Link to Levine

Here's a link to my latest Rockwell Matters broadcast on WNYC.FM, offering a not entirely loving appreciation of James Levine's conducting. I know, I know -- pygmies attacking a giant. But it's a tough world out there.

April 3, 2008 5:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

1 Comments

By marcus on April 3, 2008 7:14 PM

I agree with what you said in your podcast about the dissolving barriers between the various categories of music and think your holding Nico Muhly up as proof is right on the money.

Take his highly-meditative "Hudson Cycle" as an example. To me, part of the deceptive genius of this 'simple' piano piece is that its impact and reception could vary wildly depending on the context in which it is experienced. Heard as a movie soundtrack underscoring a tear-jerker goodbye scene it would mean one thing, and heard in a stuffy concert hall it would mean another. It would sound equally at home opening for Ane Brun as it would in a Mark Morris dance solo.

To me, part of what makes Muhly's music so real and interesting is that it so easily evokes an emotional connection, no matter what the context.

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