of the information. If you didn’t read it, looking at it would bring you pleasure, as it did bring me pleasure. It was a vacation from the ugliness of the world today a journey into a place of beauty. Antek’s words prove to the reader that Maestro was a well deserved honorific for the volatile, vibrant genius who was Toscanini.I may not have heard the nuances that Toscanini did, but I heard his music, not just sound.… (más)

This book is hard to review. Either this book is right for you or it’s not. I’ll put my review right in the middle to acknowledge that different readers will have strong opinions on either side of the spectrum.

Consider the following question:

Should a musician interpret the score based on the composer’s intention or focus more about its context in the present?

If you’re figuring out how you would answer the question and/or know at least one person with whom you would discuss it, then this book is for you. If you’re not interested in thinking or talking about music at this level, then this book would not hold your interest. I’m married to an opera singer, so I’ve been included in countless discussions. They’re not for the faint of heart.

This book is for people who are interested in what happens before orchestra performances. It includes detailed practice session notes. In the touring chapter, there is minimal narrative about the performances, focusing instead on the interactions before they were on stage.

The NBC orchestra was created for Toscanini to perform radio concerts. The earlier version was written by Samuel Antek, a violinist in Toscanini’s NBC orchestra who shared what it was like to work with the gifted conductor. Sadly, Antek died of a heart attack before the original edition of this book was published. Antek’s brilliant work showed the side of an orchestra not seen by a concert audience.

The edition has been expanded by Samuel Antek’s daughter Lucy to include more information from her parents’ papers and show the impact that Toscanini had on her family’s life. She found a treasure trove of previously unpublished material from both parents. Her mother’s travel journals provided a vivid picture of the orchestra’s touring life and different view of their maestro.

Ultimately, the book is a study of love and relationships. It starts with a love of music and then delves deeper into the relationships of a conductor to his orchestra and the performers and their audiences. It provides a fascinating view behind the scenes on how beautiful music is made. It’s shown at a deeper level than some classical music lovers may want to explore. But if you like knowing what experience brought the conductor and his orchestra, this book is for you.

Thank you, Meryl Moss Media Group, for providing me a copy of this book.… (más)

Michelangelo Buonarroti's late 15th-century sculpture of Mary and a dead Jesus inside St. Peter's Basilica is one of the most beautiful sculptures ever produced. It impressed me on my first visit during an undergraduate semester in Italy, and on my second visit about a decade later. (I saw this book the first time but did not get it until my second visit when I could better afford it.) What makes the book more than just a souvenir is not just the quality of Robert Hupka's photos but the way he shows us every fold, detail and angle that cannot be glimpsed due to the statue's location behind bulletproof glass in a chapel. The humanity discovered in marble really comes across in the many photos in this little book.… (más)