oboeinsight

The cold fluorescent light shining down on Franz Welser-Möst stands in stark contrast to the exalted glow in which Clevelanders usually see him: leading the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall in the great symphonies that define European musical history. But in a deposition from July 2009, the conductor looks straight ahead, his face expressionless as he responds to a lawyer’s drill of questions.

After a series of basic queries about Welser-Möst’s life and career, the proceedings veer sharply toward the matter at hand: the steady criticism of Welser-Möst’s performances by Plain Dealer music critic Donald Rosenberg.

RTWT

So if I reviewer really doesn’t care for a conductor, should he be pulled from reviewing the orchestra? Can he review with unbiased ears? Should a newspaper be allowed to pull him off the job? Should an orchestra have the right to ask? (Am I coming close to asking the right questions?)

Thoughts?

… has caused damage to the symphony’s hall and two Steinway pianos are ruined, so the news says. Sad.

A study by the University of Vienna has concluded that there is no evidence for the so-called ‘Mozart Effect’, by which listening to the composer’s music is thought to enhance the cognitive development of infants.

I really did think this had already made the news. But here it is for sure.

RTWT

I love the end of the short article:

Jakob Pietschnig, one of the authors of the report commented: “I recommend everyone to listen to Mozart’s music, but it will not meet your expectation of raising cognitive performance.”