More 20th Century Conductors, 7 Discographies: Eugen Jochum, Ferenc Fricsay, Carl Schuricht, Felix Weingartner, Josef Krips, Otto Klemperer, Erich Kleiber
November 29, 1924— Giacomo Puccini , who assumed the mantle of master of Italian opera from Verdi, and who lived with as much tumult as he chronicled in La Bohème , Tosca , and Madama Butterfly , died of cardiac arrest amid radiation treatment for throat cancer in Brussels, Belgium. Death deprived him of the chance to complete his final masterwork: Turandot . In two years of blogging,...
The New Year's Day Concert at the Tonhalle in Dusseldorf is a great attraction for classical music lovers. MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, November 28, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Tonhalle in Dusseldorf will once again play host to the city's annual New Year Concert on January 1st. Conductor Hubert Soudant will guide the audience through a programme of orchestral works and waltzes by Robert Schumann, Johann...
The New Century Chamber Orchestra is a conductorless string ensemble formed by Stuart Canin in 1992. Last year they appointed the star violin soloist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg as their concertmaster and music director, and from most accounts it's been a good mesh. (Click here for a wonderful interview with Nadja by Steven Winn at SFGate.) The first thing I noticed about the group on Saturday evening...
After two weeks abroad thinking many thoughts but none of the Pod variety, your Podthinker now gladly returns to the podcast beat with a rejuvenated mind and freshened perspective. Or something. One bright new insight includes the fact that, while we can thank the medium of podcasting most for making possible thousands of homebrewed programs that wouldn't otherwise have reached ear one, it's also...
"Da da da dum..." Who hasn't heard that famous motif? It has echoed through concert halls, practice rooms, and auditoriums more times than anyone could count. And Saturday at 8 p.m., it echoed through Spaulding Auditorium. It was resonant. Radiant. Beethoven's Fifth. Call me a child of cliche if you like but I was struck by those chords. The powerful C minor can be abused and it can be raised...
I posted last week about my meeting with PYP Maestro, David Hattner. Our meeting left me excited that I would be attending the opening concert of their season on Saturday evening (the first concert of the PYP I have ever attended) but really nothing prepared me for the experience I actually had. I am not going to try to write a reasoned review of the concert but I would like to share with you some...
Belgium's most famous classical music export, conductor Philippe Herreweghe , fell victim to a brutal break-in, being robbed of his Audi A8 at gunpoint and locked up in his bathroom for hours in the middle of the night . Police think Herreweghe became a target by perhaps naively giving 40 euros to a begging girl at his doorstep a few days ago (supposedly for her sick brother's medical bills). Nonetheless,...
I have spent most of my adult life (should I put "adult" in square quotes') going to the theater three or four times a week, during Tony season sometimes more. For much of the time I felt this was a stimulating way to spend my evenings, but I must admit I enjoy going to the theater more when it's a matter of choice rather than duty. During those many years I was forced to forego many of...
Google search: Didacticism, Elly May Clampett ... Response to Fondue Symposium at Pribek.net #71 HERE “Obama's address [stem cell research] was morally unserious in the extreme. It was populated, as his didactic discourses always are, with a forest of straw men.” ( Pager, Dennis. 03.17.2009 ) Tuesday, March 17, 2009 | Excerpts from Discourse by Pager Brilliance is Overrated by Dennis Prager...
By Pauline Lerner: It seems so simple and obvious: Playing notes is not the same as playing music. I once saw a musician wearing a T-shirt that said, "Just because you know a lot of notes and can play them fast doesn't mean you're a good musician." I believe that. I'm a sort of hybrid because I play both classical and nonclassical music. I hear ignorant criticism and snobbery from both sides....
Here's an magical TED talk on the power of classical music, delivered by the conductor Benjamin Zander. It also demonstrates the power of story telling when giving a presentation. Prepare to be inspired!
The classical music world is known for planning concerts and events years in advance. But the Berlin Philharmonic takes the cake today with its announcement that it has secured Simon Rattle's tenure as head of the orchestra for another nine...
The Washington Post's On Leadership blog yesterday featured the conductor Roger Nierenberg, who, with his program The Music Paradigm, is making a specialty of pointing out the ways in which principles of conducting can be applied to business success. Nierenberg isn't the first person to make these observations; several other conductors have made forays into seminar rooms and management conferences....
By The Weekend Vote: This fall marks the beginning of a new era for both the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with its new Music director, Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel , 28, and the New York Philharmonic, with new Music Director Alan Gilbert , 42. When I think about both these new conductors, certainly I am thinking about change and new energy. But I'm not focused completely on youth, like, say, this...
World Renowned Conductor Leads Residents, Guests in Invigorating Conductorcise® Class Heritage Pointe of Teaneck recently hosted a Conductorcise® class led by the creator of the program, World Renowned Maestro David Dworkin (at front). A long-time conductor, Dworkin retired from the music scene and now spends his days traveling around the world, leading groups in the alternative exercise class....
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