Finnish maestro: I’m the Jesus of music
OrchestrasThe uncontainable Leif Segerstam turned 80 today.
Covid has confined him to a wheelchair, and mostly to home.
He hasn’t been idle. His symphony number 371 is receiving a birthday premiere tonight. It took him all of todays to compose.
‘In the world of music I have truths that are just as valuable as the teachings of Jesus,’ he says.
Interview here.
LOL! Norman, I’m really enjoying your headlines today! They have me laughing out loud which is always fun! Bravo!
At least he didn’t say he was bigger than Jesus. (I know, John Lennon really didn’t say that.)
Scriabin lives!!
CDC announced it’s same as the flu just yesterday.
In the interest of accuracy: what CDC said was that the isolation protocols for COVID and flu are the same,as are the vaccination recommendations (annual booster shots; possibly semiannual for COVID, actually). The viruses and diseases are different.
The CDC is not a truth-telling organization.
Symphony 371? So when do we get a complete set 1 – 371?
Ask Naxos
I think Brilliant Classics might also be up for that! Decca will probably release a ‘Segerstram’s Greatest Hits’ recording and I wouldn’t be surprised if Radio 3’s ‘Record Review’ were to review the complete edition. I bet NL is itching to write a critical review of his symphonies with an in-depth analysis of each one…
I haven’t listened to any of them. Are there some that are considered top works?
The man is crazy.
Crazy…maybe. Haven’t worked with him for some years.
But as a conductor/ musician absolutely nothing to sneer at.
Look who is talking, honestly.
You say! I absolutely agree.
Sally
Maybe. But he is easy to love, not least because of the name of his symphony no. 228.
Cooling my beard too (2) on “Sval”bard, “Spit”sbergen farewelling (on the “seal”ed waters) the blinding “spittingly” ice- (& eyes) cracking Sun (setstart on 22.8…!) with my Son (J. S.) remembering nostalgically “lace”- (spets-) coverings of (e.g.) Venusmountains as well as all those got… (lays…) – It is very windy on the tops, “the picked peaks for peeking into the ∞s…”, “spets”-listening too… 2… 8!
Pass.
It’s hard to refute that suggestion.
Will his birthday be celebrated with a box set of all his symphonies?
We ordered the pilot production of all those symphony things but the box cold not pass through any door here. The first van which tried to deliver the monstrous thing sank through its wheels on its way and had to be replaced by a hughe truck. We now keep the box in the garden as a monument to unrivalled ambition and scale, and yesterday we welcomed the first bus with Chinese tourists.
Sally
371 symphonies and Music Finland has in fact published most of his symphonies, most run 16-24 minutes in length. Lots of engraving over the years, as the bulk of them were written before Sibelius. That said, I bet his recording residuals of others works bring home more earnings than his composition rental and performance residuals. Kind of sad.
He’s very, very good. I love him.
Symphony 371? He’s not in exponential notation yet???
Just love this guy. Undoubtedly the most authentic and original musician alive. For those who don’t know, take a peek around 44:58 in the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY4w4_W30aQ
Thanks for the link: What a performance!
Exactly why is he screaming at 44:58? I don’t get it.
Therapist order.
Well, that’s two minutes of my life I’ll never get back again.
If Bruckner had said it, though he wouldn’t have, the statement might have some credibility.
Lots of 80th birthdays this year. I see Kiri Te Kanawa is looking fabulous at 80. It must be the ‘secret’ new husband! How about a list Norman?
Leif must save a lot if time & $ by not shaving.
Now everyone reading here will know that I have nothing more exciting to do on a muggy Sunday afternoon.
I enjoy the comments.
Am I allowed to say I don’t like some of his symphonies?
Try this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v7Ht2W8Z6E
I presume “all of todays” means “all of two days”. The curse of autocorrect strikes again.
The cantankerous article in Helsingen Sanomat was barely worth the energy of reading. We discover that this particular Finnish podium ‘maestro’ ‘genius’ has dashed off 371 symphonies and has daily bowel movements. There. Now you don’t have to read the article.
How come you never saw him and Peter Ustinov photographed together?
He is a superb conductor of Sibelius.
Remember his Bruckner 8 with the BBCSO… it went forever, splendidly!
Why such a fuss about his prolific output? Next to Telemann’s 3,000 works, Segerstam is a sluggard.
I played under him once or twice. Quite a good conductor, actually. As long as you didn’t have to play one of his pieces.
Did you play the CSO concert when he added Finlandia to the program? It wasn’t scheduled but was magnificent. Was there a special guest or did he just do it because he could?
The article is a good read. The autotranslate into Norwegian works well. He indeed states that the most recent symphony was written in two days. The most interesting information was that he stated that he has autism. Not really surprising. He was also som enthusiastic that he switched between Finnish and Swedish in the interview.
What a character! classical music needs individuals like him…
I call him Santa; don’t shave.
I recall seeing him conduct Entfuhrung at Salzburg all of 52 years ago with the divine Elizabeth Harwood in Strehler’s imaginitive production with its splendid use of silhouettes during the arias. He was then a fine conductor.
Leif Segerstam is basically a character from a Greek tragedy. The gods gifted him with enormous amounts of raw unrefined musical talent (he was a child prodigy, won a national piano competition and finished his violin degree simultaneously before going to Juilliard) but it came with a price of his verbal, written and compositional output being completely unfiltered, as his interviews and oeuvre keep demonstrating. That this latest interview is a symptom of him getting old is a false conclusion, he’s frankly been like this for the past 25 years or even longer.
In his prime he was nevertheless a very, very good conductor – a good concert night conducted by Segerstam could be a life-changing musical experience as a listener – whose career development was hindered mainly by his what was even then considered unacceptable behaviour, and as a pedagogue he could apparently keep his excesses enough in check to finish his term as professor successfully.