Albéric Magnard_s Bérénice

On Behalf of Albéric Magnard By Leon Botstein Written for the concert Bérénice, performed on Jan 20, 2011 at Carnegie Hall. The conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler defended his tendency to play particular works from the past over and over again, stating that as a musician he was not “a curious wanderer” or driven by “a scholarly…

Albéric Magnard, Bérénice By Steven Huebner Written for the concert Bérénice, performed on Jan 20, 2011 at Carnegie Hall. “Noble melancholy” . . . Thus did Jean Racine describe the tone he sought to create in Bérénice (1670). In a preface to the play, Racine further explained his aesthetic predilections: uncomplicated plots, heroic characters, roiling passions. A…