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I came across an article from today’s Chicago Sun-Times which asserts the success of the jumbotron-style video screens at the Ravinia Festival, summer home of the Chicago Symphony. As usual, this has engendered the tired arguments between the crusty old salts and the fresh-faced ingenues as to what a travesty/triumph these screens have turned out [...]
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There’s a common misconception – a myth, really – that “great” orchestras play well for every conductor, in every situation. It’s even got some traction in the realm of the orchestral musicians (most particularly in so-called “great” orchestras). I’ve heard, during my years in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia, many incredibly sub-par performances, both with [...]
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I’m a little short on time today, but I thought I’d make some observations on the current classical series that we’re finishing tonight in Portland.
First, our guest conductor, James Gaffigan, is really starting to grow on me. I’m always suspicious of the “wunderkind” conductors, as they rarely live up to their hype. We had a [...]
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Steve Smith, music editor for Time Out New York and a freelance reviewer who often writes classical music reviews for the New York Times, writes about his review of the Gilbert Kaplan led performance of Mahler 2 with the New York Philharmonic here. Interesting reading, and it shows how critical a missing sentence can be [...]
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First, violinist Holly Mulcahy over at The Partial Observer writes an amusing (but very serious) article about behaviors which musicians are apt to endulge in (but shouldn’t), entitled How to Alienate Your Audience in 10 Easy Steps: Musicians.
Here’s a teaser:
An engaged, enthusiastic, and diverse audience is one of the strongest measurements for justifying an orchestra’ [...]
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My OSO colleague Ron Blessinger is also the artistic director of the acclaimed new music ensemble Third Angle, and this September his group and the t:b:a festival (Festival of Time-based Art) are presenting a huge multimedia project devoted to the work of landscape architect Lawrence Halprin and his choreographer wife, Anna within some of his [...]
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Throughout history, the great works of literature (whether well-received or not) have sparked equally great works of literary criticism. Alex Ross’ brilliant history of music in the twentieth century has sparked criticism of the highest order – most lately by the great British tenor Ian Bostridge, writing in the Times Literary Supplement (think the English [...]
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One of my favorite music bloggers, the pianist Jeremy Denk, made quite a splash at the Portland International Piano Festival this past weekend – click here for a complete review by Oregonian classical music critic David Stabler. Here’s the lead-in:
Many piano concerts are like trips to the shopping mall: safe, predictable excursions with a [...]
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Well, it seems that Lorin Maazel has gotten tired of the many swipes taken at him by US critics, mostly by (but not limited to) the New York Times gang.
Here’s a sample:
He also expressed his disdain for the musical press. “When Leonard Bernstein was director of the New York Philharmonic, the critics dealt dishonourably with [...]
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The pianist Jeremy Denk (of Think Denk fame) has gotten a very nice mention of his performance of Charles Ives‘ “Concord” Sonata. Now Jeremy can use “brilliant” – the New York Times, in his promo materials! You can read the entire article (ostensibly a review of a concert from the Emerson Quartet’s Beethoven “Quartets [...]
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Henry Fogel writes about the alarming trend of major US newspapers jettisoning their classical music critics. They say that they aren’t diminishing their arts coverage, but shouldn’t an expert provide the coverage? Here’s a link to the blog entry.
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The NY Times continues its unrelenting assault on the music directorship of Lorin Maazel, this time his conducting of the New York Philharmonic’s “Brahms the Romantic” festival. Here’s my favorite snarky comment from Allan Kozinn’s review:
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UPDATE: Here’s the Seattle Times review by critic Melinda Bargreen. [link may expire after a few days]
Yesterday my wife and I went up to Seattle’s Benaroya Hall to hear the Philadelphia Orchestra perform the last concert of their 2007 US tour. It was a trip that was based upon the important roles that the [...]
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I found this link via The Oregonian’s classical music critic David Stabler’s blog. Very interesting reading. Basically, Time Out New York put together a panel of critics to evaluate the major critics in New York City in all major areas, including classical music. Our own colleague in the blogosphere, Alex Ross, rated [...]
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