Wow! eBook
The Show Must Go On: On Tour with the LSO in 1912 and 2012
Author(s): Gareth Davies (Author)
- Publisher: Elliott & Thompson
- Publication Date: 30 May 2013
- Edition: Illustrated
- Language: English
- Print length: 256 pages
- ISBN-10: 1908739800
- ISBN-13: 9781908739803
Book Description
A memoir of the London Symphony Orchestra on tour in the US and beyond, focusing on their historical first visit to America in 1912 when they were due to sail on the Titanic, and their most recent travels. Gareth Davies, Principal Flautist at the LSO, tells the remarkable story of a groundbreaking expedition through recently discovered diaries, archive material from London and New York and newspaper reports from the time. Against this is set a behind-the-scenes account of the LSO’s worldwide touring schedule, which finds that a surprising number of the same challenges remain. We join Gareth and his colleagues as they contend with airports, volcanoes, travel strikes, illness and even life and death situations. As well as vivid descriptions of sitting centre stage surrounded by music and working with Haitink, Gergiev and Sir Colin Davis, we get to glimpse into the backstage goings on and see inside the mind of a professional musician as never before. Written by someone at the centre of the action, we follow the travels of two musicians, a century apart in the same orchestra. The show does go on.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Davies writes engagingly and fluently as a perceptive observer of orchestral life with a keen eye for entertaining detail.” — Classical Music Magazine, Books of the Year 2013
“An entertaining comparison between the high-octane life of a professional musician today and what it was like for his LSO forebears.” — FT Books of the Year 2013, Financial Times
Five Stars “This deftly written, insightful and at times poignant travelogue deserves the widest circulation.” —Julian Haycock, BBC Music Magazine
“A gentle dip into a musician’s high pressure lifestyle” —FT’s pick, Music summer reads 2013 Financial Times
About the Author
Gareth Davies has been principal flute with the London Symphony Orchestra since 2000. He has travelled the world with most of the great conductors of our time such as Sir Colin Davis, Haitink, Gergiev, Maazel, Rattle, Rostropovitch, Previn and many others. He performs over 100 concerts a year and can be heard on hundreds of recordings with the LSO as well as some of the best loved film soundtracks such as Star Wars and Harry Potter. He has written articles for Classic FM Magazine and BBC Music Magazine and has been featured in the Guardian, Daily Telegraph and FT. Novelist and music commentator Norman Lebrecht described his writing as ‘the most impressive account of Mahler from the inside that I have ever read’.
