April 2010 - Posts
Last night I saw a production of Hamlet by England's Royal Shakespeare company on PBS . It was certainly interesting ; a production which updated the action of the famous play to the present day , with all sorts of anachronistic elements in the sets ,costumes and props.
Hamlet shot Polonius with a pistol rather than stabbing him ; you often saw the action through a secret spying device which was recording the goings on without the characters being aware of it . The actors in the murder of Gonzaga arrived by car, and so on. Shakespeare certainly would not have recognized his world-famous play .
This has been common in opera stagings for many years now; Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro,which takes place in the 18th century in the castle of a Spanish nobleman , has been changed in our time to the resdience of a wealthy man living in a luxury high-rise New York building ; Verdi's Rigoletto; which takes place in 16th century Mantua Italy at the court of a licentious Duke, has been updated to New York City among the Mafia dons.
And so forth . The Hamlet production was totally inauthentic . But in our time in the world of classical music , there has been a movement to restore "authenticity" to performing the music of the past by using the instruments of the past in the music of such composers as Bach,Handel,Haydn,Mozart , Beethoven and even later composers known as "HIstorically Informed Performance " or HIP .
The musicians, critics and musicologists who have done all the research in trying to recreate the music of the past as it supposedly sounded have done everything differently from musicians who use the instruments of the present day ; they try to be as scrupulous as possible. Not every one, including me ,is absolutely convinced of the "authenticity" of these performances, but it has certainly been an interesting experience to hear what things might have sounded like long ago.(And I can't emphasize the word might enough).
But you might make comparisons betweeen this and attempts to recreate the performance of Shakespeare's plays as accurately as possible . I believe this may have been attempted. Such a supposedly authentic performace would be vastly different from the Shakespeare we are accustomed to today.
At the Globe theater, there were no sets as such; just the bare stage . The audience would have to use its imagination in a production of Hamlet, set at the Danish Royal court at Elsinore. Or Verona in Romeo and Juliet, ancient Rome in Julius Caesar etc. The female roles were performed by boys , not women .
An "authentic " production of Hamlet would try to create the pronunciation of Elizabethan English as closely as possible . Linguists have a fairly good idea as to how it was pronounced, but as no time machine exists , we don't know exactly what it sounded like .
It's similar in HIP performances; musicologists have some idea as to how the music of past centuries was performed . And there were marked differences . Some 18th composers wrote treatises on how they thought their music should be performed . However, this is in itself no guarantee of anything. Bach and Mozart et al have been gone for a very long time and we will never know exactly what they would have wanted .
Interestingly , the HIP movement had its origin in England ,although it also had roots in the Netherlands and Belgium . But the PBS Hamlet was anything but authentic. You might think that there would be an authentic Shakespeare movement comparable to such established English orchestras as the Academy of Ancient Music , the Englsih Concert, the English Barooque Soloists and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment .
Authenticity is always a Chimera .
Alan Rich , 85, considered the dean of American classical music critics, has died . His reviews were always lively and enetertaining , if often extremely harsh and even gratuitously nasty at times . But you could never call them boring !
In the course of his long career , Rich wrote for numerous newspapers ,magazines and on the internet ,including New York magazine , Newsweek, the New York Times , the Boston Herald , the Herald Tribune, Bloomberg news ,LA Weekly and elsewhere . At the time of his death , he had his own blog on classical music called "So I've Heard ",also the title of his memoirs .
Rich had been based in Los Angeles for about 30 years but had previously lived in New York, where he was music critic of New York magazine .
Rich was highly opinionated and his likes and dilikes were exstreme; he adored Mozart and Schubert , but loathed Brahms ,Bruckner and Richard Strauss , for example , greatly admired such conductors as Carlo Maria Giulini and Pierre Boulez and wrote scathingly of Zubin Mehta, his Bete Noire , who was the constant victim of his vicious attacks.
Unfortunately , his prejudices sometimes caused him to go overboard in his attacks and to write reviews which could be nothing short of scurrilous . He accused the controversial Indian-born conductor Zubin Mehta of indifference to and neglect of new music despite the fact that he has long been a staunch champion of it, and when Mehta was appointed music director of the New York Philharmonic in the late 1970s after many years with the Los Angeles Philharmonic , Rich made the ludicrous prediction that the conductor would offer nothing but "easy listening" in New York .
Yet when the late Italian conductor Carlo Maria Giulini succeeded Mehta in Los Angeles, Rich,who admired his conducting greatly, never criticized him for the fact that he conducted virtually no new music there , which was extremely hypocritical . As music critic of New York magazine, Rich proceeded to savage Mehta's conducting and choice of repertoire mercilessly .
Music critics, like the rest of us, are all too human . But Alan Rich had many admirers .
Here's a list of some great classical Cds I've recently taken out of the public libarary where I live , with comments on some of them .
In no particular order : Die Agyptische Helena : Rarely performed opera by Richard Straus about the strange marital exploits of Helen of Troy and her husband Menlaus after the Trojan war , with decadently sumptuous music . Soprano Deborah Voigt as Helen, with Leon Botstein conducting the American Symphony orchestra on Telarc records.
Also by Richard Strauss : Daphne , based on Greek mythology . The beautiful maiden Daphne is wooed by the God Apollo . It doesn't work out and he turns her into a tree ! Georgeously atmospheric music . Renee Fleming as Daphne, Johan Botha as Apollo, with Semyon Bychkov conducting the Cologne Radio symphony orchestra on Decca .
Samuel Barber : Vanessa: One of the most admired American operas, and the story of the conflict between an wealthy and aristocratic woman , her lover and her niece . Almost as lush and sensual as Richard Strauss . Leonard Slatkin conduting the BBC Symphony orchestra on Chandos records .
Bedrich Smetana: Va Vlast (My Fatherland ). Smetana's great cycle of symphonic poems about what is now the Czech Republic. Sir Roger Norrington and the London Classical Players on Virgin records . Uses period instruments .
Johannes Brahms : Symphonies 3 and 4. Same conductor and orchestra on period instruments , EMI classics. Brahms Lite.
Mendelssohn : Complete symphonies. Claudio Abbado, London Symphony. Discussed on my last post. DG records.
Franz Schubert : Octet for two violins,viola, cello, bass, clarinet ,bassoon and horn . Chamber ensemble of St. Martin in the Fields, Chandos records . Schubert's most expansive chamber work; a hour long, but so melodious you'll lose track of time.
Richard Wagner: Die Walkure and Siegrfied, from the Ring of the Nibelunger music dramas. Part of the legendary first complete Ring recording with the late Sir Georg Solti and the Vienna Philharmonic on Decca, with such great singers as Birgit Nilsson, Hans Hotter, Regine Crespin, Christa Ludwig, Gottlob Frick, Wolfgang Windgassen etc.
Gioacchino Rossini : Matilde Di Shabran . A live Decca recording of this long-forgotten Rossini opera about a rabid misogynist knight in Spain who eventually falls for a charming young lady of the aristocracy , with all sorts of strange subplots and intrigue. Zesty and vivacious music and plenty of opportunity for virtuosic singing , with the charismatic Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez as the woman hater . Conducted by Riccardo Frizza,live from the composer's birthplace in Pesaro,Italy .
Giuseppe Verdi : Stiffelio . One of Verdi's 26 operas, and written early in his long career. The story of a minister and his adulterous wife, and how he eventually comes to forgive her. Stirring score by Verdi , with Mario Del Monaco ,tenor, as the troubled minister, and Oliviero De Fabrittis conducting, live from the Naples opera.
Sir Edward Elgar: The Two symphonies , plus In the South and Cockgaine overture . Sir Georg Solti and the London Philharmonic . Elgar's two symphonies are grand and glorious works, filled with a mixture of dignity ,exuberance and nostalgia .
Hans Pfitzner : Violin Concerto, plus Duo for Violin ,cello and orchestra. A beautiful violin voncerto which is vertually never performed by a German composer and close contemporary of Richard Strauss (they both died in 1949) who deserves to be heard more often . Saschko Gawrilow, violin, Bamberg Symphony conducted by Werner Andreas Albert.CPO records.
If you're just getting into classical music , check your local library's CD collection for classical CDs and DVDs. Some have extensive selections of these. And if there are CDs you would like to have them aquire, ask a librarian. They are usually very helpful about this.
I've been listening to an excellent four CD set from Deutsche Grammophon records of the five symphonies of Felix Mendelssohn with Claudio Abbado conducting the London Symphony orchestra , which also includes a few of this composer's other orchestral works .
The 200th birthday of Mendelssohn was celebrated last year and met his untimely death in 1847 . But in his relatively brief life he produced a series of elegantly crafted and melodious works in virtually all musical genres ,some of which have been staples of the classical repertoire since his lifetime .
Mendelssohn wrote five symphonies ,unless you count the brief symphonies for strings he wrote as a child and teenager which are almost never performed , and of the five only the third and fourth are played with any frequency . The first is the effort of a teenage prodigy , and shows remarkable skill and assurance .
The second is rarely performed and is almost more of a large scale cantata or oratorio than a conventional symphony . It's known as "Lobgesang" in German, or hymn of praise , and features two soprano soloists and a tenor , but no bass for some reason . The work uses passages from the Bible ,and was written in 1840 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Gutenburg's invention of the printing press .
The main text used is the 150th psalm "Let All That Breathe Praise The Lord " , which has also been set by many other composers, including Anton Bruckner . The work opens with a lengthy section that is for orchestra alone , and procedes to the vocal part . The work is vigorous and joyous , and deserves to be performed more often .
The third was inspired by Mendelssohn's sojourn in Scotland, and is known as the "Scottish " symphony . This visit also inspired his famous "Hebrides" overture , which depicts the remote and rugged Scottish islands and Fingal's cave ,still a tourist attraction .
The symphony opens with a rathern solemn introduction , and the rest of the movement evokes the stormy seas and the rugged Scottish landscape . The vivacious scherzo has a decidedly Scottish flavor to it also , and leads to a songful slow movement which was inspired by the composer's visit to the famous Holyrood castle .
The vigorous last movement has been described as an evocation of the clans being called to battle , and concludes with a joyous hymn-like peroration .
The fourth, or "Italian" symphony was inspired by Mendelssohn's stay in that sunny country , and is a beloved staple of the orchestral repertoire . The first movement is filled with energy and joy , and the second and slower movement is more restrained and pensive , sounding rather like a solemn progression of religious pilgrims .
The third movement is a graceful ,almost minuet-like movement, and the finale is a vigorous Italian Saltarello , or leaping dance .
The fifth is known as the "Reformation" symphony and is occaisionaly performed but has never achieved the lasting popularity of the thirs and fourth for some reason . It was written to commemorate Luther's Protestant reformation . Mendelssohn's family was of Jewish origin , and his grandfather was the famous Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn , but his family had converted to the Lutheran faith by the time he was born .
It too is in the usual four movements , and makes use of Luther's famous hymn "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" and the so-called "Dresden Amen" later used by Wagner in his final opera Parsifal . The outer movements are filled with solemnity and grandeur , with a graceful scherzo and pensive slow movement in between .
Many eminent conductors have recorded the Mendelssohn symphonies , and several have recorded sets of all five , such as the Abbado recording I just mentioned , Kurt Masur , Wolfgang Sawallisch , and Herbert von Karajan . There are also fine recordings of the individual symphonies by such famous maestros as Peter Maag , Sir Georg Solti , George Szell, James Levine , Riccardo Chailly , and others .
What kind of political views do classical musicians and fans tend to have ? It apears that on the whole , they tend toward the liberal side , but there are quite a few exceptions .
In recent years , a number of prominent classical msucians have actually aired their opinions in public at concerts , such as the great American pianist Leon Fleisher , who when he was a recipient of the prestigious Kennedy Center awards recently , which are seen on television every year , wore a peace sign as a symbol of his objection to the policies of then President George W. Bush , or when the famous Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman voiced his disapproval of the same at a recital in America at a recital .
Also , you don't see American classical musicians and fans demanding that the US government abolish the National Endowment For The Arts , which is a no-brainer . Classical music lovers tend toward the liberal side also, but their political views are hardly monolithic .
For example , the late William F. Buckley , who was a very cultured man , was a great lover of classical music , and played the harpischord ,not badly at all, we are told . According to reports , Newt Gingrich is an opera fan .
Jay Nordlinger of the conservative National Review , is not only a lover of classical music but doubles as a classical music critic , and frequently writes reviews and commentary on classical music for that magazine and is also the music critic for the New Criterion and armavirumque.org . And a very fine one whose reviews are always very enjoyable to read .
Terry Teachout , who reviews not only classical music but Jazz, drama ,film ,literature and dance for such publications as the Wall Street Journal and Commentary magazine etc , is a conservative also . His blog is called "About Last Night ", but is not usually about classical music . It's still well-worth reading .
Recently , there was an article in the New York Times on the Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck , who recently became music director of the superb Pittsburgh Symphony orchestra , and was in New York with the orchestra for concerts in Carnegie Hall . The article noted how the conductor is a devout Catholic , and thus not exactly the most liberal type .
The political views of classical musicians and fans seem to cover a wide spectrum of viewpoints .
Continuing my discussion about how the popularity of Beethoven symphonies has often deprived audiences at concerts the chance to hear lesser-known but marvelous works , 2004 was the centennial of the death of the great Czech composer Antonin Dvorak , who was born in what is now the Czech Republic in 1841 .
Dvorak ,like Beethoven , wrote nine symphonies . But for some reason , only the last three are played with any frequency by orchestras . The ninth of course, is the world-famous and beloved "New World " symphony , which he wrote while living in America for a few years during the 1890s. This symphony has been played to death by orchestras for over a century , making it all too easy to take for granted . The seventh and eigth are also quite popular.
But the first six are delightful works , chock full of great themes and melodic invention . There have been quite a few recordings of them however, and some have been parts of complete sets of all nine Dvorak symphonies . Such eminent Czech and non-czech conductors as Rafael Kubelik, Vaclav Neumann , Libor Pesek (pronounced Pesh-ek), (Czech), and Istvan Kertesz and Witold Rowicki , to name only some, have recorded all nine , and many of these recordings are still available .
As far as I know, no orchestra , except possibly in the Czech Republic , has ever presented a cycle during a season of all nine Dvorak symphonies . Such a Dvorak festival could also have included the various other orchestral works , which are also wonderful, and the three concertos for respectively, cello, violin and piano.
But this could have been a wonderful experience for audiences , and an opportunity to hear the few familiar Dvorak orchestral works juxtaposed with the undeservedly neglected ones . But no . What a wasted opportunity .
Incidentally, there's an interesting story about the numbering of the nine Dvorak symphonies . Until about 50 years ago , they were numbered differently , and the numbers went up only to five . The familiar "New World " symphony was known as the composer's fifth symphony, and the other four also had different numbers from today .
Why ? Only five of the symphonies were published during the composer's lifetime . The first two had apparently been disowned by Dvorak, who had written them in his 20s and thought they were immature works undeserving of being published. The manuscript of the first was lost for many years and was discovered by chance long after his death .
So the New World ,previously known as the fifth, was correctly renumbered as the ninth, the seventh , which had been known as the second, became the seventh , and so forth . It took Czech musicologists some time to sort out the correct numbering !
I'm a Twitter critter now , and my Twitter name is mrclassicalmusi. No c on the end.
I tried to register as mrclassicalmusic, but for some reason, I wasn't able to put the final c on. But I diecided that mrclassicalmusi looked oddly appealing , and decided to keep the name . So far , my tweets have been messages to the public encouraging them to listen to classical music if they don't already ,and messages urging parents to have their children take up musical instruments, because of the proven beneficial effects of this for those kids.
So please keep in touch with me there, and send me messages .
The Beethoven symphonies have been staples of the orchestral repertoire for nearly two centuries now , as well as his piano concertos , the one for violin and assorted other works for orchestra . They're as much a part of the world's cultural life as the plays of Shakespeare , the novels of Cervantes , Jane Austen, Hemingway ,etc, and the paintings of Goya, Rembrandt and Picasso .
And for a good reason ; they're among the greatest works in the history of classical music . An orchestral season without the Beethoven symphonies would be like Thanksgiving without turkeys, Halloween without pumpkins and Christmas without Santa Claus .
Recently, the noted Hungarian conductor Ivan Fischer presented a cycle o f all nine Beethoven symphonies divided between the Budapest Festival orchestra and the period instrument Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at Lincoln Center . It seems that orchestras everywhere will perform Beethoven symphony cycles at the drop of a hat , even though programming is done long in advance .
In New York alone , the New York Philharmonic has done Beethoven cycles under its previous music directors Lorin Maazel and Kurt Masur , and Nikolaus Harnoncourt , who unfortunately rarely visits the US did one with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe .
If you are looking for recordings of the Beethoven symphonies , there is a bewilderingly vast number of different versions available; you can get them singly on one CD or sets with all nine with one conductor and orchestra . Virtually every great conductor of the 20th century has recorded them, some in multiple versions . Conductors ranging from Ernest Ansermet to David Zinman . Herbert Von Karajan recorded no fewer than four complete sets of them over a period of about 30 years, the last one digitally .
But could it be that the musical world has been performing and recording too much Beethoven ? Possibly, when there are so many other symphonies and other orchestral works that are so insteresting and worth hearing . But audiences love to hear their Beethoven symphonies at concerts, and they're a good way to sell tickets. They might not be so inclined to come if a conductor is programs a symphony by Joe Schmo .
Which is a pity . Beethoven, Bach and Brahms are known as the "Thre Bs. " Bach did not write any symphonies , but those of Beethoven and Brahms have been played to death . There are for examples, some wonderful symphonies by other Bs, such as the Russian Mily Balakirev (1837-1910) , the Swedish composer Franz Berwald (1796-1868) , Max Bruch ,best known for a violin concerto , (1838-1920) , and the 20th century English composers Sir Arthur Bliss , Arnold Bax, and Havergal Brian . You can easily find recordings of their music , but your chances of hearing their symphonies or other works live are pretty slim, which is unfortunate .
Other notable symphonies you will rarely encounter in the concert hall are by the great Danish composer Carl Nielsen , although his music is not nearly as unknown as it used to be, the French composer Paul Dukas ,best known for "The Sorceror's Apprentice " (used in Disney's Fantasia) , Poland's Karol Szymanowski , the first six of Antonin Dvorak's nine , Russia's Nikolai Myaskovsky , the four of Frenchman Albert Roussel (the 3rd is sometimes heard), to name only a handful .
But some conductors have been courageous enough to think outside the box and perform and record off-beat orchestral music in our time, among them the Americans Leonard Slatkin, Gerard Schwarz, James Conlon , and James De Preist , the Estonian Neeme Jarvi and his son Paavo , also a conductor , and others . We owe them a debt of gratitude for making orchestral programming more interesting .
But remember; there are still youngsters everywhere who might eventually grow up to be lovers of classical music and Beethoven symphonies are among the most important works for them to get to know, as well as adults who have yet to discover classical music . Hearing a Beethoven symphony for the first time at a concert could be a thrilling experience which will fill them with enthusiam for classical music . Fortunately, the Beethoven symphonies will be played as long as makind endures .
The latest issue of Opera News magazine is chock full of interesting articles on upcoming Summer music festivals around the world and profiles of opera houses around the world , including the world-famous Sydney Opera house in Australia and the historic Semper Opera house in Dresden , where so many great operas by Wagner and Richard Strauss were premiered .
There are also articles about opera houses in exotic places where you might not even expect them to be ,such as Cairo, Hanoi, and Cape Town, South Africa . Yes, opera companies do exist there , as well as a definite audience for opera . Back in the 1970s , I played a concert at the Sydney opera house , which is also the home of the Sydney Symphony orchestra , as a member of the Long Island Youth Orchestra , when the opera house was new . It was a memorable experience .
Writer William Braun discusses the bizarre and wacky opera " Le Grande Macabre " by the late Hungarian composer Gyorgy Ligeti , which will soon receie a semi-stahed performance by the New York Philharmonic under its new music director Alan Gilbert .
There is a comprehensive list of upcoming concerts ,opera and chamber music to be offered by music festivals all over Europe and elsewhere . ( An later issue will cover music festivals in the US.) The world's greatest conductors , orchestras , opera singers and instrumentalists will perform music ranging from Bach, Mozart and Beethoven to works by contemporary composers .
Among the most prestigious are the Salzburg festival in Austria , the Wagner festival at Bayreuth, Germany , the Edinburgh International festival in Scotland , the Glyndebourne opera festival in England , and the Lucerne festival in Switzerland . There is a comprehensive list of dates, repertoire, performers and e mail addresses of the festivals .
And as usual there are reviews of the latest opera CDs and DVDs , and books on opera and classical music . Whether you're an operatic newbie or a maven , you can't afford to miss Opera News magazine. You can also visit their website operanews.com.
Ther horn,or French horn as some call it in the English-speaking world, as is well-known, the most difficult instrument to master and the most accident prone of them all.
Professional and even amateur horn players live in perpetual dread of missing notes -flubbing, cracking, splattering the note like an insect on a windshield, making "clams" in musicians parlance. In Vienna, home of the unique Viennese horn, even more difficult to play than regular one but which sounds indescribably gorgeous when played by a master, this is known as "making a fish ".
Audiences and critics notice horn clams, and sometimes on a particularly bad night, a "clamfest" happens. But sometimes a captious critic will single out a solo horn player,playing an exhausting part in a long symphony for having missed a note or two, even though he or she had otherwise played beautifully throughout the concert.
But most likely,they've never played the horn, or even taken a few lessons on it. If they were to have that horn player show them how to play the instrument, they might gain some under=standing of just how difficult thew horn is to play. Sometimes conductors berate ahorn player for missing a note at rehearsals or after a concert, but this is both futile and counterproductive.
The higher the note on the horn, the less margin for error there is. The lower notes have much wider intervals between them, but with the high notes,if you off by just a tiny fraction of lip pressure, you skid onto an adjacent note, and that'w how clams happen.
Recently, Jay Nordlinger of the National Review, who is music critic of the respected critical website armavirumque.org and also writes on classical music for the National Review as well as politics, attended a concert by the Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall conducted by the eminent pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim.
He noted how sure-footed the Viennese horn players were,and how they managed to avoid flubbing . He did not ,however ,mention how difficult the Vienna horns they play are.
Nordlinger coined an amusing and clever phrase, noting how the Viennese players seemed to disregard the "Divine Right To Flub" of horn players.
Divine right to flub? It's not a right, but a liability. In my horn-playing days, depending on what I was playing,I too lived in constant fear of having egg on my face. But what happened,happened, and if something went wrong I didn't dwell on iot for days and become depressed.
But auditioning is much more nerve-wracking than actually perforing a concert. You certainly don't want to mess things up there, but it happens anyway. I've auditioned for such leading orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, Washington National Symphony, the New Jersey Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic among others, and this is not an experience for the faint-hearted !
You're playing behind a screen for members of the orchestra, and although missing one note won't necessarily get you eliminated from the competition, missing a fair number is fatal. There's no "divine right to flub" here. It's like walking tight rope without a net over hungry lions and a pool of sharks.
IN performing concerts or opera, some works are of course more difficult than others for horn players. Long symphonies and operas are a trial for your endurance.
Other works have exposed entrances where you have to come it on a high note after several minutes of not playing, and this is like walking on eggs.
In some ways, playing the horn is like bull fighting. Like the Toreado facing a bull, you are dealing with something which is extremely risky and unpredicatble. A joke goes "Why is the horn a divine instrument ? That's because man blows into it, and only God knows what will come out !"
Maestro Jamaes Levine ,66, will have to cancel his performances with the Metropolitan Opera and Boston Symphony orchestra , both of which he serves as music director , for the rest of the musical season because of severe back trouble .
The world-famous conductor has been plagued by health problems for some time now , including back trouble, arm tremors , the removal of cysts from a kidney and an accident onstage after a concert which broke the rotator cuff on a shoulder , forcing him to cancel many performances of both copncerts and opera .
There has even been speculation that he might have to step down from either the Boston Symphony or the Met , and both of these great musical institutions and Levine's many admirers are worried about his uncertain future after so many years of great musical achievements . The heavy responsibilities of being music director for both have taken a toll on his health .
Levine's ailments have forced the Met and BSO to struggle to find substitute conductors to fill in for him , but fortunately a number of distinguished maestros, such as Fabio Luisi, Edo De Waart and Rafael Fruhbeck De Burgos and others have been able to replace him at short notice , and the Met does has a staff of able house conductors who can step in at a moment's notice .
Levine may have to miss concerts and teaching at the world-famous Summer home of the Boston Symphony , the Tanglewood festival in Massachusetts , and it's hoped he will be able to begin the much-anticipated new Ring cycle which begins at the Met this September on opening night .
The maestro is hardly alone in such health problems today ; former BSO music director Seiji Ozawa has recently been diagnosed with cancer of the esophagous but is expected to recover and has had to cancel his performances at the Vienna State opera where he is music director , Leonard Slatkin, who recently withdrew from the Met's Traviata performances and is currently music director of the Detroit Symphony had a recent heart attack but has recovered , and the opera world has been plagued with cancellations by quite a few top singers .
The bright side of such cancellations is that they can provide career-making breaks for promising young talents . Back in the 1940s, the 25 year old assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic had to fill in at the last minute for the great conductor Bruno Walter (1876-1962), and the concert was a sensation . That was the young Leonard Bernstein , and it launched his legendary career .
You never know what may happen because of such unfotunate cancellations .Meanwhile, let's all wish maestro levine a speedy recovery .
Maestro Jamaes Levine ,66, will have to cancel his performances with the Metropolitan Opera and Boston Symphony orchestra , both of which he serves as music director , for the rest of the musical season because of severe back trouble .
The world-famous conductor has been plagued by health problems for some time now , including back trouble, arm tremors , the removal of cysts from a kidney and an accident onstage after a concert which broke the rotator cuff on a shoulder , forcing him to cancel many performances of both copncerts and opera .
There has even been speculation that he might have to step down from either the Boston Symphony or the Met , and both of these great musical institutions and Levine's many admirers are worried about his uncertain future after so many years of great musical achievements . The heavy responsibilities of being music director for both have taken a toll on his health .
Levine's ailments have forced the Met and BSO to struggle to find substitute conductors to fill in for him , but fortunately a number of distinguished maestros, such as Fabio Luisi, Edo De Waart and Rafael Fruhbeck De Burgos and others have been able to replace him at short notice , and the Met does has a staff of able house conductors who can step in at a moment's notice .
Levine may have to miss concerts and teaching at the world-famous Summer home of the Boston Symphony , the Tanglewood festival in Massachusetts , and it's hoped he will be able to begin the much-anticipated new Ring cycle which begins at the Met this September on opening night .
The maestro is hardly alone in such health problems today ; former BSO music director Seiji Ozawa has recently been diagnosed with cancer of the esophagous but is expected to recover and has had to cancel his performances at the Vienna State opera where he is music director , Leonard Slatkin, who recently withdrew from the Met's Traviata performances and is currently music director of the Detroit Symphony had a recent heart attack but has recovered , and the opera world has been plagued with cancellations by quite a few top singers .
The bright side of such cancellations is that they can provide career-making breaks for promising young talents . Back in the 1940s, the 25 year old assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic had to fill in at the last minute for the great conductor Bruno Walter (1876-1962), and the concert was a sensation . That was the young Leonard Bernstein , and it launched his legendary career .
You never know what may happen because of such unfotunate cancellations .Meanwhile, let's all wish maestro levine a speedy recovery .
You may have seen the classic film Alexander Nevsky , by the great Russian director Sergei Eisenstein , based on historic events in 13th century Russia . Sergei Prokofiev wrote the music for the 1938 movie , and soon after made a cantata for concert performance out of the film score which has thrilled audiences ever since with its grandeur and sweep .
I've been listening to the terrifically exciting recording on the Philips label with the chorus and orchestra of St.Petersburg's Maryinsky theater conducted by Valery Gergiev , which you shouldn't miss .
The film tells of the heroic struggle of the Russian army, led by grand duke Alexander Nevsky to defeat the invading German army of the Teutonic Knights of Livonia . Previously , Russia had defeated the invading Swedish army and had to deal with the conquering Mongol hordes .
The cantata opens with a brief and gloomy introduction entitled "Russia Under The Mongol Yoke ". Then the chorus sings of the recent invasion of the Swedish army in the "Song Of Alexander Nevsky ". Here is an English translation : It happened by the river Neva , by the great waters . There we cut down the enemy warriors of the Swedish army . Oh, how we fought, how we hacked them down ! How we hacked their ships to pieces ! We swung an axe and a street appeared , we thrust our speers and a lane opened up . We scythed down the Swedish invaders like grass on parched soil.
We shall never yield our Russian land . Those who attack Russia will meet their death . Arise , Russia, against the enemy , arise to arms , glorious Novgorod !
The next section is called " The crusaders in Pskov "(a Russian city ). The chorus sings : Arise, Russian people , to a glorious battle , a battle to the death . Arise , free people, for our beloved country ! Honor to the living warriors and immortal glory to the dead . For our native home, our Russian land , arise Russian people ! In our great native Russia , no no enemy shall survive . Arise , mother Russia ! The enemy shall not enter Russia ,no foreign army shall remain there . The ways into Russia shall be invisible to them; they shall not ravage the Russian fields .
Now comes the hair-raising battle on the ice-covered river Neva . The German army advances , singing a hymn in Latin . "Peregrinus expectavi pedes meos in cymbalis .Vincant arma crucifera . Hostis perenat ! A pilgrim , I hoped my feet would be covered in metal . The army of the crusaders shall conquer . Death to the enemy ! "
A savage battle follows. The Russian army overcomes the invaders , and they sink into the cracked ice on the river .
Now a mezzo-soprano sings a mournful song on the "Field of death ". I shall go across the snow-covered field ,fly over the field of death . I shall search out my betrothed , and those glorious falcons , noble youths . Here lies one hacked by swords ; here lies one pierced by an arrow. Their blood has watered our beloved Russian land . I shall kiss the dead eyes of those who died nobly for Russia, and to the one who survived, I shall be a true companion and faithful spouse . I shall not marry a handsome man , for earthly beauty comes to an end . I shall be married to a brave man. Hear this, bold falcons !
The final and triumphant section is entitled "Alexander's entry into Pskov ". The chorus sings exultantly : Russia has gone to a great battle and defeated the enemy . No invader shall endure in our native land . They shall meet their death . Rejoice, sing , mother Russia . No enemy will prevail in our native land .
No enemy shall set eyes on our Russian villages ; those who attack Russia shall die ! All Russia has gathered for the great celebration . Rejoice , motherland !
Because of the relatively primitive sound technology of Russian films of the time, Prokofiev's music does not really achieve its maximum effect when you see the movie . But whether live or recorded , the cantata is one of the most thrilling works you are ever likely to hear .
You may have seen the classic film Alexander Nevsky , by the great Russian director Sergei Eisenstein , based on historic events in 13th century Russia . Sergei Prokofiev wrote the music for the 1938 movie , and soon after made a cantata for concert performance out of the film score which has thrilled audiences ever since with its grandeur and sweep .
I've been listening to the terrifically exciting recording on the Philips label with the chorus and orchestra of St.Petersburg's Maryinsky theater conducted by Valery Gergiev , which you shouldn't miss .
The film tells of the heroic struggle of the Russian army, led by grand duke Alexander Nevsky to defeat the invading German army of the Teutonic Knights of Livonia . Previously , Russia had defeated the invading Swedish army and had to deal with the conquering Mongol hordes .
The cantata opens with a brief and gloomy introduction entitled "Russia Under The Mongol Yoke ". Then the chorus sings of the recent invasion of the Swedish army in the "Song Of Alexander Nevsky ". Here is an English translation : It happened by the river Neva , by the great waters . There we cut down the enemy warriors of the Swedish army . Oh, how we fought, how we hacked them down ! How we hacked their ships to pieces ! We swung an axe and a street appeared , we thrust our speers and a lane opened up . We scythed down the Swedish invaders like grass on parched soil.
We shall never yield our Russian land . Those who attack Russia will meet their death . Arise , Russia, against the enemy , arise to arms , glorious Novgorod !
The next section is called " The crusaders in Pskov "(a Russian city ). The chorus sings : Arise, Russian people , to a glorious battle , a battle to the death . Arise , free people, for our beloved country ! Honor to the living warriors and immortal glory to the dead . For our native home, our Russian land , arise Russian people ! In our great native Russia , no no enemy shall survive . Arise , mother Russia ! The enemy shall not enter Russia ,no foreign army shall remain there . The ways into Russia shall be invisible to them; they shall not ravage the Russian fields .
Now comes the hair-raising battle on the ice-covered river Neva . The German army advances , singing a hymn in Latin . "Peregrinus expectavi pedes meos in cymbalis .Vincant arma crucifera . Hostis perenat ! A pilgrim , I hoped my feet would be covered in metal . The army of the crusaders shall conquer . Death to the enemy ! "
A savage battle follows. The Russian army overcomes the invaders , and they sink into the cracked ice on the river .
Now a mezzo-soprano sings a mournful song on the "Field of death ". I shall go across the snow-covered field ,fly over the field of death . I shall search out my betrothed , and those glorious falcons , noble youths . Here lies one hacked by swords ; here lies one pierced by an arrow. Their blood has watered our beloved Russian land . I shall kiss the dead eyes of those who died nobly for Russia, and to the one who survived, I shall be a true companion and faithful spouse . I shall not marry a handsome man , for earthly beauty comes to an end . I shall be married to a brave man. Hear this, bold falcons !
The final and triumphant section is entitled "Alexander's entry into Pskov ". The chorus sings exultantly : Russia has gone to a great battle and defeated the enemy . No invader shall endure in our native land . They shall meet their death . Rejoice, sing , mother Russia . No enemy will prevail in our native land .
No enemy shall set eyes on our Russian villages ; those who attack Russia shall die ! All Russia has gathered for the great celebration . Rejoice , motherland !
Because of the relatively primitive sound technology of Russian films of the time, Prokofiev's music does not really achieve its maximum effect when you see the movie . But whether live or recorded , the cantata is one of the most thrilling works you are ever likely to hear .
Many people have been wondering if one kind of music is "superior " to others , and a lot of ink has been spilt lately on this vexing question . On one hand there is the belief that many have that lovers of classical music think that classical music is "superior" other musics , whether Pop, Rock, Jazz, Folk or whatever , reinforcing the notion that fans of classical are a bunch of snobs and elitists.
And there are those who are guilty of snobbism in reverse , sneering at classical as boring , stuffy, elitist ,irrelevant , hopelessly dated and stuck in the past . There are apparently some supporters of classical music who do consider it the "highest" form of music , such as the frankly elitist website musoc.org , which calls it "art" music , which I discussed some time ago here .
But as they used to say in ancient Rome, "De gustibus non est disputandum ". There's no use arguing over taste . Different people have different preferences in music , just as in so many other things . My preference happens to be classical . But other people prefer other kinds of music . Where's the problem ?
For me at least , and many other people, classical music has a complexity and emotional power that other kinds of music just don't offer . It's not meant for casual entertainment . It often requires repeated hearings to understand , unlike Rock or Pop music etc. Classical music can be a challenge to the mind , but making the effort to listen to it carefully can be incredibly rewarding .
Classical music isn't superior to other kinds of music, but neither is it inferior . It's just very different from them . Let classical be classical and other kinds of music be what they are . There's no use blaming it for not being like other musics, or vice versa .
But if other people are fans of other kinds of music , that's fine with me . They have every right to enjoy whatever kind of music they do . Who am I to argue with their tastes? Apples and oranges . Can't we all just get along ?
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