I just conducted the best Tchaikovsky 4th Symphony in all of my years performing that work. It happened at the New Hampshire Music Festival where I just concluded my second tenure as Music Director. My first tenure was from 1993-2009. And then I was asked to come back in 2016 and it has been a labor of love for all these years. The revelation was that for the first time the Tchaikovsky 4th was completely my own. There were no ghosts of past great conductors and their ideas hanging around influencing what I was doing, not even my own past ideas. It was purely me, creating totally in the present and it felt so good. And everyone on stage was caught up, making it the best performance of a major warhorse at the Festival ever. Although I remain intensely interested in the ideas of my professional colleagues, any power that I have as artistic resides in me.

I’m so happy. I was invited to be Music Director again of the wonderful New Hampshire Music Festival! I was Music Director from 1992-2009, appointed Conductor Laureate in 2012 and am now MD again. The new administrative regime of John Thompson, Deb Kosits and Brad Dumont is terrific and they are warm, communicative people I like very much.

And the orchestra is still “my” orchestra made up of highly talented musicians, most of whom played with me for years. We were very close and now we will continue that strong musical and personal relationship.

As we move into the future, I predict a new Golden Age for the Festival, set in one of America’s most beautiful natural landscapes. Marsha, our 2 dogs and I are looking forward once again to our summers in the New Hampshire mountains!

Haydn                      Symphony #95, last movement

William Kraft         Vintage Renaissance

Tchaikovsky           Symphony #5, finale

Carnegie Mellon University Philharmonic

Paul Polivnick, guest conductor

October 18, 2015

Link: Youtu.be/-icy6HEgkiQ