Saturday, March 10, 2007

Sarah Caldwell Speaks

I was listening to past programs on BBC Radio 3 and thought I'd listen to the previous Saturday Met opera quiz (at this time, it was during the Meistersinger bcast). At one point, the participants were asked to discuss opera productions, and one of them waxed poetic (in one of the more interesting Boston accents) about Sarah Caldwell.

Now, this name wasn't unfamiliar to me, but it was until this mention, the links at Alex Ross, and some further reading, including a Time cover story that I got a better understanding of the magnitude of what she accomplished. In any case, here is a roughly hour-length talk + Q&A that Caldwell gave at the Smithsonian Associates in WDC in 1995. I particularly like her talk about this Russian orchestra she was associated with in the Ural Mountains, and their musical fearlessness (I must now investigate Gubaidulina).




2 comments:

me said...

Hi there!
Just read your post on your NEC audition. I'm sure it went better than you think--I also balked at their no aria policy. As a former undergrad at that institution all I can offer is good luck and if you DO get in and decide to go there- I'm happy to share my experiences :)

alex said...

Ooo, I would really appreciate that. Of course, I have another problem, having discovered that my financial aid application is going to be suuuper late. Bah. A pox on being silly and not investigating sooner.