Philadelphia Orchestra/Sergei Rachmaninoff Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 3/Isle of the Dead/Vocalise (RCA Gold Seal)
During most of his life, Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was best known as a pianist and composer. He only took up conducting through an odd set of circumstances. The premiere of his First Symphony in 1897 was seriously marred by the inept conducting of Glazunov, who was reputedly drunk. Not only did this impress on the young Rachmaninoff how crucial a good conductor was to the success of his music, the critical rejection of his First Symphony on the basis of that performance sent him into a depression and caused a mental block against composing.
The mental block was eventually overcome through hypnosis, but in the meantime, business magnate Savva Mamontov somewhat charitably hired Rachmaninoff to conduct his Moscow Private Russian Opera Company, overlooking the composer's lack of experience in that role. He quickly became a fine baton-wielder,...
During most of his life, Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was best known as a pianist and composer. He only took up conducting through an odd set of circumstances. The premiere of his First Symphony in 1897 was seriously marred by the inept conducting of Glazunov, who was reputedly drunk. Not only did this impress on the young Rachmaninoff how crucial a good conductor was to the success of his music, the critical rejection of his First Symphony on the basis of that performance sent him into a depression and caused a mental block against composing.
The mental block was eventually overcome through hypnosis, but in the meantime, business magnate Savva Mamontov somewhat charitably hired Rachmaninoff to conduct his Moscow Private Russian Opera Company, overlooking the composer's lack of experience in that role. He quickly became a fine baton-wielder,...
- 12/11/2014
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Peter Bradshaw reveals the first of seven films to be offered for free to Guardian Extra members through Curzon on Demand.
Abbas Kiarostami's gripping tale of a man on a quest to end his life doesn't invite sympathy in the traditional way, says Peter, but is moving and wretched all the same
• Click here for details on the Curzon on Demand streaming scheme
• Sign in to Guardian Extra to get the promotional code and watch Taste of Cherry on Curzon on Demand
Abbas Kiarostami's haunting and mysterious Taste of Cherry won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1997; I first watched it a couple of years after that. A drawn, careworn but handsome and elegant Iranian man called Badii, played by the Iranian actor Homayoun Ershadi, drives around a stark Beckettian landscape in his Range Rover. He is looking for someone to help him take his own life. Badii...
Abbas Kiarostami's gripping tale of a man on a quest to end his life doesn't invite sympathy in the traditional way, says Peter, but is moving and wretched all the same
• Click here for details on the Curzon on Demand streaming scheme
• Sign in to Guardian Extra to get the promotional code and watch Taste of Cherry on Curzon on Demand
Abbas Kiarostami's haunting and mysterious Taste of Cherry won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1997; I first watched it a couple of years after that. A drawn, careworn but handsome and elegant Iranian man called Badii, played by the Iranian actor Homayoun Ershadi, drives around a stark Beckettian landscape in his Range Rover. He is looking for someone to help him take his own life. Badii...
- 4/13/2012
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
We had been told to expect the deaths of the famous to come in threes, not in the dozens.But all through the summer of 2009 came a ceaseless and somber drumbeat, as idols of all walks of life passed away. From Walter Cronkite to Sen. Ted Kennedy, the nonstop loss of luminaries continued almost as if a seasonal occurrence . as much a part of summer as hot dogs and humidity.If a filmmaker were trying to capture the summer of 2009, Michael Jackson news would be playing in the background. Many thought coverage of Jackson's death was too much; a Pew Research Center poll released in July found that 64 percent of those surveyed thought the media blitz was overdone (though none could top MTV Japan, which designated an entire week of mourning for Jackson).But news outlets went heavy on coverage for the many others who passed. Collectively, it made the constant commemorating hard to escape,...
- 9/19/2009
- Filmicafe
London — He spent his life conducting world-renowned orchestras, but was almost blind and growing deaf – the music he loved increasingly out of reach. His wife of 54 years had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. So Edward and Joan Downes decided to die together. Downes – Sir Edward since he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 – and his wife ended their lives last week at a Zurich clinic run by the assisted suicide group Dignitas. They drank a small amount of clear liquid and died hand-in-hand, their two adult children by their side. He was 85 and she was 74....
- 7/14/2009
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Renowned British conductor Sir Edward Downes and his wife have died after choosing to end their own lives at a Swiss suicide clinic, says the BBC. The 85-year-old, who was almost blind and going deaf, travelled to the Dignitas facility in Zurich with wife Joan, 74, on July 10. In a statement, the couple's children said: "After 54 happy years together they decided to end their own lives rather than continue to struggle with serious health problems. "They died peacefully and under circumstances of their own choosing." A Metropolitan Police representative (more)...
- 7/14/2009
- by By Lara Martin
- Digital Spy
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