Book of Musical Anecdotes

Here is one of the most enjoyable and illuminating books ever published for the music lover. There are stories of appetites (Handel eating dinner for three), embarrassments (Brahms falling asleep as Liszt plays), oddities (Bruckner's dog being trained to howl at Wagner), and devotions (a lovely admirer disrobing in tribute to Puccini). There are memorable accounts of Stravinsky telling Proust how much he hates Beethoven, of Tchaikovsky's first bewildering telephone call, of Dvorak's strange love of pigeons, and of Verdi's intricate maneuvering to keep the now-famous melody of La donna e mobile top secret. Collected from thousands of books, articles and unpublished manuscripts, these anecdotes appear in their original form, throwing fresh light on familiar figures in the musical hall of fame. Author Norman Lebrecht writes on music and other arts for the London Sunday Times. 382 p.