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Our new YouTube channel is up and running! In honor of our 75th Anniversary Season we are featuring special messages from Celebrity Series of Boston performers. Our first posting is from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater artistic director Robert Battle.

Celebrity Series of Boston on YouTube

Videotaping Robert Battle at Citi Wang Theatre

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Artistic Director, Robert Battle, was kind enough to tape some personal thoughts before tonight's performance on the Celebrity Series of Boston's 75th Anniversary.

Frederic Franklin (1914-2013)

The renowned dancer and ballet master Frederic Franklin died on May 4 at age 98.

Mr. Franklin made his Boston debut in November 1938 with Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo during the first season of the Celebrity Series of Boston. In addition to multiple Celebrity Series performances in Boston with Ballet Russe, his work was also seen by Bostonian's in Celebrity Series presentations of Dance Theatre of Harlem.

The Guardian

PRI's The World

El Pais

The Washington Post

Los Angeles Times

Dance Heritage Coalition

Arts Fuse

Dance/USA Franklin Bio (video)

 

Musings on Van Cliburn, by Walter Pierce

Musings on Van Cliburn

He was a phenomenon. He was a larger
than life personality. He was a genuine American hero. He was a gifted pianist
who brought world attention to American classical music. He was the
quintessential Southern gentleman -- a tall Texan who conquered the hearts of
the Soviet and American public when both nations stared at each other grimly
across a political divide.

He was the first musician to receive a
New York ticker tape parade when he returned to the US following his winning
the prestigious International Tchaikowsky Competition in Moscow in 1958.

And yet, many musicians and critics felt
he never lived to fulfill the potential that lay before him.

He was a gracious, giving personality
who easily won the hearts of everyone he met.

He had his quirks: he hated being early for
his own concerts, preferring to arrive a few minutes past concert time, doff
his coat, stride on stage, sit down at the piano and begin playing the National
Anthem. When everyone resumed their seats, he began the concert.

I recall being invited with my mentor,
Aaron Richmond, by Van Ciburn's then American concert manager, William Judd of
Columbia Artists, to his apartment to hear a young pianist they had signed with
the hopes that we might book him in recital. This was in the period just before
he left for the Moscow competition. Little did I know what would follow in the
next few months.

Within a year or so, we were presenting
Van Cliburn in recital in Boston to an adoring public which filled every seat
in Symphony Hall with an overflow on the stage, while hundreds of would-be
ticket buyers were turned away.

I feel blessed indeed to have had the
opportunity to share in presenting Van Cliburn in recital in Boston on over a
dozen occasions.

Au revoir, Van -- we loved you dearly.

Walter
Pierce

Walter Pierce was Executive Director of Celebrity Series of Boston from 1965 to 1996. The Celebrity Series presented Van Cliburn 8 times under his leadership.

Van Cliburn (1934-2013)

Pianist Van Cliburn in Tel Aviv, 1962

Pianist Van Cliburn has died at age 78. The Shreveport, Louisiana native's triumph at the 1958 Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow made him a household name.

Van Cliburn made his Celebrity Series debut in 1960 and performed on the Series a total of 13 times - all in recital and all at Symphony Hall - most recently in 2001.

Numerous winners of The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition have also appeared on the Celebrity Series over the years, including Jose Feghali, Jon Nakamatsu, Stanislav Ioudenitch, Alexander Kobrin, Olga Kern, and Hoachen Zhang.

Coverage of Van Cliburn's death:

New York Times

Wall Street Journal

Washington Post

Los Angeles Times

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

BBC News

Chicago Tribune

Videos:

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 in Moscow (1962)

Christie's Auction Interview (includes clip of 1958 competition)

On What's My Line?

At The Kennedy Center Honors (2001)

Playing Chopin Ballade No. 3

 

Walter Pierce on Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

Walter Pierce

People recall times when they were fortunate to attend events that became cherished memories and of near folk-legend status. Such were the lieder recitals of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, the German baritone, for cognoscenti who flocked to his concerts filling venues like Symphony Hall to capacity. In the years that Fischer-Dieskau performed in the Celebrity Series, his partner of choice was the distinguished pianist Jorg Demus; together they thrilled audiences with recitals of works by Schubert, Schumann, Wolf, Brahms and others.

Much has been written about his towering genius and contributions to the craft, but I was especially taken by the quotation in the New York Times of a review by the British music critic John Amis: "Providence gives to some singers a beautiful voice, to some musical artistry... but to Fischer-Dieskau Providence has given both. The result is a miracle, and that is about all there is to be said about it... Having used a few superlatives and describing the program, there is nothing else to do but write 'finis,' go home, and thank one's stars for having the good luck to be present."

I, too, feel lucky to have been present.

Walter Pierce

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (1925-2012)

The great German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has died at age 86. He performed a total of 6 Celebrity Series recitals between 1962 and 1978. Greatly admired and loved by legions of fans, he enjoyed an unusually long singing career. Richard Cattani, reviewing Fischer-Dieskau's 1968 Symphony Hall recital for The Christian Science Monitor, wrote, "If Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau were to give only one more concert, it would be worth crossing a continent or an ocean to hear him."

New York Times

The Guardian

The Washington Post

The Baltimore Sun (TIm Smith's Clef Notes)

The Telegraph

BBC News

BloombergBusinessWeek

Cellist Bernard Greenhouse (1916-2011)

The founding members of the Beaux Arts Trio:
(L to R) Isidore Cohen, violin, Menahem Pressler,
piano, Bernard Greenhouse, cello

Distinguished cellist and longtime Wellfleet, Mass. resident Bernard Greenhouse died May 13. Among many accomplishments and accolades, Mr. Greenhouse was a founding member of The Beaux Arts Trio, with whom he performed regularly from 1955 until his retirement in 1987.

Mr. Greenhouse made two appearances on the Celebrity Series. In 1968 he appeared with the Bach Aria Group (with soloists Samuel Baron, flute; Robert Bloom, oboe; Norman Farrow, bass-baritone; Maureen Forrester, alto; Richard Lewis, tenor; Lois Marshall, soprano; Oscar Shumsky, violin; and Paul Ulanowsky, piano). In 1971 he performed with the then Beaux Arts Trio of New York (Menahem Pressler, piano, Isidore Cohen, violin).

New York Times

Boston Globe

Telegraph (UK)

2009 interview with Bernard Greenhouse

Beaux Arts Trio performance (from Schubert Trio in B-flat)

Beaux Arts Trio performance (from Ravel Trio in A minor)

Bernard Greenhouse performing Song of the Birds at age 95 (Catalan folk song arranged by Pablo Casals)

 

Christine Brewer and Helen Traubel, a musical lineage

Helen Traubel

Following Christine Brewer's recital last Saturday, Richard Dyer, the former classical music critic for the Boston Globe, made an apt comparison between Brewer and an earlier operatic denizen of St. Louis, Helen Traubel. Brewer herself mentioned Traubel, but it was Mr. Dyer who made the comparison and got this writer thinking...

I took a look in the Celebrity Series archives and sure enough Aaron Richmond had presented Ms. Traubel at Symphony Hall in 1942 with BSO cellist Jean Bedetti and two piano accompanists: Conrad V. Bos and Leonard Bernstein (you heard me). There were numerous overlaps between Ms. Traubel's 1942 program and Ms. Brewer's (at least as originally planned). Traubel also programmed Gluck's "Divinités du Styx" from Alceste, some of the same Wagner and Richard Strauss. Both singers closed their programs with Frank LaForge's "Hills." I wonder if Ms. Brewer conceived of her program as a kind of tribute.

I wasn't around in 1942, but I'm betting Ms. Traubel's recital was as musically wondrous as Ms. Brewer's. It's nice to know that our muse here at the Series has not drifted too far and that we are in some way representing quality performing in a continuum.

Here is the Boston Globe's review of Ms. Brewer's recital.

UPDATE: Please see Ms. Brewer's comment below (a first!) and note that Amazon.com is taking pre-orders for her CD, Echoes of Nightingales, and Hyperion, the label releasing the CD, is offering streaming excerpts.

AileyCamp Boston to perform at site of 1968 Ailey performance

 


Celebrity Series of Boston is pleased to announce that AileyCamp Boston's 2010 final performance will take place in the John Hancock Hall At Back Bay Events Center, 180 Berkeley Street (corner of Berkeley & Stuart), in Boston's Back Bay on August 5. The then Boston University Celebrity Series first presented
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in John Hancock Hall in 1968 (the start of a relationship that continues today) and now
this beautiful theatre will be the venue for our final performance!



Thank you to the staff at John Hancock Hall, Back Bay Events Center and Tillinger’s for their generous assistance.

David Soyer, founding cellist of Guarneri Quartet (1923-2010)

Guarneri String Quartet publicity photo (Soyer is on far right) 

David Soyer, the founding cellist of the Guarneri String Quartet, which was formed in 1964 at Vermont's famed Marlboro Music Festival, died Feb. 24 at his home in Manhattan. He had turned 87 on Feb. 23.

Mr. Soyer performed with the Guarneri String Quartet in concerts presented by the Celebrity Series of Boston on 38 occasions from 1967 to 2001, the year he retired from the group.

The New York Times (Daniel Wakin)

The Philadelphia Inquirer (David Patrick Stearns)

The Baltimore Sun, Clef Notes (Tim Smith)

Comic baritone John Reed, 1916-2010

English singer John Reed in the 1966 D’Oyly Carte Opera Company production of The Mikado

English character dancer, actor and baritone, John Reed, who delighted generations in Gilbert & Sullivan’s D’Oyly Carte operettas, died on February 13, his 94th birthday. He is survived by his partner of 52 years, Nicholas Kerri.

Mr. Reed was born in County Durham, England, in 1916.
He joined D’Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1951 as a comic understudy. He
became principal comic baritone in 1959, where he performed and recorded
all the major roles in his fach, including Sir Joseph Porter in H.M.S.
Pinafore, Major General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance,
Ko-Ko in The Mikado (his favorite), the Lord Chancellor in Iolanthe,
and John Wellington Wells in The Sorcerer. He also directed
and appeared with other companies.

Mr. Reed appeared on the Celebrity Series of Boston season 3 times as a member of D’Oyly Carte Opera Company, in 1962 at The Shubert Theatre and in 1966, and '68 at The Savoy Theatre.

The Scotsman

The Telegraph

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Culture Club blog

Baltimore Sun blog: Clef Notes (Tim Smith)

The Halifax Evening Courier

Boston Globe talks with Sir Simon Rattle

Sir Simon Rattle

David Weininger of the Globe had a chat with Berlin Philharmonic conductor Sir Simon Rattle in advance of the orchestra's appearance at Symphony Hall this Sunday:

"Rattle is especially glad to be reconnecting with Boston. He nourishes
fond memories of the orchestra - 'I had the best time there, I tell
you' - and especially of Symphony Hall. He found the 2007 concert [by the Celebrity Series with Ben Heppner and Thomas Quasthoff] so
satisfying that 'all of us in Berlin felt, we have to play there again.'"

Read all of For Rattle, things look up as he looks ahead.

Alicia de Larrocha (1923-2009)

Spanish pianist Alicia de Larrocha has died in Barcelona at 86 years of age. Ms. de Larrocha performed a total of seven recitals for the Celebrity Series between 1967 and 1995. Following her 1967 recital, in which she played several works by Granados and

Albéniz, Boston Globe critic Michael Steinberg wrote:

"Alicia de Larrocha plays Spanish music very well. She has the agility and the strength, she defines the dance rhythms with a vitality that is really uncommon, and, after what must be hundreds of performances, she still plays these pieces without affection. She plays the tunes flexibly, not in softly yielding style, but with a steely tensile strength that is exciting."

In 1983, Globe critic Richard Dyer offered the following assessment:

"It's probably a mistake to say, as many do, that the pianist has been an uncommonly persuasive advocate for her country's music. It's true that she completely convinces her listener of its depth and worth. But she has not really urged it into the regular repertory, because other pianists would be crazy to go up against competition like this."

New York Times (Allan Kozinn)

Telegraph (UK)

Washington Post

Baltimore Sun (Tim Smith), blog post with videos

National Public Radio

Michael Steinberg, former Boston Globe music critic, dies at 80

Michael Steinberg, 1928-2009

Former Boston Globe classical music critic and musicologist Michael Steinberg died this weekend in Minnesota. He was 80 years old.

Mr. Steinberg was classical music critic for The Boston Globe from 1966 to 1976 and, as such, reviewed innumerable Celebrity Series performances.

Boston Globe

San Francisco Chronicle

Los Angeles Times Culture Monster blog

The Baltimore Sun

National Public Radio

Minnesota Public Radio

Nonesuch Records

Beaux Arts Trio calls it quits after 53 years

The Beaux Arts Trio is wrapping up its 53 year run with its final concert. We presented the Trio's final Boston performance back in April. The final final concert will take place at Tanglewood next week.

David Weininger's piece in today's Globe profiles the Trio at its end and though the headline, Beaux Arts Trio to say goodbye to Tanglewood, implies this is only the group's final Tanglewood performance, it is indeed their final performance anywhere:

"Not every ensemble merits this question when its demise is in sight,
but this one undoubtedly does. The trio played its first concert at
Tanglewood in 1955, and it will play its final American concerts there
next week. In the intervening 53 years, it has taken its place as one
of the 20th century's foremost chamber-music groups, and has set a
standard for trio playing that will persist well after the group's end."

Read all of Beaux Arts Trio to say goodbye to Tanglewood.

A video is a virtual mockery of any chamber music performance, but I  would feel remiss if I didn't give you something  in the way of sound from the great Beaux Arts Trio. This video is the first movement from Dvorak's "Dumky" Trio performed in San Francisco's Herbst Theatre about two weeks after their final Celebrity Series performance:

UPDATE:

David Weininger writes that the Beaux Arts' original plan to end at Tanglewood has been changed since they last visited Boston:

Thanks for noting the column on the Beaux Arts on the blog. You write there that the headline is misleading and that the Tanglewood shows will be "their final performance[s] anywhere." I think that was the original plan, at least back when they came through Boston in April. Apparently they reconsidered, though, because there are a number of dates scheduled in Europe after Tanglewood:

http://beauxartstrio.org/beaux_arts_schedule.html

I believe their last concert is at the Lucerne Festival. If you go to the festival's calendar:

http://e.lucernefestival.ch/handler.asp?Id=2840


and click on September 6, you'll see a listing for the concert.

It all checks out, of course. Thanks, David!

More curiosities from the archives

OK, so this is too old to be actual Celebrity Series history, but it's too fun to pass up. I came across this advertisement in an Aaron Richmond Presents program book for a Symphony Hall concert by the Russian Symphonic Choir from January 1926. The Abdon Laus listed in the ad was the first bassoonist and saxophone soloist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Ye Olde Town Orchestra). There is some speculation that Laus was the bassoonist at the premiere of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring with the Ballets Russes in 1913. Cool, but who knew there was once a Boston Saxophone Orchestra? 50 saxophones?? A joyful noise, no doubt.

Odd little artifact

It looks odd, like a bit of programmers code or something, but it's a summary of the Beaux Arts Trio's performance history with the Celebrity Series of Boston. Just felt like sharing.

Beaux Arts Trio of New York 1/31/1971
Beaux Arts Trio 10/16/1988
Beaux Arts Trio 11/3/1989
Beaux Arts Trio 2/15/1991
Beaux Arts Trio 10/3/1993
Beaux Arts Trio 12/12/1993
Beaux Arts Trio 5/1/1994               
Beaux Arts Trio 10/21/1994    
Beaux Arts Trio 10/20/1996    
Beaux Arts Trio 3/31/1996
Beaux Arts Trio 2/22/1998
Beaux Arts Trio 4/11/1999
Beaux Arts Trio 10/12/2000
Beaux Arts Trio 3/18/2000
Beaux Arts Trio 3/16/2002
Beaux Arts Trio 3/20/2004
Beaux Arts Trio 4/2/2005

Oh, yes, they will be in Boston on the Celebrity Series for the last time tonight at 8:00pm.

Benny Goodman, Bela Bartok and the Celebrity Series

(left to right) Josef Szigeti, Bela Bartok and Benny Goodman recording Bartok's "Contrasts" in 1940

Ever since I first heard of it, I've been curious about our presentation of Benny Goodman with Bela Bartok, Ditto Pasztory (Mrs. Bartok) and the great violinist Josef Szigeti at Jordan Hall back in 1941. The other day, I got a glimpse of the review of the concert that ran in the February 5, 1941 Boston Globe, and it's kind of a hoot. Here are some snippets:

"Benny Goodman went classical at Jordan Hall last night. He played the clarinet, but he did not have an orchestra with a strong 'powerhouse' behind him, and instead of swing, the program was a chaste list of 'serious' pieces. The concert was in the Chamber Music Series of Aaron Richmond, and presented, in addition to Mr. Goodman, Bela Bartok, Hungarian pianist and composer; his wife Ditta Pasztory, pianist; and Josef Szigeti, violinist.

For his first appearance in Boston as a classical musician, Mr. Goodman played Debussy's Rhapsody for clarinet and piano, partnered by Mr. Bartok, and joined him and Mr. Szigeti in Mr. Bartok's 'Contrasts.' When the 'King of Swing' shuffled amiably upon the stage, midway of the program, he was faced not with a crowd of stamping, whistling hep cats, but the dinner coats and evening gowns of a Bostonian audience trained to sit up attentively during a Mozart Sonata and who know better than to applaud between the movements."

I thought all of our concerts were filled with whistling hep cats... But my favorite line of the review is this:

"Yet there may have been a few youngsters in the crowd to whom the word jive means a good deal more than allegro molto does."

Count me among them. "Jive" is my middle name, hep cat.

Then there was this oddly menacing sentence in closing:

"Each of the other artists was cordially received."

Edison on Jazz and the inner ear

Trolling the archives yesterday here the Celebrity Series, I came across this little tidbit (or is it a snippet? a snidbit?):

"Thomas A. Edison recently answered the question, 'Why does the average popular melody have so short a period of popularity?' in these words: 'I believe the mechanism of the inner ear may have something to do with it. The so-called 'Rods of Corti' are located there - approximately 3,000 small stiff rods, massed together like the hairs on a brush. Each hair is supposed to be tuned to a definite note in the musical scale. When the note is sounded, the hair vibrates, transmitting the sound through the nerves to the brain. The too constant operation of any group of these hairs undoubtedly leads to irritation - possibly to an actual swelling at the base of the hairs. It is the theory of many scientists that this may be one of the underlying causes for the rapid way we tire of popular hits, with their endless pounding on simple sets of chords.'"

-as quoted in Variations, Opus 4, by Aaron Richmond, published by Concert Direction: Aaron Richmond, January 1928

This seems to have been submitted for reader's consideration, not to imply agreement. I wonder what Edison would have thought of John Coltrane? In any case, the same page also features this quote from Frederick Stock:

"The music of the eighteenth century addressed the head; that of the nineteenth, the heart; and this of the twentieth appeals to the feet."

For what its worth, I knew the "Rods of Corti," Roddie Shelton and Rodney Corner, and can attest they had nothing whatever to do with music, popular or otherwise, though Roddie could always whistle through his nose...