How Dennis Russell Davies dropped a brick in a glass house
mainThe 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.
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.
Thank you for posting such a positive piece about a fine conductor, NL. This is indeed a courageous way to start a new job!
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.