What I’m reading

Newly knighted with the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit for his services to the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, American conductor and pianist Andrew Litton is a musician who believes in the nurturing of long-term orchestral relationships: eight years as music director in Bergen, with the contract recently extended to 2015, and an equal length of time before that in Dallas have reaped their rewards. In May he spoke to theartsdesk while visiting Berlin with “the other” BPO, and in August conducted a three-part Prom with the Royal Philharmonic featuring works written for Boston Symphony Orchestra supremo Serge Koussevitzky. Here he discusses reading matter, musical and otherwise.

What are you reading for the summer at the moment?

One of the greatest gadgets to come into my life in the last couple years has been the e-book reader: Kindle and iPad.

I routinely go out on the road for six to eight weeks, and often have a whole suitcase packed just with the orchestral scores I need. Adding books to the weight load has been costly in airline overweight charges, not to mention convenience, and so my choices have been pretty much limited to biographies and non-fiction writings to aid in my studies. The joy of my iPad is that I can read two to three books at once depending on my mood and situation, all with the flick of a screen, and without looking like a library trolley! I am currently in the midst of Sibelius: A Composer’s Life and the Awakening of Finland by Glenda Dawn Goss. It is proving to be a fascinating and exhaustive study in all things Finnish, not just its most cherished composer. I am finding the book particularly helpful in unravelling the mysteries of Sibelius interpretation – sometimes it takes the unbiased honesty of an outsider (Ms Goss is from the American state of Georgia) to quantify and put things into proper perspective for all of us to appreciate.

The other book I am reading comes from the Flashman series by George MacDonald Fraser. I confess to never having heard of the series before; it was recommended by one of my closest friends, and I am so glad that this omission has been rectified. It is impossible not to get drawn in to the vivid depiction of the Victorian age, so palpable that one keeps having to remind oneself that this is a novel! I shall definitely be investing in the other books in the series, but the one I quite randomly started with is Flashman on the March and it is easy to see why one critic called Flashman a Victorian James Bond.

What have you enjoyed reading in similar circumstances in the past?

I love novels that have a deep historical connection. Recently on the BBC Radio 3 Literary Prom in which I took part, I chose Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities as one of the five works of fiction that had a huge impact on me. In a similar historical vein, I recently finished Edward Rutherfurd’s epic New York, the novel. As a born and raised New Yorker, literally from Manhattan, it was inspiring for me to follow the historical outline of my city through his tales, going all the way from 1664 and the Dutch occupation to 2009.

What are you looking forward to reading?

I am eagerly anticipating starting Volume 4 of Henry-Louis de la Grange’s Gustav Mahler: Volume 4: A New Life Cut Short. This greatest of all Mahler biographers has given us the definitive study of one of my favourite composers. Mahler the conductor was the first of his kind and influenced the development of the modern conductor from Bernstein to Dudamel. This volume covers Mahler’s final years and his time on the podiums of New York. It won't be in my suitcase anytime soon though, since it is almost 1800 pages! Now if only they would put it on Kindle.

Originally printed in The Arts Desk, on February 15, 2011.
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