Concert Notes
Human Elements
Human Elements By Leon Botstein Written for the concert Human Elements, performed on Nov 18, 2007 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. It is ironic that the four composers on today’s program, whose work ranges from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth, should be inspired by one of the most ancient theories of human…
Read MoreJohann Strauss Sr., Die vier Temperamente (The Four Temperaments Waltz), Op. 59 (1832)
Johann Strauss Sr., Die vier Temperamente (The Four Temperaments Waltz), Op. 59 (1832) By Peter Laki, Visiting Associate Professor, Bard College Written for the concert Human Elements, performed on Nov 18, 2007 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. To the first Viennese Waltz King, Johann Strauss Sr., the four temperaments meant little more than an…
Read MoreCarl Nielsen, Symphony No. 2, “De fire temperamenter” (The Four Temperaments)
Carl Nielsen, Symphony No. 2, “De fire temperamenter” (The Four Temperaments) By Fred Kirshnit Written for the concert Human Elements, performed on Nov 18, 2007 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. While listening to the American Symphony Orchestra this afternoon, take a moment to scan the second violin section. Somewhere in there may be the…
Read MorePaul Hindemith, Theme and Variations, “Die vier Temperamente” (The Four Temperaments)
Paul Hindemith, Theme and Variations, “Die vier Temperamente” (The Four Temperaments) By Adrian Corleonis, Fanfare magazine Written for the concert Human Elements, performed on Nov 18, 2007 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Standard accounts of Hindemith’s Four Temperaments have the choreographer, Léonide Massine, calling the composer’s attention to Pieter Brueghel the Elder’s depictions of,…
Read MoreFrank Martin, Les quatre éléments (The Four Elements)
Frank Martin, Les quatre éléments (The Four Elements) by Byron Adams, University of California, Riverside Written for the concert Human Elements, performed on Nov 18, 2007 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. “Forgive me if I ask you an embarrassing question. I am making up my programs for the winter of 1963-64. Do you…
Read MoreThe Wreckers
The Wreckers 09/30/2007 at 08:00 PM – Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center Concert Notes The Wreckers – Leon Botstein The Wreckers (1904) – Sophie Fuller
Read MoreDame Ethel Smyth, The Wreckers
Dame Ethel Smyth, The Wreckers By Sophie Fuller Written for the concert The Wreckers, performed on Sep 30, 2007 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. When Ethel Smyth arrived in Leipzig in November 1906 for the dress rehearsal of her third opera, The Wreckers, she was horrified to find that the musical director of…
Read MoreUncommon Comrades
Uncommon Comrades By Leon Botstein Written for the concert Uncommon Comrades, performed on June 3, 2007 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. The history of European Jewry is frequently written according to a narrative that suggests an inexorable logic leading to a tragic destiny. The persistence of anti-Semitism over centuries throughout Eastern and Western…
Read MoreMieczyslaw Weinberg
Mieczyslaw Weinberg By David Fanning, University of Manchester Written for the concert Uncommon Comrades, performed on June 3, 2007 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Mieczyslaw Weinberg (1919-1996) – A Brief Profile Mieczyslaw Weinberg—to use the Germanised spelling he himself reportedly preferred—had a remarkable life, even by the standards of those many composers buffeted…
Read MoreDmitri Shostakovich, Symphony No. 13, Op. 113 “Babi Yar”
Dmirti Shostakovich, Symphony No. 13, Op. 113 “Babi Yar” By Laurel E. Fay Written for the concert Uncommon Comrades, performed on June 3, 2007 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. In late September 1961, while Shostakovich was in Leningrad attending rehearsals of his new Twelfth Symphony, “The Year 1917” (dedicated to the memory of…
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