Word: barbirolli
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...grim week for the world of music. On Wednesday, news came of the death of British Conductor Sir John Barbirolli, 70, whose early failure with the New York Philharmonic had long been erased by his direction of the Hallé orchestra (see MILESTONES). The same day, Conductor Jonel Perlea, 69, died in New York, ending a career whose flickering brilliance had been dimmed by war and a succession of illnesses. Then came perhaps the saddest word of all. George Szell, 73, had died in Cleveland, victim of fever, bone cancer and heart attack...
...GOOD CONDUCTOR is hard to find, harder than ever after the deaths of Sir John Barbirolli and George Szell. One place to find a good conductor, though, is in the Harvard Music Department. His name is Leon Kirchner, and, although his conducting experience is not that of a Barbirolli or a Szell, he and his orchestra compare favorably with Boston's other resident symphony...
Kirchner the conductor, like Kirchner the composer, is an exuberant, vibrant artist. He seems a little of everything-his precise hand movements reminiscent of Bruno Walter's, his body moving and even leaping off the ground with an enthusiasm like Bernstein's, his hair like Barbirolli's flowing mane-an artist totally consumed by his art. Yet he has nowhere sacrificed accuracy for emotion, and the clarity of his music, like the quality of his orchestra, is outstanding...
SYMPHONY NO. 6, SIR JOHN BARBIROLLI AND THE NEW PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA (Angel, two LPs). The tragic beauty and power of this score can scarcely be matched anywhere. "It is the sum of all the suffering I have been compelled to endure at the hands of life," said Mahler. Barbirolli drains every ounce of Angst from the music, and the recording itself is superbly engineered...
...symphony opens with a marchlike tune that charms the listener with its opulence and nostalgia. Unfortunately, the same theme crops up throughout the rest of the work, and though Elgar's variations are inventive, the work lacks variety. The Philharmonia, however, never sounded better. Conductor Sir John Barbirolli gives coherence to Elgar's romantic flights while retaining a special sympathy for their almost Kiplingesque quality...