Word: kirchners
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...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...
...Summer Festival Orchestra, which Kirchner conducted Monday night, is very good. Although a very young orchestra, it has reached a high level of maturity. Its faults are relatively few-the cello section is weak, the basses could improve a bit, but on the whole it is highly professional. Particularly noteworthy is its concertmaster, Tison Street, a young performer of extraordinary virtuosity. The almost demonical intensity with which he played, especially during the Bartok Divertimento for String Orchestra, portends a brilliant future for this particularly fine violinist...
...FINAL WORK on the program, Kirchner's own Music for Orchestra, is an intriguing piece commissioned for the 125th anniversary of the New York Philharmonic last year. While I have not seen the score, I would say that it seems closer to the better Messiaen than to Lutoslawski, as the program notes suggest. It is an exuberant though occasionally muddy piece, with a few aleatory passages which give some freedom of choice to the performers...
...audience response to the piece was so enthusastic that Kirchner repeated it. It is not a piece which can be easily understood in one sitting, or even in two; a certain mystery remains, some of its parts are still unexplained. It is certainly a work of great genius, a suitable product of a great composer...