Ex-Minnesota Orchestra maestro Stanislaw Skrowaczewski dies

Skrowaczewski conducted major orchestras in England, Japan and other countries. His last concerts were with the Minnesota Orchestra in October 2016, conducting works by Anton Bruckner, his specialty. Skrowaczewski was born in Lwów (then in Poland, now in Ukraine). As a child, he studied piano and violin; displaying talent on the piano at an early age, he made his public debut playing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor. A hand injury ended his piano career. After World War II, Skrowaczewski graduated from the Academy of Music in Kraków (in the composition class of Roman Palester and conducting class of Walerian Bierdiajew) and soon, in 1946, became the music director of the Wrocław Philharmonic, then the Katowice Philharmonic, the Kraków Philharmonic and finally the Warsaw National Orchestra. He studied composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. In 1956 he won the Santa Cecilia Competition for Conductors. At the invitation of George Szell, Skrowaczewski conducted the Cleveland Orchestra. In 1960 he was appointed music director of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (later renamed the Minnesota Orchestra under his tenure in 1968), a position he held until 1979 when he became conductor laureate. In 1981 the American Composers Forum commissioned the Clarinet Concerto which Skrowaczewski wrote for Minnesota Orchestra principal clarinetist Joe Longo, who premiered it in 1981.WIKIPEDIA

CHRISTOPHER HOGWOOD 1941 - 2014

Christopher Hogwood, whose Academy of Ancient Music was a key ensemble in the period-instrument movement, striving to perform early music as the composer intended and as audiences were first presumed to have heard it, died on Wednesday 24 SEP 2014, at his home in Cambridge, England. He was 73.
NYTimes Obit | OFFICIAL WEBSITE
Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood CBE (10 September 1941 – 24 September 2014) was an English conductor, harpsichordist, writer, musicologist and the founder of the Academy of Ancient Music.
WIKIPEDIA

Lorin Maazel 1930 - 2014

Lorin Varencove Maazel (March 6, 1930 - July 13, 2014) was an American conductor, violinist and composer.

Maazel was born to Jewish American parents of Russian origin in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, and brought up in the United States, primarily at his parents' home in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood. His father, Lincoln Maazel (1903–2009), was a singer, teacher of voice and piano, and an actor (he co-starred in George A. Romero's 1977 horror movie Martin); and his mother, Marion "Marie" Shulman Maazel (1894–1992), founded the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra. His grandfather Isaac was a violinist in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for twenty years. Both Lincoln and Marie gave interviews for the Oral History Collection at the University of Pittsburgh, Lincoln's in 1994, and Marie's in 1974. These can be heard online.
Wikipedia Bio
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NYTimes Obit

Claudio Abbado, Influential Italian Conductor, Dies at 80

Claudio Abbado, a conductor whose refined interpretations of a large symphonic and operatic repertory won him the directorships of several of the world’s most revered musical institutions — including La Scala, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Vienna State Opera and the Berlin Philharmonic — died on Monday, January 20, 2014. He was 80.NYTimes Obit
Warm, loving and generous in his relationships, Claudio Abbado inspires tremendous devotion and loyalty in his loved ones.

Conductor COLIN DAVIS dies at age 85

Colin Davis, the former principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and one of Britain's elder statesmen of classical music, has died at 85. The orchestra said Davis died Sunday 14 APR 2013, after a short illness.

One of the best-known figures in British music, Davis worked with the London symphony for more than half a century.

He first conducted for the LSO in 1959 and took the principal conductor post in 1995, serving until 2006 before becoming president.

Wikipedia

Georg Solti Birth Centennial

The centennial of Hungarian conductor Georg Solti, October 21st. 

Sir Georg Solti, KBE, /ˈdʒɔrdʒ ˈʃɒlti/ (21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, best known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and London, and as a long-serving music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Born in Hungary, he studied in Budapest with Béla Bartók, Leo Weiner and Ernő Dohnányi. In the 1930s, he was a répétiteur at the Hungarian State Opera and worked at the Salzburg Festival for Arturo Toscanini. His career was interrupted by the rise of the Nazis, and because he was a Jew he fled the increasingly restrictive anti-semitic laws in 1938. After conducting a season of Russian ballet in London at the Royal Opera House he found refuge in Switzerland, where he remained during the Second World War. Prohibited from conducting there, he earned a living as a pianist.

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Solti (Recordings)

Tradition shattered by Israeli orchestra

A precedence-shattering concert: an Israeli orchestra playing the music of Wagner a notoriously anti-Semitic composer at Germany's Bayreuth Festival, once one of Hitler's favorite destinations.

Like all of Richard Wagner's music, performances of his piece Siegfried Idyll, is unofficially — but effectively — banned in Israel.

It's not just that Wagner was an anti-Semite. He wrote a notorious essay called "Jewishness in Music." And after his death, Wagner's family was close to Adolf Hitler. Hitler often attended the annual Bayreuth Festival, which is devoted to Wagner's music.

Audio and Video at NPR.ORG | MORE LINKS

FREDERICK FENNELL

Frederick Fennell (July 2, 1914 in Cleveland, Ohio – December 7, 2004 in Siesta Key, Florida) was an internationally recognized conductor, and one of the primary figures in promoting the wind ensemble as a performing group. He was also influential as a band pedagogue, and greatly affected the field of music education in the USA and abroad. In Fennell's The New York Times obituary, colleague Jerry F. Junkin was quoted, saying "He was arguably the most famous band conductor since John Philip Sousa. Fennell recorded over 300 compositions on 29 albums for Mercury Records. For Mercury, Fennell recorded with the Eastman-Rochester "Pops", London "Pops" (actually the London Symphony Orchestra), and free-lance groups of New York musicians. However, best known are the twenty-two of these 29 Mercury albums that were with Fennell's own Eastman Wind Ensemble. One of these albums, Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Grainger recorded in 1958, was selected by Stereo Review magazine as one of the 50 best recordings of the Centenary of the Phonograph 1877-1977. The two volume Civil War - Its Music and Its Sounds, recorded in December 1960, was a notable set of recordings also made with the Eastman Wind Ensemble, this time performing on original instruments. In 1961, Fennell received a citation and a medal from the Congressional Committee for the Centennial of the Civil War for these recordings. In 2003, the 1958 Mercury album Winds in Hi Fi was chosen by the National Recording Preservation Board for the National Recording Registry. Nearly all of Fennell's Mercury recordings were reissued on compact disc.

Wikipedia Bio |  Search Amazon.com for Frederick Fennell

New CD from conductor Gisele Ben-Dor

Gisele Ben-Dor BIO

I first heard Ginastera's music on an Arthur Fiedler LP from the '70's of a dance from Estancia. So it was with great curiosity that I acquired this CD by Ginastera. Panambi is the longer of the two. It features long evocative solos for individual instruments, along with bracing sound pictures for the entire orchestra. It doesn't move along briskly, but is content with creating the various atmospheres the composer intended. Estancia is a different kettle of fish. It is vigorous and breathtakingly orchestrated, with a small evocative part for narrator/singer. The performances are very exciting, and one is very much aware of what a virtuoso ensemble the London Symphony is. For me the most interesting work here is Popol Vuh: The Mayan Creation. The original commission for the work, from Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, goes back to 1957, though Ginastera didn't begin work on the piece until the early 1980s. It's interesting that Ginastera should have set Popul Vuh for his ballet, since this is the same text used by Edgard Varese in his avant-garde classic Ecuatorial (1933). While Ginastera's music isn't as cutting edge, these creation stories have called forth some of his most impressive orchestral sounds. That's saying a lot, since Ginastera is a master of the orchestral palette.
 [Gisele Ben-Dor at Amazon.com].......(amazon.com reviewers)

American Music for Strings

LINK to Download site
SHOP Howard Hanson

Herbert Von Karajan Memorial Concert

Herbert von Karajan is considered by many as the greatest conductor of the 20th century. To this day, he also remains the world's top-selling classical recording artist. The Maestro's legacy, however, has often been a subject of heated discussions fueled by his highly publicized affiliation with the Nazi Party during WW2. Nevertheless, many of his recordings with the Vienna Philharmonic, and especially the Berlin Philharmonic, which he led for thirty-five years (1954-1989), are still regarded as the best in the classical repertoire. On January 28th, 2008 the Berlin Philharmonic celebrated the 100th anniversary of Herbert von Karajan's birth with an impressive concert at Wiener Musikverein, Vienna, Austria. Led by Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa, the Berlin Philharmonic performed Beethoven's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major (with guest soloist Anne-Sophie Mutter), Bach's Partita for Solo Violin No. 2 in D minor: Sarabande and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B minor "Pathetique". Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major - Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and the Berlin Philharmonic deliver an inspiring performance of Mozart's timeless masterpiece. Maestro Ozawa's leadership is certainly felt throughout the concerto, but it is Anne-Sophie Mutter's flawless technique that impresses. The Larghetto in particular is incredibly moving - the "dialog" between the violin and the bassoon in the opening bars is most beautiful. Sarabande - Yet another highly impressive performance by violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter! Her treatment of Bach's work is gentle and notably lyrical. The sense of calmness the lonely violin exudes is fantastic. Symphony No. 6 in B minor "Pathetique - Without a doubt, this is the real treat in this memorable concert (Maestro Ozawa conducted "Pathetique" for Orchestre de Paris very early in his career [Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov, March 13, 2009]). The Berlin Philharmonic breeds new life into this epic work regarded by many as Tchaikovsky's masterpiece. Buy it at Amazon.com

Russian conductor Dudarova dies at 92

Russian conductor Veronika Dudarova who led Moscow orchestras for 60 years has died at the age of 92. Dudarova became a conductor at the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra in 1947 and in 1960 was named chief conductor and artistic director. She left the orchestra in 1989. From 1991 until the end of her life she headed the Symphony Orchestra of Russia, which she had founded.

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conductor Richard Hickox dies suddenly

Opera Australia has been shocked by the sudden death of British conductor Richard Hickox, the company's music director. Hickox, 60, suffered a heart attack in London. The news was still filtering out tonight to members of Opera Australia. A shocked Murray Black, The Australian's Sydney opera and classical music critic, said one of Hickox's legacies would be his versatility as a conductor.

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Conductor Ashkenazy in Sydney

The Sydney Symphony's next leader has arrived early, and he has hit the ground running, writes Harriet Cunningham.

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John Rutter's 'A Christmas Festival' CD - 2008

There is no composer currently alive who has been more closely associated with Christmas music than John Rutter. For more than 30 years his seasonal choral music has gained him an international following. This major new album of over a dozen new compositions and arrangements together with Rutter's selection of favourite carols was recorded at London's Cadogan Hall and is the first all new Christmas release from Rutter's celebrated Cambridge Singers for 20 years. Accompanying the superb choir are the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and with contributions from the Farnham Youth Choir this is an album with a sales potential far, far beyond the average choral release. The Cambridge Singers are indeed in fine voice and bring to light the soaring melodic cadences of the new Rutter works like "Rejoice And Be Merry", "New Year" and "I Wish You Christmas". His new arrangements are strong too though there's only so much he could do with an over-jolly melody like "Nos Galan (New Year's Eve)", better known to you and I as "Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly". Having said that, the haunting Appalachian carol "I Wonder As I Wander" and the quite beautiful "The Shepherd's Carol" are two of the finest examples of Christmas music you'll hear this or any year. Reviewed by Tony Cummings

SHOP here for Rutter's A Christmas Festival 2008

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The Andre Kostelanetz papers

The papers of legendary conductor, arranger and broadcaster Andre Kostelanetz have been donated to the Library of Congress by his estate. Kostelanetz died in 1980. The gift is a veritable treasure trove for students of 20th century music and broadcasting. The archive of Kostelanetz' personal property, papers, clippings, letters, sound recordings, posters, and photographs spans some 73 crates. It documents in detail the career of one of America's most remarkable men of music. The gift from Kostelanetz' estate will complement the gift of scores and parts for many of his arrangements Kostelanetz made to the Library of Congress. His papers will join those of George and Ira Gershwin, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, Lorenz Hart, Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner, and Irving Berlin, among others in the Library's collection of material belonging to eminent American musicians.

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