What the Atlanta Symphony means to me
I’m not a musician in the Atlanta Symphony. I don’t live in Atlanta, although I have visited frequently. I am not a subscriber, but I have bought about 20 ASO recordings. I do have friends who are ASO musicians and I care that they have no income and, very shortly, will have no health
insurance because of the totally unnecessary lockout by the ASO management and the corrupt and morally bankrupt Woodruff Arts Center.
So, aside from my very real concern for my friends, why is this orchestra special? It’s a highly personal story. Today, I flew home because my father is in the end stages of Multiple Sclerosis. Hospice care has been called in and the family is gathering together. Being a musician, I always turn to music and now is no exception. I’ve had the Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem going through my head, but not just any version. It is the 1984 recording with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, with soloists Arleen Augér and Richard Stillwell, conducted by Robert Shaw. I had a very vivid flashback to 1989 when my grandmother passed away and I listened to the same recording, over and over.
The work itself is a masterpiece and there are many fine recordings out there. However, I was then and am now, drawn to this particular recording. I love the sound of the orchestra. I love the stunning chorus. I love that Ms. Augér is profoundly comforting - as one comforted by their mother. I love Richard Stillwell’s stentorian baritone pleading for mercy, and later announcing the last trumpet. I shouldn’t be, but I’m surprised at how my mind’s ear just wants to hear it right now. Today, as it did in 1989, it moves me. It helps and heals me. So I listen, over and over.
Many of the musicians on that recording have since retired or died. Mr. Shaw himself has passed away, as has Ms. Augér. However, today’s Atlanta Symphony still has that distinctive sound that drew me in 25 years ago, as evidenced by their recent recording of Vaughn Williams’s music. David Coucheron’s glorious playing in The Lark Ascending, as well as the always stunning chorus in Dona Nobis Pacem helps and heals me. Today, I must listen to it.
That is what makes a world-class orchestra.
I’m not a musician in the Atlanta Symphony. I don’t live in Atlanta, although I have visited frequently. I am not a subscriber, but I have bought about 20 ASO recordings. I do have friends who are ASO musicians and I care that they have no income and, very shortly, will have no health
insurance because of the totally unnecessary lockout by the ASO management and the corrupt and morally bankrupt Woodruff Arts Center.
So, aside from my very real concern for my friends, why is this orchestra special? It’s a highly personal story. Today, I flew home because my father is in the end stages of Multiple Sclerosis. Hospice care has been called in and the family is gathering together. Being a musician, I always turn to music and now is no exception. I’ve had the Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem going through my head, but not just any version. It is the 1984 recording with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, with soloists Arleen Augér and Richard Stillwell, conducted by Robert Shaw. I had a very vivid flashback to 1989 when my grandmother passed away and I listened to the same recording, over and over.
The work itself is a masterpiece and there are many fine recordings out there. However, I was then and am now, drawn to this particular recording. I love the sound of the orchestra. I love the stunning chorus. I love that Ms. Augér is profoundly comforting - as one comforted by their mother. I love Richard Stillwell’s stentorian baritone pleading for mercy, and later announcing the last trumpet. I shouldn’t be, but I’m surprised at how my mind’s ear just wants to hear it right now. Today, as it did in 1989, it moves me. It helps and heals me. So I listen, over and over.
Many of the musicians on that recording have since retired or died. Mr. Shaw himself has passed away, as has Ms. Augér. However, today’s Atlanta Symphony still has that distinctive sound that drew me in 25 years ago, as evidenced by their recent recording of Vaughn Williams’s music. David Coucheron’s glorious playing in The Lark Ascending, as well as the always stunning chorus in Dona Nobis Pacem helps and heals me. Today, I must listen to it.
That is what makes a world-class orchestra.