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.
This past Saturday, Anne-Sophie Mutter gave what may be the very worst concerto performance I have ever heard from a ‘front rank’ soloist. After the concert, I ran into a prominent violinist, mentioned that I would have strongly preferred that she had been the soloist (she wisely attended a ballet performance with friends), and – with my usual good taste and restraint – said the Mutter did to the Mendelssohn what Leatherface did to all of those teenagers in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The rest of the concert, thankfully, was far better. My assessment of the New York Philharmonic’s concert in honor of Mendelssohn’s 200th birthday is up at ClassicalSource.com.
It’s about time. And isn’t it interesting that the orchestra has chosen to showcase Levine’s recording of Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloë, a party piece for former BSO maestro Charles Munch? Both of Munch’s commercial recordings with the BSO are among the greatest glories of the RCA Red Seal catalogue, and an extraordinary 1962 stereo aircheck from Tanglewood has also circulated among collectors for some time. Full press release below the break…
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.
Norman Lebrecht weighs in from across the pond with an outsider’s perspective on what the Barack Obama presidency might mean for the performing arts.
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The current mystery track: the finale from one of my favorite chamber works, Franz Schubert‘s Octet D803. Your mission: identify the players. Clue: not an organized ensemble per se. Answer will be posted late Friday afternoon. If you want, send your best guess to me here.
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.
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This week’s mystery track, the finale from Schubert’s Octet D803, is played by violinists David Oistrakh and Peter Bondarenko, violist Mikhail Terian, cellist Sviatoslav Knushevitzky, double bassist Vladimir Sorokin, clarinetist Joseph Gertovich, bassoonist Joseph Stideland, and hornist Jacov Shapiro. It is the final track on the final disc of EMI’s recently issued “David Oistrakh | The Complete EMI Recordings,” andis the first CD release of a pristine new transfer of thisrecording made especially for the set.
Here’s the update from the New York Times.
