author
Louis Biancolli
1907–1992
A longtime New York music critic and guide to the concert hall, he helped generations of listeners feel more at home with symphonic music. His writing was informed, welcoming, and closely tied to the musical life of mid-century New York.
2 Audiobooks
Serge Prokofieff and his orchestral music
by Louis Biancolli
Tschaikowsky and his orchestral music
by Louis Biancolli
About the author
Born in New York in 1907, Louis Biancolli became a prominent American music critic and writer whose work centered on classical music. He wrote for the New York World-Telegram and Sun from 1928 to 1966, and he also served as a program annotator for the New York Philharmonic in the 1940s.
Biancolli was known not only as a reviewer but also as an interpreter of music for general readers. He co-authored The Concert Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to Symphonic Music with Robert Bagar, and he wrote or contributed to books on major composers and performers, including a biography of soprano Kirsten Flagstad. He also collaborated with pianist Ruth Slenczynska on Forbidden Childhood.
He earned a master's degree from New York University and did graduate study in Russian at Columbia University. Biancolli died in 1992 in Connecticut, leaving behind a body of work that combined criticism, scholarship, and a clear love of musical performance.