Tonight I got to attend a live performance of Carl Nielsen's 3rd Symphony for the first time — which tells you something about how neglected this composer is in the United States. I've been in love with this music since I first heard it in 1977, have numerous recordings, bought a score (that was a real treasure hunt), and know the piece intimately, but it almost never gets played here. And now, wonder of wonders, … <Read More>
A “New” Work by Johann Sebastian Bach – Trauer-Music
In November 1728, Prince Leopold of Cothen passed away all too young at age 34. A few years earlier, he had been the royal patron of Johann Sebastian Bach, and the call went out from the prince's family to their former music director to provide suitable music for the funeral observances, which were to take place in the spring of 1729. Bach provided a sequences of arias, recitatives and choruses to make up a grand … <Read More>
Margin Call – a “must see” film
Yesterday evening I attended a screening of "Margin Call," the new film written and directed by J.C. Chandor, at the newest place in town to see films: the Film Society of Lincoln Center's new theater beneath the plaza off 65th Street. The theater is wonderful and I hope to return soon, since it features comfortable stadium seating and excellent digital projection and sound. But the main feature is the movie, not the theater.
"Margin Call" … <Read More>
Weekend Concerts: NYP & LSO at AFH
That's New York Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center. On Saturday night I attended the NYP concert, conducted by Lorin Maazel, of music by Richard Strauss. On Sunday afternoon I attended the LSO concert, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda, of Benjamin Britten's "War Requiem." I thought the LSO concert was much the better of the two.
I was not a big fan of Maazel during his term as music director of … <Read More>
What’s the Emergency? 9th Circuit Blocks Release of Prop 8 Trial Recordings
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit granted an "emergency motion" to stay the district court's Order releasing the recordings of the trial in Perry v. Schwarzenegger on the constitutionality of California Proposition 8, pending an appeal on the merits of that Order. Proposition 8, approved by California voters in 2008, amended the state's constitution to provide that only a marriage between one man and one woman would be … <Read More>
American Symphony Orchestra Begins Carnegie Series with Unusual Bach Tribute
Last night the American Symphony Orchestra presented the first concert of its 2011-12 Carnegie Hall series, a tribute to Johann Sebastian Bach viewed through the prism of his influence on German music in the period between World Wars I & II. Under the title "Bauhaus Bach," the program presented transcriptions and arrangements of Bach's music by Max Reger, Arnold Schoenberg, and Wolfgang Graeser, interspersed with performances of newly-commission orchestrations of three Bach-inspired fugues by Lyonel … <Read More>
Pennsylvania Appeals Court Affirms HIV Discrimination Ruling Against Personal Care Home
A three-judge panel of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania has affirmed a ruling by the state
New York Court Orders Limited HIV Information Disclosure in Personal Injury Suit
A Brooklyn trial judge, Justice Herbert Kramer, ruled in Doe v. Sutlinger Realty Corp., 25324/09, NYLJ 1202518700343 (Kings Co., Sept. 22, 2011), reported in the New York Law Journal on October 21, that an HIV+ plaintiff in a
Federal Claims Court Refuses to Dismiss Gay Veteran’s Claim to Full Separation Pay
Judge Christine Odell Cook Miller of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims issued a ruling on October 18 refusing to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Richard Collins, a gay man who was dismissed from the Air Force under the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy (DADT) and who is challenging the Defense Department's policy of giving people in his situation only half the amount of separation pay that is normally given to individuals who are involuntarily dismissed … <Read More>
Federal Judge Allows Disclosure of Anti-Gay Petition Signers
Another chapter has been written in the long-running saga over the disclosure of the names and addresses of those who signed petitions in the state of Washington to put a measure on the 2009 general election ballot attempting to repeal a newly-enacted state law expanding the rights of same-sex domestic partners.
The statute was delayed in going into effect until the vote was held, when a small but comfortable majority of Washington voters cast their ballots … <Read More>