Rumors had been circulating since early in the week that John McGlinn, the brilliant conductor most well known for his extensive research into and revivals of prewar American musical theater works, had died. I somehow missed the Playbill obituary on Tuesday, but saw the New York Times obit online a few hours ago. Minutes later, a mutual friend called; she was as shocked and saddened as I was to have our worst fears confirmed.
I first encountered John back when I was working at BMG Classics.
Sad news to report: Composer and conductor Lukas Foss has died here in Manhattan. His original works were imbued with as much wit and often subversive humor as “advanced avant-garde compositional techniques.” On the few occasions I had to chat with him, he proved as wryly humorous and spirited and as Paradigm and Baroque Variations. He was also a remarkably good pianist, and his MCA recording of the Mozart Quintet for Piano and Winds with the Amherst Saxophone Quartet is an unexpected case study in superb chamber musicianship. The Buffalo News has posted an obituary.
La Repubblica online has an amazing sequence of photographs from an in-concert disaster yesterday evening in Torino: viola virtuoso Yuri Bashmet’s instrument, an extraordinary instrument built by Carlo Testori in 1758, fell apart during a performance with the RAI Orchestra. The orchestra’s principal violist, Luca Ranieri, loaned Bashmet his 400-year-old Maggini instrument to complete the performance. Bashmet’s instrument has been repaired and will hopefully be on its best behavior for his upcoming appearances in Chicago with the Moscow Soloists.
UPDATE: Word from the grapevine is that the tailpiece did indeed snap off, causing superficial damage to the upper plate, but Bashmet’s instrument was promptly and completely repaired.
Here’s the update from the New York Times.
Alan Rich reports on the death of one the world’s most prominent patrons of postwar music.
CanadianArchitect.com reports details of the upcoming Le Corbusier exhibit at the Barbican Art Gallery – and a Xenakis-focused program to be performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
The AP reports Donald Rosenberg, the Cleveland Plain Dealer critic ousted from the Cleveland Orchestra beat, is suing both the paper and the orchestra.
Mischa Stutzmann passes along this anecdote about legendary podium tyrant Fritz Reiner:
Continue reading Fritz Reiner Anecdote: The Case of the Phantom Piccolo
The Birmingham Post reports the very sad news of British maestro Richard Hickox’s sudden death.
Jeremy Eichler has the details at BoGlo. Sounds like Maestro Rozhdestvensky needs a tougher artist rep for his US gigs, but that does not excuse the BSO for the shabby manner in which they handled the promotion of arguably one of the greatest elder statesmen of the podium.