19.3.06

Who for Whom - II

Kurt Masur will eat you, if you don't behaveIt's official: Kurt Masur is out for the LPO's Washington performance. Replacing him is not Osmo Vänskä as we had previously suggested (the wish having been the father of the rumor?) but Charles Dutoit Yan Pascal Tortelier. [Whaaat? Tortelier, not Dutoit? No offense, but that sucks. And I was just going to tout Dutoit as another improvement over solid-stolid Kapellmeister Masur.]

Anyway... it wouldn't be March-Madness for WPAS if all they had to replace was two conductors and one pianist. Let's throw the possibility of a bailing violinist out there, too. No Khachatryan? - No Problem: There is another capable (and sexier) replacement waiting in the wings. Stepping in, gracefully, would be Arabella Steinbacher. Vänskä, Tortelier, Dutoit or Masur, Khachatryan or Steinbacher - the concert (Britten, Khachaturian, Tchaikovsky) still promises to be an event that WPAS should have no problem filling decently. That only leaves them worrying about convincing patrons not to return their tickets for Perahia-cum-Peter Serkin and his program of Beethoven's Hammerklavier (daring stuff; last one to try in the region almost didn't live to tell that tale) preceded by transcribed Renaissance songs.

4 comments:

  1. Totally agree with your review of the last Hammerklavier. Did you know that it's on of Pollini's Barbican recital this month? And we have no program hints from WPAS yet. Dare we hope for 3 in one season?

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  2. Hello JFL

    After 5 weeks of thinking about equal musics, I have committed this. You might find it fun and your comments would be most highly appreciated.

    Gawain

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  3. Terry: If Pollini fills one half of the recital with 106, I'll be in heaven. One half, at any rate, will be taken up by Chopin Nocturnes... we don't need an announcement to know that.

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  4. This Performance has been Cancelled

    Don't you do that to me, Pollini-man. No,no,no,no,no... don't even think about it. You go to bed now, pronto, have a hot cup of somethin' and get in fightin' shape by the time you are to appear at Strathmore. Remember, 8PM, sharp!

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