The Inky‘s David Patrick Stearns reports on an unlikely performance of the Verdi Requiem in New Jersey. I’d add that the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove also sports one of the most interesting and impressive sounding organs on the East Coast. (Hat tip: Elliott Forrest.)
Category Archives: Classical Music News
Composing for an Unexpected Target Audience
Here is a fascinating article for those interested in the nexus of music and the mind: NPR delves into copmpositions written especially for the enjoyment of monkeys.
Abe Torchinsky, 1920-2009
Via Richard Schneider and John Charles Thomas comes the sad news of another prominent American instrumentalist’s passing: Abe Torchinsky, most well known as the Philadelphia Orchestra’s tuba player from 1949 to 1972. He also played with the NBC Symphony Orchestra from 1946 to 1949. The Philadelphia Inquirer has just posted a link for a pending full obituary.
Maestro and Lady Downes End Their Lives
Heartbreaking – but also enormously courageous. With the Maestro “nearly blind and increasingly deaf” and his wife facing terminal pancreatic and liver cancer, they decided to end it together and on their terms. Sir Edward Downes was perhaps best known for his work in the opera pit, but his thrilling recordings of Gliere’s Ilya Murometz and powerful, propulsive Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No.2 remain favorite recordings of mine. Every one of his recordings that I’ve heard yields consistently excellent orchestral playing and character.
More details here.
Fear and Loathing in Philly Redux
Via Jessica Duchen’s indispensible blog (and just why haven’t you bookmarked it yet?) comes a link to this Guardian article on the woes that have befallen the Philadelphia Orchestra and its institutional support system. It should be added…
Rewire That Frontal Lobe!
“The study, from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., offers a new line of evidence that the brain we end up with is not necessarily the same brain we started out with.” The secret ingredient? Music, of course. Read the details at abc.com.
Frank Oteri and Joseph Polisi on Bill Schuman
Read Frank’s terrific interview with the author of “American Muse” here. (Hat tip: Richard Schneider.)
Fear and Loathing in Philly on the Wane?
Daniel Wakin wades into the recent leadership problems within the Philadelphia Orchestra’s support system, though the headline may make you believe the lion’s share of problems are being borne by the players. Truth is, the orchestra has sounded superb the last few times I’ve seen them under Charles Dutoit.
John McGlinn, 1953-2009
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.
Lukas Foss, 1922-2009
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.