Category: people

So James Levine has a medical condition that weakens him. “Before Met fans or administrators panic, some perspective is called for. Although conducting requires mental and physical stamina, the job is hardly limited to those who fit the standard image of the kinetic and charismatic wizard of the podium, like the young Finnish firebrand Esa-Pekka Salonen of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Some of the greatest conducting of the last 100 years was done by aging and physically enfeebled maestros who still inspired orchestras through their insights and uncanny abilities to convey intention with economical hand gestures, facial expressions and sheer presence.”

Matt Haimovvitz could be making his career in the great concert halls of the world, playing his cello in front of the top orchestras in the U.S. and Europe. Instead, he’s touring America, hauling his distinctly classical instrument into profoundly unclassical bars, pizza parlors, and nightclubs, and subjecting the patrons to some solo Bach. Why bother? Call it a musical answer to the question of why everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it: in an era when every classical musician talks about the necessity of breeding new audiences for the old music, Haimovitz is actually making a stab at doing it.

The Bob Edwards era at NPR is officially over. On Friday, Edwards, who has been cast as the martyr to the increasing corporatization of public radio since news of his “reassignment” broke weeks ago, thanked his listeners for “24 years and 6 months” of loyalty, conducted a last interview with CBS newsman Charles Osgood, and faded into the obscurity of his new nebulously defined job as “senior correspondent.”

As James Levine winds up another season at the Met and prepares to take the helm of the Boston Symphony in 2004, concerns over his health and ability to do his job are finding a public voice. Persistent shaking and loss of energy have become an everyday part of Levine’s podium demeanor, and his musicians, many of whom stress that without Levine, the Met orchestra would not be the revered ensemble it is today, claim that he is nearly impossible to follow on a nightly basis. Levine insists that, despite the shaking, he is in excellent health, but questions persist about his workload and future prospects.

Picasso tried to get citizenship in France, but authorities branded him an anarchist and held up his application. “Picasso never received a formal rejection of his application but remained in France until his death in 1973. He never mentioned his naturalisation attempt to anyone. ‘I think he was profoundly humiliated by the fact that France didn’t say yes,’ said Charlot. ‘He never applied again.”

Conductor James Levine has responded to a story that said he was suffering from ailments that increasingly make him an ineffective leader. He has signed an extension to his Metropolitan Opera contract to 2011, and will take over as music director of the Boston Symphony as scheduled. “I wouldn’t have agreed to it if I didn’t think I would be able to fulfill the contract. As I get older, no doubt I’ll keep changing in some ways, and I hope it’ll mean I keep doing better work. The perception of most of the people I know has been that even when I absorb or deal with something like my back or my tremor, the work gets better. And I think that’s true.”

Alex Klein is one of the world’s best oboists. He’s principal of the Chicago Symphony. But three years ago he was diagnosed with “focal dystonia, a neurological disorder in which the brain, for unknown reasons, sends messages through the nerves that cause muscles in a certain part of the body to contract and curl up involuntarily. The disease is usually painless, and the contractions occur only during specific tasks. For instance, the third and fourth fingers on Klein’s left hand might fail him in a Mozart concerto, but they work perfectly when he ties his shoes or uses his left hand for other fine motor tasks.” After going through 30 doctors, Klein is resigning from the CSO.

“What started out as a memorial service for Daniel J. Boorstin yesterday at the Library of Congress also turned into a lovefest for books, reading and the power of the written word. More than 200 people gathered in the Thomas Jefferson Building to honor the bookish, bespectacled, super-brainy man who was given to wearing bow ties. Boorstin served as the 12th librarian of Congress, from 1975 to 1987, and he died in late February of pneumonia at age 89.”

“Hubert Selby Jr, the acclaimed author of Last Exit to Brooklyn and Requiem for a Dream, has died at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 75. The author, who had been in and out of hospital in recent weeks, died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.”

New Jersey philanthropist Herbert Axelrod, who fled the US to Cuba last week to avoid tax fraud charges, still owned some important string instruments that are on loan to prominent musicians. “Among the instruments given to Curtis is one on loan from the school to violinist Pamela Frank, who is both a graduate of and teacher at Curtis. Axelrod donated the 1736 Guarnerius del Gesù (Wienawski), now insured for $2 million, in 1993. Violinist Leila Josefowicz played on an Axelrod instrument, the 1739 “Ebersolt” Guarnerius del Gesù, and Maxim Vengerov played on an Axelrod-owned bow. Whether any musicians are still playing Axelrod-owned instruments is not clear. In some cases involving the IRS, such property is seized by the government.”