MUSIClassical ALLEGRO
Topic: CLASSICALmanac.com
1908 First Performance of Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony, composer conducting, in St. Petersburg.
Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27, was written by Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1906–07. The premiere was conducted by the composer himself in St. Petersburg on 8 February 1908. Its duration is approximately 60 minutes when performed uncut; cut performances can be as short as 35 minutes. The score is dedicated to Sergei Taneyev, a Russian composer, teacher, theorist, author, and pupil of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky....MORE | SHOP Rachmaninoff Symphonies
Israel's Eliahu Inbal has been selected to become the chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, an official said Wednesday. Inbal, 71, was assuming the post for the 2009-2010 season, replacing Zdenek Macal, who resigned last year after taking the job in 2003, orchestra spokeswoman Barbora Kalosova said. In the past, Inbal served as a music director for Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1974-1990, and in 1995-2001 was the chief conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of the RAI in Italy's Torino. In 2001, he was named the music director of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. 
The 74-year-old founder and conductor of the Stuttgart Bach Academy is considered a leading expert on the music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). He was trained as an organist and church musician. Recently Rilling was one of the speakers at the evangelical convention “Vivace” on classical and contemporary church music in Schwaebisch Gmuend near Stuttgart. He emphasized that the church’s main purpose is to glorify God. He observes, however, that personal feelings are increasingly coming to the fore. In Rilling’s opinion it is not good enough to say, “I had a good time” after a worship service or a church concert. “Shouldn’t we rather say: I had a decisive or a deeply moving time?” asked the conductor. In his opinion entertainment and seriousness should be clearly distinguishable. Rilling is concerned that churches pay too much respect to the tastes of outsiders in their choice of music, for example by organizing Gospel or Pop concerts. The church has such a unique and great message, he said, that there is no need to snuggle up to entertainment elements. Rilling has recorded the complete choral works of Bach, involving more than 1,000 pieces of music and spanning 170 compact discs. He is also co-founder and artistic director of the Oregon Bach Festival. 
Jorge Liderman, a prominent San Francisco area composer and a professor in the music department at UC Berkeley, was struck by a Richmond-bound train at Monday, February 4, 2008 9:42 a.m. in what appeared to be a suicide. Liderman was a fixture on the Bay Area's classical music scene since joining the Berkeley faculty in 1989. His music - full of melody, rhythmically vital and scored with a keen ear for instrumental color - was performed regularly both here and abroad, and his discography included almost a dozen CDs. 
Evelyn Barbirolli, a distinguished oboe player and widow of the conductor Sir John Barbirolli, has died. She was 97. Barbirolli died Sunday, 27 JAN 2008, in London. The cause of death was not announced. In 1948, she had the honour of giving the first performance of a newly discovered oboe concerto by Mozart, during a tour of Austria with the Halle Orchestra. Born Evelyn Rothwell, she took up the oboe at 17 to fill a gap in her school orchestra. Though she recalled she could "barely play the thing," within a year she won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. John Barbirolli offered her a position in the Covent Garden Touring Orchestra and they married in 1939. She adopted the surname Barbirolli only after he died in 1970. 
MSR Classics is an independent record label committed to a culture of musical excellence and superlative support for the recording artist. Founded in 1997, MSR offers the recording artist the means to create a Compact Disc of the finest quality, and distribute it in a worldwide marketplace. In a time when major record labels are less willing and able to accommodate the recording aspirations of many classical musicians, such a service is invaluable. MSR Classics is managed by Robert LaPorta, a 20-year veteran of the recording industry, who has served as Classical Director of the EMI Classics and Virgin Classics labels, Manager of Marketing and Special Products at PolyGram Classics & Jazz (which included the Deutsche Grammophon, London-Decca, Philips Classics, ECM, Mercury and Verve labels), and Publicity Manager at ICM Artists management in New York. 
This year...a 20-day festival celebrating black cultural legacy at Carnegie Hall, which also will honor the 100th birthday year of composer Elliott Carter and present a complete cycle of Mahler symphonies in a 12-day period conducted by Daniel Barenboim and Pierre Boulez. 
AS fast as news travels in a world of blogs, downloads and streaming audio, musicians’ reputations can still vary a lot from one place to another. In London and his native Moscow the 35-year-old conductor Vladimir Jurowski ranks as a star. 
Kenins passed away Sunday 20 JAN 2008 at age 88. The Latvian-born musician, a professor emeritus of the University of Toronto, was known for his chamber music as well for composing eight symphonies, 12 concertos, three cantatas, an oratorio, choral works and several educational pieces. Kenins left Latvia for France following the Second World War, landing in Toronto in 1951 to serve as organist and music director at St. Andrews Latvian Lutheran Church. He joined U of T the following year, inspiring music students and future talents including Edward Laufer, Bruce Mather, Imant Raminsh, Arthur Ozolins and James Rolfe. 