-- I -- I recently spent the three consecutive weekends speaking at conferences pertinent to the fate of America’s orchestras. The first, at Grinnell College, was sponsored by the American Association of Liberal Arts Colleges. The topic was reforming music curricula. The second, at the University of … [Read more...] about STORM WARNINGS: THE FUTURE OF ORCHESTRAS
Musical Films
With our newly released Redes DVD, PostClassical Ensemble completes its Naxos quartet of classic 1930s films with freshly recorded soundtracks. The scores for these four films – the others are The Plow that Broke the Plains, The River, and The City – are among the most distinguished … [Read more...] about Musical Films
Bach on the Piano
I have a good friend who’s a magnificent pianist, maybe sixty years old. Some years ago, my friend remarked: “You know, when we were young, there were a lot of major pianists. Everyone knew who they were: Horowitz, Serkin, Arrau, Michelangeli, Richter, Gilels, Pollini, Kempff, Rubinstein [I cannot replicate his full list]. They were all different, of course. But in every … [Read more...] about Bach on the Piano
Instead of Alexander Nevsky
For every screening with live orchestra of Sergei Eisenstein’s Alexander Nevsky (music by Prokofiev), there should be at least a dozen screenings with live orchestra of Paul Strand’s Redes (music by Silvestre Revueltas). I supply three reasons: 1.Revueltas’s score is as great an achievement as Prokofiev’s, yet remains virtually unknown. 2.Unlike Nevsky, which Prokofiev … [Read more...] about Instead of Alexander Nevsky
Kurt Weill’s “Note Concerning Jazz”
In Berlin 1929 Kurt Weil wrote a “Note Concerning Jazz” which today reads as both a prediction and a warning. Weill wrote in part: “Today it appears to me that the manner of performance of jazz is finally breaking through the rigid system of musical practice in our concerts and theaters and that this is more important than its influence on musical … [Read more...] about Kurt Weill’s “Note Concerning Jazz”