The Dresden Staatskapelle's principal conductor, Christian Thielemann, asserts that Anton Bruckner's music, in its long-winding search for beauty, is the perfect antidote for modern life. He and the orchestra brought Bruckner's Symphony No. 8 to Carnegie Hall on April 19, 2013.
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Conductor Christian Thielemann performed the massive, 80-minute work without a score.
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A close-up view of Bruckner's densely knitted music.
Credit Melanie Burford for NPR
Bruckner's majestic score calls for an incredible array of instruments, including three harps, contrabass tuba and four Wagner tubas.
Credit Melanie Burford for NPR
The Dresden Staatskapelle's principal conductor, Christian Thielemann, asserts that Anton Bruckner's music, in its long-winding search for beauty, is the perfect antidote for modern life. He and the orchestra brought Bruckner's Symphony No. 8 to Carnegie Hall on April 19, 2013.
Credit Melanie Burford for NPR
Thielemann and the Dresden musicians acknowledge the audience's enthusiastic applause at evening's end.
Credit Melanie Burford for NPR
The Dresden Staatskapelle, founded in 1548, dedicated this Carnegie Hall concert to the memory of their late conductor laureate, Sir Colin Davis, who passed away on April 14.
Credit Matthias Creutziger
Conductor Christian Thielemann will lead the Dresden Staatskapelle in the majestic Symphony No. 8 by Anton Bruckner at Carnegie Hall.
Originally published on Mon April 29, 2013 1:33 pm
Anton Bruckner divides audiences. For admirers, his sprawling, stately symphonies — with their great pauses and timeless repetitions — represent the summit of the 19th-century Viennese symphonic tradition. For skeptics, the symphonies are exercises in lumpy piety, plagued with bombastic sonorities and numbingly long-winded development sections.
A diva on the town finds her way to NPR's new headquarters.
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Experts say Callas' controversial weight loss, in 1953, may have affected her voice. But we spied her ordering a half-smoke and an Arnold Palmer at Ben's Chili Bowl.
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Born in Manhattan. Educated in Athens. Artistic citizen of the world. Callas' thirst for travel (and sightseeing) continues.
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Recalling her days on stage as Puccini's tragic Cio-Cio-San, Callas felt right at home in the (Madama) Butterfly Pavilion at the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum.
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In the world of opera, there's no partisan debate: Maria Callas amended the laws and statutes of her art.
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Like the exquisite Cherry Blossoms, Callas' peak (throughout the 1950s) was spectacular, intense and ultimately short-lived.
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Maria Callas, known as "La Divina" to her legions of acolytes, escaped from our old headquarters via a white Prius in the parking garage. Where would she go next?
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Callas obsessively collected recipes she never cooked. On Constitution Avenue, she discovers the secret behind Polish sausage.
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Drawn by the scent of a recent production of Norma (her signature role), Callas deigned to visit the Kennedy Center Opera House. (Remember: Aristotle Onassis dumped Callas for Jackie.)
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Callas' appetite for drama was titanic. But for a real meal, Maria "lunches" with Julia Child in her kitchen at the American History Museum.
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Touring an urban farmers' market (in Dupont Circle) reminds Callas of her humble upbringing in Manhattan's Washington Heights, as well as her subsequent move to Athens.
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It's not La Scala (where she first sang in 1950), but Callas did find the longest eSCALAtor in Washington.
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Callas was a towering monument in the history of opera, introducing a new and riveting sense of drama to every role she sang.
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Callas hobnobbed with some of the world's most beautiful people. Recently, she found a brief moment in her schedule for the denizens of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
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Having found her leading man gliding through the streets of Washington, Callas considers a role in a new opera performed entirely on Segways.
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In the COURT of operatic opinion, Callas ruled SUPREME. Just ask Ruth Bader Ginsburg (or Renata Tebaldi).
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After a little more than a week on the town, Callas (and her trusty officemate Tom Huizenga) move into NPR's new headquarters
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Callas and Jackie Onassis were rivals with Wagnerian intensity. Think of her visit to the White House Press Briefing Room as "operatic payback."
Originally published on Mon April 15, 2013 12:02 pm
As one door closes, another opens. Last week, we shut down operations at our old Washington, D.C, headquarters; today, we walked into a brand-new building.
Making the move wasn't easy. In 14 years, I'd acquired an impressive amount of stuff, from LPs autographed by Placido Domingo and Tom Jones to books like The Essential Guide to Dutch Music. And did I really need three staple removers?
Richard Wagner was, and still is today, arguably the most controversial figure in classical music. A self-appointed deity and hyperdriven genius, Wagner is often considered the ultimate megalomaniac. He dreamed up and achieved a single-minded plan to change the course of classical music history.
Got an idea for a classical cartoon or a reaction to this one? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.
Pablo Helguera is a New York-based artist working with sculpture, drawing, photography and performance. His new book isHelguera's Artunes. You can see more of his work atArtworld Salon and on his own site.
Originally published on Wed April 10, 2013 6:03 pm
Virtually everyone writing about the Tokyo String Quartet's final tour this year is drawn to the word "bittersweet," and with good reason: After 43 seasons, the group gave its farewell Boston concert last week at WGBH. The quartet is rising to the emotional occasion by playing with heightened finesse and dimension, sounding better than ever.
Got an idea for a classical cartoon or a reaction to this one? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.
Pablo Helguera is a New York-based artist working with sculpture, drawing, photography and performance. His new book isHelguera's Artunes. You can see more of his work atArtworld Salon and on his own site.
