Video of the day - my/maSCENA

Video of the Day – Anne Akiko Meyers Plays the Vieuxtemps Guarneri del Gesu

By Paul E. Robinson on 8 March 2014 Video of the day, Violin

Great violinists can make music out of practically any instrument. But it certainly helps if that instrument is a Strad or a Guarneri, or something comparable rather than a cigar box.Anne Akiko Meyers has been in the news lately for acquiring a violin reportedly worth $18 million: the 1741 “Vieuxtemps” Guarneri del Gesu. Not that she really needs a better instrument. She already owns two Strads. In 2012 she made a recording of the Bach Concerto for Two Violins and played both parts herself. She played the first solo part using her 1697 “ex-Molitor/Napoleon” Strad and the second part using…

Video of the Day – Alan Gilbert Conducts Mahler

By Paul E. Robinson on 3 March 2014 Orchestral, Video of the day

Alan Gilbert is the music director of the New York Philharmonic but he is also the principal guest conductor of the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg, one of the best orchestras in Germany. Gilbert has his detractors in New York but he has brought a breath of fresh air to the orchestra’s programming. He has very wide interests and works hard to present contemporary music in interesting ways. In New York in the next few weeks he will continue his Nielsen cycle in concert and on recordings and conduct performances of Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd with Emma Thompson and Bryan Terfel.…

Video of the Day – Menuhin Competition Austin 2014

By Paul E. Robinson on 24 February 2014 Video of the day, Violin

For the first time ever the Menuhin Violin Competition is being held this year in the United States. The current competition began last Friday in Austin, Texas and continues until Sunday, March 2. Forty-two young violinists from all over the world are competing for prizes and a chance to appear with the Cleveland Orchestra in the closing gala concert. I’ll be blogging from the competition every few days. The first blog about the opening concert has already been posted on the LSM website.Yehudi Menuhin (1916- 1999 ) was one of the great violinists of his time. At the age of eleven he…

Video of the Day – Sid Caesar (1922-2014): In Memoriam

By Paul E. Robinson on 14 February 2014 Classical, Video of the day

Like so many kids growing up in North America in the 1950s, my life was hugely enriched by Sid Caesar’s comedy on television. He was a genius at what he did, and in my book there is greater gift than being able to make people laugh. Sid Caesar had a remarkable gift for sketch comedy, the kind of thing we celebrate today on “Saturday Night Live.” While we are at it, let’s not forget the contribution to this genre made by so many Canadian comic actors on SCTV. Caesar had a Chaplinesque talent for physical comedy. He had a rubber face,…

Video of the Day – Maria Schneider Wins Grammy

By Paul E. Robinson on 8 February 2014 Mainstream Jazz, Video of the day

She is known mainly as a jazz composer and bandleader but she walked away with the Grammy in the category “Best Contemporary Classical Composition.” Her name is Maria Schneider and she hails from Minnesota. And she is not to be confused with the actress of the same name who was Marlon Brando’s love interest in “Last Tango in Paris.”Is Maria Schneider a “classical” composer? Perhaps the genre titles don’t mean much. There is good music and there is bad music. Maria Schneider has spent most of her life in jazz and in jazz ensembles but she composes music that is…

Video of the Day – Bamberg Symphony New Year’s Concerts – On Two Continents!

By Paul E. Robinson on 2 February 2014 Orchestral, Video of the day

It is a sign of the times that symphony orchestras are seeking new audiences as never before – and finding them. Each year the great Cleveland Orchestra plays fewer concerts at home in Cleveland and more in places such as Miami, Vienna and Lucerne. In early March it will take part in the Menuhin Competition in Austin, Texas. The Philadelphia Orchestra is developing a residency in Beijing, and the New York Philharmonic a permanent presence in Shanghai.What these new patterns have in common is a need for the orchestras involved to serve more people and balance their budgets. But it is significant…

Video of the Day – Claudio Abbado In Memoriam (1933-2014)

By Paul E. Robinson on 24 January 2014 Orchestral, Video of the day

Claudio Abbado’s passing last week was not unexpected – he had been seriously ill for some time – but it came as a heavy blow to those who had known him and admired his work. In that number were thousands of young people who had played in orchestras he had created. And there were many older musicians too who had been devoted to Abbado and his kind of music-making.Abbado was a shy but dedicated and determined man for whom music came first. He was not interested in personal glory, only in serving the music he loved. In that respect and…

Video of the Day – Minnesota Orchestra Musicians Reach Settlement with Management

By Paul E. Robinson on 18 January 2014 Orchestral, Video of the day

Finally, some good news from Minneapolis. The musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra have reached a settlement with their management. Concerts will resume in February.But there is one big unanswered question. When the dispute was at its height music director Osmo Vanska resigned. Will he be asked to return? Will he want to come back?The Minnesota Orchestra is one of the best symphony orchestras in the country. No doubt about it. But how much should its musicians be paid? That was the main issue in the conflict. On its side management pointed to a deficit that was huge and growing larger. It…

Video of the Day – Abbado Conducts Mendelssohn

By Paul E. Robinson on 13 January 2014 Orchestral, Romantic, Video of the day

Claudio Abbado has been in the news lately for his ill health. He has not conducted a concert since last September and his future schedule is very uncertain. In recent years he has drastically cut back his conducting activities due to serious intestinal issues. His main activity has been to lead the Lucerne Festival Orchestra in August every year, give a few concerts and make recordings with Orchestra Mozart, and appear annually with the Berlin Philharmonic.Now comes word that Orchestra Mozart has suspended operations. Both Orchestra Mozart and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra were created expressly for Abbado and would probably…

Video of the Day – Pioneers in Canadian Musical Life

By Paul E. Robinson on 4 January 2014 Canadian Music, Video of the day

We need to pause every once and a while to remember the men and women who contributed so much when Canadian musical life was still in its infancy. Much of the most important work was done by a handful of Germans and Austrians who arrived in Canada against their will during World War II and stayed on to make the country their home.Eric Koch (1919-) was one of them, and in a remarkable series of videos posted on YouTube he has articulated very well what it was like to be transplanted into a foreign country, and then to make it one’s…

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