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
What Might the Kennedy Center Best Become — Take Two
I’ve received three memorable responses to my recent blog – also posted on Arts Fuse -- pondering whether the Kennedy Center might become, or might have become, a genuine “national cultural center.” The first, from a prominent arts administrator in mid-America, simply reads: “It all comes down to leadership.” The second, from Douglas McLennan of ArtsJournal, concludes: … [Read more...] about What Might the Kennedy Center Best Become — Take Two
What Might the Kennedy Center Best Become?
Today's "Arts Fuse" publishes my latest thoughts about the Kennedy Center: With the fate of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts – for the moment, no longer the Trump Kennedy Center – unknowable, it’s tantalizing to inquire what it might become. A related question is whether it became all it could have been in the first place. When Jackie Kennedy urged Leonard … [Read more...] about What Might the Kennedy Center Best Become?
Why Gustav Mahler’s New York Career Was a “Failure”
The critic Henry Krehbiel notoriously called Gustav Mahler’s New York career a failure, undone by “foolishness and naivete.” Most accounts of Mahler’s life take issue with this opinion, or refuse to take it seriously. But Krehbiel knew what he was talking about. At the Colorado Mahlerfest last May, Krehbiel and his Mahler verdict were debated. The debaters were Hilan … [Read more...] about Why Gustav Mahler’s New York Career Was a “Failure”