The Marlboro we missed this year (from the Boston Globe)

A passionate, intimate gathering in Marlboro, Vt. By David Weininger, Globe Correspondent  |  August 10, 2010 MARLBORO, Vt. — This summer marks the 60th season of the Marlboro Music Festival. There is, however, something timeless about this venerable chamber music gathering. Ensembles still mix players of varying levels of experience; the repertoire still hews largely — though by no means exclusively — to established composers of the 18th through mid-20th centuries; and the whole thing has an informal feel that’s at odds with the intensity of the music-making, which occurs in rehearsal and on stage. Indeed, at its best — which it mostly was this past weekend — Marlboro produces some of the greatest chamber music anywhere. Saturday’s concert opened with Beethoven’s String Trio in C minor, Op. 9, No. 3, which drew a polished and impassioned performance from violinist Dina Nesterenko, violist Kyle Armbrust, and cellist Marcy Rosen. At times the passion was too much of a good thing, as if the performers saw the work as a tempestuous middle-period work rather than the fruit of Beethoven’s early maturity. What followed was one of the weekend’s highlights: a profound reading of Schumann’s great song cycle “Dichterliebe’’ by tenor Nicholas Phan and pianist Mitsuko Uchida, one of the festival’s codirectors. Phan is an excellent young singer whose voice is patchy at the top but powerful in its middle and lower ranges. More important, he penetrated deeply into the inner drama of each of the 16 songs. But he was almost upstaged by Uchida’s playing, which was so sensitive and insightful that it went far beyond the role of accompaniment. During the piano codas, she seemed to open up an interior world that recalled the composer’s best solo piano music. They made a superb duo, and certain songs — “Ich grolle nicht’’ (“I bear no grudge’’) and “Ich hab in Traum geweinet’’ (“I wept in my dream’’) — almost overpowered in their intensity. Cellist Rosen returned after intermission with three younger colleagues for a performance of Bartok’s Sixth String Quartet, an elusive work whose character remains somewhat obscure until its deeply melancholy finale. Aside from some brief tuning problems, Saturday’s performance was one of astonishing precision, the quartet adroitly navigating Bartok’s unusual textures and rapid mood changes. If some final quantum of intensity seemed to be missing, perhaps that was due to this hermetic piece rather than to the performers. Sunday’s concert was an object lesson in balances: the careful weighing of voices and phrases that allows as much of the musical material as possible to be heard. A selection of songs with obbligato instruments tested the performers’ skills in this regard: Adolf Busch’s Three Songs, Op. 3a, and Schubert’s lengthy, multipart song “Auf dem Strom’’ (“On the River’’). Busch, one of Marlboro’s founders, was a competent composer but no more; the songs were notable for the intertwining of Jennifer Johnson’s plush mezzo-soprano and Geraldine Walther’s viola. The Schubert is a far deeper exploration of parting and sorrow. The equilibrium between Susanna Phillips’ silvery soprano and Radovan Vlatkovic’s horn was trickier to maintain, but for the most they succeeded. Lydia Brown was the excellent pianist in both. Between them came a rarity — Schumann’s “Six Etudes in Canonic Form,’’ originally written for pedal piano and arranged for two pianos by Debussy. These little gems not only display Schumann’s contrapuntal skill but are full of character as well. Cynthia Raim and Amy Jiaqi Yang were scrupulous in the care they gave to each motif, as it was passed gently back and forth between them. Closing out the weekend was an ebullient performance of Dvorak’s Sextet for Strings, Op. 48. This is not, to my ears, the composer’s finest piece of chamber music, but that was no barrier to enjoying the work of the ensemble, which included New England Conservatory violist Kim Kashkashian. Here, the work of maintaining balances reached a new level; I can’t recall having heard so much inner detail in this busy piece before. It bespoke the thoroughness of preparation that, 60 years on, is still Marlboro’s hallmark. The festival’s final performances are this weekend. David Weininger can be reached at globeclassicalnotes@gmail.com.

© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
 

To IMO: with reference to

your Schitlist:  For Schwarzkopf I had to make some concession--she married the head of EMI Records, L something.  She did however make a magnificent recording of Schubert songs with Edwin Fischer at the piano.....you're probably too young to have heard that.

On the other hand you may take some comfort with this anecdote:  Many, many years ago I accompanied my two dearest Finnish friends, Arno Karhilo and his lovely pianist wife Lisa, to hear the visiting Berlin Philharmonic at the old Constitution Hall conducted by one Karajan.  


They performed the Beethoven Sixth (a.k.a. Pastoral).  Furtwangler had just died and Karajan was clearly intent on 'outpacing' his Master in an Adagio molto espressivo.  Soon the Karhilos and I, who fortunately occupied a box where our outrageous behavior could be concealed as we rolled on the floor, desperately attempting to stifel our laughter.  It was so excruciatingly slow that you felt you were in an old choo-choo train that could barely negotiate the climb of the mountain........and we laughed and laughed and laughed....


I can think of no better way to desecrate the Parteimitglied's memory......

How I opted for Latin America rather than Eastern Europe

show details 8:17 AM (1 minute ago)

Weiser, and sometimes not so Weiser Imo:

My brand of Rassenreinung, very similar to the one you suggested, was implicitly accomplished long ago.  Which means that, with the exception perhaps of occasional early Schwarzkopfs, the rest turn out to be moot.  Especially Karajan.  I confess to having deliberately acquired one (no, actually two (2)  Karajans because I consider them unsurpassed.  Both are operas:  Falstaff and Trovatore.  I have both on LPs.  And I must confess that Falstaff retains a particularly poignant memory for me.

Many years ago, when the UP management had decided, with my eager consent, to transfer me from Washington to Belgrad (Beograd), I came down with a (mild) case of hepatitis.  I was so diagnosed by a Dr. Isadore Lattman, a famous radiologist, friend of Heifetz and Kapell.  He knew I lived alone and counseled me to promptly check in at a hospital.  

"Not so long as I have Latin American friends in this town,"  was my cocky reply.  And it was not misplaced.

During one whole month there a daily procession passed through my never-locked front door at 1900 T Street (2nd floor) bearing the legendary Latin American viandas which might be roughly translated into 'portable hot plates'.  In a memoir I am writing I attribute this experience to my decision to remain the UP's 'Latinamericanist' rather than become its bureau chief for Eastern Europe.  And, frankly, I've never regretted the decision.

Dixit

'Latty's well-tgrained eye 'diagnosed' my ailment as I was about to walk into Rudy Serkin's dressing room at Constitution Hall  in the midst of  a rehearsal of a Mozart (Beethoven?) concerto with that execrable conductor Howard Mitchell.  

told Lenny '*es geht auch so!*'?  Well, listen to this:

*After the **Anschluss **of March 1938, Hitler scheduled a plebiscite to
confirm the takeover and took a campaign tour through smaller Austrian
cities and towns.  Many Austrian artists spoke in his favor.  "Say a big YES
to our Fuhrer's action," urged the conductor Karl Boehm......*

The Big Fart!

Columbia U. Prexy favors gov. subsidy for ailing press; not Jacoby

JEFF JACOBY Don’t give the press a bailout By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist  |  July 21, 2010 First of two columns ARE GOVERNMENT subsidies the cure for what ails the news business? Add Lee Bollinger, the president of Columbia University, to the roster of eminentos who think the answer is yes. In a new book, “Uninhibited, Robust, and Wide-Open: A Free Press for a New Century,’’ Bollinger argues that the condition of the mainstream press, which is slowly being crushed under the treads of the Internet, “may become so grave as to require injections of public funds.’’ He is convinced “that this will prove to be the only way to sustain a free press over time.’’ Bollinger isn’t the only one who would like to see taxpayers propping up the news industry. Last year, Senator Benjamin Cardin of Maryland proposed legislation that would allow newspapersto operate as non-profits and be supported with tax-deductible contributions. More recently, the Federal Trade Commission released a “discussion draft paper’’ containing a raft of proposals “to support the reinvention of journalism.’’ Many of them were schemes for funneling money from the government to the media. Among the FTC’s suggestions: increased funding for pub lic television and radio, the creation of a National Fund for Local News, a tax credit to news organizations for every journalist they hire, and even a new “journalism’’ division of AmeriCorps (“to ensure that young people who love journalism will stay in the field.’’). According to one estimate, such a package of subsidies could cost as much as $35 billion a year. Where would that money come from? The FTC ran all kinds of revenue ideas up the flagpole: Authorize the Small Business Administration to insure loans to nonprofit journalism organizations. Increase postal subsidies for newspapers and periodicals. Levy a new tax on commercial broadcasters — or on consumer electronics — or on TV and radio advertising — or on cell phone Internet service. But why should journalists be entitled to a multi-billion-dollar batch of media subsidies? I have been working for newspapers for the past 23 years, and my retirement is still a long way off. Needless to say, the viability of newspapers is not a subject I take lightly. Nor do I minimize the significance of the news media and traditional journalism, with all their flaws and failings, to modern democracy and civil society. But does my esteem for the news business — or Bollinger’s or Cardin’s or the FTC’s — justify government intervention to keep it alive? Subsidies always amount, in the end, to confiscating money from many taxpayers in order to benefit relatively few. Those who call for keeping newspapers and other old media alive with injections of public funds are really saying that if people won’t support those forms of journalism voluntarily, they should be made to do so against their will. I believe every American family should subscribe to one or two newspapers and read them regularly. But that doesn’t give me the right to make you pay for a subscription you don’t want — not even if I think you would be better off for it. How can the government have the right to do, in effect, the same thing? The argument for most government subsidies is that the activity they support generates a larger public benefit — a benefit that would be lost if it were left up to the marketplace. In a Wall Street Journal essay last week, Bollinger claims that “trusting the market alone to provide all the news coverage we need would mean venturing into the unknown — a risky proposition with a vital public institution hanging in the balance.’’ But for the better part of two centuries, newspapers flourished in the market. They are struggling now not because there is no commercial value to “provid[ing] all the news coverage we need,’’ but because tens of millions of consumers have come to prefer other vehicles for getting that news. There hasn’t been a market failure, only a market transformation. I would welcome a new lease on life and profitability for newspapers, and I value high-quality journalism, but the two are not synonymous. Whatever happens to the traditional media, journalism and news delivery will find profitable ways to endure. Like it or not, the transition from old to new is happening. The best thing the government can do is stay out of the way. Next: Fair and balanced — and government-subsidized? Jeff Jacoby can be reached at jacoby@globe.com.

Ibarz realistic/gloomy Mexican story

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Joaquim Ibarz <jibarz@attglobal.net>
Date: 2010/7/19
Subject: "¿Cómo se grita en Juárez? ¡Todos al suelo!
To: Joaquim Ibarz <jibarz@attglobal.net>

Elisabet Sabartés-Joaquim Ibarz

Ciudad de MEXICO/Barcelona

“¿Cómo se grita en Juárez? ¡Todos al suelo! ¿Cómo se grita en Chihuahua? ¡Todos al suelo! Y ¿cómo se grita en el norte? ¡Todos al suelo!”, dijeron al unísono más de mil boy scouts mientras se tomaban una foto con Margarita Zavala, esposa del presidente de México. La consigna, encabezada por jóvenes de Ciudad Juárez, congeló la sonrisa de la primera dama, que el sábado asistió a la clausura de una convención panamericana de niños exploradores en Tepoztlán (estado de Morelos, vecino a la capital).

“Queremos que se sepa que no estamos tan felices de vivir así, en guerra, entre militares e integrantes de organizaciones criminales”, dijo uno de los muchachos.

Elisabet Sabartés- Joaquim Ibarz

MEXICO /Barcelona

¿Ha sido el Estado mexicano sobrepasado ya por la fuerza desestabilizadora, la capacidad organizativa, la implantación territorial y el poder de fuego de los carteles de la droga? El debate, latente en el ánimo de la sociedad mexicana desde que la guerra del presidente Felipe Calderón contra el narcotráfico comenzara a arrojar cifras abrumadoras de muerte y destrucción, se abrió de manera franca tras la explosión de un coche bomba la madrugada del viernes en Ciudad Juárez (fronteriza con Estados Unidos), que causó la muerte de cuatro personas (entre ellas, dos agentes federales) y numerosos heridos.

Las autoridades mexicanas –que ya están recibiendo apoyo in situ de investigadores del FBI- creen que la carga explosiva fue detonada por el grupo La Línea, brazo armado del cartel de Juárez, como represalia por la detención horas antes de su líder. Los capos mexicanos nunca habían recurrido antes a una acción semejante y sus nuevos métodos dispararon todas las señales de alarma, en un fin de semana sangriento.

Sólo de viernes a domingo, la violencia ligada al narco dejó al menos 24 muertos en cuatro estados de la República distintos y distantes. En Coahuila (norte), un comando de hombres armados irrumpió en una fiesta de cumpleaños y abrió fuego contra los asistentes: murieron 17 personas y nueve resultaron heridas. En Jalisco (oeste), un comandante de la policía fue asesinado y cuatro agentes sufrieron heridas por los disparos de sicarios desde automóviles en marcha; al parecer los agresores habrían utilizado también una granada de fragmentación. En Guerrero (suroeste) hombres armados emboscaron y ejecutaron a cuatro policías rurales. En Nuevo León (noreste) un grupo equipado con fusiles de asalto atacó varias patrullas policiales y mató a dos agentes; los hechos ocurrieron coincidiendo con la visita oficial al estado del secretario de Gobernación (Interior), Francisco Blake, quien reafirmó la vigencia de la hoja de ruta gubernamental en el combate contra los carteles. “Vamos a seguir trabajando; las estrategias ya están definidas, las acciones están puestas y siguen en marcha. Lo que vamos a hacer es darles efectividad y fluidez”, declaró.

Por su parte, el procurador (fiscal) general de la República, Arturo Chávez, se apresuró a acallar las voces que cuestionan el plan de guerra y sostienen que el narcoterror ya se instaló en el país. “No tenemos ninguna evidencia de narcoterrorismo (…), el motor dinámico de la delincuencia es la ambición, no es un tema de ideología”, dijo, para luego admitir que los barones mexicanos de la droga han desarrollado un fuerte control territorial, cooptando y sobornando autoridades y acumulando poder, “no sólo económico, también político”.

En tanto, el senador y ex candidato presidencial del Partido Revolucionario Institucional, Francisco Labastida, advirtió que, si el presidente Calderón no admite y corrige los errores en la lucha contra el crimen organizado, la escalada de violencia puede crecer aún más y llegar a los niveles que se vivieron en la peor época del narcotráfico en Colombia. “En el gobierno federal dicen que se va a continuar haciendo lo mismo, lo que denota arrogancia e incapacidad para la autocrítica”.

Durante la actual administración se han registrado 24.826 muertes vinculadas al narcotráfico y en lo que va de año el saldo ya es de 7.048.

Sunny Sundays in Washington

One of the constant joys in Washington is the Sunday morning Farmer's Market at Dupont Circle (two blocks from our flat).  I start out rushing to the furtherst stand (blocking the entrance to the Colombian Embassy residence) to make sure they still have a couple of their superb crab cakes.  So ascertained and purchase effected, I then proceed to the young blonde lady who sells wonderful Boston lettuces at $5 a head.  Then one of the French sourdough breads at $6.50.  That's a lot of money for simple bread, no matter how good.  But I suppose they don't have that much of a turn-over.  However, it shows how far this country has progressed since the days of Wonder Bread, that air-filled pap most Americans dined on merely a half century ago.  Wendy also takes care of peaches, apples and other fruits.  Tomatoes we skipped because a whole bucketful of that red delicacy is awaiting us at Allan Gerson's house this afternoon.  He offered it to us when he came to dinner last night--in return for Wendy's driving him to the airport so he can fly to join his wife Joan (author of a ceaseless row of Jewish cook books) in Martha's Vineyard where they will spend the rest of the summer.  I went to that fancy holiday island only once--to interview John Updike while covering the book beat at the NYT.
Allan is one of our more intelligent 'conservative' friends.  He once served as legal counsel to Amb. Jean Kirkpatrick.  As a result he told me this priceless story. 
He and Kirkpatrick (a doctrinaire - but intelligent - conservative who then was the U.S. envoy to the United Nations) had been invited by the Argentine Ambassador to a luncheon in honor of the foreign minister--Muniz, I believe.   When he picked her up to drive to the Department, she confided that throughout lunch Muniz had 'mumbled something about Malvinas, Malvinas'.  She conceded sh had not the slightest idea what he was talking about.  Nor did Allan.  Less than a week later they found out when faced by one of the worst diplomatic embarrassments the Reagan Administration experienced in relation to its foreign policy. 

Enjoy the week-end, what's left of it. 

Onkel Hank.

My Reposte to M. Gerson's 'Stalin doesn't belong at a Va. memorial

Henry Raymont  to michaelgerson

show details 7:08 AM (2 minutes ago)

Dear Gerson:

I did not have to recur to Google to guess you had not been born in the 40s.  I was.  In East Prussia, Germany.  And as a Jew who was hounded out of his state primary school at the age of six and forced to join an underground Jewish Kindergarden I can tell you that when 'Uncle Joe' finally ordered his troops to repel the invading Wehrmacht I, and everyone of my schoolmates, cheered.  And once in Buenos Aires I pinned on the wall of my workplace a National Geographic map of Europe and each day applied little flags along the front, basing myself on the wire service reports published in a variety of local newspapers.  So, no wonder that as soon as I reached the age of 16 (cheap, multilingual labor) I joined the United Press, where I continued to watch the news--and write some. 

Cheers,

Henry

P.S.  I know you are not related to Allan.  Also a conservative, but with a fine sense of irony.
--
Henry Raymont
2500 Q Street, N.W. Apt. 121
Washington, D.C. 20007
(202) 333 5029