Baldwin Dedicated to Classical Music

Colin Oettle — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 02:18:35 +0000

Alec Baldwin loves classical music. According to the NY Times, Baldwin is not only invested in his role as announcer for the New York Philharmonic’s weekly radio broadcasts, but he is also a die-hard classical music fan. Daniel Wakin writes that Baldwin was offered the position after the Phil took notice of his patronage. The NY Phil regularly keeps tabs on its celebrity concert-goers, offering them tickets in exchange for publicity.

The Phil first booked Baldwin as narrator for an “Inside the Music” series in 2008—a program where a work is first explained and then performed. Then, after Baldwin joked that he’d like to quit acting and become a classical music radio presenter, the Phil pounced on his apparent interest and made an offer.

Now, as Baldwin records radio announcements between acting commitments like this winter’s “It’s Complicated” and NBC’s “30 Rock,” he sets his schedule around musical events he refuses to miss. Last May, he contracted time off to see Daniel Barenboim conduct Mahler’s ninth symphony. Baldwin’s interest in classical music began on a soap opera set when he was 24, when a staging director chided him for not recognizing Berlioz’s “March to the Scaffold” from Symphony Fantastique. Now, Baldwin listens to classical everywhere from his home to his car, and has a constantly expanding library of works.

Baldwin prefers mostly romantic composers; he says he likes more “emotive” kinds of music. Some of his favorites include Mahler and Tchaikovsky, having earned his preference by his own standard: music he wants played at his funeral.

Read the full story here.

Gilbert Leads NY Phil as Music Director

Colin Oettle — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:45:10 +0000

Alan Gilbert reigned over the New York Philharmonic tonight for the first time as music director. Hosted by actor Alec Baldwin, the televised broadcast “Live from Lincoln Center” allowed millions to watch not only the NY Phil’s opening night, but its venture into a new era of leadership. Gilbert is not only the youngest-appointed music director, but also the first native New Yorker to hold the position.

The program began with the world premier of EXPO by Magnus Lindberg, the Phil’s composer-in-residence until 2011. Lindberg wrote the work knowing it would open the milestone season—the Phil’s 50th at Avery Fisher Hall.

EXPO was followed by Songs pour Mi—a song cycle by Olivier Messiaen. Sung by Renée Fleming, the song cycle is a portrait of Messiaen’s love for his wife, Claire Delbos, who he nicknamed Mi. Those watching the televised broadcast saw Fleming introduce the cycle with a pre-recorded speech, which outlined Messiaen’s relationship from his marriage to Delbos at 27 years old, to her institutionalization due to mental illness after the end of World War II.

Finally, the headlining work of the night was Symphony No. 1—or the Fantastic Symphony—by Hector Berlioz. Written only three years after Beethoven’s death, the work facilitated the exodus into Romanticism, as it’s massive orchestration and lush expression brought unrestricted emotive composition into the musical world. The work is programmatic—that is, it possesses a narrative—with notes written by Berlioz himself. Each of the five movements has a descriptive title, including the famous March to the Scaffold and Dream of a Witch’s Sabbath. As described by Berlioz, the piece tells the story of “an artist gifted with a lively imagination” who has “poisoned himself with opium” in the “depths of despair” out of “hopeless love.”

The Sound Post » Alec Baldwin

Baldwin Dedicated to Classical Music

Gilbert Leads NY Phil as Music Director