Apr 16
Here is an Edison phonograph recording of Tchaikovsky, Anton Rubinstein and others speaking into an Edison phonograph cylinder in 1890. I believe this is the only recording of Tchaikovsky known to exist.
(RARE!) Voice of Tchaikowsky & Anton Rubinstein On Edison Cylinder ! (1890) – YouTube.
A wonderful little clip from “The Art of Piano” of Glenn Gould practicing Bach’s piano partita number two.
Until now, the Berlin Philharmonic’s performance last year of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion was available only to subscribers of their Digital Concert Hall. As a subscriber, I’ve watched it a couple of times, all 3-plus hours of it being worth every minute. Now the Philharmonic has made the performance available on DVD and Blue-ray at their online shop.
The performance is as close to an opera as you’ll get by Bach and the staging is certainly unconventional. The stage direction is by Peter Sellars and the orchestra is of course conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, the orchestras’s director. NPR’s ‘Deceptive Cadence’ describes the performance:
Director Peter Sellars doesn’t consider what he’s done with Bach’s version of the Passion story narrative theater. Instead, Sellars thinks of his “ritualization” as more of a prayer or a meditation. He had the chorus, vocal soloists and even some of the Berlin Philharmonic players memorize the piece, freeing them from their sheet music to become actors in the story.
The musicians “aren’t performing out, but they’re performing in — to each other,” Sellars says in an video interview. “And what you’re getting is a community engaging with itself, and you’re watching a community work through issues together.”
As Bach’s opening waves of sound pour out with a double chorus singing “Come ye daughters, share my mourning,” the choristers themselves are walking dejectedly about the stage, heads lowered in grief. In the aria “Gebt mir meinen Jesum wieder,” there’s a face-off between bass Thomas Quasthoff, who pleads “Give me back my Lord,” and violinist Daishin Kashimoto, whose agitated runs mimic Quasthoff’s frustration.
via Bach’s St. Matthew Passion: Ritualized and Riveting : Deceptive Cadence : NPR.
I just had to share this here. Music can help heal or at least temporarily heal the mind in difficult times both physically and mentally. Oliver Sacks shows how music lights a man who has been in a nursing home for ten years and has barely responded beyond yes or no questions. Watch how he describes and sings about the music he loves.
Old Man In Nursing Home Reacts To Hearing Music From His Era – YouTube.
In Morley Safer’s tribute to Mike Wallace on CBS news this past weekend, it was mentioned that of all of Wallace’s interviews, his favorite was with the pianist Vladimir Horowitz, of which they only show a very brief clip of. However WQXR Radio has posted on their website a series of interviews with musicians Wallace interviewed throughout his career. They post interviews with Vladimir Horowitz in 1977, Maria Callas in 1973 and Luciano Pavarotti in 1993 and 2003.
I think it’s safe to say that there are no major journalists today that interview high profile classical musicians with any regularity any more. Johnny Carson had musicians on all the time and of course Mike Wallace. But I can’t recall anyone today young enough that actively pursues interviews with, say, Hilary Hahn (Conan O’Brian excepted), Yo-Yo Ma, Gustavo Dudamel and so on.
Here is the 1977 interview with Horowitz:
Here are some more Wallace interviews with other musicians:
A much larger collection of Mike Wallace interviews can be found at The University of Texas School of Information’s website The Mike Wallace Interview.
The New York Times has a very interesting article and accompanying video breaking down what a conductor does, from the hands, to the face, to the back, posture and so on. The role of a conductor is complex on so many levels, it’s practically impossible to explain it fully to a non-musician.
One of the big misconceptions of what conductors do is they stand there and beat time. Most orchestras don’t need anyone to keep time … In the end it must be remembered that the art of conducting is more than just semaphore. It is a two-step between body and soul, between physical gesture and musical personality.
I just love when someone says a conductor’s job is easy since all they do is beat a stick and anyone can do it. I would like to see them try. A conductor is a force of nature, a walking encyclopedia, a (often complex) personality, maybe even an ism. While it may not be obvious to the casual listener why the conductor is so important, it is the conductor who gives a concert its soul and sense of mystery. Perhaps it is cliché to say, but great conductors are varieties of the best vintage wines, each with their own sense of color, texture, rhythm, all based on a lifetime of experience.
It is true that an orchestra does not have to have a conductor. Musicians are highly trained individuals who can rely on each other when performing a work, particularly when being led by a bad conductor. But preparing for a concert without a conductor is a much different experience than being led by an individual. Playing with a great conductor is often an experience that will stay with a musician for the rest of their life, something an average conductor could never accomplish. The reasons for this may vary, but a great conductor’s vision of a work and their ability to clearly execute that vision passionately, along with the cult of personality, lead to an experience a musician cannot experience with a leaderless orchestra. Perhaps the era of the “Great Conductor” is a thing of the past. Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, Leopold Stokowski, Carlos Kleiber, all felt like gods who descended from Mount Olympus and forever appear in our memory as majestic statues. It is hard to think of someone today who would fit that mould.
After reading this article, it’s a good idea to read a recent article in New York Magazine that further breaks down of the conductor’s role in a performance.
Breaking Conductors’ Down by Gesture and Body Part – NYTimes.com
Further Reading: New York Magazine: What Does a Conductor Do?
The world will never again see a conductor like Leonard Bernstein. I cannot imagine a conductor alive today that could pull this off with the same type of power Bernstein was capable of. The reason for this is the power of personality and Bernstein was certainly larger than life. Orchestras the world over absolutely adored Bernstein throughout his career. Of course in this video he has the Vienna Philharmonic at his disposal to help him pull it off. But there is no doubt that there is a “real time” reaction to his facial expressions in conveying the spirit of the piece in this performance.
Bernstein, Vienna Philharmonic in Haydn’s Symphony no. 88, in G Major (last mvt) – YouTube.
Yuja Wang is all the rage these days, and not just because of her concert dress. Here she performs an encore at a concert given last summer at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland.
Yuja Wang plays the Flight of the Bumble-Bee (Vol du Bourdon) – YouTube.
In the summer of 2002, SummerFest performed Stravinsky’s ‘L’Histoire du Soldat’ which I think is one of the finest performances of this work that I’ve ever heard. The narrator is actor John Rubinstein, son of pianist Arthur Rubinstein. They really need to release a higher definition version of this concert on DVD. Until now, this performance has only been found on YouTube and UCTV. It’s definitely worth you while to sit through the entire one hour and fourteen minutes.
SummerFest 2002: Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat – YouTube.
Copyright © 2012 . All rights reserved.
