Alex Ross's Blog, page 75

Astrid Varnay at 100

The great Swedish-American soprano would have been one hundred today. Her centenary is receiving considerably less hoopla than that of her compatriot Birgit Nilsson, which arrives on May 17. Indeed, as far as I can tell, it is receiving no hoopla at all. This is a pity, because Varnay was to my way of thinking the deeper, more substantial artist. I couldn't really construct a rational argument to contest the claim that Kirsten Flagstad is the supreme dramatic soprano on record, but my personal preference goes toward Varnay, whose extraordinary dark-gleaming voice was joined to ferocious dramatic intelligence. Her singing of Brünnhilde on the 1955 Keilberth Ring from Bayreuth anchors what may be the finest account of the cycle available. The video above is taken from her 1956 Ring with Knappertsbusch; that and the 1953 version with Krauss are also glorious. Varnay's autobiography, Fifty-five Years in Five Acts, is one of the most rewarding of singer memoirs.

Thought of the day

"Maybe I should just tell you the mystery of mysteries, to put your mind at rest: there are no mysteries.”

                        — Andrei Bely, Dramatic Symphony

Our Hitler

The Hitler Vortex. The New Yorker, April 30, 2018.

Cecil Taylor in memoriam

Cecil Taylor and the Art of Noise, New Yorker website, April 10, 2018.

When Cecil met Pauline

Cecil Taylor and Pauline Oliveros perform at EMPAC in Troy NY, 2008. To mark Taylor and Oliveros's passing, EMPAC is offering a free DVD of their solo and duo performances (one need only pay for shipping and handling).

In praise of Russell Platt

There was much melancholy in the corridors of The New Yorker last week as Russell Platt, the editor of our classical-music listings, bade farewell after eighteen brilliant years on the job. A gifted and accomplished composer, Russell has decided to devote his primary energies to writing music. A symphony may be in the offing. He also recently married the bassoonist Peter Kolkay; Peter is on the faculty of the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt, and Russell will join him there. (Congratulations, both!) I can't say how much it has meant to have Russell's keen intellect, graceful style, unerring taste, and dry wit as a counterweight to my eccentric flights of fancy at the back of the magazine. Over the years, many people have made the mistaken assumption that I write the GOAT listings, as we call them, and although I corrected that impression when I had the chance, my reputation surely benefited from the confusion. GOAT will continue to be in good hands, but Russell will be acutely missed. You can follow his future career at his website.

Now playing

My God, the music ten minutes into "Involution / Evolution" ...

Unintended irony of the day

For Cecil Taylor

One of the greatest, most unswervingly original, most incorrigibly sublime figures in the recent history of music died today, a few days after his eighty-ninth birthday. I got to see him several times in performance; the first time, in 1989, at the Western Front in Cambridge MA, was one of my indelible listening experiences. I made a poor attempt to write about him in 1998; I will let others sum up his magnificent career.

New Anna Thorvaldsdottir

Esa-Pekka Salonen leads a New York Philharmonic rehearsal of Anna Thorvaldsdottir's new piece Metacosmos. Read the accompanying New York Times story by Joshua Barone.