The Ivory Trade: Music and the Business of Music at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition - Hardcover

As in his earlier book, Understanding Toscanini ( LJ 12/15/86), Horowitz explores the popularizing and marketing of classical music, here focusing on the "quintessential" American competition, the International Van Cliburn piano contest. The book's four major sections are devoted to a history of the competition in Fort Worth, Texas; six mini-chapters on six of the contestants, both losers and winners; a detailed account of the most recent competition (1989); and a conclusion. Appendixes list former prize winners and juries and the winners of five other international competitions. Much of Horowitz's material is drawn from interviews, with extensive quotations. His own observations tend to be partial, often judgmental, and written in prose that verges on purple at times. The author's conclusions are hardly revelatory: the music business can, and does, corrupt; under the rigors and stress of such a competition, the winners are often not the best or even the most popular, and careers falter. Nevertheless, competitions seem to be here to stay. For music collections.
- Susan Kagan, Hunter Coll., CUNY
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

As a "ballyhooed epitome" of music popularization, the Cliburn contest in Fort Worth, Tex., shapes perceptions and wields enormous influence, yet Horowitz ( Understanding Toscanini ) concludes that there are better ways of encouraging pianism and that the Cliburn competition cannot recover "the Romantic dream of the piano." Drawing on interviews with contest organizers and participants, extensive reading and his own observation of the 16-day 1989 competition, Horowitz describes the phenomenon and evaluates its artistic effects. After comparing various competitions, he demonstrates that, as a talent showcase, the Cliburn is impressive at enticing media coverage but doesn't necessarily help the winning pianists. By contrast, the now discontinued Leventritt Competition, held in New York City, didn't court popularity yet set higher standards and produced more outstanding musicians, including Cliburn himself. Lively, opinionated, controversial but fair.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.