{"id":7090,"date":"2015-12-10T12:55:17","date_gmt":"2015-12-10T11:55:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/?p=7090"},"modified":"2015-12-10T13:41:19","modified_gmt":"2015-12-10T12:41:19","slug":"thank-you-maestro-harnoncourt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2015\/12\/10\/thank-you-maestro-harnoncourt\/","title":{"rendered":"Thank you, Maestro Harnoncourt"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was saddened this week to learn of the sudden retirement of conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt at the age of 86. (For more detail see The Strad<\/a> and the New York Times<\/a> news items, and this tribute from the Berlin Philharmonic<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"Harnoncourt\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Harnoncourt has long been a bit of a Marmite conductor- people either love or loathe his work. I don\u2019t think he would have it any other way (not that I would know– we’ve never met and have no professional connection whatsoever). However, provocation is by no means the essence of his artistry. To me, what makes Harnoncourt such and interesting, important and original musician has always been the depth of his engagement with the scores he conducts. I’m not keen on Marmite, but I respect Harnoncourt enormously.<\/p>\n

Although he\u2019s long been one of the dominant players in the Historically Informed Performance industry, Harnoncourt\u2019s best music making has, in my opinion, very little to do with “style.” Too often with lesser performers, style becomes a sauce used to conceal the insipidness of an under-seasoned musical dish. We\u2019ve all seen conductors take away the vibrato, the rubato and the legato, and burn through a Beethoven or Haydn symphony on stylish autopilot. Harnoncourt has never been about what he leaves out of his performances, but what he pours in, which is a keen eye for detail, a willingness to push the envelope and risk ugly sounds, a rich imagination and a powerful rhythmic sense.<\/p>\n