How Dennis Russell Davies dropped a brick in a glass house

How Dennis Russell Davies dropped a brick in a glass house

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norman lebrecht

September 28, 2017

The American conductor was rolled out yesterday as music director of the Brno Philharmonic, in a city famed for its Mies Van der Rohe glass room.

Bored by the flat Czech formalities, Dennis sat himself down at the piano and started playing music by Pavel Haas, a Jewish composer who was ripped out of Brno and put on a train to Terezin and Auschwitz, where he was murdered.

Haas is not remembered much back home. He is now.

Fast-forward to 11:45 on the video to see Dennis teach a lesson in lost history. It won’t be the last.

 

Comments

  • RW2013 says:

    Haas is remembered in Brno by a plaque on the house where he grew up.
    One can also see Korngold’s birth house (also beplaqued) from the upstairs foyer of the opera house.

  • Steve P says:

    Thank you for posting such a positive piece about a fine conductor, NL. This is indeed a courageous way to start a new job!

  • Saul Davis says:

    I can only hope that DDR will make many recordings with this orchestra, as I can only enjoy him from afar. He was memorable at the SPCO.

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