a southern gal in the north

a moment of silence

The management of the Philadelphia Orchestra is attempting to soften the sting of its unfortunate decision to hire Christoph Eschenbach, who is soon departing, by postponing any announcement of his replacement for several years. In his stead, good soldier Charles Dutoit will take over as chief conductor — not music director — through the 2011–12 season. On Thursday evening, the new Dutoit era opened in New York with an appearance at Carnegie Hall.

Maestro Dutoit has a long history with the ensemble, serving as a ubiquitous guest conductor and leader for many years of the summer season at Saratoga. His performances tend to be solid if not afflated. One corollary benefit of hiring Dutoit is his good relationship with pianist and cult figure Martha Argerich — they were married at one time — who is a notorious canceller of performances, but tends to show up with this particular conductor on the podium.

This evening, Ms. Argerich treated Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 as an early work, still in the Classical thrall of Mozart. Her performance was notable for its precision and delicacy, a jewellike polish and a firm, accurate touch. What was missing was the visceral excitement of the work, especially its rhythmic drive, so compelling in the opening of the Rondo.

But despite all of her trials and tribulations, her rabid fans, and her unique combination of mystique, sex appeal, rebelliousness and fragility, Ms. Argerich has always held a consistent trump card: She can really play the piano. And Mr. Dutoit matched her stroke for tasteful stroke.

The program opened with a bracing account of Finlandia and ended with a radiant Sheherazade. Rimsky-Korsakov is having a revival here in the West due to the efforts of Anna Netrebko and Valery Gergiev but this particular piece is evergreen. Mr. Dutoit wasted no time at all in repositioning the fabulous Philadelphian strings, moving the cellos to his immediate right and putting the second violins back next to their brethren. The resulting sound, enhanced significantly by contented players who no longer have to fight with their leader, was ravishing.

Especially thrilling were the wind quintet section of the Tale of the Kalander Prince and the original statement of that gorgeous theme known as The Young Prince and the Young Princess. Listening to Maestro Dutoit lead this beautiful music in a disciplined manner that allowed its lushness to develop organically, it was difficult not to speculate about how Mr. Eschenbach might have polluted the passage’s natural beauty with his own brand of faux emotionalism. For now, we were all treated to exceptional string playing and wise leadership.

Concertmaster David Kim was effective as the soloist — the fiddle represents the storytelling maiden throughout — but could have been a bit more romantic. Still, it was a pleasure to note that the Philadelphia Orchestra is back on the right track.

BY FRED KIRSHNIT New York Sun
March 5, 2007

Martha Argerich (top); Yuja Wang
photo by Christian Steiner (Wang)

Pianist Martha Argerich has cancelled her appearances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on four subscription concerts from this Thursday (March 8) to next Tuesday (March 13). She was scheduled to perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the BSO under the baton of Charles Dutoit, the conductor with whom she most frequently collaborates.

Earlier in her career, Argerich developed a reputation for canceling concerts often, although in recent years she has regularly appeared as scheduled for her U.S. dates, particularly performances with Dutoit (to whom she was once married). During the past month, she has played concertos with Dutoit for three dates each with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva and the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra and four dates (last week and this past weekend) with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

According to a statement released this morning by the Boston Symphony, Argerich is now suffering from physical exhaustion and has been ordered by her doctor to return home to Europe. Her next scheduled performances are from April 11-21 at Argerich’s Meeting Point (www.argerich-mf.jp), a chamber music and education festival she founded in Beppu, Japan.

Replacing Argerich in Boston this week will be Yuja Wang, a graduate student at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and a 2006 recipient of the Gilmore Young Artist Award. She will perform Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. The rest of the program remains unchanged: Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Overture and Stravinsky’s Symphony in C.

Wang’s career has already received a boost from one high-profile substitution — for Radu Lupu with conductor Pinchas Zukerman and the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa) in February 2005. This season she makes her debuts with the New York Philharmonic and the Houston, Chicago, San Francisco and NHK Symphony Orchestras; she will perform with the last three under Maestro Dutoit.

March 04, 2007
Yes, I lied about Joyce. Now I’ll face the music
In his first interview the husband who made Joyce Hatto an international celebrity by faking her piano recordings tells Ann McFerran why he did it, and how he is coming to terms with being found out

William Barrington-Coupe slips a CD into a modest-looking machine and raises his index finger in the air. “There!” he says triumphantly after a minute or so. “Can you hear it?”

A sprightly 76-year-old in cavalry twills and tweed sports jacket, Bar-rington-Coupe isn’t referring to the magnificent rendition of Bach’s Gold-berg Variations that is now overwhelming the room. He is speaking of an almost inaudible (to me, anyway) sound that, when I do finally hear it, is like a sigh or a little cry.

It was these sounds, which Bar-rington-Coupe says were gasps of pain emitted by his late wife the virtuoso pianist Joyce Hatto in the throes of a long and painful cancer, that set her husband and record producer on a trail of deception and fraud that has rocked the world of classical music.

Sitting in what was once Joyce’s music room and latterly her bedroom, Barrington-Coupe looks an unlikely conman, even though he has a history of fraud, having been jailed for tax evasion in the 1960s. With his wild grey hair and mournful tone, he exudes the air of a retired music master who doesn’t quite know what to do with himself since the death of his beloved wife.

Hatto’s Steinway piano, which once belonged to Rachmaninov, dominates the room. On the floor lie piles of her CDs, spilling out of boxes, still in their wrappers. On every surface sits something of Joyce’s: her concert programmes, her photographs, her letters and papers, a pile of her gloves ready for the charity shop.

On the piano stool sits a box containing Joyce’s ashes. Her grieving husband still can’t decide what to do with them. The couple had few friends, he says, because they needed only each other. Barrington-Coupe seems not so much lonely as adrift, the purpose of his life, caring for his wife, ebbing into deep but distant memories.

From The Sunday Times

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has signed a decree awarding the cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich the Order of Service to the Fatherland, First Degree, a state medal, for his “outstanding contribution to the development of world music and many years of creative activity,” The Associated Press reported, citing the presidential press service.

Mr. Rostropovich, 79, has been hospitalized twice this month for unspecified reasons. Two Russian newspapers reported that he was being treated at Russia’s leading cancer clinic, but aides have declined to comment.

His spokeswoman could not be reached immediately for comment on his health or the medal.

NYTimes

Cellist Rostropovich still in hospital, feels better
Reuters
Friday, February 16, 2007; 8:52 PM

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, 79, is still receiving treatment at a Moscow hospital where he was taken earlier this month, his secretary said on Friday.  “He is feeling better, and that is all I will say,” Natalya Dolezhale in Moscow, said. “He is still in the hospital.”  Dolezhale said earlier this month that Rostropovich had been admitted to hospital but that his condition was not life-threatening.

President Vladimir Putin had visited the musician in hospital, prompting speculation that he was in a serious condition.

Rostropovich earned a reputation as a champion of civil rights during Soviet rule, when the Kremlin stripped him of his  citizenship.  After the collapse of Soviet rule, his citizenship was restored. Since then he has divided his time between Russia, the United States and France. He and his wife, the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, run a charitable foundation.

From Alex Ross, the latest –

The saga of Barrington-Coupe (né Coupe); a confession.

From Sieglinde’s Diaries

Diva dissected
For those who live conveniently in the upper Upper West Side and neighboring hoods, there will be a two-day interdisciplinary conference on opera at Columbia, free and open to the public, entitled “Technologies of the Diva”. The conference will feature academic papers with provocative titles, such as: “Of the Properties of Gems and Voice,” “Why Look Down a Diva’s Throat?”, “Sex and the Sound Test,” and “Cathy Berberian: or, the Absent Diva”. I’m near certain there will be pastries and lots and lots of coffee. But bring your own jargon.

But the not-so-mighty Collegiate Chorale proved on Thursday that the work can be rousing, even touching, if performed urgently and cast generously.

The raison d’être for this excursion was Dolora Zajick, a low-voiced prima-donna who has long championed the title role. She sings it with total dedication, unfazed by any range or dynamic extremes. She paints in primary colours, deals nonchalantly with vocal thunder, respects the sporadic contrast of lyrical calm, brings down the house – probably nearby houses too – with Joan’s farewell to the forests (the one hit tune in the score). She found a superb ally in Daniele Callegari, an opera expert who assumed the baton when Robert Bass, the chorus specialist normally in charge, took ill. The Milanese maestro, who previously led this opera in Wexford, commands a febrile temperament and a dazzling technique. The Chorale and Orchestra of St Luke’s responded accordingly. 

The fine supporting ensemble included Oleg Kulko (heroic as Charles VII),  Igor Tarasov (ardent as the lovelorn Lionel), Andrey Antonov (crusty as Joan’s father) and Valerian Ruminski (powerful as the Archbishop). Replacing the originally announced Carol Vaness, Karen Slack applied a radiant spinto soprano to the relatively thankless duties of Àgnes Sorel. Concert opera should always be like this. ★★★★★

FT-The Maid of Orleans By Martin Bernheimer