Mambo!

A truly entrancing video of the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra performing Bernstein’s Mambo.   
Video gtltornt9 - gtltornt, 9 - Dailymotion Share Your Videos

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Lead poisoning and Beethoven

Looks like high amount of lead had some role in offing Ludwig. 
San Jose Mercury News - Forensic pathologist links Beethoven’s doctor, lead in composer’s death

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BBC - Proms: Mahler’s 3rd Symphony

I’m a recent convert to the wonderfully excessive 3rd Symphony of Mahler.  Claudio Abbado lead an inspired performance of this monument to Mahler’s symphonic world at this year’s BBC Proms. 
Abbado’s interpretation of the piece is much brighter and more textured than the performance I heard this last May.  Clearly Abbado is a conductor who enjoys [...]

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September is coming

And along with September the start of the Seattle Symphony’s concert season.  I don’t subscribe, maybe I should.  It is cheaper I suppose.  I prefer the ala carte method of buying my concert tickets.  Nonetheless, I do keep an eye out for specials. 
On September 14 the orchestra is offering one such special.  Its being [...]

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Fort Worth Symphony dives into Mahler

A couple days ago I perusing the web sites of orchestras in mid-sized cities and I came across the Fort Worth Symphony.  An intriguing aspect of their concert programming is the inclusion of “peoples choice” works.  I can imagine this gives the audience a sense of ownership over the music they are hearing.  An unfortunate aspect of their [...]

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Discs for the fall

Autumn looks promising for new classical releases. 
The Baltimore Symphony and Joshua Bell will be releasing John Corigliano’s Red Violin Concerto.  Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra are also releasing a new recording of Mahler’s popular Symphony No.5.  I would be surprised if Dudamel plows any new ground with the work.  Its hard [...]

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Venezuela might have Hugo Chavez, but they also have the Simon Bolivar YO

At the Proms this year, the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra got a rave review for its concert featuring music of Shostakovich, Ginastera, Bernstein, Mancayo and Marquez. 
Reading the review its easy to understand why Maestro Dudamel and his home orchestra are the darlings of the classical press. 
Simón Bolívar YO of Venezuela

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For a Maestro, Energy Is the Only Limitation - New York Times

Truly, Claudio Abbado is one of the last, great conductors.     
For a Maestro, Energy Is the Only Limitation - New York Times

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Debating the future

What does the future hold in store for orchestras and classical music in the United States?  Will they find new relevance or fade away, a relic of a dying (or perhaps dead) art form?
I’d like to think that with the right leadership, appropriate vision, and an understanding of how the public interfaces with art and [...]

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Leonard Slatkin to Detroit

The Detroit press is reporting American conducting luminary Leonard Slatkin will likely make his next stop at the Detroit Symphony.  For a while, Slatkin had been angling to follow Daniel Barenboim at Chicago.  Chicago had other notions.
In the end, I think Detroit is a better fit for Slatkin. Never a fan of Bruckner or Mahler [...]

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