For last Saturday's performance of Mahler's Ninth Symphony at the Round Top Music Festival, an orchestra of 88 gifted young musicians rehearsed for 22 hours over the course of six days; there were also more than four hours of sectional rehearsals. A splendid young Austrian conductor, Christoph Campestrini, used every minute of his allotted time, correcting and exhorting with precision and enthusiasm. The result was formidable: an impassioned and idiomatic account, honed to honor Mahler's kaleidoscopic textures. The previous week, Round Top … [Read more...]
Improvising Stravinsky
June 18, 2011 by Leave a Comment
One of my standard rants - typically inflicted on young pianists - is called "The Piano in the 21st Century."I begin by asking if anyone can name an important pianist before 1900 who was not also a composer and/or conductor. It's supposed to be a trick question - all the names that come to mind (Liszt, Thalberg, Rubinstein, Pabst, von Bulow, Busoni, etc.) support my point that the "performance specialist" - the pianist who only plays the piano - is a 20th century anomaly. (I had given this talk dozens of times before someone said "Vladimir de … [Read more...]
Recent Comments
Nathalie D. Wagner, President, Wagner Society of New York on Wagner at Coney Island
What a privilege to hear Anton Seidl's lovely--and beautifully performed--composition "Good Night" that you discovered. The Wagner Society of...Dan Goldstein on Shostakovich Decoded
As a once upon a time oboe extra with Pacific Symphony I read with satisfaction your discussion about the orchestra's...Laurence Glavin on The Great American Symphony
I have a very warm spot for William Schuman's Third Symphony. I recall hearing it in live performance one...Joel Lee on A Status Report on City Opera
Again, we go on and on about the acoustics at the NY State Theater. Why were there not criticisms...william osborne on A Status Report on City Opera
Small music theater requires entirely new concepts of composition, singing and staging. NYCO wants to create a new form...Chuck Lavazi on Dvorak and Hiawatha
The first time I heard the Largo of the Dvorak 9th (then called the 5th, which shows what a geezer...Robert Berger on Ives the Sophisticate
Interesting article, but your dismissal of the Sibelius 2nd as "banal" and "cliched" could not be more...Mark Stryker on Ives the Sophisticate
Joe, Insightful post, thanks. Interestingly, in a review I wrote a couple days ago about the four Ives symphonies played at...J. Theakston on The Greatest Film Score You’ve Never Heard
Must disagree with you on one point, Joe. Modern accompaniment for classic films (silent films excluded) is walking a...richard on The Met’s New Parsifal
I saw the performance of March 5, and your description of the brillance of this production rings true. At last,...