Word: harnoncourt
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Perhaps because the museum has fixed in its memory the image of the late René d'Harnoncourt, who was director from 1949 to 1968. An amiable giant of a man, he had impeccable scholarship, gentle charm, and the kind of offhand authority that makes administration easy and donors eager. His successor, Bates Lowry, proved to be a disastrous administrator and lasted only ten months. Hightower remained 20. His failure has something to do with that impalpable thing called presence. He looked even more boyish than his years. Often compelled by his job as director to address fund-raising...
...acting director, the trustees named Richard Oldenburg, 38, brother of Sculptor Claes Oldenburg and the museum's director of publications since 1969. The search for a new d'Harnoncourt continues...
...complements subtle shadings of tone and fine techniques with beautiful phrasing that never is broken in awkward moments for breathing. The supremely beautiful moment of the Suite is the Double of the Polonaise: the theme of the Polonaise appears in the bass (played as if a solo part by Harnoncourt himself) with an incredibly florid counterpoint in the flute part. The beauty and care taken by Harnoncourt in his accompaniment is outstanding. The usual fate of this section is to have a frantic virtuoso display by the flutist over a barely-audible figured bass...
...finale of the Second Suite, a Badinerie, is described as a "ready-composed encore" by Harnoncourt. The bounce in the string accompaniment is infectious. All of Bach's brilliant counterpoint shine through because of the bright string sound. No wonder, then, that the Concentus Musicus used the Badinerie for their encore in last fall's Sanders Theatre concert...
...whole new world awaits you with the Harnoncourt recordings. It could easily be shocking. Though having played in the St. Matthew Passion here last spring, still I thought I had put on the wrong record when first hearing the Concentus Musicus recording of that piece. Baroque music is not musty, dense, or unreachable; it is powerful and active. The Concentus Musicus has virtually transcended their time in emotional and intellectual appreciation of the music of a different...