The Popes Maestro

Maestro Gilbert Levine had the extraordinary privilege of conducting concerts for His Holiness Pope John Paul II for seventeen years. I was proud to collaborate closely with him as he created such events as the Papal Concert to Commemorate Shoah and the Papal Concert of Reconciliation, which helped immeasurable to bring the Pope s message of peace and understanding to Christians and Jews, Muslims, and peoples of all faith throughout the world. Sir Gilbert s inspiring book about his journey to Krakow, the Vatican, and beyond will enrich everyone who reads this unique and ennobling story. Stanislaw Cardinal Dziwisz, Archbishop of Krakow

Foreword (John Tagliabue).

Prelude.

Part One Ave Maria.

Chapters 1–6.

Part Two Kaddish.

Chapters 7–23.

Part Three Creation.

Chapters 24–30.

Part Four Resurrection.

Chapters 31–36.

Coda.

About the DVD.

Acknowledgments.

The Author.

Sir Gilbert Levine is a distinguished American conductor who has led major orchestras in the United States and abroad, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, San Francisco Symphony, London Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, Kraków Philharmonic, and L Orchestre de la Bastille (Paris). Educated at Juilliard, Princeton, and Yale, Maestro Levine has conducted numerous televised concerts on PBS and for the European Broadcasting Union, and performed for His Holiness Pope John Paul II on many occasions. He has been honored with the highest Pontifical Knighthood accorded a non–ecclesiastical musician since Mozart.

Not all books are worth writing; this one assuredly is, because ittells how peace can happen, one heart at a time. It helps when thehearts beat in people of influence and talent. The hearts inquestion are, first, that of author Levine, a conductor,Brooklyn–born Jew, and son–in–law of a Holocaust survivor. Theother heart? Polish–born Pope John Paul II, who may be headed tosainthood. Levine and the late pope became acquainted when themusician became the conductor of the Krakow Philharmonic in theheady days of the late 1980s, as the Iron Curtain slowly crumbledin Eastern Europe. Levine and the pope became spiritual friends,collaborating on papal–sponsored concerts of reconciliationintended to ease estrangement and pained history between CatholicChristians and Jews, and, post–September 11, among the threeAbrahamic religions. This remarkable and little–known storydeserves attention. (Oct.) ( Publishers Weekly, August 16,2010)

"Talk about a baptism in fire. Levine is witty as he tells ofhis observations of Communist Poland, the intricacies of theCatholic Church, and his first glimpses of the Vatican Hestrikes a dreamlike tone as he tells of how he and Pope John PaulII became friends." (The Buffalo News.com, March 20, 2011,by Mary Kunz Goldman)