The USC Center on Public Diplomacy has published an interview with me pondering the implications of my study of the cultural Cold War, “The Propaganda of Freedom.” You can read the full interview here. Excerpts follow: The book began one day when I attended an event at the National Archives about the Kennedy White House and Arts Policy. For the first time, I became … [Read more...] about “What if JFK had not been assassinated? People talk about: What would have been the impact in Vietnam? What interests me is: What would have been the impact on the American arts?”
“America’s Greatest Opera Boss Has Died”
Norman Lebrecht’s obituary notice for Speight Jenkins, which ran today, is titled “America’s Greatest Opera Boss Has Died.” I couldn’t agree more. In Seattle, Speight created the most important Wagner house in North America. I remember his first “Ring,” directed by Francois Rochaix, as the most memorable mounting I have ever encountered (a rung above the Patrice Chereau … [Read more...] about “America’s Greatest Opera Boss Has Died”
Who Was Alma Mahler?
Esther van Zyl as Alma Mahler in my play “The Marriage,” as performed at Colorado Mahlerfest two weeks ago. By 1849, when he fled Germany, Richard Wagner knew he had to end his marriage. His consequent letters to and about Minna are heart-breaking. “I soon saw that only silence and the repression of my true nature could enable us to live together without daily scenes of the … [Read more...] about Who Was Alma Mahler?
“The World’s Greatest Orchestra” — Take Two: Today’s Metropolitan Opera
I find myself still gorging on live recorded performances by the greatest orchestra I ever encountered – Yevgeny Mravinsky’s Leningrad Philharmonic. Last night, it was Bartok’s Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta – a 1965 reading more intensely engaged than what you’ll hear today from any American orchestra known to me. My previous blog has attracted many thousands of … [Read more...] about “The World’s Greatest Orchestra” — Take Two: Today’s Metropolitan Opera
The World’s Greatest Orchestra — Its Significance Then and Now
The decline in orchestral performance continues apace. A specimen: The main theme of the sublime pas de deux from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker is a descending G major scale introduced by the cellos, then repeated in response by the first violins. I recently heard a performance by an American orchestra whose principal cellist is venerable. His section took ownership of … [Read more...] about The World’s Greatest Orchestra — Its Significance Then and Now