Walter Legge: Words and Music - Hardcover

Walter Legge was a record producer but he also founded the orchestra, The Philharmonia, which he ran for 18 years as a "benevolent dictator". Music formed the central core of his life, but the printed word was also a vital source of inspiration and education. As a young man he reported with knowledge and perception on concerts and opera performances for "The Manchester Guardian". This book is a selection of his reviews which shed light on many important musical events of the 1930s, including Furtwangler conducting Wagner at Bayreuth, Toscanini conducting "Die Meistersinger" and "Falstaff" at Salzburg, and performances by artists such as Richard Strauss, Galli-Curci, Rachmaninov, Koussevitzky, Mengelberg, Kreisler and Huberman. Over four decades Legge corresponded with many eminent musicians. This collection contains lengthy series of exchanges with Sir William Walton, Furtwangler and Sibelius amongst others. In his own writings Legge reveals the facets of his own personality, whilst his writings on others and letters written to him provide insight into the musical world of his time.