The quiet legend that was Kurt Sanderling is no more.

He died in Berlin on September 17, two days short of his 99th birthday.

Sanderling, a German refugee in Stalin’s Russia, grew very close to Dmitri Shostakovich during and after the Second World War. He was joint principal conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra with Yevgeny Mravinsky, effectively his deputy. He would get to conduct the second run of performances of each new symphony after his boss had given the premiere. Mravinsky, a man of deep reserve, had a cold and formal relationship with Shostakovich. Sanderling became a close friend.

When I asked him once to talk about it, he refused. ‘I don’t like to make myself look great through my contact with a man of true greatness,’ he said. (A longer interview about DSCH can be found here.)

He returned to East Germany in 1960 to direct the Berlin Symphony Orchestra for 17 years. A mild-mannered socialist, he was trusted by the regime and allowed to guest conduct in the west, where he worked productively with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and with the Philharmonia, in London. His recordings of Mahler’s 9th symphony and Shostakovich’s 10th and 15th are among the most impressive available.

Through a lifelong friendship with the composer Berthold Goldschmidt, he was among the first conductors to perform Deryck Cooke’s completion of Mahler’s 10th symphony, which Goldschmidt had premiered in 1964. Here’s a video clip.

Sanderling retired from the podium in 2002.

Two of his sons, Thomas and Stefan (below), enjoy international careers as conductors. A third, Michael, is a cellist and conductor.

Hundreds of people have responded to a previous post I published about long serving orchestral musicians. Out of these reports and suggestions, I have compiled a league of honour of more than 60 men and women who served in one orchestra for more than half a century.

One significant trend emerges from this exercise. Almost all the players reported served in US, Soviet or pre-1945 British orchestras. Senior service in orchestras is almost unknown in continental Europe, obliterated by social legislation.

I have excluded freelancers who played in many orchestras, such as the excellent Martin Ormandy (Eugene’s brother) who joined the New York Philharmonic in 1921 and was in every pickup orchestra until 1996 (75 years). Or Eugene Levinson, who started in the Leningrad Chamber Orchestra at age 14, then joined Mravinsky’s orchestra and went on to become principal bass of the Minnesota orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. Retired last year after 26 years in NY, a 60-year career.

Here’s the premier league (last updated June 2023):

1. Bass: Jane Little, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra – 1945 to 2016 – 71 years, 105 days.
Asst. Principal Bass Emeritus of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Jane Little, first performed with the ASO on February 4 1945 under their original name of Atlanta Youth Symphony for two years before the orchestra officially changed to Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 1947.
http://www.atlantasymphony.org/About/Artists/ASO-Musicians/Jane-Little.aspx

UPDATE: Jane played in a concert on May 15, 2016. She suffered a collapse and died that day.

2. Violinist Frances Darger: Utah Symphony 1942 to 2012 – 70 years – retired at the end of the 2012 season.

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3 Principal Timpanist Richard Horowitz: Metropolitan Opera Orchestra 1946 to 2012 – 66 years – retired 2012, died 2015, aged 91.
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/season/bio.aspx?id=3964&type=1

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4 Violinist Felix Resnick: Detroit Symphony Orchestra – 1943 until his death in April 2008 at age 89. 65 years.
http://dso.pastsoftware.com/Collections.aspx?ID=33

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= Lois Fees, violinist, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, 1951-2016.

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6. Bassoonist David Van Hoesen: Lake Placid Sinfonietta NY – 1947 to 2011 – 64 years –  retired.
http://www.lakeplacidsinfonietta.org/orchestra.cfm

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7. Clarinetist Stanley Drucker: New York Philharmonic  1948 to 2009 – 62 years – retired.
In 1948, Drucker won a post in the New York Philharmonic clarinet section. In 1960, he became the orchestra’s principal clarinetist. In January 2008, the New York Philharmonic announced Drucker’s retirement from the orchestra at the close of the 2008-2009 season, for a total of 61 years with the orchestra and 49 years as its principal clarinet.  Guinness logs his career at “62 years, 7 months and 1 day as of June 4, 2009?. Drucker’s final concert with the orchestra was July 31, 2009 in Vail, Colorado.

= Bassist Joseph Hearne joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Charles Munch in 1962. Still playing.

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9. Leonard Mogill, Philadelphia Orchestra, viola, 62 years (pictured on the right, 1967, with Irving Segall), 1930-1992

http://articles.philly.com/1997-10-30/news/25538766_1_philadelphia-orchestra-violist-music-director-riccardo-muti

= Violinist Earl Summers Jr.: joined the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra at age 12 as a section violinist in 1929, the founding year of the orchestra, and retired from performing in 1990 as Concertmaster of the WSO – 61 years.
http://wheeling.weirton.lib.wv.us/history/people/hallfame/Summers.htm
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11. Pat Francis, violinist, joined the San Diego Symphony in 1955 and retired, aged 77, in 2016.

12 Bassonist Oleg Talypine, 79, Leningrad/St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, c.60 years.

See/hear him here (fast-forward to 3′ mark).

= Violinist Jerome Wigler: Philadelphia Orchestra – 1951 to 2011 retired – 60 years – age 91.
http://www.juilliard.edu/alumni/news/spotlight/archive/2009-10/200910.php

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= Paul Renzi, Principal Flute of the San Francisco Symphony from 1944 until 2004. 60 years

http://articles.sfgate.com/2004-07-26/entertainment/17434623_1_san-francisco-symphony-principal-flutist-davies-symphony-hall

= Marcia Hinkle, violinist Omaha Symphony, started 1957. 60 years – retired 2018

16 Carole Nelson, Fargo-Moorhead, 59 years.

= Martin Eshelman, second violinist in the NY Philharmonic 1956-2015 (retired aged 89). 59 years

18 Jay Friedman, Principal Trombone of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1962….. 57 years.

= Richard D. Kelley, double bass, Los Angeles Philharmonic, 1956-2013. 57 years.

= Mary Sauer, hired by Fritz Reiner as principal keyboardist of the Chicago SO 1959; 57 years. Retired November 2016.

= Arnold Rosé, concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, 1882-1938. 57 years.

= Franco Fantini, La Scala orchestra violinst 1942-1999 (concertmaster from 1954)

= Michael Shahan, doublebass, Philadelphia Orchestra, 57 years, ret. 2021

23 Principal Trumpet Adolph (Bud) Herseth: Chicago Symphony Orchestra – 1948 until 2001, and served as principal trumpet emeritus from 2001 until his retirement in 2004.  56 years.
http://abel.hive.no/trompet/herseth/

=  Alexander Lepak – timpanist Hartford Symphony 56 years —http://articles.courant.com/2009-03-26/news/lepakobit.art_1_funeral-mass-throat-cancer-television-miniseries

= Emilia Moskvitina, principal harp, Moscow State Philharmonic and Bolshoi Symphony, appointed 96, still playing

= Herb Light, violinist, Philadelphia Orchestra, 1960-2016 – 56 years.

= Ernest Zala – violinist, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, 56 years

= Norma Durst Violist with Seattle Symphony for 56 years Retired in 2004.

= Patricia Harris, Principal Harp of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra (1964-2020) 56 years

29 Percussionist Joe Sinai: San Francisco Symphony ”His career as a symphonic performer began in 1915 [and continued to 1970] … for 55 years with the San Francisco Symphony.”
http://www.meredithmusic.com/joe-sinai-san-francisco-symphony

= Raphael Fliegel performed with the Houston Symphony for 55 years, almost half of that time as concertmaster.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-deaths/article/Deaths-Ray-Fliegel-HSO-violinist-for-55-years-1498681.php

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= Anthony Bianco, double-bass in the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for 55 years, 1944-1999

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/postgazette/obituary.aspx?n=anthony-bianco&pid=154271023&eid=sp_shareobit

= Bassist Orin O’Brien, New York Philharmonic 55 years, ret. 2021

= John Lambros, concertmaster and first violin, Charleston Symphony, 55 years. Died 2016.

=  Newton Mansfield, violinist. Joined the New York Philharmonic 1961, retired 2016.

35 Otto Müller, principal harp of the Berlin Philharmonic 1882-1936, 54 years

=  Donald Gibson of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra died in 2010 at 77 years of age. He was a member of the orchestra for 54 years.

=  Phil Blum, cellist with the Chicago Symphony from 1955 until his death in 2009, 54 years.

=  Broderyck Olson, first violins, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, in his 54st season.

=  Michele Zukovsky, principal clarinet Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, retiring December 2015 after 54 years.

= Marylouise Nanna, Buffalo Philharmonic first violins, 54 years

=  Joela Jones, Cleveland Orchestra keyboardist, retired 2021

= Boston Symphony violinist Ikuko Mizuno, 1969 to now

42 Lynne Turner, harp player of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1962. 53 years.

= Alvin Score joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 1960. He died, still playing, in 2013. 53 years.

= Jules Eskin, principal cello Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1963-2016. 53 years

= John Martin, principal cello, National Symphony Orchestra. Retired 1994.

45 Mario Difiore retired from the Detroit Symphony after 52 years.

= June Shipper, 72, retired from the second violins of the Waco Symphony in May 2015, after 52 years

= Roger Ruggieri played 52 years in the double-bass section of the Milwaukee Symphony, mostly as principal; he retired in June 2015.

= Christopher Wolfe, Assistant Principal Clarinet of the Baltimore Symphony retired in June 2015 after 52 years of service.

= Kalman Cherry, Retired in 2010 after 52 years with the Dallas Symphony as the Principal Timpanist.

= Ann Spurbeck, violinist, 52 years with the Memphis Symphony, died January 2022.

= Marilyn Dubow, violinist, 52 years with NY Philharmonic (retired June 2023)

52 Mathias Meyer, principal viola in the Vienna Court Opera 1817 – 1868

= Maurice Sharp, principal flute of the Cleveland Orchestra from 1931-1982. 51 years.
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=  Timpanist Alan Taylor: Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra, 1951 to April 1, 2002. 51 years.  (d. May 15, 2002, aged 71)
http://www.s142342584.websitehome.co.uk/alantaylor/
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=  Willard Darling, 4th horn of the Detroit Symphony, 51 years. September 1951 until 2002 (d. 2015).

https://www.facebook.com/detroitsymphony/photos/a.139013442615.111110.20771377615/10152867397887616/

= Richard Graef, assistant principal flute of Chicago Symphony Orchestra, 1968-2019

= John Snavely, 3rd clarinet/bass clarinet of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra (1969-2020) 51 years

= Broderyck Olson, first violins, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, in his 51st season.

= John Jones, principal horn, Huntngton Symphony Orchestra, 1971-

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= George Rubino, double bass, Portland Symphony Orchestra. ‘over 50 years’.

=  Ann Stepp, viola, Portland SO. ‘over 50 years’.

=  Principal Harpist Sidonie Goossens: “…Her professional debut in 1921
at a Prom concert, and took part in the first tour by the London Symphony
Orchestra.  She was Principal Harpist when the BBC Symphony Orchestra gave
its first public concert under its founder, Sir Adrian Boult, in October
1930, and she was still in the post when the Orchestra celebrated its golden
jubilee in 1980, the year she officially retired.”
At age 91 in 1991, she became the oldest person to perform at the Last Night
of the Proms concert, televised by the BBC.  She died at the age of 105 on
December 15, 2004.    50 years with the BBC Orchestra.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3393369.stm
—————
63 Violinist Newton Mansfield joined the New York Philharmonic in 1961? to 2011- 50 years

= Shirley Rosin, Milwaukee 2nd violins, half a century, retiring June 2015.

= Evelyn Pupello, violinist, Florida Orchestra. 50 years. Retired June 2015.

= Thomas Thompson joined the Pittsburgh Symphony in 1966 (hired by William Steinberg). He retires in summer 2016 after 50 years.

= Tom Battenberg, 75, principal trumpet of the Columbus Symphony. Retired summer 2016 after 50 years in the seat.

= Monique Gunnels joined the Columbus (Georgia) Symphony as second flute, aged 13, in 1965. She retired in 2015. 

= William Foster, viola, National Symphony Orchestra. Retired 2018.

= Bob Jenkins, Omaha Symphony oboe, retired 2018

= Molly Wisman, Topeka Symphony Orchestra 1969-2019

= Frederick Zlotkin, principal cello New York City Ballet Orchestra, 1971-2022

= Marcia Peck, cello Minnesota Orchestra 1971-2021, 50 years and one month

= Douglas Burden, bass trombone of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Ottawa, 1972-2022

75 Michael Henoch, assistant principal oboe Chicago Symphony, 1972-2022

Stanley Drucker

LAST UPDATED: April 2024

Otakar Vavra founded the Prague film school, FUMA, and taught Milos Forman and Jiri Menzel. Before the war, he discovered the actress Lida Baarova, who became a favourite of Hitler and Goebbels.

His first prize for Golden Queen at the 1965 San Sebastian Festival marked the dawn of international recognition for new Czech films.

Forman, who admired his early work from the 1930s, makes little mention of him in his memoirs. But Menzel, director of Closely Watched Trains, stayed close (they are pictured together below).

Menzel said: “He taught us that film was not only performing art but that it was part culture, and a very important part of art. So we had to know how to make film as a cultural phenomenon, not only for entertainment or for making money.”

The Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, was among many cultural and political leaders who honoured Vavra’s 100th birthday earlier this year.

Vavra died on September 15, aged 100. Here’s a comprehensive account of his life (in English) from Czech Radio.

Anna Netrebko, 40 today, will open next Sunday as Anna Bolena at the Met.

She is also coolly contemplating a life after opera, with plans for opening a restaurant in Vienna.

But it is warming to know that, amid these excitements, she plans to launch at the end of the month a new charity, Anna Netrebko to Children.

Nice.

The tour reporter on the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra website reports:

‘I have never seen a cheering audience jump to its feet quicker than the audience at the Gergiev Festival in Rotterdam.’

I donlt want to dampen his enthusiasm, but that’s the Dutch for you. They build concert halls with very little legroom for seated spectators and then breed children who are quarter of a metre taller than the rest of us.

At the end of a concert – especially in the Concertgebouw – the audience leaps to its feet to avoid deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

I’ve seen it many times. Does this happen anywhere else?

Reporting the death of four miners in a flooded pit on South Wales, The Times today published messages that had been posted on one of the victims’ Facebook page. Facebook is a semi-public site and its users are often concerned for their personal privacy.

Whether it is legal for a newspaper reporter to quote from a Facebook page has not been tested in the court of public opinion. I felt, on reading page five of The Times, that the dead man’s right to privacy had been invaded. Your view?

My friend Steven Isserlis, vociferous in his condemnation of the recent attacks on the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, has published a letter in the Times expressing ‘dismay’ at the suspension of four London Philharmonic players who called publicly for the IPO to be banned.

The two events are not linked, except inasmuch as the LPO players’  letter to the Independent could be seen to legitimise the subsequent assault on the Israeli players  (one of the LPO players went on to assault the Israeli musicians verbally at a public meeting).

Here is Steven’s letter; The Times does not publish online. My own view is that the suspension was justified but its length too severe.

Sir, I was outraged by the antics of the protesters at the Israel Philharmonic Prom concert a couple of weeks ago; but I am dismayed now to learn that four members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra have been suspended for signing their names to a letter that appeared in advance of that concert, in which it was claimed that the invitation to the Proms sent out the wrong signals to the public.

Profoundly though I disagree with the contents of that letter, it was neither disruptive nor illegal, and in no way merited such severe disciplinary action. Why is it that anything pertaining to the Israeli/Palestinian issue almost invariably results in such massive over-reaction on both sides in this country? I am reminded of the Monty Python bed salesman who was quite alright until the word ‘mattress’ was mentioned – at which point he would immediately put a paper bag over his head.  Come to think of it, that might not be such a bad idea for some of the protagonists in this sorry affair.
Steven Isserlis, London N1

by our Crime Correspondent

Garth Drabinsky, the dodgy organiser of this summer’s Black Creek festival in Toronto, began a jail sentence today after losing the last of a decade’s worth of appeals against a fraud conviction.

We warned here last month that all was not well at Black Creek and some singers were going without their supper. We also reported that Lorin Maazel was shuttling that weekend between two Beethoven Ninths in Tanglewood and Toronto. One got cancelled by a hurricane. I hope he and the London Symphony Orchestra got paid up-front for the other.

There was ‘a difference of artistic opinion’ during rehearsals of Gounod’s Faust and there was only one possible outcome.

Roberto Alagna got his way, and conductor Alain Lombard is on his way. (His stand-in is Alain Altinoglu).

As Roberto would say, ‘nobody ever came to Faust to hear the conductor’.

Full Journal du Dimanche story here. And here’s more from Le Figaro.

In the UK, apparently. See press release, just in:

Sony Music is delighted to announce that the UK is the fastest-selling market for superstar Chinese pianist Lang Lang’s new album ‘Liszt – My Piano Hero’.  The new recording,  featuring the renowned Vienna Philharmonic under acclaimed conductor Valery Gergiev, was released on 5^th September (cat. no. 88697891402) and is Lang Lang’s personal tribute to Hungarian composer, Franz Liszt (1811-1886) on the occasion of Liszt’s bicentenary.

Myung Whun Chung, conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic who visited Pyongyang this week, has told a press conference in Paris that he has reached agreement to conduct an orchestra comprised of musicians from both sides of the tense border.

Here’s a first report from France 24:

A renowned South Korean conductor said Friday he has reached agreement with North Korean musicians to hold regular joint performances by the two countries’ orchestras to ease political tensions.”I think music can move the hearts of people a little bit, although it wouldn’t do such a thing as to change the entire regime,” Chung Myung-Whun told a press conference, a day after his return from a rare visit to Pyongyang. Chung, who leads the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and doubles as a UNICEF “goodwill ambassador”, made a four-day trip with two senior orchestra officials to meet his counterparts in the North. “All musicians reached consensus that we want a regular joint orchestral performance as well as musical exchanges,” said Chung. He said musicians from both nations signed an agreement to promote the joint performances and a project to nurture talented North Korean musicians. The agreements still need approval from both governments. Chung’s trip followed months of high tension on the peninsula and was part of a series of apparently conciliatory gestures by the South. He said the joint orchestra, if approved, would be made up of an equal number of musicians from each country. Performances would be held alternately in Seoul and Pyongyang, with the first scheduled in December. The two sides “connected through our passion and desire to spread music”, said Chung, who watched and conducted performances by the North’s state symphony orchestra and its Unhasu Orchestra. “I wanted to play Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony but young North Korean musicians said they had never played it before… they said it would be a historic day for them,” he said, adding they had played the piece. “Their classical repertoire wasn’t that rich but their techniques were good… they were trained never to get it wrong.” Chung, who is also music director of Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, received his invitation after former French culture minister Jack Lang introduced a North Korean musician to him. “I always wondered how I could meet North Korea’s musicians, and I heard the new French government was promoting cultural exchanges with Asia, especially North Korea. So I contacted Jack Lang,” he said. Chung, 58, had been scheduled to visit the North in 2006 but had to cancel at the last minute following its nuclear test. “I’m grateful I had this chance, something others have wanted for a very long time… and I am sure the results will be meaningful and good,” he said. The South’s unification ministry must by law approve all visits to the North, which remains technically at war with its neighbour. Relations turned icy after Seoul accused Pyongyang of torpedoing a warship in March 2010 with the loss of 46 lives. The North denied involvement in the sinking but killed four people in a bombardment of a South Korean border island last November. The South has recently made a series of conciliatory gestures, including offering flood relief aid. Earlier this month it allowed leading Buddhist monks to visit the North. Music has been used before in an attempt to break down barriers. In February 2008 the New York Philharmonic paid a historic visit to North Korea for a concert beamed round the world.

The BBC reports that Roman Polanski is expected in Zurich next week to collect a lifetime award from the film festival.

Why would he do that? Last time he went to the fest in Zurich, they arrested him and kept him indoors for ten months while the courts chewed over the pros and cons of an ancient US extradition warrant for an unproven offence which may not have ben extraditable at the time under Swiss law. In the end, they let him go home to France, where he has never been under any threat of extradition.

This time, the Swiss say they won’t arrest him.

Polanski is 78. The award is trivial. Why would he want to go back?