But we must be cautious with our expectations. Dudamel is not going to walk on water and he is not going to single-handedly save an art form that has no need of life support. Indeed, were classical music so irrelevant to our times and needs, it could never have produced a Dudamel.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Dudamel is a brilliant musician from what I have gathered so far. But he’s still young and has what will seem to be a stellar career ahead of him. But let him mature and grow more before calling him a genius. However I’d much rather have this sort of excitement focused on someone like Dudadmel than, say, the next André Rieu or Sarah Brightman.

(Via Los Angeles Times.)

The cancellation was an embarrassment and something of a setback in the New York Philharmonic’s effort to cast itself as the nation’s flagship traveling orchestra. It made headlines with a trip to Pyongyang, North Korea, nearly two years ago (no United States government permission for patrons was required) and leaves on Sunday for an Asian tour that will take in another Communist nation, Vietnam.

This exposes how arbitrary the rules are governing American citizens’ rights to travel to Cuba,” Julia E. Sweig, an expert on Cuba at the Council on Foreign Relations, said of the Treasury Department’s position. “If you have a family member there, you can go. If you play an instrument or sport, you can go. But if you’re a philanthropist who wants to support arts in Cuba, you can’t?

Let me get this straight. The State Department requires no approval of patrons to accompany the New York Philharmonic on a tour of North Korea, a country that is openly developing nuclear weapons and one that would potentially divert the spending of those wealthy patrons to the development of the country’s nuclear program. But patrons must obtain permission from the State Department when traveling to Cuba, a country that poses no threat to the United States (anymore) except for ideologues that can’t let go of an outdated fear and grudge against an aging Cold War warrior who won’t be around much longer. I know I’m stretching things just a little bit, but the notion that Cuba is a bigger threat to the United States than North Korea is a joke. The restrictions, if there has to be any, should instead be reversed.

(Via New York Times.)

Asa’s lyrics can be serious subject matter, although her music is very upbeat and very optimistic in nature, a subject that she actually discusses in her PRI interview. The interview can be found in the Global Hits section of PRI’s website for “The World”.

The album can be purchased on both iTunes and Amazon. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

The piece was a New York City premiere and was written two years ago when Mr. Carter was just 98. I find it inspiring that someone so late in life is more prolific than ever, and not allowing himself to slow down and rest on his laurels.

As the Times article writes:

Mr. Carter wrote the 17-minute piece, for piano and orchestra, just last year, at 98. In fact, since he turned 90, Mr. Carter has poured out more than 40 published works, an extraordinary burst of creativity at a stage when most people would be making peace with mortality.

His first opera had its premiere in 1999. He produced 10 works in 2007 and six more this year. “I don’t know how I did it,” Mr. Carter said on Tuesday in the cluttered but homey Greenwich Village apartment where he has lived since 1945. “The earlier part of my life I felt I was more or less exploring what I would like to write. Now I’ve found it out, and I don’t have to think so much about it.”

I’ve always felt that a great many of history’s colorful personalities have had their greatest success early on in life, giving them the burden of a lifetime to look back on perhaps their greatest and most inspired bursts of creativity and success. Einstein was just 36 when he published the last of his monumental papers, the general theory of relativity, Napoleon was crowned Emperor at the age of 35, the Beatles broke up in their late 20s to early 30s and Noah was a mere 600 when he piled a bunch of animals into the ark during the Great Flood. Okay, I’m pulling your leg on that last one, but the list goes on and on.  Such achievements tend to overshadow later accomplishments, or perhaps it is just that most people want to remember only the earliest and most successful moments of a individual’s career.

To see Carter still hard at work at 100 is certainly inspiring. Perhaps his earlier work will stand the test of time more than his later works. Nevertheless, Carter’s continued composition in his second century is amazing and sets an example for those content to rest on their laurels later in life.