Classical Music Forum

Tim Page is the chief classical music critic for The Washington Post and the author or editor of a dozen books, including "Dawn Powell: A Biography," "The Glenn Gould Reader," "The Unknown Sigrid Undset," "William Kapell: A Documentary Life History of the American Pianist" and the forthcoming "Tim Page on Music" (Amadeus Press). He won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1997 for his writings about music for The Post.

He has also worked as an artistic adviser (the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra), a radio host (WNYC-FM in New York), a record producer (BMG Catalyst) and, in his younger days, a rock musician and cocktail pianist. A graduate of Columbia University, he lives in Washington with his wife, Julieta Stack.

A transcript follows.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

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Tim Page: Hi. Forgive me for being a little late this afternoon. I'm on my way back to D.C. after an idyllic vacation but won't arrive till tomorrow.

And so today I'm typing from a hotel in Providence, Rhode Island. My train from Boston was late and I arrived just in time to get set up. A cliffhanger!

Let's see what we have in the bank today.

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National Cathedral: I know you're not a big classical radio listener -- and here's one good reason for it!;

WGMS is currently airing a spot paid for by the organization Jews For Jesus that features two Jews (apparently just off the boat) arguing about whether Jesus is the Messiah while "Hava Nagilah" plays in the background.

It's entirely repulsive. At least you won't hear that anytime soon on WETA.

Tim Page: Is this for real? That's the weirdest thing I've heard in a while. Yes, it sounds pretty tasteless!

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Edina, Minn.: Glenn Gould, alas, is no longer with us, and quite a few other great pianists passed on in the past 15 years or so. I was wondering who you particularly like among currently active pianists in Bach. Also for 19th century, and 20th century repertoire.

Tim Page: I like Till Fellner quite a bit -- I hope I'm spelling that right. He did a beautiful version of the Bach Well-Tempered Clavier for ECM -- only Volume One has been released so far, but I understand another is on its way. Very tender and poetic, and not at all Gouldian.

I'm also very fond of Andras Schiff's Beethoven. And Pollini has done some wonderful Bach in concert -- can't recall if he has made recordings or not. I hear good things about Angela Hewitt, but was rather disappointed the one time I heard her.

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Lancaster, CA: A friend tells me that "concerti" is the correct plural of concerto. Do you agree?

Tim Page: It can be the plural -- although concertos will also do as an Anglicization. Your call.

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Washington, D.C.: A topical question: Do you know who composed the Olympics theme? I love its stateliness and hate that NBC now never plays the "B" theme, if you can call it that. Did that composer write anything else worth listening to?

Tim Page: This is an awful thing to admit -- especially since I am married to an athlete -- but I turn the Olympics off as soon as they come on my screen. I'm just not remotely interested in them and so I can't help you.

Can any of our readers help out?

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Burke, VA: Harmonia Mundi, in its publicity for a new release featuring Olga Kern playing Rachmaninoff (Corelli Variations & various transcriptions), makes liberal use of a Washington Post quote..."Call it star quality---music likes Kern the way the camera liked Garbo". Am I right in assuming you are the author of this quote? And, if so, I'd be interested in your reaction to the "Gramophone" (July '04) reviewer's (Bryce Morrison) negative take on this CD, and especially his direct shot at your opinion of Kern. I personally bought this CD, and was impressed, not only by the playing, but also by the nice selection of numerous lesser-known Rachmaninoff transcriptions.

Tim Page: It's definitely not my quote. I think Kern is something of a banger -- and said so in a review a year or so back.

I have no idea whether we can publish my take on Kern -- can you help us out, Joe?

I should add that I only heard her once and she may be more musical on other occasions.

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WGMS and Jews for Jesus: Maybe GMS stands for Goyishe Music Service?

Tim Page: nyuk nyuk....

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Rehoboth Beach, Del.: Tim: Any buzz on the Washington Opera line up for this season?

(Also, I confirm what Nat Cath said about the Jews for Jesus ad on WGMS. I'm a gentile, and I found the ad horribly offensive. Why would they run it?)

Tim Page: I'm looking forward to Scott Wheeler's opera "Democracy," which will be presented at Lisner Auditorium in January. The bad news -- there are only two performances.

I'm somewhat disappointed by the season, which features Placido Domingo singing only once, in one of those confounded zarzuelas he likes so much. I'm curious to hear Britten's "Billy Budd" again, but have never really warmed to the piece. "The Magic Flute" is always welcome.

As for the WGMS advertisement -- well, that's one more reason not to listen to the radio. Seriously, I can't stand what most classical stations do to the music they play these days.

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Fairfax, VA: Tim,

I am re-posting the question because last time I have experienced errors. Sorry if you receive the message twice.

You mentioned that you're not a fan of Sergiu Celibidache. Here's something that may change your mind: the Celibidache set on EMI's Great Conductors of the 20th Century series. I will let you know that I am not a Celibidache cultist; I am not the type that thinks Celi is a God and can do no wrong no matter what. I do however consider Celibidache a great, if maddingly inconsistent, conductor whose best interpretations are up there with the very best bar none, but whose worst interpretations, well, let's just not go there... What this set however reveals is a different aspect of Celi than that of the mistic guru reputation that he got during his tenure with the Munich Philharmonic. And by including music by Nielsen, Rosenberg, Berwald, and Tiessen the set destroys the myth that Celi had a limited repertoire and no interest in new music.

Tempi are generally on the fast side. When they are slower, such as in the case of Mozart's Symphony No. 25, they are not much slower than what was the norm at the time of the recording. Some things really rock, for lack of better term: for example Nielsen's Maskarade Overture or Johann Strauss' Tritsch Tratsch polka. And for the first time somebody helped me enjoy Berwald's music: the performance of the Sinfonie Singuliere is certainly a highlight. Being a Celibidache set, some things are bound to be controversial: that is the case with the Die Fledermaus Overture, a performance better left in the archives. I would have much preferred the complete Nutcracker Suite with the London Philharmonic and not just the excerpts offered here. It would also not be correct to say that all the performances are of equal value. But even the less inspired version of Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony shows a different Celi than the one we know in the Munich years, and notice the kind of sound that Celi draws out of the Berlin Philharmonic, much leaner and fleeter than what Furtwangler asked his own band at that time.

The recordings, most of them of course live, were made between 1948 and 1970 with such orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic, Berlin Radio Symphony, Danish Radio Symphony, Swedish Radio Symphony, and the London Philharmonic. What these recordings show is that Celi was an artist who consistently evolved and was never pleased with the status quo. It would be unfair, and would give us an incomplete picture, to judge him only from his work in his late years just as it would be inappropriate to judge, for example, Klemperer only from his work with the Philharmonia Orchestra, no matter how brilliant that was. Not to mention a myriad of other great conductors whose later days performances were significantly slower that their earlier ones: Bernstein, Giulini, the above mentioned Klemperer, and Knappertsbusch easily come to mind, and in our days Levine and Rozhdestvensky.

Thanks and best regards!;

Tim Page: Thanks very much for the smart, spirited defense. My friend John Rockwell shares your passion for this conductor -- as does the violinist Maria Bachmann, who said that playing under him with the Curtis Orchestra was one of the highlights of her education.

It isn't Celibidache's supposed conservatism that bothers me. Rather, I think he gets so involved in detail that any sense of sweep is lost. In my opinion, he not only loses the forest for the trees but the trees for the lichen on their bark.

That said, I do remember a delicious "Classical Symphony" with the Berlin Philharmonic that was issued by RCA Bluebird about 50 years back. Also, I think, a Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with Ida Haendel.

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Washington, D.C.: Re: Olympics music. I think at least ONE of the themes was composed by John Williams. Surely there must be a CD available of Olympic themes over the decades...

Tim Page: IT wouldn't surprise me at all if John Williams wrote some of the music for the Olympics. Phil Glass wrote something for the L.A. Olympics, too, if I remember correctly.

I was surprised by how strong some of Williams's "absolute" music was, when it was played by Slatkin and the NSO last year.

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Alexandria, VA: Olympics theme - here's what it says on a site I got from Google (searched on Olympics theme music)

It's called "Bugler's Dream," and was composed in the late 1950s by a Frenchman named Leo Arnaud as part of a larger piece called "The Charge Suite."

Here's the web site:
http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/story1b021802.html

Tim Page: What a wonderful audience we have here!

Thank you.

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Tenleytown, Washington, D.C.: Tim: While the classical music on local stations has been rather roundly condemned in this forum, and the rest of the offerings on the local radio stations are predictably dismal as well, there is one show on the radio that might be of interest to this forum, although it is more jazz than classical oriented. Tom Cole does a program on WPFW - 89.3 on Sunday morning from 9-12 called G-Strings. It features stringed instruments, but it mixes jazz and world music, and has many classical music overtones as well. Last week, for example, there was some beautiful music from guitarist Bill Frisell with strings employed as a prominent part of the music and not just a background sweetener. Two weeks ago he played the Jim Hall version of Concerto de Aranjuez. It is one of the most sophisticated and least predictable shows on the air, and might be of interest to your readers. I only wish it did not conflict with church.

Tim Page: Tom Cole is terrific -- we've done some NPR slots together. I'll make sure to tune in some time.

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Fairfax, VA: P.S. Re: Celibidache.

Tim,

A while ago you mentioned that one of Celi's performances that you did like was that of Brahms' German Requiem. Which recording was that, the Koln Radio with Hans Hotter and Agnes Giebel, or the Munich one with Arleen Auger and Franz Gerihsen?

Tim Page: Thank you for reminding me. Yes, there is a wonderful Brahms Requiem that dates from about 1955 or thereabouts, with an unusually loud and prominent organ and a wonderful sense of gravity. I'm not sure who the soloists are -- I'm not near my CD collection -- but it is one of the most exciting performances of the piece I've ever heard.

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Washington: Mr. Page, did you hear Angela Hewitt play Bach at the Meyer Auditorium of the Freer or the National Gallery of Art? I think it would be relevant, in this instance, to know the venue. I thought that her Bach Goldberg Variations, at the Meyer, were beyond reproach. Thank you.

Tim Page: This is awful to admit, but I don't remember where exactly I heard her. It was during my tenure at the Post, I think, but I can't even swear to that.

It's astonishing the sort of sieves our brains turn into after a couple dozen years on the critical beat. I remember the really outstanding concerts, the really terrible concerts, and the concerts that took place on an evening or afternoon when something else happened in my life or in the world that fixes the day in my mind, for whatever reason.

She has a wide following, and I'd like to hear her again.

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Washington, DC: Comment: The Olympic Hymn, written by poet Kostis Palamas and set to music in 1896 by the Greek composer Spiros Samaras returned to use in the Games of 1960 and continues to be used today at the opening and closing ceremonies. I believe it is what was sung by the children's choir at this year's opening. NPR should have some detailed information about other music tie-ins to this year's games.

Tim Page: Thank you!

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Burke, VA: What are the rules re: quoting from reviews for the
purpose of promoting a concert or CD? Does the
promoter have to get permission?

Tim Page: No permission is needed to quote briefly from a review. It's called "fair use."

Sometimes promoters have made what I consider "unfair use" of fair use. I was told that a theater critic once said "I left before it was over and I was glad I went when I did." A week later, the producers of the show had edited that into "I was glad I went..."

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Washington, D.C.: Hi, Tim -- former Long Islander here, remembering your tenure there.

Tim, I love choral music. I've had several conversations with the programming folks at a popular area classical music station, and they insist that listeners do not like choral music. Can this be? They say they have market research. Could it be that they asked the listeners of their OTHER stations whether they liked choral music? What do you and chatters think about this?

Tim Page: Good to hear from my old stomping grounds.

Supposedly, market surveys show that radio audiences do not like vocal music (solo or choral), organ music, modern music and a good amount of the rest of the repertory. I don't really believe it -- especially in sophisticated cities such as Washington and New York -- but that's the legend, and the classical radio stations buy into it big time.

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Washington, DC: Dear Mr. Page:
I commend you for your writing which is Autumn-apple fresh and not too sweet. Michael Porter of the Harvard Business School prepares a World Competitiveness Report and he was asked which country was most competitive. Finland, he said. Should we be surprised? My understanding is that Finland is the most musically prepared country in the world, with rigorous music education. It seems clear to me (with no formal music education, alas)that classical music can reinforce imagination and intellectual discipline. Why do our educators perversely fail to see the value of classical music in our school curricula? Tim Page: Thanks ever so much for the kind words.

Finland is amazing and unrivalled in its support of the musical arts. I read somewhere that there was an opera house per 250,000 people in Finland, and I can almost believe that is so.

Part of this veneration for music (classical and otherwise) has to do with the towering figure of Jean Sibelius, who was the first Finn in the country's history to win world recognition on such a high level. Generations of Finnish parents have wanted their children to grow up to be a "new" Sibelius, and the energy has produced some staggering results. Think of all the young Finnish conductors -- Osmo Vanska, Jukka Pekka Saraste, Esa Pekka Salonen, Mikko Franck. It's an amazing country and truly heartening for those of us who want to believe in a future for this music.

I should add that the Finns are some of the most hospitable and gracious people in Europe, and I always enjoy my visits to Helsinki.

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Fairfax County, VA: For those who can't tolerate conventional classical radio these days -- for whatever reason -- I'd suggest getting to know the classical stations on TV!; Either from satellite or digital cable, the music channels provide excellent, well-rounded fare. In Fairfax County, Cox Communications has Music Choice, and their "Classical Masterpieces" channel plays the widest possible range of instrumental music -- and no shying away from the 20th century either!; Their newer "Opera" channel is something I frequently play as I fall asleep -- complete operas, starting on the hour with arias and songs as filler. Only problem is -- you have to turn up the volume because there's no signal compression -- which means not everything sounds ridiculously loud as it does on the radio.

Tim Page: The internet is helpful, too.

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Takoma park, MD: I'm still reeling from hearing those Jews for Jesus commercials on GMS.

Why would they want to offend a large proportion of their audience?

Is it possible they don't KNOW how offensive it is?

Tim Page: I'd let the management know your thoughts. It's clear that there are a lot of annoyed listeners out there today.

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Alexandria, Va.: A couple of weeks ago someone mentioned Elvis Costello's recent classical piece, Il Sogno. The New York Times (Terry Teachout, I believe) reviewed it quite favorably when it was performed last month. It is coming out on September 21 on Deutsche Grammophon, the same day as a new rock release by him. That's an interesting bit of marketing, I think.

Tim Page: That is interesting. Costello did a pretty nice album with Anne Sofie von Otter a couple of years back. He's living proof that one can be a "serious" musician without necessarily being a "classical" one.

On the other hand, most pop artists do pop better than they do classical.

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Fairfa, VA: More Celibidache...

It was the Brahms concerto that Celi and Ida Handel recorded together with the London Philharmonic. If I am not mistaken it has been reissued on the Testament label. The version that I have is a Japanese EMI release.

And, surprise, the Prokofiev's Classical Symphony is indeed included in the EMI set!; Delicious indeed!;

Best regards!;

Tim Page: I'll have to pick that up. My mother had both of those recordings on Bluebird -- in both cases, the first performances of those pieces I heard.

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Burke, VA: Re: John Williams' "absolute" music: I heard him
last season with the NSO, and was blown away
by "Schindler's List".

Tim Page: He's very definitely a gifted man. I confess a deep distaste for his "Star Wars" and "Raiders" stuff, which sounds to me like William Walton at his most bombastic. But nobody can deny that the themes are effective -- and you certainly can't easily get them out of your mind.

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Washington, DC: Comment: WETA FM, in response to listener interest, features choral music every Tuesday evening from 9 PM to 11 PM, or 12 PM, depending in the length of the selections featured. The past two weeks have featured a rarely heard Handel oratorio, and English works by Frank Bridge and Herbert Howells -- as well as Vivaldi. NPR's SymphonyCast has broadcast American composer John Harbison's Requiem, as recorded at Tanglewood under Bernard Haitink.

Tim Page: Thank you. This is reassuring.

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Charlottesville, VA: What is your feeling about Bernstein's recording of Shostakovitch's 5th Symphony? I have long loved that finale, with its fast tempo, and I find it difficult to listen to Rostropovich's much slower version with the National Symphony. Which is closer to the composer's intent?

Tim Page: I'm always a little nervous about attributing "intent." Still, since you've asked, I'll go out on a limb and vote for Rostropovich. Certainly, we find the Symphony No. 5 a much darker piece now than did our parents and grandparents, and that is reflected in the more recent recordings.

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Laurel, Md.: Tim from your vacation, can you recommend any summer music festivals or regular outdoor series that aren't already over-visited?

Tim Page: Tanglewood is still probably the most interesting in the States, especially during the new music weeks. But the best festivals are in Europe -- the Proms in London, for example, or Glyndebourne.

There are a number of creative groups not too far from the Washington area -- down in St. Mary's, Maryland, for example.

I spent some time in Banff this summer and the combination of the beauty of the terrain and the liveliness of the programming was quite remarkable. Ditto for Music at Menlo in Menlo Park, California, where David Finkel and Wu Han have built something quite special. They are about to take over the artistic directorship of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center: there ought to be some interesting days ahead.

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Burke, Va.: Tim, this is an intriguing quote: "I remember the really outstanding concerts, the really terrible concerts, and the concerts that took place on an evening or afternoon when something else happened in my life or in the world that fixes the day in my mind, for whatever reason." Have you ever written a piece on these thoughts?

Tim Page: It would be a hard essay to write without becoming wildly self-indulgent. But maybe I'll give it a try sometime.

So much of what we hear falls into the vast middle ground -- (almost) always competent but not often memorable. After a while, our memories are simply suffused with music. It's one of the real hazards of this field -- especially at the end of the season.

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Dunn Loring, Va.: I have fairly catholic tastes in classical music, from Obrecht to Boulez and beyond. But I can't seem to get past the repetition in Minimalist music. It serves either as a hypnotic gesture, an arid, empty vista, or a set-up for an accompaniment (a vamp) for a more promising melody. Either way, it becomes annoying quickly -- "Okay, got it, let's move on!" Do you have an aesthetic perspective to deal with Minimalist repetition? What frame of mind do you personally enter to process it, or better, get some joy out of it?

Tim Page: I think what one needs to do is surrender to the music. Once you realize that it really isn't "going" anywhere, in any narrative sense of the phrase, you become fascinated by the sheer texture of it all.

Try renting "Koyaanisqatsi," the film by Godfrey Reggio with music by Philip Glass. I have found that the visual images help explain what is going on in the music. Once one learns to listen to minimalist music, no such crutch will be needed, but an initial "translation" can be helpful.

The late critic B.H. Haggin never solved late Stravinsky until he saw it choreographed by Balanchine. Reggio's film may prove valuable in the same way.

The music is about the inherent interest of stasis -- or, rather, slow metamorphosis. I find the best of it very moving.

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Falls Church, Va.: Less of a question and more of a comment. Those who are jonesing for choral music can always take in a concert from the myriad professional and community choruses in the D.C. metro area (assuming they are not already). D.C. is probably only behind the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and New York City for the sheer number of singing groups out there.

Tim Page: Thanks for the suggestion. Washington is a great town for choral music.

And I'm looking forward to getting home.

Talk to you again in two weeks.

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