The Ives Project
In 1942, Edith Ives, age 28, wrote her father a 1,700-word letter for his 68th birthday — decades after Charles Ives had ceased...
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josephirvinghorowi
Jul 6, 20113 min read
Rachmaninoff in Texas
In Twentieth Century Music, an admirable and much-used survey written in 1974, Eric Salzman devotes 13 pages to Stravinsky, 11 to...
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josephirvinghorowi
Jun 27, 20112 min read
Mahler in Texas
For last Saturday’s performance of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony at the Round Top Music Festival, an orchestra of 88 gifted young musicians...
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josephirvinghorowi
Jun 17, 20112 min read
Improvising Stravinsky
One of my standard rants – typically inflicted on young pianists – is called “The Piano in the 21st Century.” I begin by asking if anyone...
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josephirvinghorowi
May 30, 20113 min read
Something New and Necessary for Orchestras
With the fate of American orchestras in the news, the National Endowment of the Humanities has recently awarded $300,000 for a symphonic...
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josephirvinghorowi
May 1, 20112 min read
Schubert on the Trombone
Among his colleagues, the unclassifiable bass trombonist David Taylor is both famous and notorious. I happen to have known him for...
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josephirvinghorowi
Apr 24, 20113 min read
Interpreting Stravinsky (continued)
Igor Stravinsky, in his polemics, preached “against interpretation.” He insisted that his music be performed as written, and as he...
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josephirvinghorowi
Mar 7, 20112 min read
Lou Harrison and the Great American Piano Concerto
The music of Lou Harrison represents a rare opportunity for advocacy. To begin with, he is unquestionably a major late 20th century...
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josephirvinghorowi
Feb 27, 20113 min read
Bruckner and Religion
For the second time in two weeks, I’ve heard an unforgettable symphonic performance fortified by intense religious conviction. In...
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josephirvinghorowi
Feb 20, 20112 min read
Nixon in China at the Met
I first saw John Adams’ Nixon in China at BAM in 1987, weeks after my son was born. The opera was as brand-new as Bernie. I connected...
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josephirvinghorowi
Feb 17, 20112 min read
What the embattled NEH does for education: a case in point
The National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities are endangered by impending Congressional budget cuts....
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josephirvinghorowi
Feb 13, 20113 min read
Pittsburgh and Tchaikovsky
For American orchestras, these are changing and bewildering times – and will become moreso if Congress sees fit to de-fund the nation’s...
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josephirvinghorowi
Feb 13, 20113 min read
Eavesdropping on Tchaikovsky’s Russia
The American businessman Julius Block, who introduced the phonograph to Russia in 1889, proceeded to record many hours of music performed...
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josephirvinghorowi
Jan 26, 20115 min read
The Gershwin Moment (continued)
THE GERSHWIN MOMENT (CONTINUED) As readers of this blog are aware, I have for some time been proclaiming a “new Gershwin” – in, e.g.,...
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josephirvinghorowi
Jan 6, 20115 min read
The Greatest Vocal Recording of All Time, etc.
It’s nice to be noticed, so thank you to those who have complained about the paucity of recent filings in this space. Usually I write a...
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josephirvinghorowi
Dec 5, 20103 min read
The Detroit Symphony, Service Exchange, and “Full-Time” Jobs
About a week ago I received a phone call from a reporter from Detroit Public Radio inviting me to comment on the Detroit Symphony strike....
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josephirvinghorowi
Nov 14, 20103 min read
Re-Inventing Bernstein; Re-Inventing City Opera
Can re-interpretation improve a symphony or concerto? Can an ingenious staging fundamentally enhance an opera? My friend Alexander...
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josephirvinghorowi
Nov 7, 20104 min read
Rheingold, Boris, and Artistic Miscalculation at the Met
The current issue of The Times Literary Supplement (UK) includes my review of Das Rheingold and Boris Godunov at the Met, as follows: ...
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josephirvinghorowi
Sep 27, 20104 min read
The Singularity of Gershwin
The singularity of George Gershwin is an inexhaustible topic. One thing that sets Gershwin apart is what I’d call his “cultural...
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josephirvinghorowi
Sep 20, 20107 min read
Santa Fe Opera Update
The current issue of the Times Literary Supplement (UK) includes my review of this summer’s Santa Fe Opera season, featuring a terrific...
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