One of the great boons of our modern age is the ever-increasing availability of editions—scholarly editions that attempt to present the composer's score in the way that he intended it, with any editorial additions (pun intended) clearly marked to avoid confusion. My generation was perhaps the first to be reared mostly on Henle, Barenreiter, Wiener Urtext, and other such worthies. But why is it taking so long for older, un-scholarly editions to be consigned to eternal perdition?
Ludwig the Great, RIP
Appropriately enough, it is composers’ birthdays that we remember and honour—27th January, 31st January, 21st March, 16th December. But once a year comes a death anniversary that I, for one, never fail to acknowledge, and it has come again today, on the 26th of March, 185 years after Ludwig van Beethoven died in his bed in Vienna.
Review: "'Eroica' without the hero worship"
Another review of last week's "Eroica" in Philadelphia.
“A performance of the Eroica can provide a stirring reminder that we’ve met horrendous challenges, generation after generation, and proved we can rise to the demands they impose on us. As a leading exponent of the Russian and German tradition that music is supposed to be a spiritual experience, Ignat Solzhenitsyn is the ideal conductor to lead such a performance. You could hear that commitment in every movement of the Eroica that he conducted on Sunday.”
Review: "Solzhenitsyn's return to the Chamber Orchestra offers a rich experience"
Philadelphia Inquirer review of my concerts with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia.
“Any longtime observer of Ignat Solzhenitsyn knows he has two distinct musical personalities depending on whether he’s conducting or at the keyboard. Seldom have the differences been so apparent in the same concert - making the conductor laureate’s return to the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia Monday at the Kimmel Center a richer-than-usual experience.”