Word: conductor
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Whether Conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler swallowed his artistic conscience or whether Nazi Germany suddenly decided that it could dispense with him no longer, no one was willing to say last week. However the reconciliation came about, Germany's ablest musicmaker was back on the podium, leading the Berlin Philharmonic for an audience that roared its welcome for 25 minutes...
Composer George Gershwin was one of the first skeptical listeners but he signed the first sale order. Honest Fritz Reiner, Philadelphia's opera conductor, spoke praisingly at the first demonstration. Soloist was Organist Pietro Yon of St. Patrick's Cathedral (TIME, May 7, 1934). Under his command, the new instrument seemed capable of a thousand effects. It was full-toned and rich, eerie and soft. In a modern pipe organ, similar sounds depend on electric blowers. A separate pipe is required for each separate tone. Mechanism of the new instrument is all in the console...
...Walter had been a diligent pupil from childhood. He was a capable pianist. He had played second violin in his father's orchestra. At 18 a Newark (N. J.) choral society engaged him as conductor. When his father died suddenly, young Walter, a little dazed, assumed all his responsibilities. Railroad accommodations were poor and a hazardous blizzard was raging but under Walter Damrosch the Metropolitan played its scheduled engagement in Chicago. Later in Boston he pacified angry orchestramen who threatened to strike because their passage back to Manhattan was booked on the Fall River steamship line...
Hard-working Walter Damrosch toured the U. S. for years thereafter, with nis own Damrosch Opera Company and with the New York Symphony which played in scores of towns where great orchestral music was completely unknown. While still in his 20's the young conductor learned the value of diplomacy, the power of a bouquet. He kept peace among his jealous singers. He made friends with Andrew Carnegie who built Manhattan's big concert hall. When visiting Carnegie in Scotland he met Maine's James G. Elaine and soon after married Elaine's Daughter Margaret...
...observers then it seemed that Damrosch's day was done. After 42 years on the same stand, his performances grew routine and his players seemed lazy. But as a musical educator Conductor Damrosch was not to be defeated. National Broadcasting Co. begged him to teach school children, and he was again ready to pioneer. The Damrosch "Appreciation Hour" began by reaching a million youthful listeners. Last week it was estimated that through benign "Uncle Walter" some 6,000,000 children are learning to know great music. Proceeds of last week's Manhattan Jubilee went to the Musicians...