Blog

Hello all.

I'm in beautiful Mexico City! (Mexico D.F. for you purists.) It's a lot like India. (I'm ducking... I'm ducking...) I actually mean that in the way that the traffic, atmosphere, etc. is all very Indian. I haven't had a chance to take advantage of the culinary specialties yet, but it's something I am looking forward to.

I have learned to say "bottled water with no ice" in Spanish, though the irony is that Spanish is the language I have studied the most.

I'm really looking forward to the first round of this competition. We have to conduct Till Eulenspiegel, Overture to the Magic Flute, and Silvestre Revueltas' Janitizio. I have to say that Janitzio is a cool discovery. (Ok, I didn't "discover" it... It was on the competition list, but... it's new to me.) I really like this piece. The waltz is almost Ivesian. (Who came first? Revueltas or Ives? Is Ives Revueltasian?)

Till Eulenspiegel is always one of those lovely situations. It's a brutally difficult piece for everyone, but it should never sound hard. The beauty of Till is that it should sound wonderfully elegant. The word people most bandy about is "charming." There are some great recordings out there - Of course Masur! (Some of you are utterly unsurprised.) I think Mehta, Solti, and Klemperer's recordings are all good. Of course, you should all know that there is a great recording with Strauss himself conducting the piece! (I believe there might be 2 recordings, but William Henry Curry is the king of knowing this type of stuff.)

The final piece is such a magnificent piece. I was recently talking with William Henry Curry (for those of you who don't know him, you should check him out! He was one of my teachers and is a magnificent conductor.) We were talking about Zauberflote (showing off and writing Magic Flute in German), and he made the comment that some of the sentiments in the opera are as honest and as lofty as the 9th Symphony of Beethoven. I tend to agree with him. I do have to say that one of the biggest problems I have always had with Magic Flute are some of the misogynist sentiments that seem to be in play. It's really something that is tough to reconcile with so many of the lofty ideals that Mozart espouses.

I did see one production that made you really think about the anti-feminist ideas. The Queen of the Night was in white. She was just an innocent woman looking for her daughter. Sarastro and his band were the "bad guys." This was the Graham Vick production in Salzburg in 2005. Ok, so it was basically booed the second the show was done... But for my money, it made you think. Anything that makes you think and doesn't completely throw out the artists' intent is a good thing for our art. (I'm ducking...) You can see an alternative perspective here.

Anyway, keep an eye out to see how this competition goes! I have a few days before conducting in the first round. I drew number 16, so I conduct on Thursday. (It's now Monday.)