Graham Wade

The Art of Julian Bream might better have been named The Julian Bream Scrapbook, given the grab-bag nature of the contents. This book is not strict biography or critical interpretation, but rather a chronological rendering of Bream's concertizing, transcription, and recording activities over the course of his career. The repetition of concert programs, dates, and minor excerpts from contemporary critical reviews gets a bit numbing after a while, but there is a considerable level of detail herein, and the real value of this volume emerges with the extensive black-and-white photographs and the appendices listing major recordings as well as the individual pieces from the complete recorded repertoire.… (mer)