Classic Ross Amico

Category: Daily Dispatch

Celebrating Conducting Nonagenarians

There must be something to all that aerobic exercise and immersion in beautiful music. Otherwise, why would so many conductors live to such a ripe old age? The occupation must be second, in terms of promoting longevity, only to President of the United States (but the presidency ages you faster).

Join me this morning on WPRB, as we celebrate the 90th birthday of conductor Michael Gielen. Gielen is best known for being the one-time music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and, especially, the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra, which he led from 1986 to 1999, and with which he has been associated ever since. Gielen, who is also a composer, had a particular knack for deciphering complex and contemporary scores, but he also lent interesting insights into music of the Romantic era. We’ll listen to some of his performances of fin-de-siècle masters Franz Schreker and Gustav Mahler.

While we’re at it, we’ll continue along these lines, with appreciations of 90 year-old maestros Herbert Blomstedt (born July 11, 1927) and Serge Baudo (born July 16, 1927). We’ll also hear recordings by notable nonagenarians who passed within the last year or so, including Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Georges Prêtre, Louis Frémaux, and Sir Neville Marriner. Then we’ll fill in around the edges with late-career performances by Sir Adrian Boult (who lived to be 93) and Leopold Stokowski (95).

Join me for recordings by this nonet of nonagenarians (and perhaps a few more), this Thursday morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. We tap the wisdom of the ages, on Classic Ross Amico.

July 20, 2017
Celebrating Nonagenarian Conductors on WPRB

Tomorrow is the 90th birthday of conductor Michael Gielen. Though Gielen retired from the podium several years ago, primarily due to failing eyesight, conductor Herbert Blomstedt (born July 11, 1927), a Seventh-day Adventist who doesn’t eat meat, smoke or drink caffeine, is still going strong, with a full season of concerts ahead. On a related note, the French conductor Serge Baudo turned 90 on July 16.

With these milestone birthdays in mind, I thought it might be interesting tomorrow morning on WPRB to put together a playlist of recordings by these artists and others of their profession who have entered the 90 Year-Old Club.

We’ll sample Gielen’s recordings of Franz Schreker and Gustav Mahler, Blomstedt’s Roger Sessions, and Baudo’s Messiaen. We’ll also hear recordings by notable nonagenarians who passed within the last year or so, including Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Georges Prêtre, Louis Fremaux, and Sir Neville Marriner. Then we’ll fill in around the edges with late-career performances by Sir Adrian Boult (who lived to be 93) and Leopold Stokowski (95).

90 is the new 70, tomorrow morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. Suddenly I feel like a spring chicken again, on Classic Ross Amico.

PHOTOS (clockwise from left): Michael Gielen, Serge Baudo, and champion arm-wrestler Herbert Blomstedt

July 19, 2017
Marlboro Music Festival with Mitsuko Uchida

Each summer, the Marlboro Music School and Festival brings together the world’s most acclaimed artists and exceptional young talent in the foothills of rural, southern Vermont, for seven weeks of relaxed, inspired and joyful music-making.

This year’s festival, already underway, will continue through August 13, on the campus of Marlboro College (a separate institution). More information about Marlboro Music may be found at marlboromusic.org.

The Classical Network has been granted privileged access to the Marlboro archives, which contain many performances never before heard beyond the confines of the festival, all of them featuring chamber music luminaries and stars of tomorrow.

On the next installment of “Music from Marlboro,” it will be an all-Czech program, including works by Erwin Schulhoff – his Divertissement for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon – and Antonín Dvořák, his beloved Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 81. Marlboro artistic director Mitsuko Uchida will be the pianist.

I hope you’ll join me this Wednesday evening at 6 EDT, for another “Music from Marlboro,” on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

Marlboro School of Music and Festival: Official Page

PHOTO: Marlboro artistic director Mitsuko Uchida (left)

July 19, 2017
Remembering Kurt Masur on His 90th Birthday

When Kurt Masur died two years ago at the age of 88, many of his obituaries lauded him as the conductor who rebuilt the New York Philharmonic. Masur, longtime kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, brought no-nonsense discipline and a meat-and-potatoes diet of Beethoven and Brahms to Manhattan’s flagging flagship ensemble.

He may not have always been the most exciting conductor, or the most charismatic, but he exuded authority and demanded respect. This was the man who managed to get a new concert hall built in East Germany during the Cold War and was permitted to lead the Gewandhaus Orchestra, ensconced behind the Iron Curtain, on international tours. In 1989, when violence threatened to erupt in the streets, Masur brokered peace, inviting protesters in to his concert hall to meet with the East German leadership.

An unlikely candidate for the directorship of the New York Philharmonic, he improved the sound of both the orchestra and its hall, brought in new players like principle cellist Carter Brey, and began collaborating with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Interestingly, given his devotion to the core repertoire, Masur during his New York tenure also spearheaded the commissioning of over 40 new works.

In addition, he held important posts with the Orchestre National de France, the London Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic, and, earlier in his career, the Dresden Philharmonic.

I hope you’ll join me today, on what would have been Masur’s 90th birthday, as we listen to a selection of his recordings, including music by Felix Mendelssohn, Max Bruch, and Franz Liszt. We remember the maestro, from noon to 4 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

PHOTO: Kurt Masur with the London Philharmonic at his old stomping ground, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, in 2010

July 18, 2017
Peter Schickele Birthday Bash on WWFM

Peter Schickele is best known for his “discovery” of the last and least of Bach’s alleged progeny, P.D.Q. Bach (the 21st of Bach’s 20 children). P.D.Q. Bach has been the vessel for musical parody ranging from high to low (frequently low) for more than 50 years – this often at the expense of Schickele the “serious” composer. Schickele, a pupil of Roy Harris, has composed over 100 works. It seems strange to describe them as serious, since, although they are not outright comic, they often convey a kind of genial wit. We’ll enjoy two faces of Peter Schickele today, on his birthday.

We’ll also hear Samuel Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915,” after James Agee’s nostalgic reminiscence. It’s a coin toss as to whether it will be sung by Eleanor Steber, who commissioned the work, or Dawn Upshaw, who made one of the finest recordings of the digital age. Both singers were born on this date.

In addition, there will be music by August Söderman, Woijiech Kilar and Donald Francis Tovey, all with birthday anniversaries on July 17.

That’s a lot of candles to blow out. I’m saving my breath for between 4 and 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

July 17, 2017

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