As many who follow baseball know, Jacob deGrom is an artist. It’s not just that he’s likely to win the National League Cy Young Award. Or that his stats this season were off the charts: a 1.70 ERA; 29 consecutive starts allowing three runs or fewer; 269 strike-outs in 217 innings. DeGrom throws exceptionally hard. He is deceptive. He is a master of location. But the … [Read more...] about The Artist and His Audience
Rachmaninoff Uncorked — Take Two: RCA, Ormandy, and the Cork
Charles O’Connell, who commanded “artists and repertoire” for RCA Victor from 1930 to 1944, left a book of reminiscences – The Other Side of the Record (1947) – documenting an astute, querulous intellect and a meddlesome ego. It was often O’Connell who decided what music famous conductors, pianists, and violinists might commercially record. O’Connell admired Sergei … [Read more...] about Rachmaninoff Uncorked — Take Two: RCA, Ormandy, and the Cork
Rachmaninoff Uncorked
Today's "Wall Street Journal" includes my review of "one of the most searing listening experiences in the history of recorded sound" -- the new Marston Records 3-CD set: "Rachmaninoff Plays Symphonic Dances" -- which you can sample here. My review reads: One of the saddest and most paradoxical artistic exiles of the 20th century was Sergei Rachmaninoff, who fled the Russian … [Read more...] about Rachmaninoff Uncorked
What Are Orchestral Musicians For?
Years ago, before I was shown the door, I briefly taught at the Manhattan School of Music within their graduate program for aspirant orchestral musicians. My intention was to impart some knowledge about the history of the orchestra in order to shed light on the decline of orchestras and of orchestral performance – and to suggest that young musicians might be able contribute … [Read more...] about What Are Orchestral Musicians For?
THE FUTURE OF ORCHESTRAS — Part Six: What’s an Orchestra For?
Back in the 1990s, Harvey Lichtenstein – who recreated the Brooklyn Academy of Music – invited me to lunch and asked me if I wanted to run an orchestra. Harvey had just read my notorious Jeremiad Understanding Toscanini: How He Became an American Culture-God and Helped Create a New Audience for Old Music. That was published by Knopf when a book about classical music might … [Read more...] about THE FUTURE OF ORCHESTRAS — Part Six: What’s an Orchestra For?