Review of Mitchell book
This is a preliminary review of the book
Vladimir de Pachmann:
A Piano Virtuoso's Life and Art by Mark Mitchell,
Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 2002.
A fuller review is available elswhere on this site.
Message 2804 posted on the
"Pianophiles"
Internet Discussion Group, in answer to an inquiry,
explains the circumstances well, and constitutes this preliminary review.
It is included here with the kind permission of its author,
Donald Manildi, Curator of the
International Piano Archives, University of Maryland and reviewer for
International Record Review.
From: Donald E Manildi <dm137@u...>
Date: Fri Apr 4, 2003 6:03 am
Subject: Re: [Pianophiles] Vladimir de Pachmann - "A Piano Virtuoso's Life and Art"
The book is a disgrace. It is rambling, poorly organized, error-ridden, and
draws heavily, without proper credit, upon an unpublished Pachmann biography
by Ed Blickstein--a fact which will shortly become very evident when
Blickstein's text is mounted on a web site; watch Pianophiles
for an announcement. Gregor Benko, who is involved in the latter effort,
may have a
more detailed response of his own on this matter. As with Mitchell's
unbelievably poor earlier "Virtuosi" book, he cannot resist carrying
a
totally irrelevant gay agenda into the book. And while the Evans
discography
adequately covers Pachmann's original 78 rpm discs, it chooses not
to give
any details of more accessible reissues (whether LP or CD)--except
for
Allan's own Arbiter CD.
D. Manildi
Robert McAlear wrote:
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Has anyone read the new book about de Pachmann by Mark Mitchell -- "A
Piano Virtuoso's Life and Art"? Comments? Reviews?
It was published by Indiana University Press last year, and includes
a repertoire listing, photos, and a discography (by Allan Evans).
Robert McAlear
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