by Peter Cates Lorin Maazel Conductor/violinist Lorin Maazel (1930-2015) was a child prodigy and at 9 years of age guest-conducted the New York Philharmonic at the 1939 World’s Fair at the invitation of Leopold Stokowski. Maazel had a reputation for being a little supercilious prig; when he inquired at a rehearsal, “What are we playing […]
by Peter Cates Something’s Gotta Give Something’s Gotta Give was a mildly pleasant 2003 comedy via which Diane Keaton, Frances McDormand, and Amanda Peet stole the show from the obnoxiously overrated Jack Nicholson and the pallid Keanu Reeves. Credit is also due for the fine acting of Paul Michael Glaser as Keaton’s ex-husband and Rachel […]
by Peter Cates Mahler Symphony The Mahler Symphony I would pick for beginners is the First, composed in 1888 when he was 28 years old. It has melodic appeal, it evokes the sounds of the natural world with coloristic sonorities from the woodwinds and double basses to heighten brooding, spooky tension and finally it utilizes […]
by Peter Cates Nikita Khruschev During these times of conflict in Ukraine, I was led to read up on former Soviet premier Nikita Khruschev (1894-1971), as he was the head Russian grizzly in Moscow for most of my formative years between 1953 and 1964. I vividly remember first encountering his toothy grin and shiny bald […]
by Peter Cates Sarah Orne Jewett I have read very little of Maine writer Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909) but that little includes a story I very much consider a masterpiece, The White Heron. It depicts a nine-year-old girl, Sylvia, who lives with her grandmother on a farm in a seaside community based on the ones […]
by Peter Cates George F. Handel German composer George Frederick Handel (1685-1759) was known for his love of food. When he once went to a cafe, he ordered three plates of the house special. The waiter inquired politely if the other two plates should be kept warm until his guests arrived. Handel replied, “No, bring […]
by Peter Cates Takashi Asahina Japanese conductor Takashi Asahina (1908-2001) achieved renown in his native country throughout most of his lifetime but was little known elsewhere until the early 1990s when he was 85. I found out the general details during a phone interview with former Chicago Symphony manager Henry Fogel. He was visiting friends […]
by Peter Cates Poet Leo Connellan Poet Leo Connellan (1928-2001) was born in Portland, grew up in Rockland, lived in Greenwich Village, New York City, during the late ‘50s as part of the generation of beat poets and, upon moving to Connecticut during his later years as a college professor, became recognized as a poet […]
by Peter Cates Meatloaf Rock singer Meatloaf, born Marvin Lee Aday, died this past weekend from covid at the age of 74. His 1977 album Bat Out of Hell has sold 65 million copies worldwide, still logging in annual sales of 200,000. In recent years, he guest-appeared on the BBC comedy show Benidorm and the […]
by Peter Cates Eleanor Sterling The 1987 anthology Maine Speaks contains the short story “Whale!” by Eleanor Sterling, originally published in 1974 as part of a Yankee Magazine collection. It depicts, as the author beautifully puts it in her opening paragraph, the following situation: “On an afternoon in mid-August, a very large gray whale appeared […]