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In Reply to: RE: A friendly and charming defense of "Modernism" by a friendly and charming composer posted by jdaniel@jps.net on May 08, 2016 at 11:16:43
But as you probably already know. . .
. . . I'd rather be listening to Glazunov! ;-)
BTW, I met Copland myself at a music critic's conference in Oakland - I think it was in the late 70's. Didn't get a chance to say much, aside from, "Hey! How's it goin'?" ;-)
Follow Ups:
Dude! Don't leave us hanging. How, in fact, WAS it goin'?
-Bob :-)
And what an honor to meet Copland.
I was introduced to Frederick Fennell in Vienna, Summer ''81.
Participated in a master class with Gaby Casadeseus.
Toured Russia, Poland and Sweden with Kenneth Gaburo and Steven Shick in '87-'88
and, thanks to my bro, shook hands with Buster Posey and Hunter Pence.
I actually played a concert with Frederick Fennell in the early 80s. A great guy, and a real character. Told funny stories at rehearsal, jumped around, and in general was the last word in energy and enthusiasm.
Was a mass band closing concert at a summer music festival in Vienna. Summer '81. Star Spangled Banner. I'm guessing 1000+ high school players.
.
Oh, wait...
Sorry, wrong board. :-(
As an amateur racer I was cycling along the back roads of Healdsburg (California) and suddenly Greg swooshed past. I struggled to keep up as long as I could, but he had hired a big fat guy on a motor scooter to use as his windbreak ("motorpacing") for some high rpm fitness training so within a few minutes he was out of reach.
Later on, I bumped into him again at Sawyer's News stand in Santa Rosa. We talked briefly, Greg seemed to be slightly discouraged by the state of competitive cycling at that point. He was nearing the end of his career and he was looking forward to a "retirement" consisting of golf and other restful activities.
Nevada City and his last amateur race before turning pro, which was a rainy 'Tour de San Francisco' in North Beach.
Not making that up, but I might be spelling it wrong!
I was standing at the finish line of the final stage of the 1975 Tour de France, when Bernard Thevenet beat Eddy Merckx, after a French fan leaned over and punched Merckx during a key mountain stage a few days earlier and he dropped from 1st place to 2nd.
Every time Merckx cycled (inches) past me on the circuit course on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, the French fans would shout "Pou-Pou!", a taunting reference to frequent 2nd and 3rd place finisher Raymond Poulidor, who never won the Tour.
Funny story, thanks.However, I don't think it was ever established that Merckx was *intentionally* punched in the gut as he ascended one of the toughest climbs in the race.
The man responsible for "punching" Merckx, was later questioned about it. He claimed that he was only doing what hundreds of other fans were doing at the time (whirling his arms forward in an effort cheer the leader on), and when Merckx veered too close to the side of the road he (Merckx) inadvertently collided with the man's whirling hand.
Whatever the truth is, Merckx probably suffered some permanent damage as a result of having the wind knocked out of him while under exertion in the extreme altitude.
And whatever the truth, the French WERE known for harboring an ugly form of nationalism back then. For instance, they adored "eternal second" Poulidor because he seemed "typically" French (brunette, dark-eyed, poor working class roots, etc...), but disliked champion Anquetil because he was Norman French and had blue eyes/blonde hair.
So we can only imagine how the French felt about Belgian Eddy Merckx, routinely kicking their asses in the big tours. It's quite possible that he WAS intentionally assaulted on that day.
Edits: 05/10/16
I actually did meet Leopold Stokowski in the green room after a concert. He wasn't signing autographs, but he enjoyed smiling, shaking hands and saying hello to all the children.
When I played the cello in my elementary school orchestra, we toured Europe, where we played in the great halls of the continent and met with conductors such as Furtwangler and Mravinsky, and we even took a side trip out of Helsinki to meet with Sibelius! He was a bit hung over, but he seemed like a nice guy.
The whole experience was a lot of fun, except for when Beecham asked me, in kind of an ironic tone, to "keep in touch" with the rest of the orchestra!
"Sailing", "Ride Like the Wind", etc...
Knew him during the pbj days of his career too.
Now I hope this ends all of this oneupsmanship.
Now go.
KISS IT!!!
dh
My stories about Fennell and Stokowski, while not overly impressive, are 100 percent true. A better one, which I believe I've told here, is that my uncle, an amateur violinist who passed away early this year at the age of 92, may have been the last surviving musician to play under the baton of Frederick Stock, who conducted the Chicago Symphony from 1905 until his death in 1942. My uncle was playing in the University of Chicago student orchestra and Stock conducted them for a concert. It didn't go well, at least by Stock's standards, and he made them stop and start over at one point.
My father, who was then studying violin with Wolfe Wolfinsohn at the Longy School of Music in Boston, had the chance to turn pages for David Oistrakh's pianist at Symphony Hall during Oistrakh's famous first US tour. Being too chicken (as I would have been), he declined. But he did attend one of Oistrakh's concerts.
But my one-upmanship post is every bit as true as jdaniel's tale of meeting Nikisch at Macy's - and I even managed some gentle self-deprecation in my post (to add to its credibility)! ;-)
Broad shouldered babes from behind the iron curtain? I'm surprised.
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