“Wherever I found decency and humanity in the world, it reminded me of America.” Kurt Weill wrote those words after returning from a visit to Germany in 1947. I read them aloud at least a dozen times during the Kurt Weill festival in El Paso last week. Every time I invited my listeners to consider whether or not they still apply. Because Weill was an exemplary immigrant, … [Read more...] about THE FUTURE OF ORCHESTRAS — Part Five: Kurt Weill, El Paso, and the National Mood
“The Art and Alchemy of Conducting” — and Mahler’s Fourth
As all Mahlerites know, the opening of the Fourth Symphony is both magical and mutable. A preamble of chiming sleigh bells and flutes dissipates to a cheerful violin ditty that coyly retards as it ascends to the tonic G. Mahler writes “etwas zuruckhaltend” (“somewhat held back”). But really anything goes. The champion retarder is Willem Mengelberg, in a famous 1939 recording … [Read more...] about “The Art and Alchemy of Conducting” — and Mahler’s Fourth
Can Orchestras Be Re-Invented?
David Skinner, in his article in the current Humanities Magazine about the NEH-funded Music Unwound consortium that I direct, describes Delta David Gier, the exemplary music director of the South Dakota Symphony, addressing a room of university students and faculty: “He starts by asking everyone to reimagine an orchestra as a humanities institution – one that brings together … [Read more...] about Can Orchestras Be Re-Invented?
Shostakovich and Film — Take Two
I spent the last two days repeatedly viewing – and (as the orchestra’s pianist) participating in – screenings of the 1929 Soviet silent film The New Babylon, with Dmitri Shostakovich’s score performed by PostClassical Ensemble led by Angel Gil-Ordóñez. Every aspect of this astonishing movie has surged in my comprehension and estimation – to the point, for instance, that I … [Read more...] about Shostakovich and Film — Take Two
Shostakovich and the Fool: Boris Godunov and King Lear
The most galvanizing Shakespeare experience I know is the 1971 Soviet film version of King Lear directed by Grigory Kozintsev with music by Dmitri Shostakovich. Its dimensions are such that it fails on a home screen; it demands a big theater and big sound. The profound Russianness of the Kozintsev/Shostakovich Lear transcends language. Re-encountering this great film in the … [Read more...] about Shostakovich and the Fool: Boris Godunov and King Lear