October 2023 MBR The Music Shelf

The Music Shelf

Mozart's Operas and National Politics
Marin Nedbal
Cambridge University Press
One Liberty Plaza, Fl. 20, New York, NY 10006
www.cambridge.org
9781009257596, $110.00, HC, 306pp

https://www.amazon.com/Mozarts-Operas-National-Politics-Formation/dp/1009257595

Synopsis: As both an in-depth study of Mozart criticism and performance practice in Prague, and a history of how eighteenth-century opera was appropriated by later political movements and social groups, with the publication of "Mozart's Operas and National Politics: Canon Formation in Prague from 1791 to the Present", Marin Nedbal (Associate Professor of Musicology at KU School of Music) explores the reception of Mozart's operas in Prague between 1791 and the present and reveals the profound influence of politics on the construction of the Western musical canon.

Tracing the links between performances of Mozart's operas and strategies that Bohemian musicians, critics, directors, musicologists, and politicians used to construct modern Czech and German identities, Professor Nedbal explores the history of the canonization process from the perspective of a city that has often been regarded as peripheral to mainstream Western music history. Individual chapters focus on Czech and German adaptations of Mozart's operas for Prague's theaters, operatic criticism published in Prague's Czech and German journals, the work of Bohemian historians interpreting Mozart, and endeavours of cultural activists to construct monuments in recognition of the composer.

Critique: An original, seminal, inherently fascinating, and scholastically meticulous study, "Mozart's Operas and National Politics: Canon Formation in Prague from 1791 to the Present" is enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of lists for figures, tables, and musical examples. There is also a sixteen page Bibliography and a five page Index. While also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $104.50), "Mozart's Operas and National Politics: Canon Formation in Prague from 1791 to the Present" will prove of particular interest to Mozart enthusiasts and an unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Opera Music collections and supplemental Mozart curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Martin Nedbal (https://music.ku.edu/people/martin-nedbal) is Associate Professor of Musicology at the University of Kansas. He is the author of Morality and Viennese Opera in the Age of Mozart and Beethoven (Routledge, 2016) and translator and editor of The Published Theoretical Works of Leos Janacek (Editio Janacek, 2020).

Metallica All the Songs
Benoit Clerc
Mitchell Beazley
c/o Octopus Books
www.octopusbooksusa.com
9781784728939, $60.00, HC, 528pp

https://www.amazon.com/Metallica-All-Songs-story-behind/dp/1784728934

Synopsis: Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrumentals, and aggressive musicianship made them one of the founding "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Megadeth, Anthrax, and Slayer.

Metallica's current lineup comprises founding members and primary songwriters Hetfield and Ulrich, longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, and bassist Robert Trujillo. Guitarist Dave Mustaine, who formed Megadeth after being fired from Metallica, and bassists Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton, and Jason Newsted are former members of the band.

From their widely circulated demo, No Life 'til Leather, all the way to their 10th studio album Hardwired... to Self-Destruct - Metallica has earned the title of the biggest heavy metal band on the planet. Their albums, including the hugely influential Master of Puppets, are now considered classics of rock and metal, while singles such as Enter Sandman, Fade to Black and For Whom the Bell Tolls have stood the test of time. Follow the epic journey of the godfathers of thrash metal, song-by-song, and see how they became one of the biggest selling bands in the world.

With the publication of "Metallica All the Songs: The story behind every track" by Benoit Clerc is impressively comprehensive and illustrated throughout with incredible photography. Ranging from the inspiration behind the lyrics and melodies, to the recording process, and noting the musicians and producers who worked on each track, "Metallica All the Songs" pesents the stories behind the music in this truly definitive history of Metallica.

Critique: Fascinating, informative, comprehensive, exceptionally well organized, 'reader friendly' in presentation,, and a must-have for the legions of Metallica fans, "Metallica All the Songs: The story behind every track" is the most in-depth exploration of Metallica's songs ever written. While also available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $18.99), "Metallica All the Songs: The story behind every track" is an impressive and unreservedly recommended addition to community and academic library American Heavy Metal Music & Rock Band History collection and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Author and composer Beno t Clerc has been a professional musician for over fifteen years. In addition to composing music for film and television, in 2018 Benoit formed his own production company, Tivoli Songs.

The Jive 95
Hank Rosenfeld
Backbeat Books
www.backbeatbooks.com
c/o Globe Pequot
https://www.globepequot.com
9781493070862, $32.95, HC, 346pp

https://www.amazon.com/Jive-95-Americas-Underground-Francisco/dp/149307086X

Synopsis: With the publication of "The Jive 95: An Oral History of America's Greatest Underground Rock Radio Station, KSAN San Francisco", Hank Rosenfeld provides an oral history of America's first hippie underground FM station which broadcast the countercultural consciousness of the '60s and '70s to a new generation. It was a communal radio band of intrepid hellraisers, pranksters, and drug-enlightened geniuses who defined this psychedelic era from the Summer of Love in Golden Gate Park, to the rebellion and bitter end of the late 1970s which was to launch the Reagan Revolution.

Founded in San Francisco by Tom Donahue, a 1996 inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, an entire generation of Americans discovered a new musical universe among dance clubs, light shows and street fests -- the original pop-ups. Almost overnight, KSAN became an audio clubhouse, where anyone could belong with friends and the cool cats and hipsters they just met.

Rock gods, political stars, and literary celebrities, including Jerry Garcia, Ken Kesey, Sly Stone, and John Lennon were all interviewed by founder Tom Donahue and his cohorts, whose listeners "tuned in and turned on" to bands like Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Quicksilver, Country Joe and the Fish, Hot Tuna, The Beatles and Santana, among others.

Folk journalist Hank Rosenfeld was there during those final years -- writing, producing, and announcing. His warm, funny voice presents a behind-the-mic experience at KSAN, the beloved, "Jive 95," whose delicious dose of enlightened sunshine and 33 rpm LP dreamscapes ignited a radio explosion from coast to coast.

So, how did KSAN go from a liberating voice to a corporate cliche? It's all here in Rosenfeld's insightful, hilarious account, which includes countless exclusive interviews with iconic performers and never before available in print or audio form.

Critique: Fascinating, informative, exceptional, surprising, insightful, thoughtful and thorought-provoking, "The Jive 95: An Oral History of America's Greatest Underground Rock Radio Station, KSAN San Francisco" is an extraordinary and unique contribution to the history of 20th Century American Rock Music History. While especially and unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "The Jive 95" is also readily availble in a digital book format (Kindle, $22.99) from Backbeat Books.

Editorial Note: Hank Rosenfeld (https://www.hankrosenfeld.com) produced news and comedy at KSAN, "The Jive 95." He is co-author of the as-told-to memoirs, The Wicked Wit of the West by Marx Bros and MGM scenarist Irving Brecher, and Memorie by Benjamin Mandil. He has written for The Realist, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Forward, Village Voice, NY Post, etc. He produced radio shows in NYC, Minneapolis, and on The Voice of Peace pirate radio ship broadcasting "from somewhere in the Mediterranean." He also told stories on NPR, and was on the staff of Spy Magazine.

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