Video of the day - my/maSCENA

Video of the Day – Jansen and Gergiev Play Szymanowski

By Paul E. Robinson on 14 October 2013 Contemporary, Orchestral, Video of the day, Violin

Valery Gergiev recently wowed audiences in Montreal and Toronto with his Mariinsky Orchestra. He is also music director of the London Symphony. With the LSO last month at the Barbican in London he collaborated with violinist Janine Jansen in the Violin Concerto No. 1 by Karol Szymanowski (1883-1937). To judge by this video it was a beautiful performance of a neglected masterpiece. The work was composed in 1917 when Szymanowski was 34.Note that Gergiev appears to be using the shortest baton ever used by a major conductor. Why bother with any baton at all?Paul E. Robinson

Video of the Day – Vanska Resigns From the Minnesota Orchestra

By Paul E. Robinson on 7 October 2013 Orchestral, Video of the day

The battle between management and musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra has gone on so long that music director Osmo Vanska has resigned. I don’t blame him. A conductor without an orchestra can’t get much done. I sympathize with the musicians as they fight back against a management determined to eliminate its deficit by downsizing the orchestra. On the other hand, downsizing is probably exactly what is needed, in Minnesota and elsewhere. The cost of running the Minnesota Orchestra has simply grown too great for its community. Few orchestras can do what the Cleveland Orchestra has done in similar circumstances. It…

Video of the Day – Tom and Jerry at the Proms

By Paul E. Robinson on 1 October 2013 Orchestral, Video of the day

The Proms are over for another year and it is time once again to tip our hats to the BBC: this is perhaps the world’s greatest music festival. And in the form of live television broadcasts – with video to follow – it is more available than ever to millions of people. Every night during the summer months the Proms fill the Royal Albert Hall and bring in world class artists in a vast repertoire of the familiar and the all but unknown.This past summer one of the quirky highlights was music from the Tom and Jerry cartoons. Not great…

Video of the Day – Gergiev Conducts Tchaikovsky

By Paul E. Robinson on 25 September 2013 Orchestral, Romantic, Video of the day

For years now the busiest conductor in the world has been Valery Gergiev. And he still is. He is currently conducting a run of performances of Eugen Onegin at the Met in New York with Anna Netrebko, and soon he will be leading a North American tour with his Mariinsky Orchestra. The tour includes a stop in Montreal with an all-Rachmaninov program.His critics say that Gergiev can’t possibly be prepared for all the performances he gives and that is probably true. At the same time, few conductors anywhere bring as much mastery and involvement to a performance as Gergiev. Like…

Video of the Day – Berlin Philharmonic Horn Section Plays Bruckner

By Paul E. Robinson on 15 September 2013 Orchestral, Romantic, Video of the day

The symphonies of Bruckner are a challenge for any orchestra, especially for the horn section. In several of the later symphonies four of the horn players have to switch to Wagner tubas. The Berlin Philharmonic has a long and proud tradition of playing Bruckner under Furtwaengler, Karajan, Boehm, Jochum and others but it doesn’t take its authority lightly in this repertoire. In this recent video you will see the members of the BPO horn section preparing for a Bruckner performance with meticulous rehearsal and discussion.The Montreal Symphony plays Bruckner’s Third Symphony this week under music director Kent Nagano.Paul E. Robinson

Video of the Day – Lotfi Mansouri: In Memoriam

By Paul E. Robinson on 7 September 2013 Opera, Video of the day

Lotfi Mansouri was the right man at the right time for the Canadian Opera Company. He was the man who made the organization a major force in Toronto’s musical life, and through his international connections he was able to bring the best singers to the city. He also deserves enormous credit for bringing opera to many more people through the use of surtitles. Finally, North American audiences could get the jokes and appreciate the nuances of the text.These were genuine achievements and they catapulted him to the leadership of an even more important company, the San Francisco Opera.His greatest qualities…

Video of the Day – Lisiecki Plays Chopin at Verbier Festival 2013

By Paul E. Robinson on 29 August 2013 Piano, Romantic, Video of the day

The summer music festivals are drawing to a close for another year. Among the highlights was this performance by Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki from the 2013 Verbier Festival in Switzerland. Lisiecki plays Chopin’s Nocturne in C sharp minor.Paul E. Robinson

Video of the Day – Joshua Bell & the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

By Paul E. Robinson on 5 August 2013 Romantic, Video of the day, Violin

The legendary chamber orchestra the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields made a surprising choice recently when it chose Joshua Bell to be its next music director. Bell had little or no experience as a conductor so how could he be the right man for the job that Sir Neville Marriner long held with such distinction?But the ASMF is a very special kind of chamber orchestra and Joshua Bell is a very special sort of musician. Like Bell Marriner was a violinist although he did not have an important career as a soloist. And for a time Marriner led…

Video of the Day – Thielemann and the Dresden Staatskapelle

By Paul E. Robinson on 29 July 2013 Orchestral, Romantic, Video of the day

Last fall Christian Thielemann began his tenure as chief conductor of the legendary Dresden Staatskapelle, one of the world’s oldest and finest orchestras. Great things are expected from this combination of conductor and orchestra. Thielemann has solid credentials as a Bruckner and Wagner conductor and that is the core repertoire of this orchestra.Earlier this year Thielemann and the Dresden Staatskapelle took over from Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic as the resident conductor and orchestra of the Salzburg Easter Festival. This too has a certain inevitability about it. Karajan founded the Salzburg Easter Festival and for many years Thielemann was one…

Video of the Day – Dallas Concertmasters Play Prokofiev

By Paul E. Robinson on 22 July 2013 Contemporary, Orchestral, Video of the day

Jaap van Zweden has dramatically improved the Dallas Symphony since he took over as music director. In addition to his unique conducting skills, he has made significant changes in personnel. Among the major changes have been the appointments of two concertmasters: Alexander Kerr and Nathan Olsen. Van Zweden knows a thing or two about violins and violinists. For many years he was concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and had an important solo career. It is probably not a coincidence that Alexander Kerr was also concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra at one time.Here are the two concertmasters together playing Prokofiev’s…

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