I promised you death. Nothing personal. But, none of us can escape the Grim Reaper, however long we might live. Not that I am depressed, but I am not festive either. My thoughts are more regarding two outstanding musical figures who passed away recently: Mariss Jansons and (pictured) Christopher Rouse. Coincidentally two of my interviewees. I heard of Mariss’s death while in hospital. I enjoyed talking with him about Mahler 6 (before he conducted it with the LSO, years ago). A nice man, friendly, chatty and up-to-date with Mahlerian scholarship (i.e. the order of the middle movements) and when we finished the conversation and I thanked him for his time he said: “It was a pleasure to talk with you.” Ah! As for Chris, his death came before my hospital internment. I was shocked. Another nice man, and a great composer: music that he told me reflected “being alive”. So, it is dark, violent, complex, a deeply emotional roller coaster, consolatory, too, and always vividly communicative. I hope to hear his Fifth and Sixth Symphonies one day, the former from 2017 (Dallas/van Zweden), the latter a posthumous premiere (Cincinnati/Langrée); Chris’s final music, which he knew it to be. I am so pleased we kept in contact and that he contributed to Classical Source’s Berlioz 150 and Leonard Slatkin @ 75 features. I am now thinking of also-late musicians that I have very happy memories of talking with: Pierre Boulez, Colin Davis, Vernon Handley, Lorin Maazel, Neville Marriner and André Previn.
Lorin Maazel
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_features.php?id=6170
Chris Rouse CD
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=13745
Rouse News
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_news.php?id=7960
Berlioz 150
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_features.php?id=16246
Leonard @ 75
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_features.php?id=16726
Neville Marriner
https://classicalsource.com/db_control/db_features.php?id=14114
You are a man with many parts Col.
It is kind of you to share these memories of meetings etc.
They all add to our combined experience of life.
Thank you.
Col’s listings are no longer available under his given URLs, but can be accessed as follows:
Lorin Maazel [2008]
https://www.classicalsource.com/article/an-interview-with-lorin-maazel-conducting-composing-casablanca/
Lorin Maazel Bruckner Eight [Gaudette, 2008]
Lorin Maazel Bruckner Three [2014]
Rouse Seeing [Whitehouse, 2001]
https://www.classicalsource.com/prom/prom-6-25-july-2001-rouse-seeing/
Rouse Symphony 5, Supplica, Concerto for Orchestra [Anderson, 2020]
https://www.colinscolumn.com/christopher-rouse-symphony-5-supplica-concerto-for-orchestra-giancarlo-guerrero-conducts-the-nashville-symphony-naxos/
Rouse Symphony 5, Supplica, Concerto for Orchestra [Gutman, 2020]
https://www.classicalsource.com/cd/rouse-symphony-no-5/
Berlioz 150 [2019]
https://www.classicalsource.com/article/hector-berlioz-he-died-150-years-ago-on-8-march-1869-a-few-personal-messages-from-anderson-to-woods-via-cowan-falletta-jeg-matthew-walker-orga-rouse-slatkin-and-others/
Leonard @ 75 [2019]
https://www.classicalsource.com/article/leonard-slatkin-is-75-today-first-of-september-2019-birthday-greetings-bottle-of-wine-from-achenbach-to-zukerman-via-dso-muti-ohlsson-rouse-follow/
Neville Marriner [Mostly Mozart, 2005]
https://www.classicalsource.com/article/sir-neville-marriner-mostly-mozart/
Neville Marriner [Ball, 2005] https://www.classicalsource.com/concert/mostly-mozart-haydns-creation/
Thanks Ates.
Adding, as suggested,
[Maazel Bruckner 8] https://www.classicalsource.com/concert/new-york-philharmonic-maazel-bruckner-8/
[Maazel Bruckner 3] https://www.classicalsource.com/cd/lorin-maazel-conducts-bruckners-third-symphony-munich-philharmonic-orchestra-sony-classical-germany/