Violin News & Gossip, Op. 2, No. 17

April 9, 2006 at 8:21 PM

Perhaps in recognition of his recent 79th birthday, the great Mstislav Rostropovich has told a German magazine that he will no longer perform in public on the cello, reports PlaybillArts. The renowned cellist/conductor was quoted as saying that a Penderecki premiere he played in Vienna this January would be his last performance, but "Rostropovich said that he would continue to maintain an active schedule as a conductor, noting that he was completely booked for the next two years."

As string players, we are more fortunate than, say, singers in that we can reasonably expect to play into old age. But how well, and under what level of scrutiny, can be another matter. At what point does one realize it is time to refocus one’s energies away from public performance?

This is often a ticklish issue in leading orchestras, who want to keep their level of artistry as high as possible while still honoring the contributions and knowledge of its eldest players. And, let’s face it, no one wants to face an ageism lawsuit in this litigious age.

What do you think: Is it time for Slava to step down?

Musician News

4/10/06 - Violinist William Harvey, winner of this year's Juilliard concerto competition, will perform the New York premiere of Behzad Ranjbaran's Violin Concerto. Gerard Schwarz will lead the Juilliard Orchestra as part of the school’s centennial celebration.

Harvey, who will perform on a Stradivarius loaned by the school, is a Juilliard graduate student. He is also founder of Music for the People, a non-profit organization that seeks to promote international cultural understanding through classical music. Having spent time in Turkey, Tunisia, and other areas with a strong Persian influence, he says the concerto is a powerful contemporary work that reminds him of those places.

"There's an element that's very seductive and mysterious that permeates and pervades the air and everything in it," Harvey says. "(Ranjbaran) captured those sounds beautifully in a way that's not clichéd. It's faithful to the source; it's very evocative of what we imagine Persia to be like."

4/6/06 – Of course, Juilliard’s centennial celebration included the obligatory gala, aired on PBS, no less. Itzhak Perlman and the Juilliard String Quartet were among the string players who performed. Other luminaries included John Williams, Emanuel Ax, Renee Fleming and Wynton Marsalis.

4/2/06 – Violinist Fredy Ostrovsky, who played with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 41 years, died of Parkinson's disease in Venice, Fla. on March 21, reports the Boston Globe. He was 84. “A prodigy, he had played for the king of Bulgaria in a command performance when he was a child." The paper quotes Tamara Smirnova, associate concertmaster of the BSO and concertmaster of the Boston Pops: "He had this warm, beautiful sound, a sense of phrase." Ostrovsky played in the orchestra at Radio City in New York City after WWII, joining the BSO soon after. "In his years with the symphony, Mr. Ostrovsky played solos almost every year with the Boston Pops while Arthur Fiedler was conducting." The obituary also quoted a 1959 review in the Christian Science Monitor that called him "a suave young man, extremely poised and slightly aloof in a friendly sort of way ... He has a technique that is well nigh flawless."

3/31/06 - Raymond Kobler, concertmaster of the Pacific Symphony, was singled out as “excellent” in the Bonner Stadtanzeig (Cologne, Germany) during the orchestra’s first European tour. The review continued, “The music lover ... quickly realizes that this Orange County has an orchestra that could raise it to the level of a cultural capital ...”

Orchestra News

The New York Philharmonic's national radio broadcast series has been extended from 39 to 52 weeks per year, making it the only orchestra broadcasting nationally on a weekly basis. The additional thirteen weeks will air when the orchestra is not performing in New York and programs will draw on the Philharmonic's library of commercial recordings. The New York Philharmonic This Week series is syndicated nationally to more than 250 stations by the WFMT Radio Network. Concerts are also available on the orchestra's web site for one week following the broadcast. [As an aside, I hope this announcement makes the corporate powers that be in Chicago wake up and realize what a disgrace it is that the CSO is currently not on the air at all except for a weekly retrospective show.]

The Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra's first commercial recording is now available. The recording of Carmina Burana features the Jacksonville Symphony Chorus, the Jacksonville Children's Chorus, soprano Andrea Matthews, tenor Christopher Pfund and baritone Kurt Willett. It was recorded in November of last year, with Music Director and Principal Conductor Fabio Mechetti.The CD is available through the orchestra’s website.

4/13/06 - The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra will begin a thirteen-week radio series featuring live performances from the current season and the 2004-05 season. Performances will be broadcast locally on New York City's WQXR and nationally by WFMT in Chicago and its 700-plus NPR affiliates.

4/9/06 - The newly formed El Paso Symphony Youth Orchestra will perform its inaugural concert. Benjamin Loeb is music director of the orchestra, which was founded last fall as part of the El Paso Symphony's education program. The EPSYO has more than 250 members in four orchestral groups.

4/2/06 – As Daniel Barenboim’s final season as music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra wanes, the gossip mill is heating up regarding who will succeed him. According to the Chicago Tribune, “Speculation is increasing that Leonard Slatkin may be in line as the next director of the Chicago Symphony. Asked whether he is, as rumored, actively campaigning to be the next CSO music director, Slatkin proved as skilled in equivocation as any media-wise senator or congressman with whom he lunches." Stay tuned in the months ahead.

3/26/06 – Things are looking up at the Utah Symphony and Opera, reports the Salt Lake Tribune: "The outlook for the USO is now 'cautiously optimistic,' words recited like a mantra by management, musicians and patrons alike. Indeed, there is reason for hope: Ticket sales are up and donations are rising. But the institution isn't in the clear yet. Administrators need to keep the numbers moving upward and grapple with ongoing challenges."

From Maura Gerety
Posted on April 10, 2006 at 11:07 PM

Waaaaahhh!! No more Slava!!! :(
Admittedly, I haven't actually heard him play for some time so I don't know first-hand how age is affecting his playing, so it's probably best that he retire, but still....goodbye Slava, goodbye to an era. *sob*.....

From Rigo Murillo
Posted on April 12, 2006 at 2:16 AM

DSO Gossip:

I was just wondering if somone has any insight on the Dallas Symphony conductor search.

It seems to me that the reason the administrators "are not in a rush" to find an acceptable conductor is because it gives them more time to "look" for conductors around the globe.

Here in Dallas, they use this mistery speech of the possibility that any of the guest conductors would be apt to the post.

But they know that some of these conductors can be scratched from the list because they are not looking for a job. Some of them are just too bad in my opinion. I wish they would look for quality of musicianship and a way to challenge the orchestra to higher levels of performance over just image or raport from the average Joe.

I don't want to be negative because, after all, I like this orchestra and it's my home town. I think they CAN sound good when they are challenged. I am a patron and I have loved some superb performances by the DSO under some first class conductors. I have also hated some concerts lead by permisive conductors. Maybe some of DSO's member have come to the "complacency stage" and they do not easily give their whole heart, mind and strength when they aren't asked for a challenge.

Any good insight out there? Gary, do you have some ideas? I know you are one of the backbones (of course, the assistant concertmaster) and maybe you know what's going on.

Well, we will see...

Rigo.

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Violin News & Gossip, Op. 2, No. 17

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