OT: We lost some fine musicians this week

[Roland Flessner]

Wolfgang Sawallisch, Marie-Claire Alain, Van Cliburn, and two oboists: William Bennet of the SF Symphony, who had collapsed at a concert while playing Strauss's Oboe Concerto, and Washington McClain, who had played with Tafelmusik.

I don't know if Sawallisch ever conducted Mahler, but his Brahms symphony set with the Vienna Symphony (not the Phil) is excellent. His Hindemith and Strauss from Philadelphia are outstanding.

I still have some of the vinyl LPs on MHS of Ms. Alain's first of three traversals of Bach organ music, and I was privileged to hear her in recital here in Chicago a few years ago.

[waderice]

Apparently Sawallisch conducted little or no Mahler.  The extended obituary for him at the Philadelphia Inquirer website, which I'm now unable to locate, did mention that fact; otherwise, I would quote what it said, verbatim.  I remember reading that Sawallisch's opinion of Mahler's music was that Mahler "was a composer fumbling for the right key in which to make his music go, but could never settle upon".  Sawallisch was more at home conducting Bruckner and Wagner as opposed to Mahler.

Wade

[barry guerrero]

.    .    .   and Richard Strauss. I saw Sawallisch give an excellent "Zarathurstra" in Munich, decades ago.

[waderice]

And in addition to the Strauss Horn Concerti recordings he did with legendary Horn player Dennis Brain, he conducted Wagner's Flying Dutchman, Tannhaueser, and Lohengrin, at Bayreuth, those three Wagner operas being part of Decca's huge Wagner Bayreuth opera set.

Wade

[waderice]

I was able to find the extended obituary that mentioned Sawallisch's lack of Mahler on his concert programs.  To quote verbatim: "he likened Mahler symphonies to 'a man fumbling for the key to his front door and never finding it.'"

Wade