{"id":7267,"date":"2012-09-12T12:57:23","date_gmt":"2012-09-12T16:57:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/?p=7267"},"modified":"2013-02-04T21:02:54","modified_gmt":"2013-02-05T01:02:54","slug":"kudos-for-a-critic-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/?p=7267","title":{"rendered":"Kudos for a Critic?"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Sedgwick Clark<\/strong><\/p>\n

Frankly it was astonishing: A disingenuous \u201cculture\u201d editor of \u201call the news that\u2019s fit to print\u201d shunts a classical-music critic from his 35-year beat into a position called \u201cgeneral culture reporter,\u201d and within a day 500 angry readers sign a petition to reinstate him. Two days later the number had grown to 1,100! By noon today (9\/12), the number had risen to 1,357. And remember, we\u2019re talking about a critic of the high art that is supposedly dying faster than the printed newspaper.<\/p>\n

My phone calls and e-mails haven\u2019t let up since I blogged on the subject last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gil Shaham\u2019s 20th-century Concertos<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just to show that I\u2019m not squeaky clean either, I\u2019m about to quote from a press release<\/em>! It\u2019s about the upcoming season of Musical America<\/em>\u2019s 2012 Instrumentalist of the Year, Gil Shaham, who has been engaged in \u201cone of the most imaginative programming concepts in years,\u201d to quote our own words.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now entering its fourth season, Shaham\u2019s long-term exploration of iconic\u00a0\u201cViolin Concertos of the 1930s\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0was conceived when he realized how many outstanding 20th<\/sup>-century violin concertos derived from that fateful decade. The coming year brings the project\u2019s first recording, on which he joins forces once again with\u00a0David Robertson<\/strong>, his brother-in-law and frequent musical partner. Due for release on the violinist\u2019s own\u00a0Canary Classics<\/strong>\u00a0label, the new album features three of the decade\u2019s most evocative concertos, performed with the world-class orchestras of three nations, all with Robertson on the podium:\u00a0Stravinsky<\/strong>\u2019s (1931) with the\u00a0BBC Symphony Orchestra<\/strong>;\u00a0Berg<\/strong>\u2019s (1935) with the\u00a0Dresden Staatskapelle<\/strong>; and\u00a0Barber<\/strong>\u2019s (1939) with the\u00a0New York Philharmonic<\/strong>, with whom Shaham previously collaborated to impress the\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u00a0with their \u201crich-toned, gracefully shaped performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the concert hall, Shaham performs no fewer than seven violin concertos of the 1930s over the coming season. Barber\u2019s is the vehicle for his return to the\u00a0New York Philharmonic<\/strong>, now with music director\u00a0Alan Gilbert\u00a0<\/strong>(Nov 29 \u2013 Dec 1), and for appearances with\u00a0Marin Alsop<\/strong>\u00a0and the\u00a0Baltimore Symphony<\/strong>\u00a0(Sep 20\u201322). He reprises the Stravinsky with both the\u00a0San Francisco Symphony<\/strong>\u00a0led by\u00a0Michael Tilson Thomas<\/strong>\u00a0(June 18\u201320) and the\u00a0Orchestre de Paris<\/strong>\u00a0under\u00a0Nicola Luisotti<\/strong>\u00a0(Jan 9\u201310), and plays the Berg with\u00a0Michael Stern<\/strong>\u00a0directing the\u00a0Kansas City Symphony<\/strong>\u00a0(May 31 \u2013 June 2). Other 1930s masterpieces showcased over the coming season are\u00a0William Walton<\/strong>\u2019s concerto (1938-39), which headlines the violinist\u2019s appearances with the\u00a0Chicago Symphony<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Charles Dutoit<\/strong>\u00a0(Nov 8\u201311);\u00a0Benjamin Britten<\/strong>\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>(1938-39), which he undertakes with both the\u00a0Boston Symphony<\/strong>\u00a0conducted by\u00a0Juanjo Mena<\/strong>\u00a0(Nov 1\u20136) and the\u00a0Montreal Symphony<\/strong>\u00a0under\u00a0James Conlon<\/strong>\u00a0(Sep 26);\u00a0Bart\u00f3k\u2019s Second<\/strong>\u00a0(1937\u201338) with the\u00a0Orchestre de Paris<\/strong>\u00a0led by\u00a0Paavo J\u00e4rvi<\/strong>\u00a0(March 20\u201321); and\u00a0Prokofiev\u2019s Second<\/strong>\u00a0(1935) on Japanese tour with the\u00a0NHK Symphony<\/strong>\u00a0(March 7\u201311).<\/p>\n

I combed with fingers crossed\u00a0through those two paragraphs for the name \u201cHindemith,\u201d who wrote what I consider the most underrated Violin Concerto of the 20th century. When Gil received his Musical America <\/em>award I goaded him into\u00a0promising that he would add the concerto to his repertoire, and I\u00a0hope that I\u2019ll see it on a New York Philharmonic schedule soon.<\/p>\n

While awaiting the Shaham rendering of this supremely melodic masterpiece, those who wish to test my opinion may listen to Isaac Stern’s Columbia recording with Bernstein and the NYPhil now on Sony Classical. I had the pleasure of sitting next to Stern at a Carnegie Hall season announcement lunch a decade or so ago and told him of my regard for this piece because of his recording and that it was my favorite violin concerto of that century. He replied that, much as he loved the Hindemith, he would personally choose the Bart\u00f3k Second and Berg concertos as his favorites.<\/p>\n

Ah, the memories of Stagedoor Sedgie.<\/p>\n