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MusicApril 1997 Juilliard plays Stravinsky On the Juilliard Symphony's performance at Alice Tully Hall, New York I saw Igor Stravinsky conduct only once, at Carnegie Hall in January 1957, when the New York Philharmonic performed Perséphone (1934), a “melodrama” in three parts, with a text by André Gide. (Vera Zorina narrated, Richard Robinson was the tenor soloist.) Stravinsky’s conductorial manner lived up to its reputation for idiosyncrasy. Unlike most of the flailers and sawyers occupying major podia, Stravinsky often did not move a muscle for entire pages. Crouched over the score, he gave almost no clues to the orchestra. Every so often he would majestically raise his left hand to his lips in order to moisten the fingers for a more rapid turning of the page below. As would be expected from any professional orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, along with the soloists and mixed chorus, busied itself with an attentive sonic realization of the work at hand. A few churlish types must have asked whether, during ... This article is available to subscribers and for individual purchaseSubscribe to TNC (Print and Online editions) Subscribe to TNC (Online only) This article originally appeared in The New Criterion, Volume 15 April 1997, on page 46 Copyright © 2009 The New Criterion | www.newcriterion.com http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/julliardstravinsky-coleman-3355
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A review of Molto Agitato: The Mayhem Behind the Music at the Metropolitan Opera, by Johanna Fiedler, Covent Garden: The Untold Story, by Norman Lebrecht, Valery Gergiev and the Kirov: A Story of Survival, by John Ardoin. On Chanticleer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Abbey Simon, Magdalena Kožená, and Christopher Prégardien & Michael Gees at Alice Tully Hall, Ricardo Muti with the New York Philharmonic; Bernard Haitink with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, René Pape, and Pierre Boulez with the Staatskappelle Berlin at Carnegie Hall; Emmanuel Pahud, Trevor Pinnock & Jonathan Manson at Zankel Hall; Bernard Haitink with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; and Barber of Seville at the Metropolitan Opera. On Maris Janson & the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestras and André Previn's 80th Birthday at Carnegie Hall; La sonambula, Rusalka, Cavalleria rusticana, Pagliacci, & The Elixir of Love at the Metropolitan Opera; and the all-Handel night with the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall. On James Levine and the Boston Symphony Orchestra; Ann Sofie von Otter and Stephen Hough at Carnegie Hall; Adriana Lecouvreur, Eugence Onegin, and Il Trovatore at the Metropolitan Opera; Montserrat Caballé at Avery Fisher Hall; the Chamber Music Society of Licoln Center at Alice Tully Hall; Pinchas Zukerman and Marc Neikrug at the 92nd St. Y; Danielle de Niese at Weill Recital Hall; and Zubin Mehta with the Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall.  The New Criterion is now optimized for Mobile Devices 
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