Concert Notes
Parallel Lives: Liszt & Busoni
Parallel Lives: Liszt & Busoni By Leon Botstein Written for the concert Parallel Lives: Liszt & Busoni, performed on Dec 11, 2011 at Carnegie Hall. The piano was central to the musical culture of the 19th century. It defined that culture’s aesthetics and perception of music’s meaning and logic. During the first decades, within Beethoven’s…
Read MoreFerruccio Busoni, Piano Concerto
Ferruccia Busoni, Piano Concerto By Byron Adams Written for the concert Parallel Lives: Liszt & Busoni, performed on Dec 11, 2011 at Carnegie Hall. Ferruccio Busoni was a protean figure: a pianist of fearsome virtuosity, a marvelous composer, an influential conductor, and a subtle writer. Like his great hero, Franz Liszt, Busoni’s magisterial ability as…
Read MoreFranz Liszt, Faust Symphony
Franz Liszt, Faust Symphony By Peter Laki Written for the concert Parallel Lives: Liszt & Busoni, performed on Dec 11, 2011 at Carnegie Hall. The unknown authors of the broadside The History of Dr. Johann Faust, written around 1580 immortalizing a real-life figure, never suspected they had created a true modern myth—a story that was…
Read MoreBauhaus Bach
Bauhaus Bach By Leon Botstein Written for the concert Bauhaus Bach, performed on Oct 21, 2011 at Carnegie Hall. Modernism in the arts during the 20th century can be said to have had two distinct (albeit related) and contradictory impulses: first, rejection, resistance, and rebellion on the part of the younger generation, born after 1860,…
Read MoreBack to Bach: The Conscience of History
Back to Bach: The Conscience of History By Stephen Hinton Written for the concert Bauhaus Bach, performed on Oct 21, 2011 at Carnegie Hall. Of the myriad topics that have claimed the attention of music historians, Bach reception is not only among the most persistent but also the most multifarious. The subject matter clearly warrants…
Read MoreLyonel Feininger
Lyonel Feininger By Barbara Haskell Written for the concert Bauhaus Bach, performed on Oct 21, 2011 at Carnegie Hall. Lyonel Feininger—world-renowned painter, printmaker, and caricaturist—was born in New York City on July 17, 1871 to German-American parents, both concertizing musicians. By age nine, he was studying violin with his father; by 12, he was performing…
Read MoreLyonel Feininger, Fugues
Lyonel Feininger, Fugues By Richard Wilson Written for the concert Bauhaus Bach, performed on Oct 21, 2011 at Carnegie Hall. I have chosen three of Feininger’s twelve fugues to arrange for full orchestra: one numbered IV, written in Weimar in 1921; one numbered III and subtitled “Gigue,” written in Weimar soon after; and “Fugue in…
Read MorePassover in Exile
Passover in Exile By Leon Botstein Written for the concert Passover in Exile, performed on April 21, 2011 at Carnegie Hall. It is not unusual for us to view the making of art as somehow discretionary and perhaps even decorative, distant from what is truly important in life. Our construction of what is of value…
Read MorePaul Dessau, Haggadah shel Pesach
Paul Dessau, Haggadah shel Pesach By Laura Silverberg Written for the concert Passover in Exile, performed on April 21, 2011 at Carnegie Hall. On the eve of Hitler’s rise to power, German-Jewish composer Paul Dessau was enjoying a successful career as a conductor and composer. While still a teenager, Dessau was a rehearsal pianist and…
Read MoreAmerican Harmonies: The Music of Walter Piston
American Harmonies: The Music of Walter Piston 03/29/2011 at 08:00 PM – Carnegie Hall Piston is a legendary figure, a largely self-taught “composer’s composer” who has had a profound impact on contemporary American music. Enjoy two of his award-winning symphonies as the teacher gets his night in the spotlight. Conductor’s Notes Maestro Leon Botstein explains…
Read More