In the opinion of an eminent European conductor of my acquaintance, it was last possible to adequately cast the big Verdi operas in the 1970s. Nothing in my experience sporadically attending Verdi at the Met contradicts that view. Sampling yesterday's live broadcast of Aida, I listened to the tenor struggle through "Celeste Aida" and the soprano skim "Ritorna vincitor." It was … [Read more...] about How Performable is Verdi at the Met?
Stravinsky, the New York Philharmonic, and Program Music
As Igor Stravinsky's impregnable twentieth century reputation fades with time, both the man and the composer seem ever more elusive. A recent visit to the New York Philharmonic Archives, preparing for the Philharmonic's upcoming Stravinsky festival with Valery Gergiev, reinforced the density of the Stravinsky conundrum. Stravinsky was born in St. Petersburg. His father was an … [Read more...] about Stravinsky, the New York Philharmonic, and Program Music
The Nose, The Trojans, and Issues of Popularity
Leaving aside the problem that William Kentridge's spectacular production of The Nose at the Metropolitan Opera overwhelms Shostakovich's 1928 chamber opera, leaving aside that one departs the house with the questionable sensation of having seen inspired stagecraft inflicted on a weak work, I merely wish to observe a series of paradoxes. The Nose at the Met, with six … [Read more...] about The Nose, The Trojans, and Issues of Popularity
The Stokowski Conundrum
John Adams, on his blog "Hellmouth," has just posted a stirring piece in praise of Leopold Stokowski. These days Stokowski is by far the more fascinating phenomenon than his onetime rival Toscanini. John writes: "Anyone following [Stokowski's] career will be driven mad trying to cull the pearls from the swill." Consider his two recordings (live, studio) of Schoenberg's … [Read more...] about The Stokowski Conundrum
Rrecuperating from The Trojans
I'm still attempting to digest Berlioz's The Trojans, as performed by Valery Gergiev and his Kirov soloists, orchestra, and chorus at Carnegie Hall last week. The experience was humbling, overwhelming, enobling. A sentient listener can only shrink in the presence of Berlioz's masterpiece, an opera in two parts not wholly knowable. Its power, obviously, is archetypal (it sets … [Read more...] about Rrecuperating from The Trojans