I am still processing an avalanche of responses to my New York Times piece on the state of American classical music 250 years in. I’m particularly grateful to readers who wrote to remember the Brooklyn Philharmonic festivals during my 1990s tenure as the orchestra’s Executive Director. That experiment was the subject of the Postlude to my essay collection The Post-Classical … [Read more...] about American Classical Music at 250 – Take Two: The BAM Experiment
Jonas Kaufmann vs. the Orchestra of St. Luke’s – Take Two: Mahler Steinbach Festival
One of my more popular blogs – it still gets lots of hits – is “Jonas Kaufmann vs. The Orchestra of St. Luke’s” back in October 2018. The larger topic is the role of tradition in musical performance – in this case, of the sublime idiom of Viennese operetta. I wrote: “Kaufmann made no attempt to sound like [Richard] Tauber or [Joseph] Schmidt – any more than they had sounded … [Read more...] about Jonas Kaufmann vs. the Orchestra of St. Luke’s – Take Two: Mahler Steinbach Festival
At 250, Has America Delivered on its Classical Music Promise?
The New York Times invited me to attempt a succinct assessment of classical music in the US, from its beginnings to today. My response runs in today's paper: Last fall, I found myself in a South Dakota hotel lobby talking with the composer Derek Bermel. Days before, I learned that his clarinet teacher had played in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. I asked whether he knew … [Read more...] about At 250, Has America Delivered on its Classical Music Promise?
Better than the Met
Visiting Zurich earlier this week, I was eager to sample the Zurich Opera in Wagner. They are bringing the Ring to Carnegie Hall next season led by their General Music Director, Gianandrea Noseda. I found myself attending the premiere of a new Tannhäuser production. The conductor is not Noseda, but Tugan Sokhiev. The director is Thorleifur Orn Arnarsson. … [Read more...] about Better than the Met
Honoring Rachmaninoff and Dishonoring Wagner on Lake Lucerne
Switzerland’s idyllic Lake Lucerne, bounded by majestic mountains, was famously the site of two composer’s homes. Sergei Rachmaninoff built Senar (an acronym for SErgei and NAtalia Rachmaninoff) on land purchased in 1930. From 1932 until 1939, it was his annual residence from May to August. Richard Wagner rented Tribschen, a short boat ride from Lucerne, from 1866 to … [Read more...] about Honoring Rachmaninoff and Dishonoring Wagner on Lake Lucerne