… and its continuing financial woes. It’s worth pointing out that the final section of the article puts perhaps too much of a link between the orchestra and their venerable former venue. The lion’s share of the orchestra’s recordings made during Eugene Ormandy’s tenure as music director were made not at the acoustically uneven Academy of Music but at other venues, notably Philadelphia Town Hall, which yielded a far different sound than the orchestra created on their “home turf.” Additionally, the orchestra’s “Ormandy” sound had changed drastically before the move from the Academy to Kimmel Center under Ormandy’s successors Riccardo Muti and Wolfgang Sawallisch.
Category Archives: Classical Music News
Musicians as citizens: Ilona Oltusky on Evgeny Kissin
Somehow I managed to miss Ilona Oltusky’s fascinating take on Evgeny Kissin’s outspoken opposition to what he sees as increasing anti-Semitism “in some of the prominent British media in general and the BBC in particular in the last few years.” Ouch. The post makes for provocative reading — as does Kissin’s scathing open letter to the Beeb.
Comeback Kid
You could use a little bit of inspiration, and Vivien Schweitzer’s profile of violinist Augustin Hadelich in tomorrow’s NY Times will provide an excellent source. My sources tell me that his debut CD from Avie is impressive indeed, and once I snag up a copy I’ll put my two cents in…
James Levine indisposed (again), setting off scramble at MET and BSO
James Barron has the details at the NY Times. Maestro Levine’s continuing struggle against multiple illnesses has many of his fans worried, but if there is any good news to come out of this it is that Italian conductor Fabio Luisi, who recently quit as director of the Staatskapelle Dresden, will be leading Tosca and Lulu at the MET. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: he’s one of the most exciting maestros in Europe, and I’d wager that he’d make a hugely favorable impression as a music director on this side of the Atlantic.
America’s Most Underrated Pianist?
The Boston Globe profiles pianist Russell Sherman. Go read. While you’re at it, get the recent DVD on Avie.
As if the Georg Ratzinger scandal wasn’t enough…
AP reports: “Two former members of the famed Vienna Boys’ Choir say they were sexually abused by their supervisors, a top Austrian newspaper reported Thursday.” Full story here.
The Alleged Sins of Georg Ratzinger
News stories concerning alleged abuse of children by Catholic clergymen have become almost routine, but this one is also sending ripples throughout the world of classical music: the Pope’s brother, Georg Ratzinger — who served for three decades as choral director of “the much-heralded Regensburger Domspatzen, a thousand-year-old male choir and boarding school” — was involved in a conspiracy to cover up allegations of clergy sex abuse. The Independent UK has the full story.
Bernard Coutaz, 1922-2010
Bernard Coutaz may not be a household name, but he was the founder of the influential harmonia mundi record label. The New York Times and AP have brief obituaries; Le Temps has more in French.
Wyn Morris, Champion of Mahler’s Music, 1929-2010
It has been a while since I spoke with Wyn Morris, the mercurial and brilliantly gifted conductor who made a number of pioneering recordings of the music of Gustav Mahler. I just learned this afternoon of his death at age 81. Click here to read his obituary from his own favorite Tory-leaning paper, The Telegraph.
Continue reading Wyn Morris, Champion of Mahler’s Music, 1929-2010
Kronos 25
Go read Steve Smith’s interesting NY Times feature on the Kronos Quartet — an ensemble whose revolutionary programming and concertizing laid much of the groundwork for the “alternative classics” championed by Bang on a Can, Absolut Ensemble and innumerable other adventurous ensembles and series — as they celebrate their 25th anniversary. To be honest, though, the more traditonal but often more daring Arditti Quartet deserves the same amount of ink.