Authors: Alex Ross
Listen to This (50 page)
SYMPHONY OF MILLIONS
Tan Dun is the most often recorded of contemporary Chinese composers, although he may not prove to be the most significant. His operas
Marco Polo, Tea,
and
The First Emperor
are all currently available on DVD, along with such multimedia works as
Paper Concerto, Water Concerto,
and
The Map.
Only the last-named piece—a cello concerto interspersed with video portraits of traditional Chinese musicians—succeeds fully in uniting East and West. Chen Yi and Zhou Long, two other members of Tan Dun’s generation, have long been resident in America; the Beijing New Music Ensemble, under the leadership of Eli Marshall, has recorded several of their works on a Naxos disc titled
Wild Grass.
Guo Wenjing, who stayed
behind in China, has been almost entirely ignored in the West, although samples of his music float around YouTube.
Marco Polo, Tea,
and
The First Emperor
are all currently available on DVD, along with such multimedia works as
Paper Concerto, Water Concerto,
and
The Map.
Only the last-named piece—a cello concerto interspersed with video portraits of traditional Chinese musicians—succeeds fully in uniting East and West. Chen Yi and Zhou Long, two other members of Tan Dun’s generation, have long been resident in America; the Beijing New Music Ensemble, under the leadership of Eli Marshall, has recorded several of their works on a Naxos disc titled
Wild Grass.
Guo Wenjing, who stayed
behind in China, has been almost entirely ignored in the West, although samples of his music float around YouTube.
SONG OF THE EARTH
The Alaskan composer John Luther Adams may not be a household name, but almost a dozen recordings devoted to his sub-Arctic soundscapes have appeared. The 1993 disc
The Far Country
(New Albion) shows Adams working in a more traditional orchestral mode, at times brushing against the
Fanfare for the Common Man
style of Aaron Copland, although the glacial unfolding of events hints at the composer’s mature voice. His real breakthrough occurred in the immensely spacious chamber-orchestra pieces
Clouds of Forgetting, Clouds of Unknowing
and
In the White Silence,
both of which have discs to themselves on New World. Adams’s violently inventive writing for percussion can be heard on
Strange and Sacred Noise
(Mode CD/DVD) and
The Mathematics of Resonant Bodies
(Cantaloupe). The Cold Blue disc
Red Arc/Blue Veil
contains the two-piano version of
Dark Waves,
one of Adams’s most gripping recent works. To hear
The Place Where You Go to Listen,
you must book a flight to Fairbanks, Alaska, and drop by the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska.
The Far Country
(New Albion) shows Adams working in a more traditional orchestral mode, at times brushing against the
Fanfare for the Common Man
style of Aaron Copland, although the glacial unfolding of events hints at the composer’s mature voice. His real breakthrough occurred in the immensely spacious chamber-orchestra pieces
Clouds of Forgetting, Clouds of Unknowing
and
In the White Silence,
both of which have discs to themselves on New World. Adams’s violently inventive writing for percussion can be heard on
Strange and Sacred Noise
(Mode CD/DVD) and
The Mathematics of Resonant Bodies
(Cantaloupe). The Cold Blue disc
Red Arc/Blue Veil
contains the two-piano version of
Dark Waves,
one of Adams’s most gripping recent works. To hear
The Place Where You Go to Listen,
you must book a flight to Fairbanks, Alaska, and drop by the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska.
VERDI’S GRIP
You might begin at the zenith, with
Otello.
It battles
Don Giovanni
and
Tristan und Isolde
for the title of the greatest opera ever written, and on many nights it wins. Having witnessed Placido Domingo’s wrenching embodiment of the lead role at the Met in 1994, I’m tempted to pick the
Otello
recording that the tenor made the previous year, under Myung-Whun Chung’s direction (DG), but Cheryl Studer’s Desdemona is a bit eccentric. Instead, I’d choose Domingo’s earlier, scarcely less gripping effort, which has Renata Scotto as Desdemona, Sherrill Milnes as Iago, and James Levine on the podium (RCA). Then it is necessary to have something by Maria Callas. Her volcanic 1955 live performance of
La traviata
at La Scala is preserved on EMI; Giuseppe di Stefano sings incisively as Alfredo, and Carlo Maria Giulini conducts. It is also advisable to have one of Leontyne Price’s regal Verdi interpretations—perhaps her 1961
Aida,
with Jon Vickers as Radames and Georg Solti conducting (Decca); or her 1962
Trovatore,
with Franco Corelli as Manrico, Giulietta Simionato as
Azucena, and Herbert von Karajan in the pit (DG). I’d balance those diva-driven tours-de-force with Claudio Abbado’s rich-hued take on
Simon Boccanegra,
featuring Piero Cappuccilli, Mirella Freni, and Jose Carreras (DG); and Karajan’s crackling
Falstaff,
in which Tito Gobbi is alive to every nuance of the title role (EMI). For early Verdi, a good first choice is Giuseppe Sinopoli’s
Nabucco,
with Cappuccilli, Domingo, and a smoldering Ghena Dimitrova (DG).
Otello.
It battles
Don Giovanni
and
Tristan und Isolde
for the title of the greatest opera ever written, and on many nights it wins. Having witnessed Placido Domingo’s wrenching embodiment of the lead role at the Met in 1994, I’m tempted to pick the
Otello
recording that the tenor made the previous year, under Myung-Whun Chung’s direction (DG), but Cheryl Studer’s Desdemona is a bit eccentric. Instead, I’d choose Domingo’s earlier, scarcely less gripping effort, which has Renata Scotto as Desdemona, Sherrill Milnes as Iago, and James Levine on the podium (RCA). Then it is necessary to have something by Maria Callas. Her volcanic 1955 live performance of
La traviata
at La Scala is preserved on EMI; Giuseppe di Stefano sings incisively as Alfredo, and Carlo Maria Giulini conducts. It is also advisable to have one of Leontyne Price’s regal Verdi interpretations—perhaps her 1961
Aida,
with Jon Vickers as Radames and Georg Solti conducting (Decca); or her 1962
Trovatore,
with Franco Corelli as Manrico, Giulietta Simionato as
Azucena, and Herbert von Karajan in the pit (DG). I’d balance those diva-driven tours-de-force with Claudio Abbado’s rich-hued take on
Simon Boccanegra,
featuring Piero Cappuccilli, Mirella Freni, and Jose Carreras (DG); and Karajan’s crackling
Falstaff,
in which Tito Gobbi is alive to every nuance of the title role (EMI). For early Verdi, a good first choice is Giuseppe Sinopoli’s
Nabucco,
with Cappuccilli, Domingo, and a smoldering Ghena Dimitrova (DG).
ALMOST FAMOUS
The St. Lawrence Quartet has so far put out six discs on the EMI label and one on Naxos. The most distinctive of the series is
Yiddishbbuk,
devoted to the Argentinian-born composer Osvaldo Golijov, whose extroverted, folk-inflected music matches the quartet’s spirit; in the clarinet quintet
The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind,
they provide a vibrant background for the klezmer stylings of the clarinetist Todd Palmer. Two other outstanding releases are a trio of Shostakovich quartets—Nos. 3, 7, and 8—and a pairing of Tchaikovsky’s First and Third Quartets.
Yiddishbbuk,
devoted to the Argentinian-born composer Osvaldo Golijov, whose extroverted, folk-inflected music matches the quartet’s spirit; in the clarinet quintet
The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind,
they provide a vibrant background for the klezmer stylings of the clarinetist Todd Palmer. Two other outstanding releases are a trio of Shostakovich quartets—Nos. 3, 7, and 8—and a pairing of Tchaikovsky’s First and Third Quartets.
EDGES OF POP
This chapter glances at artists from all over the popular map: the cabaret duo Kiki and Herb, the free-jazz master Cecil Taylor, the avant-rock band Sonic Youth, the incomparable crooner Frank Sinatra, and the anguished rock star Kurt Cobain. If I had to choose representative discs for each, I’d pick Taylor’s 1978 album 3
Phasis,
with Jimmy Lyons, Raphe Malik, Ramsey Ameen, Sirone, and Ronald Shannon Jackson (New World); Sonic Youth’s 1988 album
Daydream Nation
(Geffen); Sinatra’s
Only the Lonely,
with ravishing arrangements by Nelson Riddle (Capitol); and Nirvana’s enduring hit
Nevermind
(Geffen). As for Kiki and Herb, who went on indefinite hiatus in 2008, they have left behind a suitably demented document of their Carnegie Hall debut, a live album titled
Kiki and Herb Will Die for You.
Phasis,
with Jimmy Lyons, Raphe Malik, Ramsey Ameen, Sirone, and Ronald Shannon Jackson (New World); Sonic Youth’s 1988 album
Daydream Nation
(Geffen); Sinatra’s
Only the Lonely,
with ravishing arrangements by Nelson Riddle (Capitol); and Nirvana’s enduring hit
Nevermind
(Geffen). As for Kiki and Herb, who went on indefinite hiatus in 2008, they have left behind a suitably demented document of their Carnegie Hall debut, a live album titled
Kiki and Herb Will Die for You.
VOICE OF THE CENTURY
On a VAI disc titled
Marian Anderson: Rare and Unpublished Recordings, 1936–1952,
the iconic contralto basks in the lamenting glow of Purcell’s
“When I am laid in earth” and delivers chilling renditions of Schubert’s “Der Doppelganger” and “Der Erlkönig.” On a similarly varied Pearl disc, she applies her cavernous lower register to Brahms’s
Alto Rhapsody
and lavishes care on songs of Sibelius. Alas, most commercial releases from the 1950s show Anderson in steadily declining voice. No recording captures the luminous aura that so many listeners ascribed to the singer in her prime; we can only imagine what she must have been like. Nina Simone’s searing rewrite of “Strange Fruit” appears on the double CD
Anthology
(RCA).
Marian Anderson: Rare and Unpublished Recordings, 1936–1952,
the iconic contralto basks in the lamenting glow of Purcell’s
“When I am laid in earth” and delivers chilling renditions of Schubert’s “Der Doppelganger” and “Der Erlkönig.” On a similarly varied Pearl disc, she applies her cavernous lower register to Brahms’s
Alto Rhapsody
and lavishes care on songs of Sibelius. Alas, most commercial releases from the 1950s show Anderson in steadily declining voice. No recording captures the luminous aura that so many listeners ascribed to the singer in her prime; we can only imagine what she must have been like. Nina Simone’s searing rewrite of “Strange Fruit” appears on the double CD
Anthology
(RCA).
THE MUSIC MOUNTAIN
Rudolf Serkin and Adolf Busch, the presiding spirits of Marlboro Music in Vermont, made many recordings together and with members of their extended family. Busch and Serkin play together on the Andante Schubert set mentioned above; on an EMI disc, you can hear the Busch Quartet’s furiously committed readings of the final two Schubert quartets.
ArkivMusic.com
offers an out-of-print Sony disc containing two adamantine Serkin performances from Marlboro: Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 and his
Choral Fantasy,
with Alexander Schneider conducting. Still in print is a much-loved 1967 rendition of Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet by Serkin and various Marlboro collaborators; it’s paired with Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet. The current co-directors of Marlboro, Mitsuko Uchida and Richard Goode, have both released dozens of discs. Goode’s Mozart concertos are praised above; the pianist has also applied his uncommonly lyrical touch to the five Beethoven concertos (Nonesuch). Important Uchida recordings include her impeccable cycle of Mozart concertos, her “Hammerklavier” Sonata, her Debussy Etudes, and her Schoenberg Piano Concerto, all on Philips.
ArkivMusic.com
offers an out-of-print Sony disc containing two adamantine Serkin performances from Marlboro: Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 and his
Choral Fantasy,
with Alexander Schneider conducting. Still in print is a much-loved 1967 rendition of Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet by Serkin and various Marlboro collaborators; it’s paired with Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet. The current co-directors of Marlboro, Mitsuko Uchida and Richard Goode, have both released dozens of discs. Goode’s Mozart concertos are praised above; the pianist has also applied his uncommonly lyrical touch to the five Beethoven concertos (Nonesuch). Important Uchida recordings include her impeccable cycle of Mozart concertos, her “Hammerklavier” Sonata, her Debussy Etudes, and her Schoenberg Piano Concerto, all on Philips.
THE END OF SILENCE
As of this writing, Mode Records’ monumental Cage Edition runs to forty-two volumes. Two excellent points of departure are Philipp Vandre’s CD of the
Sonatas and Interludes,
Cage’s most ambitious work for prepared piano; and the Arditti Quartet’s recording of
String Quartet in Four Parts
and
Four
—austerely beautiful pieces from earlier and later stages of
Cage’s career. Almost everything in the Mode series is done with careful attention to the composer’s intention and spirit. An ECM CD titled
The Seasons
supplies a superb single-disc survey, setting the attenuated lyricism of the prepared-piano music against later experiments in chance. Wergo’s reissue of
The 25-Year Retrospective Concert of the Music of John Cage—a
celebratory concert at Town Hall, New York, on May 15, 1958—gives you a sense of the controversy that swirled around Cage in the 1950s and’60s; boos compete with applause after the presentation of the tape collage
Williams Mix.
Sonatas and Interludes,
Cage’s most ambitious work for prepared piano; and the Arditti Quartet’s recording of
String Quartet in Four Parts
and
Four
—austerely beautiful pieces from earlier and later stages of
Cage’s career. Almost everything in the Mode series is done with careful attention to the composer’s intention and spirit. An ECM CD titled
The Seasons
supplies a superb single-disc survey, setting the attenuated lyricism of the prepared-piano music against later experiments in chance. Wergo’s reissue of
The 25-Year Retrospective Concert of the Music of John Cage—a
celebratory concert at Town Hall, New York, on May 15, 1958—gives you a sense of the controversy that swirled around Cage in the 1950s and’60s; boos compete with applause after the presentation of the tape collage
Williams Mix.
I SAW THE LIGHT
Bob Dylan has put out nearly fifty studio and live albums since he joined the Columbia label in 1961.
The Freewheelin’Bob Dylan
is the strongest record of his early, folk-oriented period;
Highway 61 Revisited
and
Blonde on Blonde
are the twin peaks of his electric mid-sixties phase;
Blood on the Tracks
is the prize of the seventies; and
Time Out of Mind,
from 1997, ushered in a darkly searching late period, which has continued with
“Love and Theft,” Modern Times, and Together Through Life.
Dylan’s famous 1966 live show in Manchester, England (“Judas!”) is available as Volume 4 of Columbia’s
Bootleg Series.
The true Dylan obsessive must go beyond official releases into the murky realm of bootlegs, where some of the Maestro’s most remarkable achievements still lie hidden. My playlist of favorite bootlegs includes “Freeze Out,” the first draft of “Visions of Johanna”; “Million Dollar Bash” and “Sign on the Cross,” from the complete Basement Tapes; “Abandoned Love,” live at the Other End in 1975; “The Groom’s Still Waiting at the Altar,” live in San Francisco in 1980, with Mike Bloomfield on guitar; “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,” live at the El Rey in 1997; and the initial version of
Blood on the Tracks,
a more intimate and harrowing creation than the commercial release, and the most transfixing work of Dylan’s career.
The Freewheelin’Bob Dylan
is the strongest record of his early, folk-oriented period;
Highway 61 Revisited
and
Blonde on Blonde
are the twin peaks of his electric mid-sixties phase;
Blood on the Tracks
is the prize of the seventies; and
Time Out of Mind,
from 1997, ushered in a darkly searching late period, which has continued with
“Love and Theft,” Modern Times, and Together Through Life.
Dylan’s famous 1966 live show in Manchester, England (“Judas!”) is available as Volume 4 of Columbia’s
Bootleg Series.
The true Dylan obsessive must go beyond official releases into the murky realm of bootlegs, where some of the Maestro’s most remarkable achievements still lie hidden. My playlist of favorite bootlegs includes “Freeze Out,” the first draft of “Visions of Johanna”; “Million Dollar Bash” and “Sign on the Cross,” from the complete Basement Tapes; “Abandoned Love,” live at the Other End in 1975; “The Groom’s Still Waiting at the Altar,” live in San Francisco in 1980, with Mike Bloomfield on guitar; “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,” live at the El Rey in 1997; and the initial version of
Blood on the Tracks,
a more intimate and harrowing creation than the commercial release, and the most transfixing work of Dylan’s career.
FERVOR
The mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, like Marian Anderson before her, exerted in person a quasi-spiritual force that recordings never fully captured. Perhaps the best evidence of her uncanny art is a Kultur DVD of Handel’s
Theodora,
from the Glyndebourne Festival, with Peter Sellars directing, William Christie conducting the Orchestra of the Age
of Enlightenment, and Dawn Upshaw, David Daniels, and Richard Croft assuming other lead roles. Two other essential documents of her animating way with Baroque repertory are a disc of Bach’s Cantatas Nos. 82 and 199, with Craig Smith conducting the Emmanuel Music Orchestra (Nonesuch), and a collection of Handel arias, with Harry Bicket leading the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (Avie). A Wigmore Hall Live release, preserving a 1998 recital with Roger Vignoles at the piano, shows her sympathy not only for Handel but also for Brahms and Mahler. It’s difficult to speak objectively about her account of Peter Lieberson’s
Neruda Songs
, with James Levine conducting the Boston Symphony (Nonesuch); the recording was made less than eight months before her death, and it burns with private passion.
Theodora,
from the Glyndebourne Festival, with Peter Sellars directing, William Christie conducting the Orchestra of the Age
of Enlightenment, and Dawn Upshaw, David Daniels, and Richard Croft assuming other lead roles. Two other essential documents of her animating way with Baroque repertory are a disc of Bach’s Cantatas Nos. 82 and 199, with Craig Smith conducting the Emmanuel Music Orchestra (Nonesuch), and a collection of Handel arias, with Harry Bicket leading the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (Avie). A Wigmore Hall Live release, preserving a 1998 recital with Roger Vignoles at the piano, shows her sympathy not only for Handel but also for Brahms and Mahler. It’s difficult to speak objectively about her account of Peter Lieberson’s
Neruda Songs
, with James Levine conducting the Boston Symphony (Nonesuch); the recording was made less than eight months before her death, and it burns with private passion.
BLESSED ARE THE SAD
Behind Brahms’s professorial façade was a well of deep feeling. The challenge in interpreting his music is to reconcile that feeling with the orderly forms that contain it. The First Piano Concerto is Brahms at his darkest and boldest; with regretful glances at recordings by Emil Gilels and Leon Fleisher, I’ll stay with a longtime companion, Clifford Curzon’s monumental rendition with George Szell and the London Symphony (Decca). No set of the four symphonies is perfect, although a Music & Arts compilation of live Furtwangler performances is riveting throughout, and Charles Mackerras’s cycle with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (Telarc) delivers exceptionally lucid rhythms. For the First Symphony alone, I’d suggest either Klemperer and the Philharmonia (EMI) or Toscanini and the NBC Symphony (live in 1940, available at
pristineclassical.com
); for the Second, Mackerras; for the Third, Bruno Walter and the Columbia Symphony (Sony); and for the Fourth, Carlos Kleiber and the Vienna Philharmonic (DG)-one of the most potent symphonic recordings ever made. Klemperer’s
German Requiem,
with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as the soloists (EMI), is ponderous in the best sense: slow, grave, grandly moving. For an introduction to Brahms’s chamber music, try a warmly idiomatic collection of quartets, quintets, and sextets by the Amadeus Quartet and various colleagues (DG). Radu Lupu’s disc of the late Intermezzos and Piano Pieces, Opp. 117-119 (Decca), contains playing of such unmannered beauty that you seem to meet the elusive soul of Brahms face-to-face.
pristineclassical.com
); for the Second, Mackerras; for the Third, Bruno Walter and the Columbia Symphony (Sony); and for the Fourth, Carlos Kleiber and the Vienna Philharmonic (DG)-one of the most potent symphonic recordings ever made. Klemperer’s
German Requiem,
with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as the soloists (EMI), is ponderous in the best sense: slow, grave, grandly moving. For an introduction to Brahms’s chamber music, try a warmly idiomatic collection of quartets, quintets, and sextets by the Amadeus Quartet and various colleagues (DG). Radu Lupu’s disc of the late Intermezzos and Piano Pieces, Opp. 117-119 (Decca), contains playing of such unmannered beauty that you seem to meet the elusive soul of Brahms face-to-face.
During my time at
The New Yorker,
I have been under the benign control of two great editors, both of whom contributed decisively to my development as a writer. Charles Michener read passionately, broadened my musical sympathies, and proved to be an improbably convivial supervisor, to the point where the laughter emanating from his office drew puzzled stares. When Charles left, I was fortunate to fall into the hands of Daniel Zalewski, who is younger than I, and wiser. I am profoundly indebted to Daniel’s panoptic vision, pinpoint editing, fervent advocacy, and uncommonly generous spirit. David Remnick, the editor of
The New Yorker,
is a model boss and a model colleague; I consider myself lucky to be living in his golden age.
The New Yorker,
I have been under the benign control of two great editors, both of whom contributed decisively to my development as a writer. Charles Michener read passionately, broadened my musical sympathies, and proved to be an improbably convivial supervisor, to the point where the laughter emanating from his office drew puzzled stares. When Charles left, I was fortunate to fall into the hands of Daniel Zalewski, who is younger than I, and wiser. I am profoundly indebted to Daniel’s panoptic vision, pinpoint editing, fervent advocacy, and uncommonly generous spirit. David Remnick, the editor of
The New Yorker,
is a model boss and a model colleague; I consider myself lucky to be living in his golden age.
Tina Brown, during her tenure at the magazine, hired me and let me roam free. Pam McCarthy, Henry Finder, and Dorothy Wickenden, in the editorial offices, and David Denby, Nancy Franklin, Joan Acocella, Sasha Frere-Jones, David Grann, and Luke Menand, in the writers’ warrens, have been intensely supportive over the years.
The New Yorker’s
copy editors, led by the wizardly Ann Goldstein, have deepened my love of language. The fact-checker for most of these pieces was Martin Baron, who has since retired; in my previous book, I called him “the greatest fact-checker that ever was or ever will be,” and I stand by the claim. I’m also grateful to Nana Asfour, Jake Goldstein, Nandi Rodrigo, Jennifer Stahl, and Greg Villepique for their excellent checkingwork. Peter Canby, Leo Carey, Will Cohen, Bruce Diones, Kate Julian, Daniel Kile, Russell Platt, Lauren Porcaro, Aaron Retica, and Rhonda Sherman helped out at one time or another.
The New Yorker’s
copy editors, led by the wizardly Ann Goldstein, have deepened my love of language. The fact-checker for most of these pieces was Martin Baron, who has since retired; in my previous book, I called him “the greatest fact-checker that ever was or ever will be,” and I stand by the claim. I’m also grateful to Nana Asfour, Jake Goldstein, Nandi Rodrigo, Jennifer Stahl, and Greg Villepique for their excellent checkingwork. Peter Canby, Leo Carey, Will Cohen, Bruce Diones, Kate Julian, Daniel Kile, Russell Platt, Lauren Porcaro, Aaron Retica, and Rhonda Sherman helped out at one time or another.
Many people contributed to the making of these essays. I’d especially like to thank Radiohead (most of all Colin Greenwood), Courtyard Management,
Steve Martin of Nasty Little Man, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Deborah Borda, Adam Crane, Bjork, Scott Rodger, Valgeir Sigur6sson, Arni Heimir Ingólfsson, Ken Smith and Joanna Lee, Nick Frisch (an invaluable guide in Beijing), John Luther Adams, Hassan Ralph Williams, Joe Horowitz, Sebastian Ruth, Frank Salomon, Mitsuko Uchida, Leon Wieseltier, and Alex Abramovich, my Dylan road companion. I received scholarly counsel from Will Crutchfield, Drew Davies, Walter Everett, Walter Frisch, Luis Gago (who noticed the resemblance between Nina Simone’s “Strange Fruit” and “Der Doppelganger”), Christopher Gibbs, Philip Gossett, Wendy Heller, Andrew Patner, Ellen Rosand, Alexander Silbiger, and Richard Taruskin. Alex Star, Paula Puhak, Jason Shure, and Mike Vazquez, ex-WHRB DJs, converted me to punk rock, and Steven Johnson alerted me to Radiohead. The Goldstines—Josh, Stephanie, Eli, Theo, Danny, and Hilary-make trips west a joy. Ellen Pfeifer of the New England Conservatory and Jane Gottlieb of the Juilliard Library assisted with research inquiries. Jake Holmes, Peter Bartók, Sigríður Porgrímsdóttir, and Jeff Rosen of Special Rider Music were most generous with permissions.
Steve Martin of Nasty Little Man, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Deborah Borda, Adam Crane, Bjork, Scott Rodger, Valgeir Sigur6sson, Arni Heimir Ingólfsson, Ken Smith and Joanna Lee, Nick Frisch (an invaluable guide in Beijing), John Luther Adams, Hassan Ralph Williams, Joe Horowitz, Sebastian Ruth, Frank Salomon, Mitsuko Uchida, Leon Wieseltier, and Alex Abramovich, my Dylan road companion. I received scholarly counsel from Will Crutchfield, Drew Davies, Walter Everett, Walter Frisch, Luis Gago (who noticed the resemblance between Nina Simone’s “Strange Fruit” and “Der Doppelganger”), Christopher Gibbs, Philip Gossett, Wendy Heller, Andrew Patner, Ellen Rosand, Alexander Silbiger, and Richard Taruskin. Alex Star, Paula Puhak, Jason Shure, and Mike Vazquez, ex-WHRB DJs, converted me to punk rock, and Steven Johnson alerted me to Radiohead. The Goldstines—Josh, Stephanie, Eli, Theo, Danny, and Hilary-make trips west a joy. Ellen Pfeifer of the New England Conservatory and Jane Gottlieb of the Juilliard Library assisted with research inquiries. Jake Holmes, Peter Bartók, Sigríður Porgrímsdóttir, and Jeff Rosen of Special Rider Music were most generous with permissions.
Eric Chinski is again the book editor of my dreams; I am still reeling from the magnanimity that he showed in the making of The Rest
Is
Noise. Jonathan Galassi, Laurel Cook, and Jeff Seroy provided yet more vital support at FSG; Eugenie Cha elegantly disposed of nagging details; John McGhee was a quick, incisive copy editor; Charlotte Strick made another brilliant cover; Chris Peterson, the production editor, guided the book smartly to the end. Tina Bennett, my agent, continues to work magic on my behalf, as does Dorothy Vincent. William Robin, my assistant and fellow blogger, was hugely helpful in researching, checking, and fine-tuning the manuscript. Maulina, Bea, and Minnie brightened my days; Penelope is ever so missed. My parents; my brother, Christopher; and my beautiful husband, Jonathan, surrounded me with love.
Is
Noise. Jonathan Galassi, Laurel Cook, and Jeff Seroy provided yet more vital support at FSG; Eugenie Cha elegantly disposed of nagging details; John McGhee was a quick, incisive copy editor; Charlotte Strick made another brilliant cover; Chris Peterson, the production editor, guided the book smartly to the end. Tina Bennett, my agent, continues to work magic on my behalf, as does Dorothy Vincent. William Robin, my assistant and fellow blogger, was hugely helpful in researching, checking, and fine-tuning the manuscript. Maulina, Bea, and Minnie brightened my days; Penelope is ever so missed. My parents; my brother, Christopher; and my beautiful husband, Jonathan, surrounded me with love.
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