“Nowadays, the idea of a powerful personality who imposes his will on others is unthinkable, and there is something anachronistic in the role of conductor. At the same time, the overall professional level of an average orchestra player has grown immensely, which allows a conductor – who is now primus inter pares [first among equals] and not a dictator – to dedicate himself to music making.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Grouchy Orchestral Musician On The Changing Role Of The Conductor
Montreal Symphony trumpeter Russell DeVuyst: “Unfortunately, the current image of a symphony-orchestra conductor is all about glamour and charisma, and that is what the audience now expects. People view the conductor as the only one who produces the sound and the music, as if he or she could do this by a magical wave of the baton.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Summer As A Ranch Hand
At age 18, between terms at Princeton, Fitzgerald traveled to visit the Montana ranch owned by a school friend’s family. He did “what easterners visiting Montana often do: he went native. He outfitted himself in boots, brandished a pistol, rode horses, drank bad whiskey, played cards with cowboys, flirted with daughters of neighboring ranchers, and took but one bath a week.”
Using Hemingway As Your Drinking Guru
“For the better part of a century, a certain type of young person has learned to drink from the pages of Ernest Hemingway. I should know. I’ll sheepishly admit that I was once that certain type of young person. The Sun Also Rises might do more to spark an interest in spirits and cocktails (and wine) in people like me than does an entire library of mixologists’ guides.”
Rudolf Nureyev Made Ballet Stardom Possible For Men
“Before Nureyev, one scarcely took note of male ballet dancers. Ballerinas were the stars. After him, ballet came into balance. He made it sexier and more electrifying, and male dancers everywhere stood a little taller. Technical standards rose, and the male range expanded, as audiences and choreographers reacted to new possibilities.”
Sandy Costs Broadway Roughly $8.5 Million
“All told, Broadway shows lost roughly $8.5 million in ticket sales as a result of canceled performances, a calculation based on comparing box office grosses during Sandy and the equivalent period last year.”
Canada And Australia Launch New Literary Prizes For Women
“As the prize formerly known as the Orange continues its hunt for a headline sponsor, it’s interesting to see that Canada and Australia have both just launched women-only literary prizes.” The Stella Prize, worth A$50,000, covers either fiction or nonfiction, while the Canada’s Rosalind Prize, for novels or short stories, carries no cash award as yet.
New Iranian Film Openly Discusses Transsexuality
“One of the many astonishing paradoxes about life in the Islamic republic is that transsexuality has been legal since a fatwa was issued in 1987 by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.” It’s still very much a taboo subject, though, which makes Facing Mirrors, about a young woman who wants to become a man, a daring project.
Gustavo Dudamel Musical America‘s Musician Of The Year
“Other 2013 awardees include David Lang, Composer of the Year; pipa player Wu Man, Instrumentalist of the Year; Joyce DiDonato, Vocalist of the Year … [and] El Sistema’s founder and Dudamel’s mentor, José Antonio Abreu, as its Educator of the Year.”
‘I Numb My Intellect With Scotch And Water’: Kurt Vonnegut’s Daily Routine
From a letter to his wife: “In an unmoored life like mine, sleep and hunger and work arrange themselves to suit themselves, without consulting me. I’m just as glad they haven’t consulted me about the tiresome details. … Last night, time and my body decided to take me to the movies. I saw The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, which I took very hard.”