The Show Must Go On: On Tour With the LSO in 1912 & 2012

The Show Must Go On: On Tour With the LSO in 1912 & 2012

By: Gareth Davies

ISBN: 9781908739803
eBook ISBN: 9781908739810
Cover: Hardback
Published: May 30, 2013
Size: 216x135mm
Page Count: 256 pages

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A memoir of the London Symphony Orchestra on tour in the US and further afield, focusing on their historic first visit to America in 1912, when the were due to sail on the Titanic, and their most recent travels. Gareth Davies, Principal Flautist at the LSO, tells the remarkable story of a groundbreaking exhibition through recently discovered diaries, archive material from London and New York and newspaper reports from the time.

Against this is set a behind-the-scenes account of the LSO’s worldwide touring schedule, which finds that a surprising number of the same challenges remain. We join Gareth and his colleagues as they contend with airports, volcanoes, travel strikes, illness and even life and death situations.

As well as vivid descriptions of sitting centre stage, surrounded by music and working with the likes of Haitink, Gergiev and Sir Colin Davis, we get to glimpse into the backstage goings on and see into the mind of a professional musician as never before. Written by someone at the heart of the action, we follow the travels of two musicians, a century apart, in the same orchestra.

The show does go on.

  • Davies writes engagingly and fluently as a perceptive observer of orchestral life with a keen eye for entertaining detail.


    - Classical Music Magazine, Books of the Year 2013
  • An entertaining comparison between the high-octane life of a professional musician today and what it was like for his LSO forebears.


    - FT Books of the Year 2013, Financial Times
  • Five Stars

    This deftly written, insightful and at times poignant travelogue deserves the widest circulation.


    - Julian Haycock, BBC Music Magazine
  • A gentle dip into a musician’s high pressure lifestyle


    - FT's pick, Music summer reads 2013 Financial Times