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Eternal Mahler
USTAV MAHLER is always with
us: numerous performances of his stirring and evocative
works, interpretations and appreciations of his oeuvre and
significance, as well as abundant articles and books
offering biographical details. His conducting career
struggles, the sting of anti-Semitism, heart trouble and
his fickle wife Alma, counterbalanced by his empyrean sense
of vocation and mission have made him one of the most
enduring cultural figures of all time.
James Levine, lately of the
Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), is among the greatest of
Mahler interpreters. There are, of course, others and in
each case some special sensitivity or unique artistic
quiddity is associated with the particular maestro. And,
inevitably, some approaches do not please sophisticated
listeners, like critics.
For example, a recent performance
of Mahler's epic Ninth in which the composer is perceived as
saying farewell to life, provoked the ire of the
Financial Times Andrew Clark. Writing that that
the "unspoken fears and uncertainties and reflective
passions that constitute the Ninth drew from Mahler some of
his deepest music," Clark goes on to lament that Lorin
Maazel's rendition with the London Philharmonia did not
even approach the sense of aspiration, longing and struggle
inherent in the work. And, indeed, Clark asks, "How could
it…with a conductor who stamps his technical control so
manifestly on every bar?"

Lorin Maazel
Photo by Chris Lee |
The critic states that as happens
so often with Maazel, "sheer fluency militated against the
music's imaginative core." Perfect, the critic concludes,
but earthbound.
Maazel was slated to conduct
the traditional Tanglewood end-of-season performance of
Beethoven's Ninth this past summer, but a ferocious New
England storm caused the unprecedented cancellation of the
concert. A shame, because it would have been the appropriate
capstone to a rich and satisfying season that saw a
procession of conducting giants subbing for the ailing
Levine.
Among the European maestros who
arrived at the sylvan Berkshires music festival were
Christoph Von Dohnanyi, leading a memorable Saturday
evening of Prokofiev, Schumann and Brahms; Jaap van
Zweden, the Dutch-born director of the Dallas Symphony
and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, thrilling
the audience with his sprightly energy and tempos in
Beethoven's Seventh, as well as admirably providing
complimentary orchestral accompaniment for Arabella
Steinbacher's inspired performance of the Brahms Violin
Concerto.
There were also the delights of
Emanuel Krivine conducting an all-Ravel program featuring
the splendid Jean -Yves Thibaudet and the perennial
Tanglewood favorite Rafael Fruhbeck De Burgos at the top of
his game with a Spanish-themed program featuring the
masterful classical guitarist Pepe Romero.
A special treat was the full-scale
concert version of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess led by
Bramwell Tovey. Even a veteran of many Porgy and Bess
outings could not fail to be profoundly moved by this
over-the-top production with the ever-glorious Tanglewood
Chorus directed by John Oliver at its finest.
Maestro Levine was missed. Make no
mistake about that.But oh what substitutes!
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 Simon Sebag Montefiore
Photo by Jori Klein |
Holy In Jerusalem
PPEARING at the New York
Public Library series of live readings and interviews
recently, Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of the newly
published Jerusalem: The Biography, spoke of the
temporary craze some visitors to Jerusalem experience. The
people who succumb to this malady usually come with magical
ideas of Jerusalem's transcendental status and wish to
commune with powers of redemption, healing and salvation.

Jerusalem: The
Biography |
Known as the Jerusalem Syndrome,
this behavior arises from a fervent anticipation of an
exalted transformation or delusional notion of religious and
messianic ecstasy. This state of mind inevitably ends in
deep disappointment and mental distress or just a return to
prosaic reality.
Sebag-Montefiore, a novelist and
historian, is the descendant of Moses Montefiore, the
eminent Victorian British-Jewish philanthropist and traveler
who was a great benefactor of Jerusalem. The author said
that walking around the Holy City one can utter "Jesus" and
"six people will turn around."
The psychiatric departments of the
city's hospitals are all equipped to deal with what is
generally a short-lived derangement. Today Jerusalem
Syndrome is an accepted psychological classification with a
considerable literature and chronicle.
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PRODUCT EVALUATION TEAM
PET Picks Prime CDs
By Tim Boxer
}AFTER THE DISQUIET Ravish
Momin founded Tarana in 2003. With Momin on drums and Trina
Basu on violin, the duo creates a boundary-busting sound
that infuses world jazz with Asian, Mideastern and African
styling. While all compositions are by Momin, who has
studied North Indian percussion, there’s lots of
improvisation with the two artists. Momin was born in India
and lived in Bahrain; Basu studied violin in Chennai, India,
and she now lives in Brooklyn. CD priced at $3 at
http://tarananyc.bandcamp.com/album/after-the-disquiet-ep.
}KINGS BELL Here is another
non-stop album from Midnite, the St. Croix-based reggae
group, fronted by Vaughn Benjamin. Benjamin collaborates
with producer/bassist Andrew "Bassie" Campbell to make a
16-track masterpiece of Jamaica rhythms and St. Croix
sounds. Midnite has made more than 45 albums over 20 years.
This one is available on iTunes and in stores.
}HUMOROUS TO BEES Under the
direction of Brock Scott (who contributes vocals, piano and
acoustic guitar), the five-person group called Little Tybee
presents 12 pop ballads and orchestral melodies on this
album. Atlanta has spawned another success story. Pater
Garden Records, $9.99 digital.
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