Word: conductor
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...completely independent man," declares German Conductor Hermann Scherchen. "I do not have to conduct works I don't like." And he doesn't. In fact, for 35 years, Scherchen repeatedly refused invitations to conduct in the U.S. because the programs offered were too conventional for his tastes. "There is an extraordinary prejudice in America," he said, "to do works of commercial interest. Beethoven's 'Eroica,' Tchaikovsky's 'Pathetique' -fine music, but I've done them before. I desire to do things of special interest...
...Standin. Born in Buffalo, N.Y., the son of a New York Central conductor, John Dennis Patrick O'Brian showed early signs of an incisive critical taste. Soon after he joined the Buffalo Courier-Express as a cub reporter, O'Brian was assigned to audit a performance of the local philharmonic orchestra. Offended by a guest appearance of some juvenile accordionists, O'Brian took the orchestra so severely to task that the incident became a civic cause celebre. When the orchestra changed hands shortly thereafter, O'Brian, with obvious satisfaction, claimed part of the credit...
There will never be enough orchestras to suit Conductor Leopold Stolcowslci, 82. And plans to tear down Carnegie Hall when the New York Philharmonic moved out distressed him because that meant one less stage big enough to seat 96 musicians. So he, Violinist Isaac Stern and some others blew the whistle on the wreckers, and Stokowski founded the American Symphony as Carnegie's new tenant-whereupon the U.S. Government designated the hall a national landmark. Interior Secretary Stewart Udall, 44, went up to affix the plaque on the wall outside, but Stokowski took the Arizonian up to the podium...
...difficulties and successes with the Bartok revealed most about him as a conductor. In the sursurrant introduction. Dr. Yannatos signaled the instruments playing different lines to enter precisely, without rushing. Avoiding the temptation to romanticize here, he enhanced the romantic appeal of the later movements...
...Yannatos' performance allowed for such speculations. It was, I think, slower than the performances of many other conductors. While permitting the listener to hear things he may not have heard before, this leisure may also prevent the music from gaining momentum. Bartok's decomposition of the first three movements into sections or episodes could require the conductor to speed up if he wants the movements to sound coherent...