There’s been so much to occupy my attention these past weeks that I’ve neglected to pay tribute to three artists who enriched my life for decades through their recordings. In yet another attempt to avoid posting about the slow-motion collapse of the flabbergastingly politicized Kennedy Center (most recently given the eff you by Philip Glass), I thought now might be a good opportunity to remember them.
The Virginia-born Isaiah Jackson died on Christmas Eve at the age of 80. Jackson held music directorships with London’s Royal Ballet and Boston’s Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra. As a child of two, he fell on a milk bottle, severing the tendons in his wrist. His father, an orthopedic surgeon, prescribed music lessons as therapy, which he began at the age of 4. Jackson studied Russian history and literature at Harvard, from which he graduated cum laude. While there, he conducted Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte,” an experience that decided him, once and for all, on a career in music. He pursued further studies at Stanford and Juilliard. In between, he was a pupil of the celebrated pedagogue Nadia Boulanger.
Among Jackson’s other, numerous posts, he was assistant to Leopold Stokowski at the American Symphony Orchestra, associate conductor of the Baltimore Symphony and Rochester Philharmonic Orchestras, and music director of the Flint Symphony and Dayton Philharmonic Orchestras. He was a respected teacher, who served on the faculty of Berklee College of Music, and guest conducted, among others, the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the Boston Pops, the Toronto Symphony, the Helsinki Philharmonic, and L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Hearing loss caused him to retire from the podium in 2006.
Three recordings of his of which I am especially fond are those of “Danzas de Panama” by William Grant Still, from an album devoted to the composer’s works; the Sinfonietta for String Orchestra and Timpani by Franz Waxman, better known for his film scores; and the Harp Concerto of Welsh composer William Mathias, with Ann Hobson Pilot the soloist, my preferred recording of the piece, which is a gem. All three of them were released on the Koch International Classics label.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiHN4lXshrA
John Wallace died on January 11 at the age of 76. Wallace was principal trumpet of the Philharmonia Orchestra from 1976 to 1995 and later served as principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. As a soloist, he introduced new works by Malcolm Arnold, Peter Maxwell Davies, Gunther Schuller, and James MacMillan. But perhaps he achieved his greatest fame through a series of recordings he made with the ensemble he founded, the Wallace Collection, which aired frequently during the good old days on classical radio. Of course, it didn’t detract from his celebrity that Wallace also played at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. Here’s a Concerto for 7 Trumpets by Johann Ernst Altenburg.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed2Ctagmzxw
Finally, the Japanese guitarist and prolific recording artist Kazuhito Yamashita died on January 25 at the age of 64. Yamashita was an early competition winner who achieved international recognition and performed with top artists, including James Galway, Michala Petri, and the Tokyo String Quartet. Quixotically, he chose to transcribe some of the most brilliantly orchestrated works in the repertoire, including Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade” and Stravinsky’s “The Firebird,” for his instrument. He also gave first performances of over 60 new compositions. I owe Yamashita a great debt for introducing me, through this RCA release conducted by Leonard Slatkin, to Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s heartwarming guitar concertos. The slow movements are gorgeous. That for the First begins at 5:40 at the link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y0cxGjGG4A
Thank you, gentlemen, and godspeed.