Concert Notes
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann By Leon Botstein Written for the concert Robert Schumann: Scenes from Goethe’s Faust (1853), performed on April 9, 2010 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Robert Schumann was perhaps the first in a long line of great nineteenth- and twentieth-century composers whose ambitions were as much literary as they were musical. One…
Read MoreRobert Schumann, Szenen aus Goethes Faust
Robert Schumann, Szenen aus Goethes Faust By Paul Griffiths Written for the concert Robert Schumann: Scenes from Goethe’s Faust (1853), performed on April 9, 2010 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. In October 1838, at a funeral mass in Vienna where Mozart’s Requiem was being performed, Schumann found himself standing next to the composer’s…
Read MoreAfter the Thaw
After the Thaw By Leon Botstein Written for the concert After the Thaw, performed on Feb 24, 2010 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. One overtly benign but distinguishing feature of the Soviet Union was its commitment to and investment in aspects of high culture, notably music. From the early 1920s, first under Lenin…
Read MoreAlexander Lokshin, Symphony No. 4
Alexander Lokshin, Symphony No. 4 By Laurel E. Fay Written for the concert After the Thaw, performed on Feb 24, 2010 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. If the name and music of Alexander Lokshin (1920-87) are unfamiliar to Western audiences, they are not much better known in his native Russia. Despite producing a…
Read MoreBoris Tchaikovsky, Concerto for Cello and Symphonic Orchestra
Boris Tchaikovsky, Concerto for Cello and Symphonic Orchestra By Laurel E. Fay Written for the concert After the Thaw, performed on Feb 24, 2010 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. His surname notwithstanding, Moscow native Boris Tchaikovsky (1925-96) was not born into a family of musicians; he bore no relation to his illustrious namesake.…
Read MoreBoris Tishchenko, Symphony No. 5, Op. 67
Boris Tishchenko, Symphony No. 5, Op. 67 By Laurel E. Fay Written for the concert After the Thaw, performed on Feb 24, 2010 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. The death of Dmitri Shostakovich in 1975 left no Soviet composer unaffected. Many of them—representing all generations and stylistic inclinations—wrote pieces to pay homage to…
Read MoreAn American Biography: The Music of Henry Cowell
An American Biography: The Music of Henry Cowell 01/29/2010 at 08:00 PM – Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center The eclectic and prodigious output of Henry Cowell mirrors the energy and optimism of America and the countless traditions, customs, and conventions that are the culture of America. Cowell experimented with everything from Japanese instruments to electronic music,…
Read MoreHenry Cowell, Symphony No. 11, “Seven Rituals of Music”
Henry Cowell, Symphony No. 11, “Seven Rituals of Music” By Richard Teitelbaum Written for the concert An American Biography: The Music of Henry Cowell, performed on Jan 29, 2010 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. “I Want to Live in the Whole World of Music” -Henry Cowell Henry Cowell was a true American original,…
Read MoreThe Remains of Romanticism
The Remains of Romanticism By Leon Botstein Written for the concert The Remains of Romanticism, performed on Nov 15, 2009 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Musical romanticism is, like most descriptive categories, elusive. Its existence is shaped by an implied chronological contrast. At the beginning of its historical spectrum, it is juxtaposed in…
Read MoreRobert Fuchs, Serenade No. 1, Op. 9
Robert Fuchs, Serenade No. 1, Op. 9 By Byron Adams Written for the concert The Remains of Romanticism , performed on Nov 15, 2009 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. In the seventh edition of Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Music and Musicians, edited by the late Nicholas Slonimsky, an invidious comparison is made between…
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