Matthew I can only thank you so much for quoting this article!
You may know me as one of the odd men out on the list (please go 500 miles south for the orther one). As a musicologist I barely can bear listening to music any more. A totally no fun situation! My relationship with music mostly is about reading scores and taking my chances on the BBC Classical night radio, which is broadcast in my country, and which transmits recordings from very obscure orchestras and conductors. Actually engaging my ears with new aspects of the Central European (plus Italian, British, and French) heritage which is my homebase. Karajan did a lot for me, and I cried, when I learned of his death, even if I never was in agreement with him. The same went for Bernie, who was closer to my heart. Barenboim was the revelation of my youth (we are not too far apart in age), but the redtop celloist, with the tragic fate (her name sadly escaping me), was even better. The older list members will rember the famous video of Die Forelle with the crutch guy (I am one myself now) on violin, Pinkie on viola, the redtop on cello, Zubin on double bass, and Barenboim on piano. Ouch, ouch was that music. Im not out on defamating anybody, just doing work-arounds about my aphasia, which hits hardest on names. I used to be a matematician also with a not too strong, yet decent, aspect of sociological statisticts. What is the common denominator of al the musicians hinted to aside from the redtop and Karajan? Levine falls under the same category. And I am so happy about him doing something real good for my heritage.I cannot do anything but for wishing the best for his recovery. Somebody wants to pull me out of the mothballs almost 20 years after my retirement. I may take the challenge and go conducting on a continent different from mine. If so happens, I hope to meet a lot of you. Klaus Smedegaard Bjerre of Denmark Retired teacher Index over 45MB+ of free music files in .pdf format to be found in the Files area of: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/YorkMasterBBb/ (Approved membership required) Index over 2.3GB of brass instruments galleries and catalogue scans to be found in the Files area of: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/YorkMasterPublicPhotosIII/ (Membership is open for all) --- matthew scheffelman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I thought everyone might like this article. Great > programing by the BSO!! > > James Levine, Heard but Not Seen > Boston Symphony Resonates With Injured Maestro's Ideas > By Philip Kennicott > Washington Post Staff Writer > Saturday, March 11, 2006; Page C01 > > The bad news is that James Levine, in the second year > of a brilliant honeymoon as music director of the > Boston Symphony Orchestra, won't appear with the group > when it plays the Kennedy Center this afternoon. He > fell while leaving the stage on March 1 and injured > his shoulder. Doctors have advised him not to wave his > arms around for a while. > > The good news is that his absence will probably matter > less than the absence of most music directors. Levine > has never been a showboat conductor. He spends much of > his musical life in the opera pit, at New York's > Metropolitan Opera (where he is also music director), > and opera conductors are all but invisible to the > audience once the lights go down. > > But more than that, he is not by temperament the sort > of musician who emotes on the podium. He is the rare > conductor who works sitting on a stool. And he does > all of the real work of conducting -- the nuts and > bolts of putting the various lines together, plus the > fine-tuning, the balancing and shaping of > interpretation -- in rehearsal. By the time he appears > in front of an orchestra, he is mostly sending out > small reminders to his musicians. > > Even without his presence, Levine's impact can be > heard in the program the symphony is bringing. The > Boston Symphony has moved to the forefront of a > handful of American orchestras, including the Los > Angeles Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony, > that are attempting to buck the downward trend of the > symphony world by turning back to what orchestras do > best. They have opted for seriousness, exploration and > perfectionism. > > Anyone who has followed recent guest appearances of > major orchestras at the Kennedy Center will be shocked > by how radically different this feels. The Boston > Symphony is making music for grown-ups, for serious > music lovers, for audiences tired of hearing the same > old same old, season after season. Levine is steering > his orchestra against the prevailing and dispiriting > trend toward mediocrity at most American symphonies. > He is challenging audiences, hiring only the best > soloists, and turning a night at the symphony into an > intellectually engaging evening once again. > > At the Kennedy Center, for example, Lorraine Hunt > Lieberson, one of the finest mezzo-sopranos working > today, will sing a new cycle of songs by her husband, > Peter Lieberson. The trenchant old man of modernism, > Elliott Carter, will be represented by a 2004 piece, > "Three Illusions for Orchestra"; and then there's > music of Beethoven and Richard Strauss. David > Robertson, a fast-rising young American conductor, > will stand in for Levine on the podium. > > The program is representative of what Levine is doing > on a regular basis in Boston. In February, the > orchestra gave two separate all-Schoenberg programs, > including a traversal of his gargantuan song cycle the > "Gurrelieder," with a stellar cast (the much-in-demand > Finnish soprano Karita Mattila and Hunt Lieberson were > the headliners). In recent weeks they've done music of > Tan Dun, Jonathan Dawe and large-scale symphonies by > Mahler and Bruckner. Next week brings music of Ligeti, > a giant of 20th-century music who is sadly neglected. > > Mark Volpe, managing director of the Boston Symphony, > says that when the orchestra set out to replace its > longtime former conductor Seiji Ozawa, "our list was > one." They wanted Levine, and they got him. And now, > with a hectic schedule of commuting, Levine may be the > most powerful single conductor in the music business > since Herbert von Karajan was running the Berlin > Philharmonic and Vienna Staatsoper and the Salzburg > Festival. With Levine, they also got a conductor with > a far-reaching view of what he wanted to do. > > "During the period that we were talking back and > forth, he said to me, 'You know, when Toscanini did a > concert, when Szell did a concert, it was an event,' " > said Volpe, referring to two past titans of the > orchestral world. "He felt we'd lost that." > > Two months ago in Boston, Levine was working at a > whirlwind pace. On a weekday afternoon he was at the > piano, rehearsing a Beethoven chamber work in advance > of a weekend program of Beethoven and Schoenberg -- > part of an innovative and ongoing exploration of the > two composers, side by side. He was also putting > together a performance of Beethoven's massive and > furiously complex "Missa Solemnis," a work so > formidable in its challenges that it is rarely done, > even though it is among the composer's finest and most > profound achievements. The cast scheduled to sing it > was jaw-dropping, including tenor Ben Heppner and bass > Rene Pape, both of them superstars. > > There was a buzz in the air at Symphony Hall, a brick > neoclassical pile built in 1900 that ranks among the > best acoustical spaces in the world. The hall was full > -- and more impressive, there was a substantial number > of young people. Dress is a little better on a typical > symphony night in Boston than in most cities; there's > a sense of occasion about hearing a concert. > > And the orchestra was in fine form. Under Ozawa, who > led the BSO for 29 years, critics often complained of > a lack of refinement and depth. At his best, > especially in the repertoire of large, romantic pieces > that suited him, Ozawa could create explosively > interesting performances. Levine is never quite so > personal in his musicmaking; there's no idiosyncrasy. > But there is balance, clarity and depth, and a > seriousness of intent. > "The dynamic range is great," said James Sommerville, > the orchestra's principal horn player. "The soft > things are softer, the loud things are louder, and it > is a more articulate approach. It is a clearer sound, > better-enunciated sound. It's probably more varied in > terms of timbre and color. You will hear a lot more > different kinds of sounds." > > Fenwick Smith, a flute player and chairman of the > orchestra's players' committee, hears changes too. And > it's not just when Levine is at the helm. The infusion > of energy, he says, can be heard even when the > orchestra is led by other conductors."The change in > the last couple of years is really enormous," he said. > > All of this can take its toll. The musicians are > chewing through more new music, bigger pieces, and at > a higher level of intensity than in recent years. > Morale is high, they say, but fatigue is a danger. > > To sustain this level of musicmaking, the orchestra is > pouring money into Levine's dream. > > Ed Linde, chairman of the orchestra's board, > acknowledged that Levine's programming is expensive, > and not all of his decisions -- especially his > interest in bracingly modern music -- have been > popular. > > "If you have 32 people on any board at any time, you > will have certain dissenting views," Linde said. There > has been some loss of traditional subscribers, but > there's been an uptick in single-ticket sales. "I will > say with some confidence that the great bulk of the > trustees are happy, proud of and looking forward to a > terrific relationship with maestro Levine." > > Orchestra leaders often hire conductors based on their > sense of how much money they will bring in. Are they > glamorous? Will they do the cocktail parties and > fundraisers? Will they promote the "brand" and throw > out the first pitch for the local ball team? Levine, > say BSO leaders, does some of that. But he's the > opposite of a cash cow. Volpe says that to support > Levine's vision, the BSO has had to go out and find > more money to support it. > > "We quantified the extra costs of artists, extra > rehearsals, all that, at about a million and a half > beyond what our baseline was," he says. In the tough > economics of nonprofit orchestra management, that > means assembling about $40 million of new endowment > money. Volpe says the orchestra is about halfway to > that goal. > > Most of the American orchestral world is in the midst > of a now decades-long malaise. Audiences get older and > sparser, programs become more and more limited to a > small and overplayed core of familiar classics, > rehearsal time is limited, and the results show. > Concerts become workmanlike. Soloists jet from city to > city and rarely seem to have much engagement with the > orchestras they play with. Few orchestras can afford > to hire the superstar artists that might help them > rise above the routine. Serious music lovers find > fewer and fewer evenings that interest them. The > National Symphony, which can play at the highest level > when inspired, recently announced a season filled with > chestnuts and B-level guest artists, and little that > hasn't been heard here repeatedly over the past 10 > years. That's become the norm throughout American > musical life. > > Fighting the slow demise of seriousness comes at a > cost, and orchestra observers point out that the > Boston Symphony has several natural advantages over > other groups. > > It has a well-developed franchise in its pops series, > which is artistically distinct from their main series. > The Christmas Pops program is a moneymaker. And its > endowment, which stands at $318 million, is the > largest of any symphony in the country. The orchestra > has also built a loyal audience over the years, and > the BSO brand is big in Boston. > > But it didn't get big by accident. The Boston Symphony > is an old, patrician institution that has always > prided itself on a strong connection to new music, and > the finest quality musicmaking. You can hear it in the > tone of the people who keep it alive. "The Boston > Symphony will continue to do what it has always done > through its glorious history," says Linde, the board > chair. > > In today's orchestra world, that conservative > commitment to excellence is radical. > > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! 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