As readers of this blog must be aware – perhaps with interest, perhaps with mounting annoyance – I have become obsessed with the elusive phenomenon of “feeling it.” It’s my impression that orchestras are feeling it less and less. And that the human condition, these days, is less and less susceptible to feeling it. The responses, both public and private, have been … [Read more...] about “Feeling It” — Giulini and Arrau vs. George Szell’s New World Perfectionism
Remembering Bill McGlaughlin: 1943-2026
I once described Bill McGlaughlin, who has died at the age of 82, as manifesting "a singular combination of gravitas, humor, and informed sincerity." He began his musical life as a trombonist, later became a conductor and composer --- and America's single best-known classical music radio host. Classical music radio turned toxic decades ago. It connotes arthritic programing … [Read more...] about Remembering Bill McGlaughlin: 1943-2026
American Classical Music at 250 – Take Four: The “Orchestra Gap” Cont’d
I’d like to draw attention to four of the public responses to my recent blog on the “Orchestra Gap,” in which I observe among the younger members of major American orchestras "diminished motivation: as if the music fails to impel a commanding physical and emotional response.” Two of the responses are from senior orchestral musicians. The third is from a prominent music … [Read more...] about American Classical Music at 250 – Take Four: The “Orchestra Gap” Cont’d
American Classical Music at 250 — Take Three: The Orchestra Gap: Europe vs. the US
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra going through the motions of Wagner’s “Liebestod” – “diminished motivation: as if the music fails to impel a commanding physical and emotional response.” To access a pertinent podcast conversation between Joseph Horowitz and conductor Kenneth Woods, click here. To discover a final whiff of optimism, go to 1:00:53. An accelerating hiatus … [Read more...] about American Classical Music at 250 — Take Three: The Orchestra Gap: Europe vs. the US
Mahler: Fact and Fiction
The books of Robert Seethaler, one of Europe’s pre-eminent novelists, include a 2020 novella about Gustav Mahler: Der letzte Satz. It’s just appeared in English as The Last Movement. It seeks to explore the final turbulent years of the Mahler odyssey. So does my own 2023 Mahler novel: The Marriage: The Mahlers in New York. Scanning the similarities and differences observable in … [Read more...] about Mahler: Fact and Fiction