The following is a list of conductors who have influenced me or shaped my conducting:
1 Claudio Abbado, James Levine, Mariss Jansons.
These three form the triumvirate of modern conductors who seem to represent my ideal conductors. They lead their respective orchestras with ease. Each is mild mannered in their approach and supportive of the musicians. When they lead performances, they move out of the way and the musicians breathe and feel as chamber musicians and the composer’s intent is clear. Each has mastered the art of allowing the players to play and inviting them to listen more and play more passionately. The listener, when listening to their performances, feel as if they are hearing it for the first time. Levine and Jansons are highly regarded as orchestra builders and Abbado, himself, is extremely adept. They conduct a wide variety of repertoire and boast an extremely ambitious work ethic. As programmers, their programs reveal connections between pieces of music and are decidedly less traditional. These conductors are always learning and perfecting their craft. This triumvirate represents the absolute finest in conducting.
4 Bernard Haitink
Bernard Haitink leads orchestras in performance which are highly revelatory. Each detail of the score is magnified by the over arching architecture of the piece. Wisdom of age characterizes his performances.
5 Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim always leads performances which cause you to feel that you have never heard the piece before. He is especially adept at interpreting Mozart and Haydn and does not succomb to over interpreting these works.
6 Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti is a passionate purist. His music-making is astounding. Never satisfying for tradition, he is always seeking to present the composers ideas with perfection.
7 David Zinman
David Zinman boasts some of the best Beethoven around. His ability to build orchestras put Baltimore on the map.
8 Esa-Pekka Salonen
Esa-Pekka Salonen’s tenure with L.A. may have redefined what the American music director must do. He effectively placed classical music in the center of L.A.’s cultural fabric.
9 Michael Tilson Thomas
Michael Tilson Thomas has brought San Francisco into international acclaim. Through his adventurous programming, active recording, and careful conducting; the San Francisco Symphony haqs become a very fine orchestra.
10 Gustavo Dudamel
Gustavo is a bit of a gamble. He is extremely young but very convincing. He is extremely talented. (I recently watched him rehearse Beethoven’s 7th from memory!) Time will tell if he deserves his spot on the list. If Abbado, Rattle, Salonen, and the L.A. Philharmonic are on his bandwagon, I think he may be the next great conductor.
While many musicians offer differing views on the interpretations of Brahms’ works, most seem to advocate performances that passionately and clearly communicate the balance between his backward looking classicism and his forward looking harmonic and structural innovations. Brahms music confounds interpreters with his supreme mastery of all the structural components of music and how he masterfully handles such components with ease and sleight of hand. Coming from the pen of Brahms is music in which exists no conflict between technical mastery and heartfelt expressiveness.
James Levine, largely credited with the revitalization of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, led an impassioned performance of Brahms A German Requiem on September 26, 2008 at Boston’s Symphony Hall. Levine, throughout the course of this performance, was not content to interpret the work as an abstract of stylistic, structural, and compositional devices but as a work deeply rooted in Biblical text and clearly relevant to modern ears. As one listened to the performance, his or her ear was constantly brought to the less obvious elements of the score. Each word of German was masterfully pronounced by the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and each element word painting in the score was clearly communicated by the orchestra under Levine’s baton. However, the listener left the performance inspired by the music and text rather than the mastery of technique. Visually, Levine’s conducting brought attention to the score rather than bringing attention to his podium antics. Because of all these attributes, the listener left the performance moved by the text, emotional content, and sublimity of the work.
In this author’s experience, the most compelling performances do not necessarily communicate the structural or compositional technique of the composer. Also, the most compelling performances do not necessarily communicate the emotional pathos of the composer. The most compelling performances this author has attended and performed were performances that revealed through a perfect marriage of technique and expression the essence of the music. While podium antics elicit a thunderous applause, they do not necessarily communicate the essence of the music. (To be clear, many conductors with wild podium antics effectively achieve compelling performances but it is their mastery of the music which achieves the compelling performance not the antics.) The most compelling performances draw the listener to the essence of the music rather than the mastery of the individual performers. In this way, the microcosm of Brahms’ works illustrate the macrocosm of compelling performances regardless of the composer. Technical mastery and heartfelt expressiveness in perfect union communicate the essence of the music to the audience.
A recording can be purchased on the BSO’s website.
On April 9, 2007, the Classical music world experienced a shock of seismic proportions. Countless critics had been constantly proclaiming the death of classical music. The LA Philharmonic announced that its music director, composer-conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, was stepping down and that Gustavo Dudamel was taking over. Gustavo Dudamel, who has spent less than three decades on the earth, seems to have the ability to change America’s perception of classical music. Until now, only the late Leonard Bernstein had this ability. When listening to Dudamel conduct, the ear hears only the excitement, joy, and pleasure of classical music. The eye sees one human being possessed by the music and able to transport the entire orchestra into the music. While critics may decry his “antics” and claim a lack of artistic sense, the audiences and orchestras will not be swayed by such dissonant nonsense. In my opinion, we need more of the reckless abandon and sheer pathos in performance that Dudamel displays. I had the opportunity to observe him rehearse for over two hours and I must say that man knows what he is doing. Classical music is alive and relevant. While all the intellectual pursuits inherent with classical music are important, music should never be sterile or intellectual. The music must always move the audience and stir the emotions.
Here is where you, the reader, must listen and watch.
Watch as Gustavo Dudamel conducts Bernstein’s Mambo.
Watch as Leonard Bernstein conducts the closing of Mahler’s Resurrection.
Watch as Jacqueline du Pre, a tragic story in and of itself, emotes the Elgar cello concerto.
Watch as Gil Shaham plays part of Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy.
Watch as Seiji Ozawa conducts Khachaturian’s Sabre Dance.
In my opinion, the future of music will have more in common with the music of Stravinsky and Debussy than with Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern. Esa-Pekka Salonen, in a DVD, made a similar assertion and after much thought, I agree. While the influence of the Second Viennese School cannot be denied, I do see a trend in current music that relates less to that school of compositional thought than it does to Stravinsky. During one of my college years I became strangely attached to the violin concerto by Igor Stravinsky. Stravinsky wrote the concerto during his neo-classical period. Constructed similar to a Bach concerto, Stravinsky’s concerto has four very short movements which open with the exact same chord. The entire concerto is simultaneously charming and diverting. The notes fell from Stravinsky’s pen with such economy of gesture and logical architecture that one wonder’s if Bach had lived during that period, he might have composed the concerto itself. I’ll never forget the day the music arrived on my doorstep. What followed was an amazing journey as I dove into the piece and began to internalize this jewel of music–a work of sheer brilliance. Below is a link of Gil Shaham playing the 1st movement at the BBC Proms.
Hilary Hahn, Violin/Sir Neville Marriner, conductor/Academy of St. Martin in the Fields: Hilary Hahn’s version is the equivalent of a recorded urtext edition. Each tempo reflects the composers intentions. Each note is executed with clarity and perfection. Coupled with the Brahms Concerto which receives similar attention to composer’s intent and precise execution.
The market is currently flooded with many recordings of the Tchaikovsky concerto. Recent recordings, such as Joshua Bell’s with Michael Tilson Thomas and the Berlin Philharmonic or Julia Fischer’s with Yakov Kreizberg and the Russian National Orchestra, have received rave reviews from critics and fans alike. Perhaps under such circumstances, Gil Shaham’s latest traversal of the Tchaikovsky on CD has not received its due attention. While Bell and MTT’s recording breathes new life into the concerto with new and fresh ideas, Shaham’s sticks to a straightforward, yet personal interpretation. With each successive performance and recording, Gil seems to be adding more and more beautiful layers to his already rich and multi-faceted tone. Gil Shaham plays with such a big sound that the listener is left in amazement that it is never harsh. For those looking for a straightforward and less idiosyncratic interpretation that has many fresh ideas, this recording of the Tchaikovsky will certainly impress.
Gil pairs this oft-recorded concerto with a less frequently recorded concerto—the Butterfly Lover’s Concerto. Gil Shaham, in a 2002 interview with Gramophone Magazine, said “ I think the writing is brilliant and violinistic.” The sensuous and soaring melodies of this concerto are woven together quite inventively to reflect the plot of a quite well known Chinese mythical tale. The sound of the erhu—a Chinese stringed instrument—is imitated throughout the work. Upon learning this piece, Gil consulted several erhuists for advice and help to learn some of the distinctive characteristics of the erhu. In the same interview, Gil said,
“A whole world opened up to me. It was amazing to discover this concerto, the beautiful ancient legend on which it is based, a tiny bit of Chinese musical culture and even aspects of violin playing I had not known before.”
In Asia, the work has enjoyed immense popularity which is now contagiously spreading to the west. However, this recording is a landmark. This is the first time this work has received a recording by a violinist of such extraordinary ability. After one of Shaham’s Avery Hall performances, the New York Times review read as follows:
“The Butterfly Lovers has as its only ambition a single songfulness, a character on which Mr. Shaham’s gorgeous tone could feed endlessly.”
This disc will be a very welcome addition to any music lover’s library.
A while back, I posted some thoughts about Bach and his creativity as it related to man being created in the image of God. I stumbled upon a very interesting essay by Jerram Barrs of Covenant Theological Seminary. The essay, entitled Christianity and the Arts, provides a distinctly biblical view of the relation between the Christian and the arts. Whether film, theater, music, poetry, prose, visual arts, or performing arts; Jerram attempts to explain the role of the arts and the Christian artist.
Andras Schiff has built an extraordinary career by challenging his audiences rather than catering to their desires. Though remarkable interpreter of Bach, Schumann, and Schubert, he is also known for his remarkable interpretations of Beethoven, Janacek, and Bartok. Currently, Andras is releasing and recording a remarkable set of the complete Beethoven sonatas for the German ECM record label. The Guardian, a news source based in the UK, has posted mp3’s for a complete lecture recital series dedicated to the complete Beethoven sonatas. Click here and enjoy. These lecture recitals are very stimulating and really help the listener to get into Beethoven’s head.
Dr. Liu, one of the most intriguing professors at my alma mater, posted a very helpful and concise article on Maranatha’s website.
MBBC’s website provides the folowing information on Dr. Liu:
Yingguang Liu says he teaches biology on a level Darwin did not know. “The delicate interplay of molecules within biological systems was still a black box decades ago,” he says. “The interdependence of genes, proteins, and membranes constitutes the greatest challenge to the gradualistic evolution of Darwinism.” His current research interest is the fate of duplicated genes and viral pathogenesis.
The Word of God stands and defends itself against fallen philosophies and the idolatry of evolutionism, he says. “My goal is to equip young Christians with the scientific knowledge and skills needed to strengthen their faith in a world of humanistic chauvinism. Good science done by creationists is a testimony to those who accuse fundamentalists of being ignorant. Our students should do well even in secular professions using science and technology.”
I hope you enjoy the article and find that it stimulates your mind.
In 2006, I discovered a very interesting set of lectures by Daniel Barenboim. A conductor and pianist of legendary status, Daniel Barenboim is also very articulate and brilliant. While I disagree with many of his political stances as to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I found these lectures to be intellectually stimulating and insightful.
Check them out, you can listen to streamed recordings of the lectures or print transcripts of them.
I just received word that two videos of my performance with my friend Kristin of the Franck Violin Sonata were posted on you tube. Here they are. While I didn’t play perfectly, I felt the performances were acceptable and that we were able to communicate the music. Here they are. Maybe the other movements will be posted later.
While many musicians offer differing views on the interpretations of Brahms’ works, most seem to advocate performances that passionately and clearly communicate the balance between his backward looking classicism and his forward looking harmonic and structural innovations. Brahms music confounds interpreters with his supreme mastery of all the structural components of music and how he masterfully handles such components with ease and sleight of hand. Coming from the pen of Brahms is music in which exists no conflict between technical mastery and heartfelt expressiveness.
