A major glossy magazine that used to be devoted largely to music -- but long ago fell under the spell of Hollywood celebrity -- still continues to cover music, specializing in listicles that seem designed mainly to provoke ire in those who care more about music than does said magazine (named after a classic blues song, in case you can't guess without a hint). This summer it unleashed a list of songs that, with that aging publication's ironically weak sense of history, managed to overlook the vast majority of the history of song. To put it bluntly, if you're claiming to discuss the best songs ever written and you don't even mention Franz Schubert, you're an ignoramus. My ire over this blinkered attitude towards music history festered for months, so I finally decided to do something about it by writing about some of the timeless songs omitted in the aforementioned myopic listicle.
- 10/25/2015
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Is Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886-1954) the greatest conductor ever? While there are some who, in preference to his highly inflected, interventionist style, would prefer a more straight-forward conductor such as his contemporary Arturo Toscanini, many cognoscenti believe that at the least Furtwängler, when heard in his favored 19th century Austro-Germanic repertoire, ranks supreme of his type in the pre-stereo era. The aforementioned Toscanini himself was an admirer; asked who aside from himself was the greatest conductor, he named Furtwängler, and also pushed for the German to take over the directorship of the New York Philharmonic when Toscanini relinquished its reins, though controversy prevented that.
While Furtwängler was a more versatile conductor than some observers give him credit for, his reputation is based firmly on his masterful conducting of the symphonies of Beethoven, Bruckner, and Brahms and the operas of Wagner. He said, "A well-rehearsed concert is one in which you have...
While Furtwängler was a more versatile conductor than some observers give him credit for, his reputation is based firmly on his masterful conducting of the symphonies of Beethoven, Bruckner, and Brahms and the operas of Wagner. He said, "A well-rehearsed concert is one in which you have...
- 12/1/2014
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
A classicist using Romantic harmonies, Johannes Brahms (1833-97) was hailed at age 20 by Robert Schumann in a famous article entitled "New Paths." Yet by the time Brahms wrote his mature works, his music was thought of as a conservative compared to the daring harmonies and revolutionary dramatic theories of Richard Wagner. But in the next century, Arnold Schoenberg's 1947 essay titled "Brahms the Progressive" praised Brahms's bold modulations (as daring as Wagner's most tonally ambiguous chords), asymmetrical forms, and mastery of imaginative variation and development of thematic material.
The son of a bassist in the Hamburg Philharmonic Society, Brahms was an excellent pianist who was supporting himself by his mid-teens. His first two published works were his Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2, and throughout his career he penned much fine music for that instrument, not only solo (including the later Piano Sonata No. 3) and duo but also his landmark Piano Concertos Nos.
The son of a bassist in the Hamburg Philharmonic Society, Brahms was an excellent pianist who was supporting himself by his mid-teens. His first two published works were his Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2, and throughout his career he penned much fine music for that instrument, not only solo (including the later Piano Sonata No. 3) and duo but also his landmark Piano Concertos Nos.
- 5/8/2014
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Lorengar/Johnson/King/Fischer-Dieskau/Greindl/Deutsche Oper Orchestra and Chorus/Sawallisch
(Arthaus Musik)
One of the most influential singers of the 20th century, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau died last May, aged 86. Primarily associated with the German repertoire, he was also a fine Verdian, particularly noted for his performances as Posa in Don Carlos, which he sings in this 1965 telecast from the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He's in marginally better voice than on his famous studio recording of the work for Decca, though it's the subtle physicality of his acting that is the real revelation here. He's by no means the only reason for watching: Pilar Lorengar is immensely touching as Elisabeth; Patricia Johnson makes Eboli a figure of tremendous complexity; and there's grand, intense conducting from Wolfgang Sawallisch. Less convincing are Josef Greindl and James King, miscast as Philip and Carlos respectively. The psychologically astute, if severe production is by Gustav Rudolf Sellner.
(Arthaus Musik)
One of the most influential singers of the 20th century, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau died last May, aged 86. Primarily associated with the German repertoire, he was also a fine Verdian, particularly noted for his performances as Posa in Don Carlos, which he sings in this 1965 telecast from the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He's in marginally better voice than on his famous studio recording of the work for Decca, though it's the subtle physicality of his acting that is the real revelation here. He's by no means the only reason for watching: Pilar Lorengar is immensely touching as Elisabeth; Patricia Johnson makes Eboli a figure of tremendous complexity; and there's grand, intense conducting from Wolfgang Sawallisch. Less convincing are Josef Greindl and James King, miscast as Philip and Carlos respectively. The psychologically astute, if severe production is by Gustav Rudolf Sellner.
- 12/13/2012
- by Tim Ashley
- The Guardian - Film News
Shortly after 9/11, and very definitely as a personal response to that event, I wrote an article about Requiems for Cdnow, where I worked at the time (just a few blocks away from Ground Zero; fortunately our workday started at 10 Am, so I wasn't there yet that day, but in the weeks that followed there were days where, if the wind came from the wrong direction, we would go home early, it made us so sick). In the years since, I have written about music composed in response to that tragedy, such as John Adams's On the Transmigration of Souls. But now I find myself being drawn back to the Requiem idea. Here's a much-expanded take on it.
This roughly chronological list confines itself to works with a sacred basis, though the 20th century yielded secular Requiems, most notably Paul Hindemith's When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom...
This roughly chronological list confines itself to works with a sacred basis, though the 20th century yielded secular Requiems, most notably Paul Hindemith's When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom...
- 9/11/2012
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
British actor Stephen Fry has paid tribute to Dietrich Fischer-dieskau, hailing the famed German classical singer/conductor as "simply remarkable".
The baritone, once called the "most influential singer of the 20th Century", died in his sleep at his home in Berg, Germany on 18 May.
Fry grew up listening to Fischer-Dieskau's music, and has written a blog post remembering the singer after learning of his death.
He writes, "I know of course that he had to die some time, but I never thought it would be soon. Heavens, he had reached his 87th year and had every right to leave the party. It is just that I can't remember a time when his voice hasn't been a part of my life and the idea of his not being on the planet is going to take a bit of getting used to.
"When did I first hear that miraculous instrument? My father often had him playing on his gramophone or wireless set. It must have been around the age of seven or eight when I first became fascinated with this tenor who wasn't quite a baritone and this baritone who wasn't quite a tenor. He was one of a simply remarkable generation of German musicians who straddled the war years... and who quite simply transformed the way music was recorded in studios."...
The baritone, once called the "most influential singer of the 20th Century", died in his sleep at his home in Berg, Germany on 18 May.
Fry grew up listening to Fischer-Dieskau's music, and has written a blog post remembering the singer after learning of his death.
He writes, "I know of course that he had to die some time, but I never thought it would be soon. Heavens, he had reached his 87th year and had every right to leave the party. It is just that I can't remember a time when his voice hasn't been a part of my life and the idea of his not being on the planet is going to take a bit of getting used to.
"When did I first hear that miraculous instrument? My father often had him playing on his gramophone or wireless set. It must have been around the age of seven or eight when I first became fascinated with this tenor who wasn't quite a baritone and this baritone who wasn't quite a tenor. He was one of a simply remarkable generation of German musicians who straddled the war years... and who quite simply transformed the way music was recorded in studios."...
- 5/25/2012
- WENN
This was a particularly sad week for the musical world. We lost four greats: Chuck Brown, the godfather of Go-Go; country-rock pioneer Doug Dillard; supreme disco diva Donna Summer; and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who did more to promote art song than anyone else in the recording era.
Chuck Brown was the most innovative of them, and the funkiest. Born in 1936, he paid his dues as a guitarist in various R&B bands in the '60s. His funk band The Soul Searchers made two classic albums for Sussex, We the People (1972) and Salt of the Earth (1974). "Ashley's Roachclip" on the latter includes a drum break that became one of the sampled breaks in hip-hop; "Blow Your Whistle" from the same LP is also much-sampled.
It's debatable when Go-Go originated as a separate style; originally, it denoted merely party music or a dance club. But in live performance, in Brown's home territory in and around Washington D.
Chuck Brown was the most innovative of them, and the funkiest. Born in 1936, he paid his dues as a guitarist in various R&B bands in the '60s. His funk band The Soul Searchers made two classic albums for Sussex, We the People (1972) and Salt of the Earth (1974). "Ashley's Roachclip" on the latter includes a drum break that became one of the sampled breaks in hip-hop; "Blow Your Whistle" from the same LP is also much-sampled.
It's debatable when Go-Go originated as a separate style; originally, it denoted merely party music or a dance club. But in live performance, in Brown's home territory in and around Washington D.
- 5/19/2012
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
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