True Artist and True Friend: A Biography of Hans Richter

The title of this expansive biography of the great conductor comes from Sir Edward Elgar's dedication to him of his First Symphony. And indeed Richter was an extraordinary artist, as well as being an intimate of two great composers: Richard Wagner, for whom he was a virtual amanuensis during Wagner's most productive years, and Elgar, whose reputation he helped to make with revelatory performances of the Enigma Variations, the First Symphony and ``Gerontius.'' Richter (1843-1916) was one of the first great conductors, along with Hans von Bulow and Arthur Nikisch. After a long association with Wagner, and a period during which he helped build the foundations of Bayreuth, he moved to England, first with an annual series of concerts in London, later as conductor of Manchester's celebrated Halle Orchestra; along the way he also helped found the London Symphony Orchestra. He revolutionized standards of orchestral playing in England, as well as building an audience for his magisterial performances of Wagner and Beethoven. He regarded Elgar as a composer on a level with the greatest masters, and performed him accordingly; but otherwise he came to be criticized in later years for his ultra-conservative programs, though no critic ever denied his utter mastery of the orchestra. Fifield, a British critic and musician, has created an absorbing, utterly consistent portrait, which is nevertheless probably too much of a good thing for the general reader--at least a third of it must consist of adulatory reviews, which tend to become numbing after a time. Photos. (Nov.)