The most frequent public respondent to my recent blogs about the long brewing crises now afflicting America’s major orchestras, James Orleans writes as a member of the Boston Symphony’s double bass section from 1983 to 2018. As I did on July 29, I am reproducing his comments in the main body of my blog lest they otherwise be overlooked. If our orchestras matter, so do the … [Read more...] about American Classical Music at 250 — Take Eight: Another Boston Symphony Perspective on the “Malaise” Afflicting Orchestras
American Classical Music at 250 — Take Seven: The Ford Foundation’s Misguided Philanthropy
Since filing a New York Times piece on the perilous state of American classical music 250 years since the nation’s founding, I’ve written five follow-up blogs and participated in a podcast with the conductor Kenneth Woods. The response has been voluminous and informative. The most telling responses have come from conductors and orchestral musicians. Practically without … [Read more...] about American Classical Music at 250 — Take Seven: The Ford Foundation’s Misguided Philanthropy
American Classical Music at 250 — Take Six: The Disconnect Between Scholars and Orchestras
Beginning with my “New York Times” piece on July 4, this is the fifth in a series of articles pondering the state of classical music in the US on the occasion of our 250th birthday. Above: Peter Bogdanoff's visual presentation for the Largo and Scherzo of Dvorak's "New World" Symphony, premiered by the Brooklyn Philharmonic in 1994 and since widely deployed by American … [Read more...] about American Classical Music at 250 — Take Six: The Disconnect Between Scholars and Orchestras
American Classical Music at 250 — Take Five: “Feeling It” — Giulini and Arrau vs. George Szell’s New World Perfectionism
As readers of this blog must be aware – perhaps with interest, perhaps with mounting annoyance – I have become obsessed with the elusive phenomenon of “feeling it.” It’s my impression that orchestras are feeling it less and less. And that the human condition, these days, is less and less susceptible to feeling it. The responses, both public and private, have been … [Read more...] about American Classical Music at 250 — Take Five: “Feeling It” — Giulini and Arrau vs. George Szell’s New World Perfectionism
Remembering Bill McGlaughlin: 1943-2026
I once described Bill McGlaughlin, who has died at the age of 82, as manifesting "a singular combination of gravitas, humor, and informed sincerity." He began his musical life as a trombonist, later became a conductor and composer --- and America's single best-known classical music radio host. Classical music radio turned toxic decades ago. It connotes arthritic programing … [Read more...] about Remembering Bill McGlaughlin: 1943-2026