It's nice to be noticed, so thank you to those who have complained about the paucity of recent filings in this space. Usually I write a blog when I'm excited or upset. I don't notice that I'm any less excited or upset than usual - just that the blog engine has been running down lately. So here is a list of things I should have been blogging about: 1.Some kind person has posted … [Read more...] about The Greatest Vocal Recording of All Time, etc.
The Detroit Symphony, Service Exchange, and “Full-Time” Jobs
About a week ago I received a phone call from a reporter from Detroit Public Radio inviting me to comment on the Detroit Symphony strike. I told him I had no special knowledge of the Detroit situation, but was amenable to commenting on some of the general issues at hand. "Service conversion" is something I have long thought, spoken, and written about - e.g., in my blog of Jan. … [Read more...] about The Detroit Symphony, Service Exchange, and “Full-Time” Jobs
Re-Inventing Bernstein; Re-Inventing City Opera
Can re-interpretation improve a symphony or concerto? Can an ingenious staging fundamentally enhance an opera? My friend Alexander Toradze has long made a specialty of Prokofiev's Second Piano Concerto. He reads it as a memorial to the composer's soulmate Maximilian Shmitgoff, who had committed suicide. Personally, I doubt that the detailed scenario Lexo extrapolates … [Read more...] about Re-Inventing Bernstein; Re-Inventing City Opera
Rheingold, Boris, and Artistic Miscalculation at the Met
The current issue of The Times Literary Supplement (UK) includes my review of Das Rheingold and Boris Godunov at the Met, as follows: The two most eagerly awaited Metropolitan Opera productions this fall autumn were Wagner's Das Rheingold directed by Robert Lepage, and Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov directed by Peter Stein, with René Pape singing his first New York Boris and Valery … [Read more...] about Rheingold, Boris, and Artistic Miscalculation at the Met
The Singularity of Gershwin
The singularity of George Gershwin is an inexhaustible topic. One thing that sets Gershwin apart is what I'd call his "cultural fluidity." He is Russian, he is Jewish, he is American. He composes for Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, Hollywood, Carnegie Hall. He is an American in Paris. In Vienna, he is the rare American composer for whom Alban Berg greatly matters. This fluidity of … [Read more...] about The Singularity of Gershwin