Donald Mitchell (1) (1925–2017)

If a picture paints a thousand words, then I have just read the longest book of my life! A flippant remark, but one tinged with a serious aspect. A biography can tell one about the achievements of a person: it also tells one whether the writer liked, or disliked, the subject: it is much less effective than a single photograph for informing us as to the person's character.

A book, such as this, containing in excess of a thousand images, shows us Britten's world, it shows us the people with show more whom he interacted but, more importantly, in several hundred pictures of the man himself, it would not be possible for the character of the man not to slip out. This work is a selection of photographs, from the family home, parents, siblings and the young Britten, to the man's funeral. The authors are quick to point out that they have chosen the photographs with the desire to give the feel of the man, rather than, necessarily, including every event in Britten's life. In my view, they succeed: I feel almost as if Britten were someone that I had met after reading this book. It is an excellent peg upon which to hang the information contained in the more word based biographies of Britten, which I shall be tackling soon. Anyone interested in the story of Benjamin Britten NEEDS to own this book. show less

A strange collection of 64 songs, many of them in other languages, untranslated. "My Love's an Arbutus," is one example. "Muss I Denn," "My Goose," "Botany Bay," "Chevaliers de la table ronde."

Pen and ink illustrations, some of them colored, are realized dreams, with a mid-20th century graphics sensibility. Many are grotesque enough to scare children.

The preface is written in such stilted language as to suggest it was written in, oh, 1922.

Mitchell's chronicle of Mahler's first 20 years succeeds in constructing a biography from fragmentary, incoherent, and often contradictory Mahler literature. Buttressed by copious notes and an extensive appendix, Mitchell traces Mahler's formative experiences and creative efforts preceding the symphonies.

Times Literary Supplement: "Mitchell's biographical thoroughness, his scrupulousness with references, and his way of elucidating the various versions of a work are well known and widely show more admired." show less

Some good material but ... the book is sadly lacking in coherence and precision.
There's a lot of trying to be intelligent – but if you have to try then you haven't got it.
Comments are often trite. There's far too much use of the first person singular. That's okay in a diary but definitely not in a would-be scholarly book.