Classic Ross Amico

Tag: JoAnn Falletta

Remembering JoAnn Falletta A Generous Maestro

JoAnn Falletta is one of the nicest, most generous people in the business. Not only did she make time to drop by my morning radio shows during her summer visits to Princeton to conduct the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Edward T. Cone Composition Institute concerts and to participate in multiple phone interviews for my syndicated radio program, “The Lost Chord,” but she’s actually gone out of her way to send me related material herself from her home. Where does she find the time? She’s in demand everywhere, and she’s constantly learning new material. The last time I saw her was at an all-Lukas Foss concert at Carnegie Hall last year. (The music was recorded, so a CD will materialize on Naxos at some point, I expect very soon.) She’s always on the lookout for worthy unusual and neglected repertoire. Is it any wonder I feel as if we are totally simpatico? Falletta’s recordings are well-represented on my radio programs and in my CD library. She holds a special place in my heart. Happy birthday, JoAnn Falletta! Thank you for your curiosity, your energy, your artistry, and your munificence.

I almost forgot, I’ve got one of our interviews preserved on Soundcloud!

February 27, 2024
Falletta Celebrates Lukas Foss at Carnegie Hall

What a great night last night at Carnegie Hall! JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra celebrated the centenary of the birth of Lukas Foss.

In addition to being a brilliant composer, conductor, pianist, and educator (he succeeded Arnold Schoenberg as professor of music at UCLA), Foss was music director in Buffalo from 1963 to 1970.

Falletta served as his associate conductor at the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (where Foss was director from 1981 to 1986), later assuming the directorship he once held in Buffalo. Falletta has been music director in Buffalo since 1999. Her recordings of opulent repertoire and music by unjustly neglected composers for the Naxos label, among others, hold an honored place in my CD collection.

She’s also one heck of a nice person. She gives so much of herself (she’s been a guest on my radio shows three or four times over the years, twice in person), I honestly wonder where she finds the energy.

Last night’s program was all (or mostly) Foss, including “Ode for Orchestra,” “Three American Pieces” (with concertmaster Nikki Chooi, violin), the “Renaissance Concerto” (with Amy Porter, flute), “Psalms” (with the Choir of Trinity Wall Street), and the Symphony No. 1. Also included, as kind of an encore after “Psalms,” was the famous “Alleluia” by Foss’ teacher, Randall Thompson.

I never dreamt I’d get to hear so much Foss in one place. In a sense, I feel like I got more “Foss” than I did when I actually met him in person, over 30 years ago. His was a great era for American music. I wish that particular generation of American composers would be represented more frequently in our concert halls. To bring a full program to Carnegie was very special indeed.

A truly memorable evening, then. Thanks to JoAnn Falletta, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and everyone else who helped to make it possible.

And a special thank you to Paul Moon, who scored me my ticket and was my generous host for the day!

October 4, 2022
Romeo Cascarino Radio Doc Webcast

In case you missed it, my radio documentary on Romeo Cascarino has been posted as a webcast, just in time for the composer’s centenary.

The show includes commentary by soprano Dolores Ferraro, the composer’s wife for over 40 years, and arts writer and longtime champion Tom Di Nardo; also rare recordings from the family archive, music from a Naxos release of Cascarino’s orchestral music with JoAnn Falletta conducting, and a selection from the composer’s magnum opus, the opera “William Penn.”

Click “listen” at the link.

September 28, 2022
Yom HaShoah Marcel Tyberg’s Lost Symphony

Yom HaShoah…

Marcel Tyberg was a forgotten casualty of the Holocaust. A devout Catholic, Tyberg was targeted because one of his grandmother’s great-grandfathers was Jewish (comprising a mere 1/16th of his genetic make-up). The fact was made known only when his mother registered with the German authorities then occupying their hometown, Abbazia, in what was then northern Italy (now Opatija, Croatia).

It’s unclear whether Tyberg himself had any prior knowledge of his great-great grandfather’s ethnicity, but four generations’ remove was not enough to pacify the Nazis. Tyberg was transported to Auschwitz, where his death was recorded on New Year’s Eve, 1944.

Tyberg’s music alone should not have attracted unfavorable notice from the authorities. There is nothing in his compositional output that might have frightened the Führer. Quite apart from the modernism being explored by many of the composers interned in the “artists’ camp” of Terezin – the kind of music the Nazis branded “degenerate” – Tyberg’s symphonies are very much in the Austro-German romantic tradition.

With the likelihood of arrest looming, Tyberg entrusted his manuscripts to his friend, Milan Mihich, an Italian doctor and music-lover. Mihich in turn passed them on to his son. In 2005, Dr. Enrico Mihich, then a specialist at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY, brought the scores to the attention of JoAnn Falletta, music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.

Falletta, in her examination of the manuscripts, discerned what she thought to be real musical worth and gave the first performance of Tyberg’s Symphony No. 3 in 2008. She has since also performed and recorded the Second Symphony – unheard since Rafael Kubelik conducted it back in the 1930s.

Tyberg’s Third Symphony should appeal especially to admirers of Bruckner and Mahler; yet it stands alone as a work of outstanding beauty and, somehow, especially when colored by a knowledge of its history, an expression of hope.

April 21, 2020
Marcel Tyberg Holocaust Composer Rediscovered

Marcel Tyberg was a forgotten casualty of the Holocaust. Targeted because of his Jewish ancestry (a mere 1/16th of his make-up), Tyberg was deported to Auschwitz, where his death was recorded on New Year’s Eve, 1944.

His music alone should not have attracted unfavorable attention from the authorities. Quite apart from the modernism being explored by many of the composers interned in the “artists’ camp” of Terezin – a musical language the Nazis branded “degenerate” – Tyberg’s symphonies are very much in the Austro-German romantic tradition.

Nevertheless, his output was revived only in the last decade or so, thanks in large part to conductor JoAnn Falletta. This week on “The Lost Chord,” learn about the extraordinary journey of Tyberg’s scores from wartime Italy to 21st century Buffalo.

Tyberg lives again, through his Symphony No. 3, on “Resurrection Symphony,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

January 27, 2019

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