Nikolaus Harnoncourt, etc.

The following article on Nikolaus Harnoncourt appeared in today's Sunday Times, in anticipation of his appearances with the Vienna Philharmonic this coming weekend at Carnegie Hall. (Three performances: Berg with G. Kremer and Bruckner 4, Beethoven 6 and J. Strauss, then Schubert 3 or 4 (I forget) and Dvorak 9).
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/02/arts/music/ 02OEST.html

The opening story about him and Salome was interesting. I was also thumbing through some recent Carnegie Hall program notes and the manager (? also the principal clarinetist, I think) was quoted as saying that the last time they were at Carnegie Hall with an Austrian was in 89, under Karajan. They wanted to do an all Viennese program, and the interviewer pointed out that Dvorak is not Viennese. The clarinetist said that there's an Austrian saying that says that every Austrian has a Czech grandma.

I've largely missed the rmcr discussions on his artistry. What do people think about his work? I suppose I could search Google. The most recent discussions must be on the Viennese New Year's Concert. People liked that generally, no?

By the way, the other day I heard some story that the architect of the Stadtsoper (sp?) killed himself because the Kaiser wasn't pleased. Is this a true story, or did I hear it wrong? Apparently the Kaiser never expressed his dislikes again, and there're some Viennese sayings regarding this too.

today's Sunday Times,

[snip]

I caught Harnoncourt/VPO's recent (?) Dvorak 9 from Cleveland this afternoon on the radio, and it was stunningly played.

Marc Perman

'Staatsoper' , but when it was built 'Hofoper' (Court-Opera)

killed himself because the Kaiser wasn't pleased. Is this

The Vienna Opera House was planned by Sicard von Sicardsburg (1813-1868)(Outside) and Eduard van der Nüll (1812-1866) (inside)

Eduard van der Nüll killed himself, because there was some critic.
http://www.worldbookdealers.com/books/book.asp? id=307516

Compliments from Vienna

And of course the Dvorak/Schubert concert is the one I decided not to buy tickets for.... I'm not really a fan of Schubert. Should I rush out to buy tickets now? The Vienna concerts cost nearly twice as much as other symphonic concerts at Carnegie Hall....

I went to all three concerts and thought they were quite excellent, as usual. I really enjoyed the Beethoven 6 and Dvorak 9. Lots of interesting details emerged in Beethoven 6 which I thought that I had never heard before on recordings (granted, my recordings are old

[snip]

A friend who went to that same concert (and loves the piece) was also slightly disappointed in some of the brass work.

Abbado and Vienna (on DG) gave a very muscular performance of this piece, and I also find Muti's with Berlin (EMI) very underrated. They're from the early 1990's, I think, and I like the sonics on both. One that seems to be more widely available is with Sawallisch and Philadelphia, and the performance is great. The sound isn't quite

It's the State Opera, therefore 'Staatsoper'. As you wrote it, it would mean 'City Opera'.

The expertise of this group and its detail-orientedness (hmm..., is this a word?) never seem to amaze me. Whenever I say something incorrect, I'm corrected not just once