Readers of this blog will appreciate my keen interest in Valery Gergiev's performances of Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements on the final two days of the New York Philharmonic's three-week "Russian Stravinsky" festival (cf. my postings of March 29 and May 3). This work, so complexly monogrammed with the composer's layer upon layer of identity, is one of the most … [Read more...] about Rehearing Stravinsky’s War Symphony
Stravinsky, Self-Denial, and Self-Renewal
The New York Philharmonic's three-week Stravinsky festival is in full swing. It offers a singular opportunity to hear no fewer than 16 Stravinsky works conducted by Valery Gergiev - who proposes a much different Stravinsky than, say, Pierre Boulez or Esa-Pekka Salonen: darker, earthier, weightier. In effect, Gergiev furnishes phase two of a new Stravinsky template, supplanting … [Read more...] about Stravinsky, Self-Denial, and Self-Renewal
One Reason Critics Matter
When people worry about the impact of the recession on the performing arts, they worry about money: waning ticket sales, waning foundation support, waning gifts, waning fees. They should also worry about newspapers - about the draconian impact on arts journalism as papers cut back or go under. The arts cannot flourish in a media vacuum. I know there are new media. But cultural … [Read more...] about One Reason Critics Matter
Rescue Attempt for a Major Dance Work
To assess the legacy of a conductor, the first place to look is repertoire. Leonard Bernstein's too-brief decade as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic was remarkable in many ways, but the surest criterion of Bernstein's success is the music he successfully championed. He made Mahler, Ives, and Nielsen matter as they had not mattered before. Every orchestra, every … [Read more...] about Rescue Attempt for a Major Dance Work
How Performable Is Verdi at the Met? — Continued
In my last blog, I extolled a 1935 Met La Traviata broadcast as an antidote to the Verdi performances of today, and invited readers to listen to Ettore Panizza conduct the preludes, and to Lawrence Tibbett deliver the goods in "Di Provenza." My friend Ettore Volontieri, who trained as a baritone before becoming an inimitable artists' manager, wrote to remind me that the same … [Read more...] about How Performable Is Verdi at the Met? — Continued