Word: conductor
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Died. Hans Knappertsbusch, 77, German conductor in the grand tradition of the late 19th century romantics, who through the 1920s and '30s took brilliant charge of, first, the Munich Bavarian State Opera, then the Vienna State Opera and Vienna Philharmonic until the Nazis forced him into virtual retirement from 1938 to '45, after which he came back to crown his career at the 1951 Bayreuth Festival with a daringly modernized performance of Parsifal that sparked a Wagnerian revival throughout Europe; of a heart attack; in Munich...
...triumphant debut in Moscow in 1956, Russian audiences were shocked to discover what the outside world had long acknowledged-that U.S. orchestras were the world's finest. Russian cultural circles began buzzing with talk of the "orchestra gap." One of the most outspoken critics was Kiril Kondrashin, then conductor with the Bolshoi opera, who bluntly declared that Russian orchestras had to shape up. Four years later, when Kondrashin was appointed conductor of the Moscow Philharmonic, he admitted that "the U.S. orchestra is the ideal I am working toward...
...Hungary's Royal Academy of Music. At 21, Ormandy came to the U.S. for a concert tour, but was stranded when the promoters went bankrupt. Literally down to his last nickel, he joined the fiddle section of Manhattan's Capitol Theater orchestra. Five days later, when the conductor suddenly took ill 15 minutes before showtime, Ormandy was thrust onto the podium for the first time because, naturally, he was the only musician who knew Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony by heart. Presto! "I discovered a new instrument, richer and fuller than the violin-the orchestra...
When he arrived in Philadelphia, the little, heavily accented conductor was received coolly by the Main Line matrons, who for 22 years had yearned over the bony Polish profile of Leopold Stokowski and his evocative hands. But Ormandy took charge. He developed the classical side of the orchestra's repertory, which Stokowski had scorned, and became a tireless promoter of new works. Today, when he schedules a particularly difficult modern piece, he invites the audience to rehearsals so that they will be better prepared. The result, he says proudly, is that "I receive 200 enthusiastic letters instead...
...evaluate hall's sound with new space-age computer. Machine says major problems-lack of bass, uneven distribution of sound, fluttery echoes-are largely corrected. Critics say machine has flipped circuit; their ears hear otherwise. Musicians say now it is like playing in the bottom of huge barrel. Conductor George Szell, after conducting at hall for four weeks, describes panel's contribution: "Imagine a woman, lame, a hunchback, cross-eyed and with two warts. They've removed the warts." Schuman decides back-to-work...