On Demand
Berlin Burns
By Terrance McKnight
May 21, 2008
Yesterday we heard that the home of the Berlin Philharmonic sustained serious damage from a fire that broke out on its roof, shortly before an open rehearsal. A very scary and disturbing event, for any building, but here at WNYC it was much more personal. Last November, a few months before I joined WNYC, the station created an in-depth five-part portrait of the Berlin Philharmonic, and some of the musicians who were quoted in the papers are featured prominently in the Special. The damaged building, designed by Hans Scharoun and completed in 1963, deeply inspired the American architect Frank Gehry, who modeled Disney Hall after it. The building is such an emblem of the orchestra: non-traditional, democratic, and accessible; and with one of the best acoustics in all of Europe.
I’d be interested to know your thoughts.
Comments
Comment from Kurt-Owen Richards
Date: May 21, 2008, 7:24 pm
Too much Jesus tonight! Remember that you’re in a city full of Jews, Muslims, Atheists (me!) and more, who are sick to death of the overbearing prevalence of Christian influence in our world. Please don’t add to it obviously or unnecessarily. No, I wouldn’t advise against the playing of ALL music related to religion - play Gregorian chant, play the Mozart Requiem, the Duruflé Requiem, the Fauré Requiem and more. Those (at least to me) are more about music and less about religion.
Comment from Fred Newman
Date: May 21, 2008, 7:51 pm
Terrance,
You’re killing me tonight. (Have loved your arrival on the NY scene.) Incredible spinning tonight - had to stop everything and just listen to the beadth and depth. I’ve been lost in the thicket and slow to welcome you to NYC. Hope you’re well and loving it. I’ve been traveling a lot - did my big orchestral story telling in Ga, and, of course, traveling w/ Prairie Home. When you get air, yell.
Comment from Tom, Cooper Sq.
Date: May 21, 2008, 8:11 pm
Fire in a hall has costs. But I’m reminded how it was put:
“We can make a hall by a workplan, but it must be alive to hold life. You must know that the search for a wave’s responsiveness takes acoustical experiment. Yes, there is science to the shoebox and to it’s ways of angles in narrowing, but there is also a searching intuition that addresses the full capacity of science so that the musician and the audience can almost cheat nature. It has been observed that the essence of elegance is economy of means and multiplicity of ends. A hall embraces the now of effects and their reach. This means applying calibrated reflection. As close as design may come to perfect full-range resonant harmonies, there is, even so, a need to keep the hall “tunable” and “advancable” because there are new ways of expression over the period of years that an expensive modern hall stands in service of the listening audience. Today the change-rate in human expression accelerates. The corollary of this is that no matter how wonderfully well a hall resonates, there will be times it must be re-engineered, even rebuilt. Today, the most sublime of the storied ancient amphitheaters is out of date. And for perhaps a long set of years an acoustic environment can seem so marvelous, so instrumental, but is it ever complete?. A hall’s marvel is possible because it carries part of the gift of foresighted inventiveness. Nostalgia is not apt for such an instrument, any more than would be worship. Should a hall have to be repaired, remade, there must be even more inventiveness. New kinds of music will insist on new material environs, and the daring of new nerve. We must contend with a human work that always faces dissatisfaction with what was a prior unexcelled degree of excellence. That is the deep meaning of being fearlessly assiduous, being aggressively vigorous so that we are ourselves constant to improvement, extending the further frontier.” The late Russell Johnson, Master Acoustician
Ciao, T
Comment from anya
Date: May 21, 2008, 8:40 pm
Terrence: What was that Rzewski-like piece you just played? Enjoying the show tonight.
A
Comment from Dave
Date: May 21, 2008, 9:24 pm
Terrance– Why don’t you announce what you play? I came out of the pool tonight and listened from around 8:20 in the cae? Then you never told me what it was. I have wasted 10 minutes now on the site to find a playlist but it’s not there. Not everyone is listening all the time…Also, you referred to something the other night as “S-A-S” compatible as if it were the Scandinavian airline. That’s SAS (sass) Institute, the Cary, N.C. software colossus, whose billionaire CEO I recently interviewed. You are hard to get used to..
Comment from Jon
Date: May 21, 2008, 10:51 pm
Terrance – The Russo / Siegel-Schwall / Ozawa piece is one of my favorites, and a high priority to save from the vinyl collection in my basement.
Comment from Felix
Date: May 22, 2008, 7:40 pm
Terrance - Personally, I like it when you announce less often. Not “knowing” what I’m listening to (beforehand) helps keep my ears open, and I also enjoy the ebb and flow that comes with sequencing. The other side of my brain looks forward to a real-time playlist someday.
Comment from Annie
Date: May 22, 2008, 7:43 pm
Terence, I am pledging now to show I support YOU! Keep doing the unexpected, the kinds of things that make me turn my head toward the radio and say “what the….?” I like the unpredictability, your “imperfect” presentation, and you’re heartfelt love for what you’re doing. A belated welcome to New York–Annie
Comment from Faith S
Date: May 26, 2008, 7:58 pm
Not since Steve Post was on WNYC have we heard Paul Robson on WNYC. Umpteen years ago, as a teen-ager, I went to a hootinanny in NYC to see Paul Robson. It was during a very bad period in the U.S. and a very hard time for Paul Robson and in his anger at what was happening to him, he did not sing. But the we in the audience starting singing, “Paul Robson is our leader, we shall not moved”, etc. It is a moment etched in my memory and I’m so glad to hear you playing his songs. Thanks.
By the way, Steve Post has a rare collection of Bayard Rustin singing. Maybe you could have him on as a guest and have him bring on his collection.
Comment from Ann A
Date: May 26, 2008, 9:05 pm
Terrance,
I’m with the listener who is enjoying the surprises, and in noticing the relationships you find in these. And I love your voice - in itself music.
Ann A
Comment from Patricia
Date: May 28, 2008, 2:40 pm
Terrance,
first of all: welcome and thank you for making evening music much more divers and more interesting that way.
Regarding the home of the Berlin Philharmonic: I used to live in Berlin for about 6 years prior to moving to the US in 2001. My most memorable experience was to listen to Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra playing Mahler’s 9th Symphony. I will never forget.
And I wanted to mention that I loved the series about the Berlin Philharmonic earlier this year.
Comment from Mark Mellinger
Date: May 28, 2008, 9:48 pm
A belated welcome. You brought the evening at WNYC to life. Thanks! Where can I find that Feb. 1924 Gershwin/Whiteman “Experiment in Jazz”?
Comment from Mary Schaefer
Date: June 12, 2008, 2:42 pm
Terrance,
Thank you so much for bringing Evening Music to life for me. Rather than just the “background music” that I have come to expect, I now find myself looking forward to your program for the surprises it will bring.
For example, your program about Tunes vs. Rhythm was a real eyeopener for me. These concepts were not things I had considered and I loved learning about them.
Keep it up!
Thanks,
Mary Schaefer
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