Posts / Photos

𝗧𝗔𝗗𝗔𝗔𝗞𝗜 𝗢𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗔 — 𝗔 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗗𝗜𝗚𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗬, 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗬, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗥𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗡𝗢𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗧𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗮𝗸𝗶 𝗢𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗮 is one of the most distinguished Japanese conductors of the post-war generation: a musician whose career has united 𝗝𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲, 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻…

# **Hiroshi Wakasugi (1935–2009): A Life in 20 Chapters ** Hiroshi Wakasugi occupies a unique and austere place in the history of Japanese conducting. Less publicly celebrated than Seiji Ozawa and far less mythologized…

# **Takashi Asahina (1908–2001): A Life in 20 Chapters ** Takashi Asahina stands as **the patriarch of Japanese symphonic conducting** and one of the most uncompromising interpreters of the Austro-German tradition of the 20th…

𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗞𝗬 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗘𝗟 — 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗠𝗨𝗧𝗨𝗔𝗟 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬 𝗧𝗢 𝗔 𝗖𝗢𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗪𝗢 𝗠𝗢𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗡 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 The relationship between 𝗜𝗴𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗸𝘆 and 𝗠𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗥𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹 was one of the most significant artistic friendships of the years immediately…

𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗧 𝗩𝗢𝗡 𝗞𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗝𝗔𝗡 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗥 𝗣𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗞𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱, 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿, 𝟭𝟵𝟱𝟲–𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟵 𝗔 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗲𝗿𝗮 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘄𝗮̈𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲𝗿 When 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝘃𝗼𝗻 𝗞𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗷𝗮𝗻 became chief conductor of the 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗿…

# **Takashi Asahina (1908–2001): Anecdotes and Curiosities from a Life of Absolute Musical Integrity ** Takashi Asahina was not a man of public charm, wit, or theatrical gesture. His life offers no flamboyant scandals…

# **ANECDOTES ABOUT KATHLEEN BATTLE** *The angelic voice, the perfectionist temperament, the legend of impossible beauty* ## **1. The Telephone Audition that Started Everything** Kathleen Battle’s first professional break came when conductor Thomas Schippers…

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗦 𝗦𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗕𝗘𝗖𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗗𝗚𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗢𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗛 𝗜. 𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗡 𝗜𝗡 𝗘𝗫𝗜𝗟𝗘: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗡𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 was born on 𝟮 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟵𝟰𝟮, generally given as 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗿𝘀𝗸,…

𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗜𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝗲𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘇𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗴, 𝗚𝗶𝗹𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸, 𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗶 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗵 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗹𝗲 Around 1930, a photograph preserved…

𝗡𝗮𝗼𝘂𝗺 𝗕𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻-𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗩𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁, 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗢𝗳 𝗜𝘀𝗮𝗮𝗰 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗡𝗮𝗼𝘂𝗺 𝗕𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 — born on 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟭𝟵, 𝟭𝟴𝟴𝟵, in 𝗬𝗲𝘃𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮, then part of the 𝗥𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲 and today in 𝗨𝗸𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲, and died on 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿…

𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦 𝐊𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐟𝐟: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 There are pianists who astonish by force, brilliance, and the sheer dazzle of their fingers, and there are others whose…

𝐕𝐚́𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐯 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐡: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐆𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐀 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐭𝐬 𝐎𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐕𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 There are conductors who inherit great orchestras, and there are conductors who create them in the deepest sense. 𝐕𝐚́𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐯 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐡 belonged to the…

𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐬 𝐊𝐥𝐞𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐬 𝐈𝐟 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 There are conductors who build careers, and there are conductors who become legends almost in spite of…

# **Lovro von Matačic: His Relationships with Musicians, Conductors, Soloists, and Orchestras** Lovro von Matačić’s professional relationships were defined less by diplomacy than by **musical truthfulness**. He did not cultivate networks, friendships, or alliances…

# **Lovro von Matačić (1899–1985)** ## **A Life in 20 Chapters** Lovro von Matačić stands as one of the **most profound, uncompromising, and morally complex conductors of the 20th century**. Revered by musicians for…