CELIBIDACHE ARRIVES AT LAST AND SPEAKS HIS MIND

[JSngry]

https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/26/arts/celibidache-arrives-at-last-and-speaks-his-mind.html

He has opinions!

[Mark Stryker]

There was a great quote on one of his recordings -- I think it was one of the Bruckner symphonies -- in which  Celibidache is talking about the ineptness of other conductors (everyone but him, natch) in this particular repertoire and and he calls them all "camel jockeys," Having said that, he was not as profound in all things as he thought he was. But his outrageous attitudes and opinions were exactly what allowed him to be as profound as he was in the things in which he actually was. 

Complicated man and musician. Gotta go composer by composer, piece by piece with him. Sometimes  sometimes movement by movement, 

One of a kind.

[papsrus]

Grateful that his heirs saw fit to release a healthy chunk of Celibidache’s live Munich recordings from this period after his death. 

 

Given his steadfast opposition to recorded music, he must have known these recordings were being made night after night and would be released one day. Curious.

 

While he may not have cared for opera singers, he did love him some Wagner — Parsifal’s Good Friday; Tristan und Isolde Prelude; Tannhauser Overture; Sigfried Idyll, etc. And he conducted his fair share of sacred music as well — the requiems of Mozart, Verdi and Faure among others, and Bach’s Mass in B minor. All preserved in those spiffy box sets. So not all singing was bad for him.

 

He did visit the US with his Munich band at some point in the 80s as well. My dad recalls going to a performance at the Kennedy Center but can’t recall the music performed. He does remember the orchestra members marching onto the stage with what he describes as almost military precision prior to the concert.

 

Thanks for posting the link.

Edited April 2, 2018 by papsrus