Concert Notes
Music and the Romantic Vampire
Music and the Romantic Vampire By Thomas Grey Written for the concert The Vampire, performed on March 17, 2013 at Carnegie Hall. While the vampire as a figure of folklore or legend goes back to ancient times and can be traced around the globe, the modern literary vampire was born in the company of Doctor…
Read MoreMusical Expression and the Challenge of Twentieth Century History
Musical Expression and the Challenge of Twentieth Century History By Leon Botstein Written for the concert Truth or Truffles, performed on Feb 10, 2013 at Carnegie Hall. 19th-century Europe witnessed unprecedented social and economic transformations. Among the most lasting (albeit erratic) of these was the expansion of literacy, most noticeable in Europe’s rapidly growing cities.…
Read MoreKarl Amadeus Hartmann, Gesangsszene
Karl Amadeus Hartmann, Gesangsszene By Byron Adams Written for the concert Truth or Truffles, performed on Feb 10, 2013 at Carnegie Hall. Karl Amadeus Hartmann is a shining example of the composer as a principled dissident. As Michael H. Kater has observed, “we must continue to accept the hitherto reported version that Hartmann was opposed…
Read MoreRichard Strauss, Schlagobers
Richard Strauss, Schlagobers By Byron Adams Written for the concert Truth or Truffles, performed on Feb 10, 2013 at Carnegie Hall. To say that Karl Kraus, the radical Viennese essayist and founder of the satirical journal Die Fackel, disliked Richard Strauss’ ballet Schlagobers, op. 70 (“Whipped Cream”) would be an understatement: “But now even his…
Read MoreWhat Makes a Masterpiece
What Makes a Masterpiece By Leon Botstein Written for the concert What Makes a Masterpiece, performed on Jan 25, 2013 at Carnegie Hall. It is rare that one gets to match wits with a distinguished colleague before the public on a subject, and debate a matter of importance. As a reader of the program notes…
Read MoreA Master, a Protégé, and an Epigone
A Master, a Protégé, and an Epigone By David Brodbeck Written for the concert What Makes a Masterpiece, performed on Jan 25, 2013 at Carnegie Hall. Tonight’s program brings together a familiar symphony by a canonic composer, an unfamiliar symphony by another canonic composer, and a forgotten symphony by a forgotten composer. This may at…
Read MoreJohn Cage at 100
John Cage at 100 By Leon Botstein Written for the concert The Cage Concert, performed on Dec 13, 2012 at Carnegie Hall. This ASO tribute to John Cage comes barely three months after what would have been the composer’s 100th birthday, and at the end of a year of Cage celebrations all over the world.…
Read MoreOld Friends, New Setting
Old Friends, New Setting By Laura Kuhn Written for the concert The Cage Concert, performed on Dec 13, 2012 at Carnegie Hall. It is a fitting finale to John Cage’s Centennial Year to bring works together into a single program by individuals to whom Cage expressed lifelong devotion: the revered Austrian composer, Anton Webern (1883–1945);…
Read MoreThe ASO at Fifty
The ASO at Fifty By Leon Botstein Written for the concert Fiftieth Birthday Celebration, performed on Oct 26, 2012 at Carnegie Hall. Tonight’s concert is not just a season opener; it marks fifty years of concerts by the American Symphony Orchestra. The founding of the ASO was an act of vision by the great conductor…
Read MoreCharles Ives, Symphony No. 4
Charles Ives, Symphony No. 4 By Christopher H. Gibbs Written for the concert Fiftieth Birthday Celebration, performed on Oct 26, 2012 at Carnegie Hall. The genesis, musical substance, and fate of Charles Ives’s Fourth Symphony are in many respects representative of the singularly strange career of this unusual American composer. The son of a Connecticut…
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